Anakin Skywalker

"Don’t be too proud of this technological terror you’ve constructed. The ability to destroy a planet is insignificant next to the power of the Force. ""―Anakin Skywalker, 0 ABY"Anakin Skywalker was a Jedi Knight of the Galactic Republic and the Chosen One of the Force. During the Clone Wars, his accomplishments as a battlefield commander earned him the Hero With No Fear moniker. After turning to the dark side of the Force, he became known as Darth Vader — Dark Lord of the Sith and apprentice to Emperor Darth Sidious.

As a Sith Lord, Vader turned against his former comrades and hunted the surviving Jedi into near extinction. He became an enforcer of the Galactic Empire, who worked to crush the Alliance to Restore the Republic for opposing his Sith Master's will. Yet despite his actions as Darth Vader, a glimmer of the light side of the Force remained within the former Anakin Skywalker.

Throughout the Dark Times, the former Anakin Skywalker brought fear to the galaxy in his capacity as the Emperor's dark enforcer. However, in spite of his deep immersion in darkness, Vader never succeeded in fully killing the side of himself that was Skywalker. His confrontation with his son, the aspiring Jedi Knight Luke Skywalker, during the Galactic Civil War awoke the compassion within the Sith Lord, causing Vader to renounce his allegiance to the Sith in order to save Luke from the Emperor's wrath.

By killing his Master, however, Vader sustained critical damage to his armor, making death inevitable. Resigned to his fate, his dying wish was to see his son with his own eyes for the first and final time.

In the end, he died not as Darth Vader but as Anakin Skywalker, the Chosen One who brought balance to the Force by destroying the Sith. His destiny fulfilled, Skywalker's consciousness was able to endure beyond death due to his sacrifice and redemption, allowing him to live on in spirit alongside his deceased Jedi mentors, Qui-Gon Jinn, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and Grand Master Yoda.

Background
"'Had he been born in the Republic, we would have identified him early. The Force is unusually strong with him, that much is clear. Who is his father?'""'There was no father. I carried him, I gave birth, I raised him, I can't explain what happened.'""―Qui-Gon Jinn and Shmi Skywalker" Believed to have been conceived by the midi-chlorians, Anakin Skywalker was born to the slave Shmi Skywalker. Skywalker and his mother were originally owned by Gardulla the Hutt until she lost them to the Toydarian Watto in a podracing bet when Skywalker was around age 3. The two then moved to the desert world of Tatooine. Affectionately nicknamed "Ani," he worked in his master's shop, located in Mos Espa.

Even at a young age, Skywalker exhibited exceptional piloting skills, and built the protocol droid C-3PO, specially modified to withstand Tatooine's sand and heat, for his mother. Once, while he was working in Watto's scrap yard, he found a broken servomotor he thought he could repair and use on the droid he was building and asked his master for it. With a glance, Watto saw that it was worthless and grunted that he could, but as Skywalker walked away, Watto told him nothing was free, and had him work harder the next day. Skywalker got the photoreceptors for the droid at a market in Mos Espa. Though a Gran wanted them too and chased him through the market, Skywalker escaped by destroying an Ithorian's stall and blocking the Gran's pursuit. He was close friends with fellow slaves Kitster Banai and Wald, as well as the elderly Jira. He also built his own podracer.

At some point, Watto told Anakin to go and throw away some scrap. When looking at it, Anakin found an ultra power cell, just what he needed for his pod. Suddenly, a swoop gang with a Devaronian member attacked the streets and shot the generator for the medical center. When Anakin examined it to see if he could repair the generator he saw that it needed a power cell. So, he took his and saved the medical center. A week later, Anakin participated in a pod race with Sebulba who made him lose by cheating. Anakin stated that if he would have used the power cell on his own pod, he would have won but that it was more important for the medical center to receive it.

The Jedi Inquiries

 * "There's something about this boy."
 * ―Qui-Gon Jinn

One day, at the age of 9, Watto shouted for him to come inside the junk shop, to find a tall man, a young woman, a Gungan, Jar Jar Binks and an astromech droid, R2-D2, conversing with Watto. At Watto's instructions, Skywalker manned the shop while Watto took the man, Qui-Gon Jinn, into the junkyard. Skywalker was fascinated by the beauty of the young woman, Padmé Naberrie so much that he asked her if she was an angel from the moons of Iego, but shortly after Watto and Jinn returned to the shop, and Jinn informed his companions that they were leaving. Fortunately for Skywalker, Watto allowed him to leave after he cleaned up the mess that Binks had made. As he headed home, Skywalker came across Binks, who was being attacked by Sebulba after the clumsy Gungan had disrupted the racer's meal. Breaking up the fight, Skywalker greeted Naberrie and the rest of her group when they arrived to see what was happening, and he convinced the group to follow him to Jira's fruit stand nearby. As he gave one of the pallies to Jinn, the boy was astonished to see a lightsaber on the man's waist when his poncho opened slightly. When Jira warned the group that a sandstorm was coming, Skywalker insisted that the unprepared group come with him to his home.

When they reached his house, he introduced the group to his mother and explained about the sandstorm before pulling Naberrie into his room to show her his project. Naberrie was genuinely impressed by Skywalker's work on C-3PO, prompting him to turn the droid on, and he also told her about the podracer he was constructing. The group stayed at the Skywalkers’ as the sandstorm continued to rage, and during a meal, he began to explain life as a slave, though a brief argument between Naberrie and Shmi about slavery led Anakin to the subject of podracing. Mustering his courage, Skywalker asked Jinn about his lightsaber, and he refused to believe the Jedi's statement that he was not there to free the slaves. As the conversation turned to the group's damaged Naboo Royal Starship, Skywalker volunteered to race in the Boonta Eve Classic podrace so that Jinn could get the prize money.

