About Anakin Skywalker, love, and fear of death

[chameleon_irony]

Inspired by discussions with irnan

One of the things that become obvious when watching the two Star Wars trilogies in quick succession is the character development of Anakin Skywalker between the prequels and the original trilogy. Most of us saw the OT before the prequels, saw him save Luke before seeing him try to "save" Padmé, and so we analyze his

Comments

[chameleon_irony]

there is no reason for Anakin or viewers to think that his death will make Padmé's life any more likely

Which is ironic, because it could have actually saved her. If he had died before he could have attacked her on Mustafar and "broken her heart", she wouldn't have lost the will to live... or she would have died of grief anyway? *snort*

so whatever was you is no longer there. I'm not sure I would consider that to be an afterlife, as it seems to imply the death of the specific entity that was you, vanished into an energy field

Interesting point. Yes, there are different definitions of death and of the self. Personally, I subscribe to the view that it is our consciousness and personality that makes us who we are - je pense donc je suis - but the Jedi religion and the segments of Buddhism which inspired it seem to frown on such individualism and teach that true happiness (nirvana) is attained by letting go of the self/ becoming one with the Force.

the Anakin/death discussion from Obi-Wan's POV in Labyrinth of Evil and then again Anakin's own thoughts about the possibility of his death in Stover's ROTS novelization

I haven't read the former and the latter didn't strike me as plausible. I won't get into the details here, but I see Stover's Anakin as out of character on several occasions. And I don't see logic in
not particularly bothered by the reality that he may die soon. It's losing other people that frightens him
because if he dies, he loses them. Whether it's they who die or it's him, death will separate him from them (unless both he and they die...).

[wyncatastrophe]

Which is ironic, because it could actually have saved her. If he had died before he could have attacked her on Mustafar and "broken her heart", she wouldn't have lost the will to live …

I find this a rather odd line of reasoning, mostly because Anakin's death isn't necessary here. If he had done, basically, anything other than what he did, this would still be true. Or so it seems to me.

It all makes the Force sound sort of bizarrely like the Borg. "Your […] distinctiveness will be added to our own."

Stover actually writes my favorite canon Anakin, to me more internally consistent than other renderings that have been produced. Also, Stover's novelization plugs several gaping plot holes from the film, like Anakin's obsessive interest in becoming a Master - it makes more sense if you know about the restricted-access holocrons, etc. But that's just me: I'm a Stover fangirl.

[chameleon_irony]

If he had done, basically, anything other than what he did, this would still be true.

Aren't self-fulfilling prophecies fun? ;)