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Anakin's Father...

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I have come to the realization of something.

In the current issue of Insider, MacDermott is asked about Anakin's father and he answers to the effect that there are enough clues for fans to connect the dots...
here's my theory.

The very name Anakin literally means "New Family" (ana=new kin-family).

In "The Phantom Menace" Shmi tells Qui-Gon that there was no father, Anakin was basically an immaculate conception. In "Revenge of the Sith" Palpatine tells Anakin the story of Darth Plaguis The Wise and how he was able to use the Force itself (via the midichlorians) to create life. Well his apprentice, Palpatine, is taught this then kills his master. So Palpatine had the ability to create life itself through the Force.

I believe that Palpatine used the Force (via the midichlorians) to essentially conceive Anakin to a slave in a remote backwater world, knowing full well that one day he would be a powerful tool in his plot to seize control of the galaxy. Palpatine loves saying "It is all going as I have foreseen"...so I don't think that he left too much to chance.

Also...in the novelization of "Revenge of the Sith", right before his fall, Anakin tells Palpatine that he is the Chosen One, and Palpatine responds with "Yes, chosen by me!" I believe that Palpatine, being the consummate manipulator that he was, would never have let Anakin exist unless it directly served his ends.

Here's a quote from another fan that I ran this by:
"in TPM when Jinn is recieving the results from Anakins Midichlorian count he is then amazed at the results telling Obi evrything about " NO Jedi has counts this high " soon afterwards when Obi ask " what does this mean ?" Jinn responds " I don't know " then turns to see Shmi standing in the doorway. Notice the music at THAT moment...... it is the SITH music. just for that brief moment."

If this theory is correct, then it is ironic that Palpatine created the very being who later destroys him.

If this is indeed what Lucas intended, it ties neatly into the archetypical myth of good versus evil...with evil sowing the seeds of its own eventual downfall.


Thoughts? Comments? Criticisms?
¤ The Dark One In Costume ¤

...at last we shall have revenge...
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Now that I've seen Sith again, I'm utterly convinced Palpatine or his master engineered Anakin. All doubt is gone.

And as I've said before: I never liked the "virgin birth" scenario, but I don't mind it *quite* as much if Palps had something to do with it. At least the Sith virgin birth scenario has a purpose that's not rooted in mythic mumbo-jumbo.
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Thing is, I think the entire point could have been driven home without the notion of midichlorians in both I and III. Shmi talks about the immaculate conception and not knowing what happened. Then Palpatine tells about manipulating the force to create life. Little force-sensing MITOCHONDRIA need not be present for the plot point to work just fine. Having the ability to sense the Force reliant on a microscopic life form totally destroys the mythic and religious aspects of the Force. It's like trying to say there is a specific part of our brain that allows us to know God (or not). Faith is removed completely by these midichlorians and it ultimately serves no purpose whatsoever, while actually disservicing the heart and soul of the entire saga. Might as well rename "the Force theme" as "the March of the Midichlorians."
I am fluent in over six million forms of procrastination.
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In my response I mean no disrespect ADM, I'm a fan of your work and I value your opinion.

I think that the concept of midichlorians makes more sense to an agnostic such as myself. In my eyes it doesn't do any disservice to the mythos of the Force...in fact it reinforces it.

The midichlorians base the Force in the temporal world as well a spiritual world. It also goes a long way to explain why the force is so very strong in the Skywalker clan, it is an inherited genetic trait.
¤ The Dark One In Costume ¤

...at last we shall have revenge...
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I still dont' see how the Midichlorians make the Force any less of a spiritual entity. They simply give a bliological explanation for why some can weild said entity as a source of power and why others cannot.

It's like if one man God gave the abilit to speak very well, and other man did not have this ability. Not having the ability wouldn't make the second man evil or less able to have faith in God, and if anything it would put MORE responsiblity on the man with the ability to speak.

And said man could use ability to speak for good, like say, Mark Twain or Billy Graham, or he could use the ability for evil, like Adolph Hitler.

See the parallel?

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What he meant was that explaining the Force removes some of the mystery about it. All we knew was that it was an energy field and that, somehow, a chosen few could hear it. Now we know that it's in our blood and know exactly why we have the chosen. It's like the difference between believing in the existence of God, and meeting him. Plus, if it's been proven that those with more midiclorians are Force sensitive, why are there those like Han who don't believe when there's documented scientific proof to the contrary?

