Summary
- Anakin Skywalker's villainous alter ego, Darth Vader, appears in Ahsoka Episode 5, "Shadow Warrior."
- The events of Ahsoka Episode 5 suggest Darth Vader's spirit could still live in Anakin Skywalker.
- Anakin Skywalker could be paying for his sins as Darth Vader as a Force Ghost.
Ahsoka continues to keep viewers on the edge of their seats with gripping drama and epic revelations regarding major characters in the Star Wars franchise. The new Disney+ series follows Ahsoka Tano (Rosario Dawson) as she struggles to keep the villainous Grand Admiral Thrawn (Lars Mikkelsen) from returning to wreak havoc on the galaxy. Along the way, Ahsoka is also forced to come to grips with her own past, including her feelings regarding her former master, Anakin Skywalker (Hayden Christensen), and his fall to the Dark Side.
In the epic fifth episode of Ahsoka, audiences get to see Hayden Christensen return as Anakin Skywalker, who appears to Ahsoka in the World Between Worlds as she falters between life and death. Now a Force Ghost after his death during the events of Return of the Jedi, Anakin helps Ahsoka see that she still has plenty left to live for. However, his method of doing so proves to be surprisingly dark, and, at certain points in their interactions, Ahsoka actually sees the person of Darth Vader bleeding through, leading audiences to wonder if the Sith Lord still lives on even after Anakin's redemption and death.
Did Ahsoka Tano Really See Darth Vader in Episode 5?
While Ahsoka Tano undergoes her own transformation in episode 5, Anakin Skywalker also seems to go through some major changes as well. In the midst of her interactions with her former Master, Ahsoka clearly sees flashes of Darth Vader, the horrific Sith Lord that Anakin eventually became. Moreover, while dueling Anakin, she sees his eyes glow the signature shade of yellow that has become synonymous with the Sith. Even though the master and apprentice ultimately leave things on magnanimous terms, Darth Vader's appearance seems to imply that the Sith Lord hasn't been completely expunged from Anakin's psyche--even after he became one with the Force.
It is possible that even after becoming a Force Ghost, Anakin Skywalker still struggles with the pull to the Dark Side. Anakin spent about half of his life as Darth Vader, making the Sith Lord's personality a massive part of his psyche. Sith spirits have a way of living, though not in quite the same way that Jedi spirits do. In fact, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker showcased an entire legion of Sith spirits that lived on through Emperor Palpatine, though the film made no mention of Vader. Rather, Vader may continue on as a small bit of Anakin Skywalker's mind even after his redemption and death, forever haunting him with memories of what he did after falling to the Dark Side of the Force.
Is Darth Vader's Spirit Punishing Anakin Skywalker For His Crimes?
Despite Anakin's redemption in Return of the Jedi, he still hasn't fully paid penance for his many crimes as Darth Vader. It is possible that the fallen Jedi is now being forced to pay for these sins for the rest of eternity, as he is constantly haunted by visions of what he became during his lifetime. If Darth Vader truly lives on within him, then Anakin can never truly be at peace. There will always be the risk of reverting back to his villainous self and thereby slipping back into the Dark Side, where he would suffer as a Sith spirit forever. As a Force Ghost, Anakin must constantly resist the pull back to the Dark Side, which gave him just as much power during his life as the Light Side did, gaining equal possession over his spirit.
Darth Vader and Anakin Skywalker live on after death, but not in harmony. With Darth Vader's continuing life, Anakin will also be left with a constant reminder of all the horrible things he did as a Sith Lord. Countless lives were lost at his hands, including that of his true love, Padmé Amidala. As such, Anakin's afterlife is no longer a reward, but a penalty for everything he regrets. Darth Vader is the devil in Anakin Skywalker's own personal hell, proving that slipping into the Dark Side was the greatest mistake of the fallen Jedi's life -- the penalty of which pursued him into the afterlife.
Can Anakin Skywalker Ever Truly Be Free of Darth Vader?
In his life, Anakin Skywalker was the Chosen One, the one who was destined to bring balance to the Force. While he did technically fulfill this prophecy in his lifetime, he did so in a bloody and horrific way that introduced untold death and destruction into the galaxy. The horrible truth of what he did in the name of gaining more power may mean that Anakin will never be capable of freeing himself from the memory of Darth Vader. Even several years after his death, Ahsoka shows that Anakin still has connections to his darker half, which could one day consume him in death just as it did in life.
As Darth Vader, Anakin Skywalker murdered the younglings in the Jedi Temple, slaughtered countless Jedi, and helped keep the galaxy subjugated under the thumb of Emperor Palpatine for over two decades. It seems unfair that a single moment of selfish redemption to save his own son would be enough to fully redeem Anakin Skywalker in the sight of the galaxy. However, the Force has a way of balancing out such injustice, and Anakin may be forced to pay the price for all eternity. As he continues to struggle with both sides of his personality, Anakin brings a kind of sick balance to the Force, shouldering the burden of both the Light and Dark Sides forever. The once grand and beloved hero is now a tortured and broken soul, but he can at least use his afterlife to keep others, including his former apprentice, from falling into the same traps that he once did.
Anakin Skywalker remains one of the most tortured individuals in Star Wars even after his death. Known as both the galaxy's greatest hero and its greatest villain, Anakin will live on in the Force forever, but may never truly be rid of his evil counterpart, Darth Vader.