Thoughts on the original NJO plan...

[tenel_ka]

So the NJO was originally supposed to have Jacen die in the place of Anakin, but that always made me wonder -- would Anakin be in the same place Jacen is now if their roles were reversed and Jacen had died in the NJO?

Or would it be completely different?

Comments

My answer...

[luthienberen]

I would say no - at that time in the NJO Anakin and Jacen's characters were completely different. Anakin was not questioning the Force to the same extent as Jacen, so I do not believe that Anakin would have survived the events of Traitor.

If he had survived them, I think the events of Traitor would have panned out very differently. Jacen's nature to question not only himself but the very nature of the Force was ideal for his discovery of the Yuuzhan Vong not being outside the Force. His empathy at that time was greater and I think, was another key factor in him learning how to communicate with the future World Brain.

That said, Anakin was very similar to his namesake in his ability to fix mechanical objects and certainly he was arrogant (or at least, I found him so). His belief of the Force as a tool could have left him open to the Darkside and maybe he would have Fallen.

Yet, this would be a cliche move on the authors' part. Also, one would then have to envision the events that would cause Anakin's fall. How would Anakin have treated a five year sojourn to learn other Force techniques? If he would have even desired to do such a thing.

Conclusion: I don't think they would be in the same place simply based on entirely different motivations and deeply held beliefs at the time of the NJO onwards. Even more, becuase a Fallen Anakin would be cliche and not work so well as the one brother you thought would never Fall.

Other fans who know Anakin better will probably have a different opinion so I'll read the other comments methinks!