Today, with the arrival of his redheaded master's solo series just on the horizon, I want to share with you all a little theory I came up with not dissimilar to my one on Master Yoda's PTSD: Was Anakin Skywalker a sociopath and did that motivate his drift towards the dark side? I dedicate this essay to @Infantry31st, @Shreekomandar and @IronStain98, all writers who have influenced my perception of the character a great deal with their many excellent works. So let’s just jump straight into it!
The Kid from Tatooine
Anakin Skywalker- the legendary Jedi Knight who would go on to become the most feared Sith Lord in the entire galaxy, came from humble origins. Conceived by the Force itself, he was born on Tatooine to a young woman by the name of Shmi Skywalker. Shmi was sold into slavery by the powerful Hutt Cartel, along with her boy. Perhaps because of this, mother and son grew very close. However, the young boy’s life was about to change...
Freed by the Jedi Order’s Qui-Gonn Jinn after winning a podrace, Anakin would leave Tatooine to join the Order as a knight-in-training. However, he would suffer a series of deeply traumatising losses as his journey continued, beginning with the death of Qui-Gonn and followed by the brutal murder of his beloved mother by Tusken Raiders...
As the Clone Wars engulfed the entire galaxy, Anakin would rise up to become one of the Republic’s most esteemed generals, winning a series of major victories across the Outer Rim. However, tragedy would dog his many successes: first with the staged assassination of his beloved mentor, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and then with the exit of his Padawan, Ahsoka Tano, who broke from the Order after being suspected of bombing the Jedi Temple on Coruscant...
Determined to keep his devoted wife, Padmé Amidala, from suffering the same fate as his mother, Anakin would broker a sinister deal with the Dark Lord of the Sith, Darth Sidious, acting under the guise of Supreme Chancellor Palpatine: to wipe out the Jedi Order and help to turn the Galactic Republic into the Galactic Empire. In return for power and the keys to immortality, Anakin would plunge the Republic into chaos, helping brainwashed clone troopers to massacre their Jedi commanders- from the oldest master to the youngest student...
Then, with Padmé gone and his tender friendship with Obi-Wan turned into the bitterest of rivalries, Anakin would embrace his role as the Dark Lord’s top enforcer, encasing himself in a terrifying suit of armour and taking on the title of “Darth Vader”. The angel had fallen...
Many factors underpinned Anakin’s monstrous fall from grace. However, before we start to unpick just some of those factors, I should really explain...
------------------
WHAT IS A SOCIOPATH???
------------------
The simple dictionary definition of a sociopath is:
“A person with a personality disorder manifesting itself in extreme antisocial attitudes and behaviour”.
However, the more commonly-accepted definition of the term reads something like this:
“Someone whose social behaviour is extremely abnormal. Sociopaths are interested only in their personal needs and desires, without concern for the effects of their behaviour on others”.
The main characteristics of a sociopath are as follows: manipulation, an unfulfilled love life, recklessness, insincerity, unreliability, a rejection of all societal values and an inclination towards violence. Unchecked, sociopathy can grow into a real problem (“psychopathy”), with a person developing a malfunctioning moral compass that can shape their whole persona. But what does this all have to do with Anakin Skywalker, I hear you ask? Well, let’s find out...
“We need to talk about Anakin”...
Though always a bit of a rebel and an outsider, the troubles with Anakin (I think) really began in Episode II: Attack of the Clones. Though set to romantic music and breath-taking scenery, the early romance between Anakin and Padmé is actually deeply unhealthy, much more like an obsession than a genuine romance. And it’s here that Anakin’s sociopathic behaviour first starts to show itself: “I’m haunted”, he tells Padmé one night when they’re alone together, “By the kiss you should never have given me”. What is this if not manipulation? Telling Padmé that it’s her fault that he’s in love with her, not just something he cooked up all by himself as a result of his own longing and loneliness...
