Search Star Wars Figures and Vehicles:

The Darth Vader transformation – The Revenge of the Sith Episode III | What we learn about Anakin Skywalker's birth in The Revenge of the Sith | Palpatine's Relationship with Anakin / Vader

The Darth Vader transformation scene in The Revenge of the Sith raises a few questions, not least of which is that of how Palpatine managed to act so quickly. Darth Vader's armour is being placed over him so fast you have to wonder how long Palpatine had been planning this. All that armour and the mask weren’t just pulled out of the wardrobe on a whim. Palpatine had it measured up, designed and all ready to go. For this to work he must have foreseen his apprentice's downfall some time in the past and been well-prepared for the transformation.

The transformation scene also lends some additional irony to the scene earlier in the movie when Grievous and Anakin size each other up on the bridge of The Trade Federation battleship. Grievous seems to have gone through a similar process himself almost as a prototype for Anakin's transformation. As such, when Anakin tells Grievous 'you're shorter than I expected' there is a deep irony in the fact that unbeknown to Anakin, when events have played themselves out, his own mechanical legs will add a good 6 inches or more on to his own height.

In The Revenge of the Sith we learn that Darth Plageius the Wise was a Sith Lord so powerful that he could influence the midichlorians to create life. He taught his apprentice everything he knew and we are to assume that his apprentice was Palpatine. Thus we have an explanation for Shmi's giving birth to Anakin without needing a father, and also an explanation for the father-son relationship between Palpatine and Anakin.

In this reading Palpatine manufactures Anakin from day one and creates a being that, having such a high midichlorian count, was inevitably discovered and taken in by the Jedi as a sort of cuckoo thus corrupting the prophecy of the Chosen One. Since Anakin was created by a Sith his destiny is pretty much mapped out.

What undermines this reading is that Palpatine also says that Plageius had the ability to stop those he loved from dying. When Palpatine promises Anakin this knowledge he is lying. In fact, when he saves Anakin/Vader he can use no more than technology to do so. So if Palpatine doesn't possess this knowledge it also makes suspect any ability he might have to influence the midichlorians to create life. This perhaps opens up the third possibility that Plageius created Anakin before Palpatine assasinated his old master, and that Plageius actually didn’t teach Palpatine all of what he knew.

Darth Plageuis's ability to influence the midichlorians to create life provides one explanation that we have for Anakin's birth, for which even Shmi has no explanation. In this interpretation, as Plageius's apprentice Palpatine (although not Anakin’s creator) would have been aware of Anakin even before the Jedi found him on Tatooine. As such we see just how far back Palpatine's strategy goes. Ordering the Clone army 10 years prior to the Clone Wars is only the tip of the iceberg. In this reading Palpatine would have been watching over Anakin long before the Jedi discovered him, and he would also have parasitically allowed them to train him in the ways of the Jedi in order to do a large part of the job for him.

This would make Anakin just as much the creation of Plageuis and Palpatine as C-3PO is the creation of Anakin.

When we look at Palpatine/Sidious's other apprentices we can immediately see that there is something very different about Anakin / Vader. In The Phantom Menace when Darth Maul is vanquished we don't see Palpatine even contemplating coming to his aid and at the start of The Revenge of the Sith Sidious actually presides over the execution of his aprentice Dooku / Tyrannus.

My guess is that Palpatine's plan wasn't just to turn Anakin to the Dark Side but also to have him weakened enough that he couldn't be a real threat to Sidious's power. As a Jedi Anakin would have posed a threat to Palpatine and as a Sith in his intact human form he would have also made a formidible opponent. So when Palpatine comes to rescue Vader on Mustafar what he is essentially picking up is the finished product. Anakin is no longer a threat as a Jedi, and as a broken Sith he is powerful enough to do his job but also weakened enough for Palpatine not to have to fear being overthrown as he had murdered and overthrown his own mentor and master.

Palpatine foresees Anakin becoming more powerful than all the Jedi. This at once makes him a strong potential Sith but also a dangerous rival and this raises the question as to whether Palpatine also foresees Anakin/Vader's defeat at the hands of Obi-Wan and uses it to his advantage? When he rescues and rebuilds his apprentice he is creating a disciple who is weakened, and less powerful than his former self. This could well be a deliberate move on Palpatine's part as he is well aware of Sith apprentices' tendencies to murder their masters.

By creating an apprentice strong enough to do his bidding but not strong enough to overthrow him, Palpatine secures is position and power. Had Anakin/Vader realised his full potential as a Sith Lord he would have been a powerful rival to Palpatine. In fact, Vader does seem to suggest overthrowing his master at every opportunity. Firstly, in his conversation with Padmé prior to his duel with Obi-Wan in The Revenge of the Sith. Secondly, in his conversation with Luke at the end of the Bespin Duel in the Empire Strikes Back.

---

All Star Wars action figures, vehicles, collectibles and Star Wars toys shown on this website are the 3.75 inch scale and from my own private Star Wars collection unless otherwise stated. Where possible original vintage accessories have been used but in some instances I have placed Kenner Star Wars figures with either reproduction weapons and accessories or for Hasbro figures close approximations have been used. This is mostly the case for modern Star Wars lightsabers where the correct item can be very difficult to identify on some ocassions. Vintage Star Wars action figures are shown with their original weapon or accessory when I have them. When a vintage Kenner action figure is shown with an accessory which is not original I have tried to point this out where possible.

All of the Star Wars action figures shown were purchased second hand, usually incomplete, and in bulk. They have been reunited with their original weapons and accessories where we could get hold of them.

Kenner Figures | Power of the Force Figures | Episode 1 Collection Figures | Power of the Jedi Figures | Saga Series Figures | Disney Star Tours Figures | Original Trilogy Collection Figures | Revenge of the Sith Collection Figures | Saga Collection Figures | 30th Anniversary Collection Figures | Clone Wars Collection Figures | Vintage Collection Figures | Legacy Collection Figures | Saga Legends Figures | Black Series Figures