As for Palpatine creating Anakin, I'm still undecided on that. It just seems like it creates more questions than answers.


Made for IE Forum's Episode III theme month - May 2005.

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"The very name Anakin literally means "New Family" (ana=new kin-family)."

I was under the impression that "ana" meant "no" or "none", as in "no family" (i.e. father.)

Hmmmmmm

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ana-
pref.

1. Upward; up: anacrotic.
2. Backward; back: anaplasia.
3. Again; anew: anabiosis.


Anew, as in "born again"?

(Not that I thought this was Lucas' reasoning for the name. "Annikin Starkiller" appears in the first draft of "The Star Wars", and he has a father and mother, and there's no mention of the prophecy until the third draft [or mention of midichlorians until TPM. ])

<span class=“Italics”>MeBeJedi: Sadly, I believe the prequels are beyond repair.
<span class=“Bold”>JediRandy: They’re certainly beyond any repair you’re capable of making.</span></span>

<span class=“Italics”>MeBeJedi: You aren’t one of us.
<span class=“Bold”>Go-Mer-Tonic: I can’t say I find that very disappointing.</span></span>

<span class=“Italics”>JediRandy: I won’t suck as much as a fan edit.</span>

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I always thought the little buggers fed off of a person's attunement to the force, and that more Midchlorians meant that someone was strong with the force. like, there's no PHYSICAL way to measure how strong the force is with someone, but the little guys feeding off his chi indicate how well he interacts with the spirit realm.

You know, like how Sewage is really clear, its only green because of the algae feeding on it?

///
Fine, mister Lucas, while you're at it why dont you replace Lando with will smith?
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The whole problem with Anakin being created by the force is, why did they choose a slave in Tatooine? Why not Coruscant? Well, I don't know about you, but I still belive Shmi was raped by a young Dr. Avazan.
“Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in any country.” — Nazi Reich Marshal Hermann Goering
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LOL....I don't see how people can associate rape with Star Wars, but I guess that's just me.

<span class=“Italics”>MeBeJedi: Sadly, I believe the prequels are beyond repair.
<span class=“Bold”>JediRandy: They’re certainly beyond any repair you’re capable of making.</span></span>

<span class=“Italics”>MeBeJedi: You aren’t one of us.
<span class=“Bold”>Go-Mer-Tonic: I can’t say I find that very disappointing.</span></span>

<span class=“Italics”>JediRandy: I won’t suck as much as a fan edit.</span>

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My theory about midichlorians(copied from another board I posted it on once).

"The way I see it, Qui-Gon was just oversimplifying his explaination of the midichlorians to Anakin when they landed on Coruscant and that much of it was just lost in the translation of what he was thinking and what he had to say to a nine year old boy fresh from Tatooine.

To me, the midichlorians are like a bunch of flies and mosquitos that like to hang around the light on the porch at night: the brighter the light you have is, the more force energy in you, the more insects are attracted to its energy and heat to try and keep themselved warm and secure."

Kam it seems has pretty much the same theory, great minds think alike, huh?
"I don't mind if you don't like my manners. I don't like them myself. They're pretty bad. I grieve over them during the long winter evenings."
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Is the force Anakin's father?
"A Jedi can feel the force flow through him".
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According to all official sources, yes.

<span class=“Italics”>MeBeJedi: Sadly, I believe the prequels are beyond repair.
<span class=“Bold”>JediRandy: They’re certainly beyond any repair you’re capable of making.</span></span>

<span class=“Italics”>MeBeJedi: You aren’t one of us.
<span class=“Bold”>Go-Mer-Tonic: I can’t say I find that very disappointing.</span></span>

<span class=“Italics”>JediRandy: I won’t suck as much as a fan edit.</span>

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Originally posted by: ricarleite
The whole problem with Anakin being created by the force is, why did they choose a slave in Tatooine? Why not Coruscant? Well, I don't know about you, but I still belive Shmi was raped by a young Dr. Avazan.


thats ez they planned it so that anakin would have a hard life, being a slave, and puting him ina situation where his mom could die in horrible way. its good way to star a kid off to the darkside. also on tatoonie the jedi wouldnt pic up on him where as in the core they would. they wanted him to be old if anything if he were to be trained by they jedi.
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Dark One, I thought the exact same thing. Honestly, I don't see how anyone could draw a different conclusion. Sidious is responsible for Anakin's creation.

