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Star Words: Episode III, Part 8
Jun. 14th, 2018 11:43 amThe scene right after Anakin's nightmare is so crucial to understanding his eventual fall. We see how thoroughly this nightmare has shaken him, we see Padmé immediately going to try and comfort him, and we see how in spite of his efforts to deflect her concern (including an acknowledgement of the japor snippet that last appeared in Episode I! and my shipper heart fills with joy!) she is able to draw out the whole truth from him. This is a vision just like the ones he had of his mother. Just like he saw her pain and suffering, he is now seeing Padmé's death.
The true weight of this potential loss has just been illustrated perfectly as we witnessed the crucial role Padmé plays in his life. Comforter, confidante, companion. There is no one else who understands and knows him quite as well. Obi-Wan comes closest, but Anakin has not shared, perhaps cannot share, the secret of his marriage with his old master. Only Padmé can serve this role completely, and it is her death he just foresaw. No wonder he's in such a torment.
The great irony is in the possibility that the dream itself ultimately causes Padmé's death. Anakin becomes so consumed with saving her in a physical sense that he fails to recognize how he could lose her emotionally. With each successive scene between them we will witness the disintegration of their relationship; how he keeps more and more secrets from her, how he pushes her farther and father away metaphorically even as he pulls her close physically. And this, ultimately, is what kills her -- not some external physical peril, but the increasingly toxic nature of Anakin's attachment to her, twisted into possessive and controlling tendencies.
For now, he tries to soothe Padmé, to assure her that they don't need Obi-Wan's help (but really, they could have used his help, couldn't they? That's an interesting AU to think about...). To assert that in spite of all the potential difficulties they are facing:
"This baby is a blessing."
I suppose some people might blame Anakin's fall on Padmé's pregnancy. If she weren't pregnant, he wouldn't have had the nightmares, he wouldn't have been so wildly desperate to rescue her, and he never would have fallen prey to Palpatine's manipulations. I disagree. Interpret it as you please, but here's my take: Padmé didn't die because of childbirth, she simply died during childbirth. Now, I'm sure the strain of pregnancy and emergency delivery hardly helped her condition, but until she finds out about Anakin's fall, she seems in perfect health. So I find it perfectly likely that her life could have been endangered by the metaphysical horror of Anakin's betrayal even without a pregnancy. The dreams still could have come, Palpatine would have plenty of temptation material to work with (still pitting Anakin against the Jedi Council to build up that mutual resentment) and so on and so forth till the tragic end. With the difference that there would be no Luke or Leia to grow up and save the galaxy.
Why this long rambling speculation? Because I, too, believe that this baby, these babies, are a blessing. For all the tragedy that surrounds their birth, for all its associations with Anakin's fall, I think it was for the ultimate good of the galaxy that Luke and Leia were born. Otherwise there's just an air of dismal fatalism suffusing their entire lives. For all that their conception came as a surprise to their parents, they are clearly wanted, clearly a blessing. And Luke's ability to bring his father back to the good side is the greatest proof of that.
Next, Yoda offers some advice that's very hard to take...
The true weight of this potential loss has just been illustrated perfectly as we witnessed the crucial role Padmé plays in his life. Comforter, confidante, companion. There is no one else who understands and knows him quite as well. Obi-Wan comes closest, but Anakin has not shared, perhaps cannot share, the secret of his marriage with his old master. Only Padmé can serve this role completely, and it is her death he just foresaw. No wonder he's in such a torment.
The great irony is in the possibility that the dream itself ultimately causes Padmé's death. Anakin becomes so consumed with saving her in a physical sense that he fails to recognize how he could lose her emotionally. With each successive scene between them we will witness the disintegration of their relationship; how he keeps more and more secrets from her, how he pushes her farther and father away metaphorically even as he pulls her close physically. And this, ultimately, is what kills her -- not some external physical peril, but the increasingly toxic nature of Anakin's attachment to her, twisted into possessive and controlling tendencies.
For now, he tries to soothe Padmé, to assure her that they don't need Obi-Wan's help (but really, they could have used his help, couldn't they? That's an interesting AU to think about...). To assert that in spite of all the potential difficulties they are facing:
"This baby is a blessing."
I suppose some people might blame Anakin's fall on Padmé's pregnancy. If she weren't pregnant, he wouldn't have had the nightmares, he wouldn't have been so wildly desperate to rescue her, and he never would have fallen prey to Palpatine's manipulations. I disagree. Interpret it as you please, but here's my take: Padmé didn't die because of childbirth, she simply died during childbirth. Now, I'm sure the strain of pregnancy and emergency delivery hardly helped her condition, but until she finds out about Anakin's fall, she seems in perfect health. So I find it perfectly likely that her life could have been endangered by the metaphysical horror of Anakin's betrayal even without a pregnancy. The dreams still could have come, Palpatine would have plenty of temptation material to work with (still pitting Anakin against the Jedi Council to build up that mutual resentment) and so on and so forth till the tragic end. With the difference that there would be no Luke or Leia to grow up and save the galaxy.
Why this long rambling speculation? Because I, too, believe that this baby, these babies, are a blessing. For all the tragedy that surrounds their birth, for all its associations with Anakin's fall, I think it was for the ultimate good of the galaxy that Luke and Leia were born. Otherwise there's just an air of dismal fatalism suffusing their entire lives. For all that their conception came as a surprise to their parents, they are clearly wanted, clearly a blessing. And Luke's ability to bring his father back to the good side is the greatest proof of that.
Next, Yoda offers some advice that's very hard to take...
