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Mason Spounias

Mrs. Storer

English 3H American Literature

January 24, 2020

An Empire of False Love

A long time ago in a galaxy far far away, love doesn’t just bring people together, but it

tears galaxies apart. George Lucas is able to twist and corrupt the archetype of love in his

critically acclaimed film Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith. This film is about the Jedi, Anakin

Skywalker, who is prophesized to save the galaxy from the return of evil. The Jedi are a mystical

people with unnatural abilities due to their connection to the force and therefore, they are tasked

with protecting the galaxy. He has a forbidden love, Padme Amidala, who he sees a vision of

dying at childbirth. An evil man promises him a way to save Padme, but it leads him down a

dark path. The entire movie follows the journey of the Jedi Skywalker to ultimately save his

forbidden love, and he will stop at nothing. While love is typically seen as a saving force in most

stories, in Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith,  love is portrayed as the tragic flaw that corrupts the

moral worldview of the film’s hero, Anakin Skywalker, and indirectly leads to the collapse of the

galaxy.

           Anakin’s love for his forbidden wife Padme turns into his tragic flaw rather than his

saving force. Audiences see Anakin’s flaws during an encounter with the evil Sith lord Palpatine

where the Jedi have come to arrest him. Anakin is faced with a choice, to be moral and just and

let the Jedi terminate the evil Sith lord, or to save Palpatine and acquire the secret to save his

wife. After quick hesitation, Anakin quickly draws his weapon and harms his close friend and

master in order to secure Padme’s safety. This swift action is all it takes to turn Anakin to the
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dark side, as audiences see the anger in his eyes as they turn a red-orange, and Palpatine deems

Anakin Darth Vader (Lucas). This scene shows Anakin’s own death, caused by his decisions

based on the love he has for his wife. Anakin has become so overwhelmed with the thought of

his true love dying, he figuratively dies. He has betrayed his friend, and in doing so has killed

Anakin Skywalker and given birth to a greater evil, Darth Vader. His tragic flaw doesn’t only kill

himself, but kill’s the one person he was meant to save. Moviegoers learn this during he and

Padme’s encounter on the grim planet of Mustafar. Having just heard what Anakin has done with

his friend and Palpatine, Padme confronts Anakin on Mustafar. Crying and grieving at what she

has just learned, Anakin feels betrayed. He feels that she no longer loves him, and in his anger,

he harms Padme, rendering her unconscious and she loses her will to live. She soon dies during

childbirth, just as Anakin had foreseen (Lucas). In figuratively killing Anakin Skywalker, Padme

has no reason to live. She sees the death of her husband as a means to not continue living, and

this directly causes her to pass shortly after she gives birth to their children. Anakin’s love is

ironically the cause of Padme’s death, his journey to save her is the very thing that causes her

demise in the first place, making love Anakin’s most tragic flaw. Not only does love cause such

appalling events, but it also corrupts and taints Skywalker's character. 

           Rather than save Anakin, the love between him and his wife corrupts and defaces his Jedi

legacy. Audiences witness the corruption of Anakin shortly after his encounter with Padme with

the events on the lava planet of Mustafar with his best friend, Obi-Wan Kenobi. Anakin has been

so overcome with rage from his perceived betrayal, he engages in an epic and lengthy duel with

his best friend. After an extraneous struggle, Anakin is defeated and left to die. Filled with pure

rage and hatred, the last thing he ever says to Obi-Wan is “I hate you!” (Lucas). Anakin’s quest

for Padme’s salvation is not seen to be righteous by Obi-Wan. These differing views cause
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Anakin to become selfish and to fill with rage, leading him to turn on his greatest ally. From a

right and just Jedi, Anakin’s quest has led him to become a corrupt and evil man, filled with rage

and hatred for those he once loved. Not only does Anakin turn on his best friend, but he also

turns on innocent people. Shortly after the figurative death of Anakin, he travels to the Jedi

temples under the request of Palpatine. He is ordered to kill all remaining Jedi, as they are

considered a threat to his mission. During the raid on the temple, young Jedi in training come

across Anakin. They ask for his help because they are fearful of the raid, but without a word,

Anakin slaughters them all (Lucas). In these scenes, audiences see just how much Anakin has

changed. He has gone from peacekeeper among worlds to slaughterer of innocent children.

Anakin’s love has led him down a path so heinous and gruesome, he is a mere shadow of

himself. He stops at nothing to save his love, even goes so far as to betray his morals and murder

younglings. Love doesn’t only betray Anakin and those around him but betrays the entire galaxy.

           Not limited to the people near him, Anakin’s love is a greater threat than ever imagined.

Moviegoers understand the magnitude of the destructive power of his love when Anakin

physically becomes Darth Vader. After fighting and losing to Obi-Wan on Mustafar, Anakin is

badly injured. His injuries lead him to be placed in a suit that served to function has his life

support. At the very end of the movie, fully equipped in his new suit, Vader and Palpatine are

aboard a starship watching a fleet of devastating ships and the construction of the Death Star

(Lucas). Here audiences see a glimpse of the future. They see what is famously known as the

Death Star, a space station in later movies that is able to destroy entire planets at will. Anakin’s

journey to save Padme has taken him far. It is certain that his path directly leads to where he is at

the end of the movie, gazing at a weapon of mass destruction so powerful it makes the entire

galaxy kneel to him out of pure fear as seen in later movies. Not only is Anakin able to take the
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galaxy by force, but also through political schemes. Audiences witness such actions during the

final meeting of the galactic senate. In previous movies, Palpatine had assumed the power of

chancellor. During a galactic senate meeting and using the Jedi’s attempt to arrest him as an

“Attempt on his life”, he is able to convince the galaxy that the Jedi are the enemy and they are

evil. The entire senate cheers and Palpatine follows with the announcement that he is

restructuring the galactic republic into the first-ever galactic empire (Lucas). All of the events of

the movie allow Palpatine to assume power. He can twist and manipulate the entire senate into

giving him all the power and turning the galaxy against the Jedi. None of that would be possible

if Anakin hadn’t become evil on his quest, allowing Palpatine to survive and ultimately allowing

him to become a tyrannical dictator over the entire galaxy, forcing his rule upon every system of

planets against their will. He had bent the galaxy to its knees. Anakin had everything and

nothing.

           Typically, love is a saving entity in most stories. It binds characters and heals wounds of

any kind. Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith  is an example of unconventional love, one that bends

the galaxy to its knees, corrupts and taints the legacy of our hero, and is the tragic flaw of the

prophet of salvation. There is a line to be drawn with love and obsession, with attachment and

greed. Where that line is drawn is up to the audience, but sometimes love requires drastic

measures, but it will eventually become too much.

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Works Cited

Lucas, George, director. Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith. Lucasfilm, 2005.