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Originally posted by: The Dark One
Here's a quote from another fan that I ran this by:
"in TPM when Jinn is recieving the results from Anakins Midichlorian count he is then amazed at the results telling Obi evrything about " NO Jedi has counts this high " soon afterwards when Obi ask " what does this mean ?" Jinn responds " I don't know " then turns to see Shmi standing in the doorway. Notice the music at THAT moment...... it is the SITH music. just for that brief moment."

Furthermore, remember in TPM Qui-Gon says, "It is possible he was conceived by the midichlorians." And so he was - through the manipulation of Darth Sidious. I must say this is very intriguing, and a lot better than the simple immaculate conception.

And if you'll notice, Palpatine/Sidious is also very fatherly towards Anakin, especially at the end - he is Anakin's father (from a certain point of view.) He even calls him "son."

Also, Palpatine kept mentioning destiny. I found it very interesting that Anakin actually fulfilled his destiny by becoming a Dark Lord of the Sith. He was created for this purpose.
Greedo shoots first? Not in my DVD player.
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Deep stuff. Deep stuff.

Why don't you think about this:

Anakin had dreams of Padme dying in childbirth, which was the major reason he joined Palpatine and the Sith, to prevent this dream from becoming a reality. HOWEVER, it was ultimately Anakin's turning which caused Padme to give up her will to live, essentially causing the very death seen in Anakin's dream.
Don't forget: with Lacuna, you can forget.
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I don't believe that Sideous has anything to do with Anakin's childbirth. Just because midichlorians were mentioned twice between the three movies doesn't mean they are related. If Sideous were going to make a child of the Sith with a huge midichlorian count, why not just take one of the Camino clones and do it that way? Hell, take all of them and have a Sith Clone army. Just doesn't make sense for him to do that. I think the Force itself created Anakin. His choices from there guided him to his destiny, because ultimately the goal of his birth was to kill Palpatine. Palps was stronger than any Jedi, and a huge imbalance to good and evil. Now the real question is 'Did Anakin need to cross over to the dark side to beat him'? Who knows, he may have been able to end it all by killing him with Mace, instead of chopping Mace's arm off. But his love for Padme (emotions) made his choice for him.
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Originally posted by: Anakin's Mannequin
I think the Force itself created Anakin.

. . . George Lucas agrees with you.

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"Lucas: The midi-chlorians have brought Anakin into being as 'the chosen one' who brings balance to the universe." - The Making of Episode 1, Random House, 1999.


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While Sidious creating Anakin would certaibly be an interesting twist, it just poses too many new questions that demand explanations that were not/will never be given.
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As I've said in another thread, the only reason GL had to make these things so open to interpretation is for us fans to spend time deliberating it for years and not letting the franchise be forgotten...
“Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in any country.” — Nazi Reich Marshal Hermann Goering
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"the only reason GL had to make these things so open to interpretation is for us fans to spend time deliberating it for years and not letting the franchise be forgotten... "

It may be "open to interpretation" in the film, but in the real world, it isn't.

<span class=“Italics”>MeBeJedi: Sadly, I believe the prequels are beyond repair.
<span class=“Bold”>JediRandy: They’re certainly beyond any repair you’re capable of making.</span></span>

<span class=“Italics”>MeBeJedi: You aren’t one of us.
<span class=“Bold”>Go-Mer-Tonic: I can’t say I find that very disappointing.</span></span>

<span class=“Italics”>JediRandy: I won’t suck as much as a fan edit.</span>

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Originally posted by: MeBeJedi
"the only reason GL had to make these things so open to interpretation is for us fans to spend time deliberating it for years and not letting the franchise be forgotten... "

It may be "open to interpretation" in the film, but in the real world, it isn't.


exactly, in the real world it happens just as it does in my sig
Why Anakin really turned to the dark side:
"Anakin, You're father I am" - Yoda
"No. No. That's not true! That's impossible!" - Anakin

0100111001101001011011100110101001100001

*touchy people disclaimer*
some or all of the above comments are partially exaggerated to convey a point, none of the comments are meant as personal attacks on anyone mentioned or reference in the above post