Who do you feel sorry for?

[Ma'Kata So-gan]

I get very different responses each time I ask this question. For whom do you feel the most sympathy by the end of EP III?

Is it Obi-Wan, who loses someone he loves like a brother, sees his fellow Jedi destroyed by that man and feels he could have done more to prevent it?

Is it Yoda, who sees the end of the Jedi Order that he served for so long, supplanted by an evil dictatorship he may have done more to stop?

Is it Padme, who is betrayed by the love of her life, and dies without ever seeing her children grow up to reverse the tragic legacy of their father?

Is it Anakin (not Vader, the evil that he becomes) who loses the one person he loves and has loved all his life, will never know his own children, and loses his humanity in the end?

[Leda EmBorr]

Padme first, then Anakin.

Blame it on the mother in me.

And even though Anakin didn't make the right choices, he was decieved and used by Palpatine, and mistrusted by the Jedi.... he was just stuck in the middle of everything.

[Seda Navilli]

I actually felt sorry for Yoda the most; he trained generations of Jedi for one purpose: to defeat the Sith the next time they strike. He was there as an entire Jedi order was built, hundreds of years of information stored into holocrons and more importantly, hundreds of children taken from their homes and their parents promised by Yoda and others like him that they would be taken care of. An entire legacy and life... and it is all taken away, in almost an instant. All those good people dead, his one goal in his life as a Jedi a failure.

Well, thats how I felt

[Leda EmBorr]

True... and in the novelization there is a bit where he regrets not allowing the order to change with the times, as the Sith did, and he blames himself briefly for his lack of sight.

And also in the novelization theres an "extended version" if you will, of the part where Obi-Wan see he holo of Anakin killing everyone and he collapses against the unit and goes on about how he should have died on Naboo with Qui-Gon and this wouldn't have happened.

I do feel sorry for them there, but the scene that kills me is that really corny one in Padme's apartment where she talks about having the baby back on Naboo, and I feel bad for her, knowing what will really happen.

[Seda Navilli]

Hehe I'm currently on my third re-read of the novellisation ;D

I didnt really feel connected to Padme. The movies/book seemed to focus much more on Anakin's sorrow and tragedy than hers it seemed. But then again I've never been pregnant, so maybe you have a far better understanding of how it could feel to lose such a connection than me

[Mon-Jas Charan]

I don't really know ... I just don't understand how a broken heart could over ride the joy of the birth of children. There are time my children give me the will to keep going. But I'm just a father.

[Xorren Hedrasii]

For me it's a tie between Yoda and Obi-Wan. I would say why, but Ma'Kata and Seda basically summed it up pretty well.

[Leda EmBorr]

seda said:

Hehe I'm currently on my third re-read of the novellisation ;D

I didnt really feel connected to Padme. The movies/book seemed to focus much more on Anakin's sorrow and tragedy than hers it seemed. But then again I've never been pregnant, so maybe you have a far better understanding of how it could feel to lose such a connection than me

I really never connected with Padme either, she's a very different character than me... except the for motherhood thing.... that hit home hard!

[Jan-Qui Coran]

:'(I think Yoda living through the overwhelming loss of the Jedi that he helped train & especially Obi-Wan & how he must have felt seeing his padawan become Jedi Knight then turn to the dark side. In Last of the Jedi series the author summed up the the devestation & loss that Obi-Wan went through & he had to do it alone.

[Aston Jor-Cello]

I feel sorry for Yoda as well. In his mind he feels that he has failed everyone, so he has to go be in exile and cut off from everything. I love that deleted scene on the Episode 3 bonus disk, that shows Yoda's little capsule landing on Dagobah. It makes you really think about how long he has to wait there and what things he will ponder and think about until Luke shows up.

[kivaanzion]

When I first read this thread, I thought that I easily felt most sorry for Anakin.

I watched the movie again last night and my opinion has changed. It's basically a three-way tie between Anakin, Obi-Wan, and Padme.

Anakin has been in love with Padme since he first laid eyes on her when he was 9 years old. She made his dream come true by professing her love for Anakin, and later marrying him. His happiness is doubled when he discovers she is pregnant.

But he is troubled by re-occurring nightmares of losing her. So he does everything in the name of saving the one he loves- Turns the universe upside-down, literally becomes all that he swore to destroy. And in the end after all that he has done for her (at least in his eyes) she deceives him by bringing Obi-Wan to Mustafar. (I realize this is not really the case- I'm just telling it from Anakin's perspective.) Can you imagine the incredible betrayal he felt?

After his battle with Obi-Wan, he has lost everything he has left- his handsomeness, his remaining good limbs, and any feeling of superiority he once had (imagine the blow to his ego after being cut down by his former Master).

But he is given a second chance. I'm sure Anakin believed he would die on Mustafar had the Emperor not rescued him. He is graciously given a new body, and is allowed to remain as a worthy Sith apprentice. All he needs at this point is to hear that Padme is ok...

He is told that she is dead,

And it is because of his own doing.

No wonder Darth Vader couldn't care less about the universe and anyone he has to hurt for the rest of his days.


