With Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker revealing Rey and Ben Solo being a dyad in the Force, we had an after-thought about why Vader didn’t have a Force bond during his lifetime.
Anakin Skywalker was one of the most powerful Force users in the galaxy. After falling to save his wife from death, he become so entrenched in the dark side that he thought there was no way back for him. The love of his son Luke bought him back to the light but at the expense of his life.
Years later, his grandson Ben would discover a close Force connection with the scavenger known simply as Rey and learn they had a dyad in the Force and that the love of his mother redeemed him before both their deaths.
However, given that Darth Vader was powerful in the Force, many others forged Force-bonds with others during their lifetimes while he did not. We’re going to investigate the reasons for this. We’ll also examine whether one might have been likely and how it might’ve broken if one existed at all. We’re going to be referencing the differences between a Force-bond and the prophezied Dyad in the Force as well.
Before we begin, please be aware that we’re taking information from all eras of Star Wars that is canon. There will be NO use of Legends material in this article.
What Is A Force-Bond?
Now, before we jump into our theory, we need to explain the following question: what is a Force-Bond?
A Force-bond is a connection that occurs between two powerful Force sensitive person and gives them the ability to commune with each other via the Force no matter how far apart they might be. However, this talent could be manipulated by Dark Side users.
The ability wasn’t just restricted to just two people as a strong practitioner of the Force could forge secret connections with others without their target realizing what was happening.
A Force-bond was known to be difficult to break as seen with Ezra Bridger and former Sith Lord Maul when they realised a bond had forced between them after they merged their Jedi and Sith holocrons. The link between them was only severed when Maul was killed by Obi-Wan Kenobi on Tatooine.
However, other Force-bonds such as the one between Count Dooku and his former Master, Yoda can be used to turn the objective to the dark side. During the Clone Wars, Darth Sidious sensed his apprentice’s former Jedi teacher on Moraband. He decided to use the opportunity to see why the wisest and oldest Jedi Master had arrived on the planet.
To achieve his goal, he needed Dooku to complete ritual as his pupil still had his link to his former mentor. However, his efforts were futile as Yoda’s will was too strong.
Difference between Force-bond and dyad in the force
We also need to explain the difference between a Force-bond and the rare Dyad in the Force before we can examine our theory.
With a Force-bond, the practitioners are two separate individuals within the Force acting on their own accord. Meanwhile, a Dyad in the Force is a partnership that acts as one entity. The only known example of this is Ben Solo, grandson of Darth Vader, and Rey, granddaughter of Sheev Palpatine.
Ben became aware of his bond with Rey on Takodana. After he captured the scavenger, his mind probe didn’t work on her. Though at the time this occurred, he had no idea that the dyad had formed between them.
As time went on, the connection between them became stronger, prompting them to form a complex relationship where both hated each other but understood the other. Rey started to confide in Ben while he stopped attempting to hide his misery and agony from her as she could sense it anyway.
Like her rival’s mother, Leia Organa, Rey could sense the light still shone in Ben, believing she could turn him back to the light. This would mirror how Kylo Ren’s uncle and former master, Luke Skywalker redeemed his grandfather Anakin all those years earlier.
Ahsoka and Obi-Wan: Anakin’s BFFs
Of the two people he interacted with most during his time fighting in the Clone Wars, Anakin spent a lot of time with his Padawan Ahsoka Tano and his former master and best friend Obi-Wan Kenobi. This is where the theory comes in.
If he was so close to both of them, why didn’t he form a Force-bond with one of them?
Despite his friendship with Obi-Wan spanning 13 years by the time Clone Wars ended, it’s easy to assume Anakin would’ve bonded with his former mentor as their bond was stronger than the one the Jedi Knight had with his Padawan, which lasted only two years.
We think the reason why Anakin didn’t develop a Force-bond with Obi-Wan was because they saw each other as family and it’s hard to leave a bond like that if something were to happen. Look at how Kenobi left his friend on Mustafar to die. It left him devastated so it’s easy to see how a Force-bond would feel if your Force-bond partner had died or turned evil.
Unlike the bond between Yoda and Dooku, the relationship between Skywalker and his master went from father-and-son and to that of brothers. The older pairing were nothing more than just teacher and student. Moreover, a Force-bond would mean Vader would’ve been able to trace Obi-Wan to Tatooine and find out that the twins, or rather, Luke had survived and Owen and Beru were raising him. He’d probably kill them for simply knowing his son was alive.
Anakin’s relationship with Ahsoka was similar to his relationship with Obi-Wan. Despite being his student, Anakin had a close bond with his Padawan and nicknamed her ‘Snips’ due to her snippy attitude towards him when they met. Ahsoka called her teacher Skyguy as a bit of an insult at first given the fact he found her annoying.
However, as time went on, the nicknames more affectionate, similar to siblings.
If Anakin were to form a Force-bond with his former apprentice, it would’ve hurt them to be apart when Ahsoka left the Jedi Order after she was framed for terrorism. Also, if they’d had a Force-bond, Vader would’ve been able to exploit it and hunt her down and possibly kill her.
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Why having a Force-bond is a bad idea
With the Force-bonds we know exist, having a Force-bond is not generally a good idea. One-half of each pairing has fallen to the Dark Side. Dooku fell after leaving the Jedi Order before the death of his former Padawan and friend, Qui-Gon Jinn. He later got decapitated by Anakin on Palpatine’s orders.
Maul had been raised as a Dathomirian Nightbrother before being trained as a Sith Assassin under Darth Sidious. For years he served his master with loyalty until he was defeated on Naboo by Obi-Wan in revenge for killing Qui-Gon. He later resurfaced as crazy and with spider legs and a thirst for revenge. Years later, he blinded Kanan Jarrus and taunted Ahsoka before he died by Obi-Wan’s hand.
Then there was Ben who wanted to be like his granddaddy, Darth Vader, but ends up dying a hero, ending the Skywalker bloodline. Though, Rey takes the Skywalker name and renounces her birth family.
Some of the heroes we’ve mentioned ended up either dead or in parts unknown that we have not seen yet. It’s rumoured there might be a Star Wars Rebels sequel show coming, so there’s a chance we might see Ezra and co again. We’ve got our fingers crossed that it’s actually happening.
Do you think Anakin/Vader should have had a Force-bond with Ahsoka or Obi-Wan? Comment Below!