Who Was Anakin Skywalker?

What the Prequel Trilogy Ignores in the Original Trilogy

by Tom Farr

There’s no doubt that the original Star Wars trilogy sparked our curiosity for the story of the man behind the mask of Darth Vader. Who was Anakin Skywalker? What drove him to turn to the dark side and what turned him into part machine?

The prequel trilogy of The Phantom Menace, Attack of the Clones, and Revenge of the Sith was George Lucas’ answer to those questions. Honestly, for the most part, when they came out, I enjoyed them. They were at least fun movies.

But were they a sufficient answer to the questions we had about Anakin Skywalker and his journey to becoming Darth Vader?

Most Star Wars fans would say no. The prequel movies, though attempting to tell the story of Anakin Skywalker, ignored much of what we already knew about Anakin from the original trilogy.

I would suggest that the hints planted in the original trilogy create at least the framework for a much more interesting prequel story of Darth Vader/Anakin Skywalker than what we were given.

Anakin Skywalker, According to Episodes IV-VI

Anakin Skywalker was a young man, strong in the Force, from the planet Tatooine. His…