Star Wars: Anakin’s 3 most important and heartbreaking bonds

Everyone knows that the fear of losing his wife, Padme Amidala, pushed Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker to join the dark side.

After years and years of being manipulated to turn against the Jedi by Senator Sheev Palpatine, under the guise of friendship, Anakin finally pledged his loyalty to the Sith Lord and did the unthinkable when he slaughtered younglings during Order 66. Anakin fell in love with Padme as a young boy and confessed his feelings to her years later. The two married, and everyone knows the rest of the story.

But Padme wasn’t the only person Anakin loved before he turned to the dark side. Here are the three other people whom he would’ve died to protect.

1. Anakin and Obi-Wan Kenobi

From the age of nine, till he turned to the dark side as an adult, Obi-Wan Kenobi was not only Anakin’s master but also his brother and best friend. Obi-Wan raised Anakin and taught him everything he knew, and over the course of the Clone Wars, their bond became less like that of a master and apprentice, but more like the bond between two brothers and friends.

They had nearly identical fighting styles and trusted each other almost to a fault. Their eventual falling out and evolution from brothers to enemies is perhaps the most hauntingly tragic story in Star Wars. As Darth Vader, he spent years wanting to kill Obi-Wan, whom he blamed for his disfiguration.

2. Anakin and Ahsoka Tano

The bond between a master and a Padawan is always a touching one, and in the case of Anakin and Ahsoka, this is especially true. Anakin was always extremely protective of those he cared about, and Ahsoka was definitely near the top of his list of priorities. He taught her everything he knew and had learned from Obi-Wan and even Qui Gon Jinn, and focused on making sure Ahsoka knew how to protect herself, something that came in handy when her own clone trooper friends turned against her during Order 66.

Heartbreakingly enough, the skills he taught Ahsoka, including fighting opponents twice her size, came in especially handy when the two faced off against each other in Star Wars Rebels, where Ahsoka bested her master turned enemy, Darth Vader. Anakin’s turn to the dark side is something that influenced every step Ahsoka took for the rest of her life.

3. Anakin and Shmi Skywalker

Apart from his wife, there’s no one Anakin loved more than his own mother, Shmi. Her tragic death in Episode II: Attack of the Clones, was arguably the first step in his turn to the dark side.

Anakin wanted to return to Tatooine and free his mother from slavery but once he returned it was too late. Shmi was captured and tortured by the Tusken Raiders, and her death led to Anakin slaughtering each and every one of them, even the women and the children.

The loss of his mother was something that he never recovered from, and internally resented the Jedi for because they kept him from seeing her for years. Shmi’s death made him determined to make sure he never loses another person he loves, something that became his undoing.