As one of Star Wars’ most powerful Jedi, Anakin Skywalker has certainly gotten a lot of attention in Star Wars; however, the franchise still has yet to reveal these 10 mysteries about the character. Although Anakin was technically introduced in A New Hope, as it came first in the chronology of Star Wars movies and TV shows, his story really began in Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace. In fact, regardless of the Star Wars timeline, this was Anakin’s true beginning as, in a way, Anakin was separate from Darth Vader, at least at first.
However, following the prequel trilogy, Anakin has made appearances in several of Star Wars’ best TV shows, from Star Wars: The Clone Wars to Ahsoka, and his significance throughout the franchise has been evident even in the sequels. Despite that continued interest and long history, though, not all questions about Anakin have been answered in Star Wars; in fact, some of the biggest still remain. Of the mysteries about Anakin Skywalker left unaddressed thus far, these 10 are the most significant.
Clearly, Anakin Skywalker was part of Palpatine’s plan all along, as Palpatine was certainly a character to play the long game, and Anakin was key to the creation of the Empire. Moreover, Star Wars implied that it was Palpatine himself who manipulated midi-chlorians to create Anakin within Shmi Skywalker despite there being no father, as he explained this power to Anakin in Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith. However, this makes Qui-Gon Jinn’s discovery of Anakin in The Phantom Menace quite confusing.
In The Phantom Menace, Qui-Gon seems to encounter Anakin by happenstance. Because their ship needs parts, Qui-Gon, Jar Jar Binks, and a much younger Padmé Amidala—then the Queen of Naboo—ventured out into Tatooine. Ultimately, this led them to Watto’s junkshop, where they met Anakin for the first time. At best, this was some form of fate, wherein Qui-Gon was destined to find Anakin there.
Even in that case, though, this is still a bit confusing in relation to Palpatine’s plans. If Palpatine had always intended Anakin to join him, he inevitably needed to get him off Tatooine. Moreover, as Palpatine was keenly interested in infiltrating the Jedi, Palpatine surely would have wanted Anakin taken to the Jedi Temple, rather than getting and training him himself. However, Star Wars has yet to explain how even Palpatine could have laid a plan so elaborate that it resulted in Qui-Gon landing on Tatooine amid an emergency.
Making Palpatine’s plans even more confounding, once Anakin officially joined the Jedi Temple as a Padawan, Palpatine let Anakin risk his life day in and day out. This is shocking, as, again, Anakin was seemingly essential (or close to essential) to Palpatine’s long game. While, sure, Anakin was incredibly powerful with the Force and could certainly hold his own in almost all cases, the Clone Wars represented a significant threat, even to Anakin.
For years, Anakin was on the frontlines of a war, and he had many touch-and-go moments, especially depicted in The Clone Wars show. Star Wars hasn’t acknowledged Palpatine’s odd choice to allow Anakin to do so though; in fact, Palpatine effectively started and continued the Clone Wars single-handedly, knowing full well that it put Anakin’s life at risk. It remains a mystery why Palpatine was comfortable with that massive gamble.
In Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Anakin Skywalker’s iconic blue lightsaber made a shocking reappearance after having been lost by Luke Skywalker some 30 years prior in a battle against Darth Vader. However, the lightsaber ended up not in the hands of another Jedi but rather with Maz Kanata, in her castle on Takodana. While Maz is clearly a collector and quite well-connected, it’s still surprising that she had the lightsaber, and Star Wars has yet to fully elucidate how that came to be.
In fact, Maz even avoided this question directly in The Force Awakens. Han, shocked to see the lightsaber Luke once used, asked Maz how she got it. In response, she simply said, “A good question… for another time.” Unfortunately, this was somewhat of a pattern in the Star Wars sequels, with Palpatine’s return only being explained in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker with Poe Dameron saying, “Somehow, Palpatine returned.”
In The Phantom Menace, Qui-Gon, clearly surprised by Anakin’s Force abilities, asked Shmi who Anakin’s father was. Bewilderingly, Shmi simply told Qui-Gon that there was no father. At the time, it wasn’t clear how this could be the case. Even in Star Wars’ original trilogy, which had been full of fantastical moments, nothing like immaculate conception had existed. However, it was clear that was effectively how Anakin was created.