However, fuel is promptly hurled onto this fire, as Anakin is promptly forced to keep this blooming romance secret and his beloved mother is abducted and brutally murdered by the Sandpeople. After tracking them back to their camp and slaughtering every last one of them, Anakin shows just how warped his conscience has become: “I killed them. I killed them all. Every single one of them. And not just the men, but the women and the children, too. They’re like animals, and I slaughtered them like animals. I HATE THEM!” Now, nobody has more sympathy for his course of action here than I do (and, given the circumstances, I’d’ve probably done the exact same thing)- the guy just lost his mother! But, coupled together with his lonely beginnings and troubled relationship with Padmé, the massacre of the Tusken Raiders acts as a vital groundwork for the worser downfalls that are yet to come...
As the Clone Wars unfold, we see Anakin’s penchant for violence rearing its ugly head: first with the Tuskens, then with Asajj Ventress (during the Temple Bombing arc) and finally with Rush Clovis (during the Scipio arc). Each of these events shows Anakin’s drift towards the dark side, each one motivated by his own lovesick insecurities and reckless desire to control events (and people). And when Anakin discovers out that he can’t control everything, this opens up worrying possibilities: how far will Anakin go to maintain control?
As the Clone Wars draw to an end, Anakin’s toxic relationship with Padmé faces its greatest challenge: letting go. But that is something Anakin can’t do. He’s lost too many people and suffered too much to accept the possibility that Padmé might die in childbirth, prompting him to turn to Darth Sidious for help. This, completes his journey from lonely little boy to mass-murdering sociopath, as he proceeds to tear the Republic up from the roots and build the new Galactic Empire in its stead. As well as destroying everything that he once loved (Padmé, Obi-Wan, the Jedi Order etc.), Anakin also destroys everything that he’s hated for so long: the war, the Republic and (again) the Jedi Order. But where did it all go so wrong?
“Society made me this way”: Anakin Skywalker- Beast or God?
From the very beginning, Anakin Skywalker had a highly warped outlook on society: he was sold into slavery and then snatched from his mother’s arms by a state that had failed to stamp out both organised crime (like the Hutt Cartel) and bureaucratic corruption- The Republic. Though he embraced his role as a Jedi Knight, he never stopped being that lost little boy from Tatooine who missed his mummy. At a time when he needed understanding more than anything else, Anakin was forced to bury his feelings in accordance with the strict teachings of the Jedi Order. This resulted in his creepy obsession with Padmé being transformed into one of the most seductive scenarios: a star-crossed romance. While his love for Padmé was genuine (however dangerous), the need to keep the romance a secret enhanced his disdain for society. When he says on Mustafar that “from my point of view, the Jedi are evil”, that’s Anakin showing his true colours as a sociopath. It was the Jedi Order who took him away from his mother. It was the Jedi Order who made it necessary for him to hide his obsession for Padmé. It was the Jedi Order who lied to him over the killing of Obi-Wan. And it was the Jedi Order who abandoned Ahsoka. However, the sins of the Jedi Order go hand-in-hand with the sins of the Republic. It is the Republic whose failure to act allowed the Hutts to sell Shmi and her son into slavery. It is the Republic whose rampant corruption sparked off the Clone Wars. It is the Republic who acts as a rival to Padmé’s affections. And it is the Republic whose rampant lawlessness ultimately results in the death of Anakin’s mother. All of these “sins” transform Anakin’s simmering disdain for the Republic and the Jedi Order into an unquenchable fire of incandescent rage. Overthrowing the corrupt government that kept him in slavery and hunting down the Jedi Knights who forced him to hide his true feelings fulfil Anakin’s desire to see society pay the wrongs it’s done him. When, after all is said and done, Padmé says that “there is good in him... I know there is... still”, that’s perfectly true. No person is born evil and had he been brought up in different circumstances, Anakin would’ve likely gone on to do great things. Instead, cut off from those he loved and surrounded by those who lie and control, his hatred for society, penchant for violence and desire for control manifest themselves with the most tragic of consequences. Because, as we learned from 2019’s Joker: “What do you get when you cross a mentally-ill loner with a society that abandons him and treats him like trash. I’ll tell you what you get: you get what you... deserve!”
That’s all for now, friends (though I do intend to mark the arrival of Kenobi with a little something)! Please feel free to let me know your own thoughts about Yoda's tragic exile in the comments below. God bless and see you again very soon, Aragorn :))
