Anakin's fall to the Dark Side: An Explanation

I have seen countless times people claiming that Anakin had no reason to turn to the dark side in the Star Wars prequels and that when it happened it was rushed and forced without any real reason behind it. I am here to put that claim to rest and explain how it is not true. There were several influences throughout Anakin's life that helped the dark side grow within him, from the circumstances to his life, events that transpired with him, and even his own feelings growing up; all of these were factors towards his eventual rejection of the light side of the Jedi. His turn to darkness could not make more sense after seeing and understanding what he went through.


The life that Anakin Skywalker grew up with was from the very start oppressive, being the son of a slave and as a byproduct of that was also a slave himself. Poverty was the kind of life he was raised in and along with that he had to endure bullying and insults from his owner, the dreaded Watto. Living in this lifestyle was hard on him and his mother, contributing to his ideals of peace and equality which he believed were shared by the Jedi whom he idolized; however, even when he was drafted into the Jedi order to be taught in the ways of being a Jedi he found himself confused and struggling to find his place among his fellow Knights. A huge problem he faced were his romantic feelings for his lover, Padme, which only grew as time went on. As a Jedi, he was taught to suppress feelings of love and longing, and so he felt conflicted about his role as a Jedi while also falling in love with a woman whom he eventually married against the Jedi code. It was also around this time that he suffered the loss of his mother, contributing to the hate and the anger he felt as he slayed the Sand People responsible for her murder, and further dwelling in feelings that Jedi were forbidden from experiencing. One of the hardest things for him to face growing up with his conflicting feelings which he had to hide, was the disapproval and constant criticism from his mentor and his colleagues. Anakin faced a barrage of critiques and suggestions for improvement from his mentor, Obi Wan Kenobi, as well as being barred from attaining the status of Jedi Master despite his years of training and welcome into the Council itself. Anakin felt as though he was being treated unfairly, used in terms of the council requiring him to spy on the acting Chancellor, scolded for everything he did, and overall conflicted thanks to having to tell himself that feelings he felt were wrong despite constantly giving in to them. All of these influences helped to turn him away from the light side of the Force and push him further towards anger and frustration and overall succumbing to the Dark Side.

A major figure in Anakin’s life growing up turned out to be the Chancellor of the Galactic Senate: Palpatine, who in the shadows was operating as the Sith lord Darth Sidious who plotted to overthrow the Jedi and manipulated Anakin to meet those plans. Going into his later years before his eventual fall to the Dark Side, Anakin found out that his wife, Padme, was pregnant with his child. Soon after this, he had a vision not unlike the vision he experienced foretelling his mother’s own death, and this image of Padme perishing caused great turmoil in him as he knew that he could not go to the Jedi for help for fear that they would discover his harboring of forbidden feelings. Palpatine ended up being his solace, as the dreaded Sith lord claimed to have knowledge and power strong enough to save Padme from death, which the Jedi could not do, and unknown to Anakin that Palpatine could not do either. Palpatine also seeded the rumor into Anakin that the Jedi were evil and they were violent savages who ruled through fear rather than peace, which was enforced by the ongoing Clone Wars in which the Jedi took a heavy part in as generals who lead the armies. One of the primary examples that helped sway Anakin’s opinion away from the Jedi was the Jedi Mace Windu who was recognized as one of the most prestigious of the Jedi Council, and at the same time was greatly disposed towards violence and action. Anakin’s time to choose came when he found the Jedi in the midst of an assassination attempt on Palpatine, Mace Windu at the forefront, and having this image of the violent Jedi, along with believing that Palpatine was the only possible person capable of saving Padme from death, Anakin made his choice and saved Palpatine’s life, slaying one of the principal members of the Jedi Council in the process.

The final push that forced Anakin away from the light and into the dark side of the Force was the belief that his wife, Padme, had betrayed him and joined the Jedi who he perceived as evil at this point. After losing his mother, the only people that Anakin had in his life were his wife, Palpatine, and the members of the Jedi council. The latter of which he had been deceived into believing were evil, which left only the previous two as the people in his life that he trusted and believed in. The greatest betrayal in his mind came when he believed that Padme had turned away from him, bringing his previous mentor, Obi Wan, to where Anakin was with the intention of taking him down. In truth, she had vehemently refused to disclose Anakin’s location to the Jedi and was loyal to him in the end, unfortunately, Obi Wan secretly followed her and Anakin ended up mistaking the situation and perceiving the falsity that she had brought his mentor on purpose. After this incident Anakin lost what semblance of himself that still lingered in the light side of the Force, and with the belief that the woman that he loved he turned away from him like the Jedi council who he had admired and looked up to, Anakin fully embraced his feelings of hate and anger, and became the villain Darth Vader.

These were the influences that dealt Anakin's fate in life, proving that he lived a tortured, harsh existence that while enjoyable in parts ultimately fell apart completely. He lost everything, and without anything to keep his soul in the light, he fell to the darkness where he believed power and peace resided.