Yet, Star Wars hasn’t entirely explained how that conception truly happened. Running and prevalent theories include that Anakin was created by the will of the Force itself or that Palpatine manipulated midi-chlorians to create life. The latter would certainly make sense, as, again, Anakin was essential to Palpatine’s plan. However, Star Wars has yet to confirm these possibilities on screen, leaving it as a major Anakin Skywalker mystery.
In The Clone Wars, Anakin’s Padawan, Ahsoka Tano, was falsely accused of murder, which ultimately resulted in her getting kicked out of the Jedi Order to stand trial. When Anakin helped prove her innocence, the Jedi offered to welcome her back, but she refused. This was devastating for Anakin, who had a real affection for his Padawan. Moreover, though, Anakin even told Ahsoka as she left that he understood wanting to leave.
However, it remains unclear why he didn’t. At a certain point, Anakin had many reasons to abandon his Jedi path. For one, at that point, he was already secretly married to Padmé, something that would have undoubtedly gotten him kicked out of the Order anyway had it been discovered. Not long after, Padmé also became pregnant, making their secret even more precarious. Moreover, the Jedi had always held him at arm’s length. Yes, he was a hero of the Clone Wars, but the Jedi—especially the Council—never stopped treating him as a threat.
In truth, Anakin likely could have lived quite happily on Naboo with Padmé, raising their twins together. He also wouldn’t have to completely abandon everything he’d built so far. Undoubtedly, Palpatine would have offered him some sort of role, although that would have opened up a brand-new can of worms.
One of the most confusing aspects of A New Hope after the revelation in Return of the Jedi that Darth Vader is Luke and Leia’s father, especially after the prequels fleshed out Anakin’s incredible intuition and the nature of the Force, was Vader’s lack of awareness that Leia was his daughter. In fact, in the original trilogy, Vader encountered Leia multiple times, not only when she was being interrogated by him but also when Lando Calrissian turned Leia and Han over in The Empire Strikes Back. Given Vader’s considerable powers, it seems unlikely this would have escaped his notice.
In fact, this became even more confusing when The Rise of Skywalker fully confirmed that Leia had the Force, too. While she hadn’t been trained in the ways of the Force, and therefore may not have sensed the relationship herself, this means she would have been a presence in the Force. However, for whatever reason, Star Wars has yet to explain why a Force-user as powerful as Darth Vader would not have picked up on this connection while she was directly in his presence.
If there was one thing Anakin was sure to do in the prequel trilogy, it was disobey an order to do what he thought was right instead. This ranged from him intentionally misinterpreting Qui-Gon’s instructions not to leave his spot during the Battle of Naboo in The Phantom Menace to having a full-on secret marriage despite the Jedi Order forbidding any attachment. This makes it even more confusing that he wasn’t willing to break a rule to save his mother’s life.
For a prolonged period, Anakin was having nightmares that his mother was in danger and needed his help. Anakin undoubtedly wanted to go to his mother on Tatooine to make sure she was alright, but the Jedi’s avoidance of any attachments and the Council’s specific concerns about Anakin’s lingering feelings about his mother made this impossible—at least according to the rules. However, especially in Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones, Anakin was quite willing to break the rules.
In fact, it makes little sense why Anakin wouldn’t simply take a ship and go to Tatooine if it meant his mother’s life when, in the same movie, he disobeyed orders and went to save Obi-Wan on Geonosis. Yes, this happened at Padmé’s request, but it didn’t take all that much convincing. As it stands, though, Star Wars hasn’t given an explanation for Anakin obeying the rules for once when it meant the life of one of the most important people to him.
Throughout the Star Wars sequel trilogy, Kylo Ren was obsessed with becoming just like his grandfather, Darth Vader, to the point that he was essentially praying to Vader’s demolished helmet. While The Rise of Skywalker ultimately revealed that the voice Kylo Ren was hearing in his head was not actually Vader but rather Palpatine disguising himself with Vader’s voice, Anakin could still have communicated to Kylo that following in his footsteps wasn’t what he wanted for his grandson. After all, Anakin was redeemed in Return of the Jedi.