Onto Padme- it really is the same as Anakin, with a slight twist. Padme is torn between her loyalty to the Senate, and allowing her feelings for Anakin to flourish. She chooses to follow her heart, and marry Anakin, knowing that it will be a difficult life at best. However she is willing to sacrifice her career, and her social status because she believes that love is all she needs.

On Mustafar she discovers that all the horrible rumours she has been told about the man she has married is true. One can only guess how she felt upon realizing her husband is the most evil man in the galaxy. When she delivers the line "Anakin: you're breaking my heart!" I cannot help my eyes welling up every time.


And finally we have Obi-Wan who is forced to fight the man he had become a foster father to. It is like a parent watching their child going down the slippery-slope to ruin, and not being able to do anything about it- until they have no choice left but to turn on them.

I think Obi-Wan may have temporarily convinced himself that Anakin was not the same person he once knew at the beginning of the battle on Mustafar. Anakin had become a Sith, basically allowing Obi-Wan to set aside all feelings he had for his former student and "do what he must".

Once the battle was over, the cold hard reality of what Obi-Wan had done hit him like a sledgehammer: he had destroyed the man whom he loved like a brother (although I believe it was closer to the love of a father for a son). It could be a small part of the reason Obi-Wan goes into exile on Tatooine: a self-imposed penance for what he had to do.

Like I said- a three way tie for me.

[Leda EmBorr]

You bring up some really good points!

To add to Anakin's version, he must have also felt "used" by the Jedi when they asked him spy on Palpatine.

[kivaanzion]

ledaemborr said:

he must have also felt used by the Jedi when they asked him spy on Palpatine.

Indeed. Anakin was under a great deal of pressure before he basically snapped.

He is told by Palpatine that he will become a member of the Jedi Council. Anakin is a little overwhelmed at first but is ecstatic about becoming a Master--- only to have the rug pulled out from under him when Mace announces that he will not be promoted in rank. So Anakin must live with the stigma of being the only Council member in history not to hold the rank of Master.

Later his Master and comrade asks that he spy on the Chancellor- again more pressure on Anakin's shoulders.

Padme further complicates things by suggesting that Anakin talk to Palpatine about ending the war. Anakin has enough weight on his back- he doesn't need anymore; especially from the woman he loves dearly. The "Don't ask me to do that!" line was delivered perfectly.

And finally he begins to become suspicious of his wife- the "Obi-Wan has been here" scene. Anakin has absolutely no reason to be jealous. However everything he is going through is making him think irrationally.

And all of this is on top of Anakin's nightmares, and his feelings of running out of time to save Padme.

[Jauhzmynn Enz]

kivaanzion said:

ledaemborr said:

he must have also felt used by the Jedi when they asked him spy on Palpatine.

He is told by Palpatine that he will become a member of the Jedi Council. Anakin is a little overwhelmed at first but is ecstatic about becoming a Master--- only to have the rug pulled out from under him when Mace announces that he will not be promoted in rank. So Anakin must live with the stigma of being the only Council member in history not to hold the rank of Master.

Quick clarificaition of the way the council is set up, knights can and do have seats. There's a few life-time members, Mace and Yoda are a couple, they've already had been masters for decades. Next are long term members, these can be masters or knights and finally short term members. They can be knights or masters. Any member cna step down at any time. They have it set up this way so there's a new influx of ideas. They've knights around to have the younger perspective avaiable. The term "master" is an honourific. When we first see kai Adi Mundi , he was a knight rank but served on the council. Now Anikan was JUST knight mere monthss ago so he would've have been upgraded that quick not even if he were an New Jedo Order jedi. Mace wouldn't give 'em the honourrific of "master" because the young man hadn't learned to master himself and his pride, and Mace didn't trust Anikan could he sense the young Knight was being pressured and, or influenced from outside by Palpatine. He may not have known the reasons until later..

Whom am I sorry for?

Several people.

Anikan for one, from day one others had been pulling him this way and that way, starting with Watto, then Qui-Gon eventhough QJ's motives were for the good, to the Jedi having expectations of him, to Palpatine's maniplaitions. Few folks left him alone to just BE. He was being yanked to fit every mold offered from slave to "Chosen One' to a'good jedi/padawan/knight', to Sith, and yet he'd never found HIS mold. he was always someone's slave even if the cage were guilded, always calling some being "master" even if it were to a gentle being or worse, one who claimed he was a friend.(Palpatine)


I feel sorry for Yoda, poor little dude felt all those people wink out, espcially small children when Anikan, the 501st and the rest of the clone troopers when on a killing spree. I STILL can't watch that part of the movie without feeling quite disturbed. I KNOW what it feels like to feel someone close to me die from long distance. It stinks. Odd feeling though, they were there and 'blink' not there any more.

Qui Gon cuz he never had a chance to raise Anikan, he would've been good.

Obi Wan, from episode 1, he was seemingly 'passed over' for Anikan eventhough it wasn't the case. Then trying to teach a youth when he was barly a padawan himself, then on to face a horrid war. Poor guy grew old before his time. Finally to see his formor student killing and terrorizing untold billions.(terrorizing the later that I know of.) He thought he was a failure. Is it the reason why he'd waited so long before actually making the attempt?

[kivaanzion]

I had forgotten about Ki-Adi Mundi being a Knight on the Council.