When his mother objected, Anakin reminded Shmi of her belief that people needed to help one another, convincing her to allow Anakin to race for Jinn. The next morning, Jinn and the others accompanied Skywalker to Watto's shop, and the boy began to tell Watto about Jinn's proposal when Naberrie stopped Jinn outside for a brief conversation. To appease Watto, Jinn put forth his ship as the entry fee, and convinced the Toydarian to front the cost of Skywalker's entry into the race in exchange for splitting the winnings fifty-fifty. Watto accepted the deal, and Skywalker was dismissed immediately with instructions to check out Jinn's podracer. As Skywalker worked, his friends Banai and Wald among them, arrived, but Wald, and the others were skeptical of Skywalker's chances and left to go play elsewhere, except for Banai. Despite Skywalker's warnings, Binks became caught between the podracer's energy binders, causing his face to go numb. Anakin used a power pack that Jinn had lifted from Watto's shop to start the podracer, and the group was heartened to witness the engines activating and running perfectly.

That afternoon, Skywalker sustained a cut on his arm, though he did not notice it until later that night when Jinn tended to it and took a sample of his blood. Before Skywalker could get Jinn to tell him what he was doing with his blood, his mother called him inside their house for bedtime.

Racing to freedom

 * "'Remember, concentrate on the moment. Feel, don't think. Use your instincts.'"
 * "'I will.'"
 * "'May the Force be with you.'"
 * "―Qui-Gon Jinn advises Anakin before the beginning of the podrace."

With two eopies, Naberrie, Banai, Shmi, Anakin, R2-D2, and C-3PO hauled the podracer to the arena hangars, where Jinn had gone to meet with Watto. The Toydarian angrily left the hangar just as they arrived, confusing Skywalker with a comment about Jinn and betting, but Banai unintentionally revealed to Naberrie and the others that Skywalker had never actually finished a race, causing Naberrie to lose hope in the boy's chances. A little while later, the racers and their pods entered the arena and lined up for the race, and Shmi stopped her son to ask him to be safe before he headed out to his racer. not even Sebulba's threats rattled Skywalker as Jinn helped him into the podracer cockpit. But to Skywalker's dismay, when the starting light turned green, the pod's engines stalled immediately, leaving him stuck at the staring line with only Ben Quadinaros and his stalled racer as the rest of the competitors flew off. Realizing that he had leave out one step to start the pod, he rapidly flipped switches and adjusted settings to reset the engines and succeeded in starting the engines, flying out of the arena and chasing after the others.

He soon caught up to the other racers, passing two before they even noticed him, and he prepared to pass the Troiken Gasgano as they approached Arch Canyon. Gasgano blocked his first few attempts, but Skywalker overtook him as they dropped over a short mesa and proceeded to slip into Arch Canyon quickly and without any trouble. Teemto Pagalies tried to push him into the rock, but Skywalker was able to pass him with a twist. Sebulba tossed a piece of debris behind him and into Mars Guo's left engine intake, clogging the motors inside. The engine intake stopped working before the entire engine combusted. With Guo crashing into the desert sands, Skywalker was free to move ahead, going neck and neck with Sebulba as they passed the grid line into the third lap. Going into the third lap, Sebulba still held the lead, as narrow as it was. With Skywalker close behind, and now out of surprise tricks, Sebulba resorted to sheer brutality in order to either keep Skywalker behind him or batter the boy enough to destroy his pod. Approaching the Laguna Caves, a part of the course where Tyerell had crashed earlier, Sebulba rammed Skywalker off course, forcing him onto a steep service ramp. Boosting, Skywalker sped up the ramp at an exhilarating speed, propelling himself into the sky. The boy was quick to act and adjusted his pod accordingly, leveling his Podracer's nosedive as he headed back for the ground. Not only did he save himself from an explosive wreck, but his jump off of the ramp put him directly in front of a surprised Sebulba. Skywalker continued to hold the lead until they ran into a series of archways. Suddenly Skywalker's left engine bucked and began to give off a stream of dense smoke. Sebulba's earlier sabotage was beginning to take effect as Skywalker pushed his pod to its limit. Skywalker managed to resolve his engine difficulties and quickly regained his ground, passing up several other Podracers before gaining a tail on Gasgano. Although Skywalker had had issues with passing the Xexto earlier in the race, this time he swerved past Gasgano with little effort and eventually flew parallel with Sebulba as they headed for the final stretch of the course.

As they approached the arena, Sebulba blocked every attempt of Skywalker's to pass, and he finally swerved his larger racer into Skywalker's in anger at the boy's repeated attempts—only for the two racers' steering rods to be caught together. When Skywalker's rod finally snapped completely, his podracer began to shudder violently but broke free of Sebulba's racer, the engines of which shot forward and went flying out of control, slamming into rock and sand and exploding. As Sebulba's pod skidded to a halt, Skywalker shot toward the arena and across the finish line, winning the Boonta Eve Classic.

As Skywalker came to a halt, the crowd swarmed his racer. Jinn hoisted Skywalker onto his shoulders in celebration. In the hangar, Skywalker met up with his family and friends. As Jinn approached, Anakin became embarrassed at Naberrie and his mother's constant hugs and kisses, but Jinn soon departed with Binks and Naberrie to take their parts back to the ship.

Farewell to Home
"'Be brave. And don't look back.'"
 * "―Shmi Skywalker's parting words to her son"Anakinandmom.jpg

Returning home with Jinn, Skywalker ecstatically showed his mother the credits, and his happiness only increased when Jinn told him that he had been freed and Jinn wanted him to become a Jedi. Anakin was so excited that it was several minutes before he realized that Shmi had not been freed as well, and he was dismayed when Shmi insisted that Anakin go with Jinn to a better future without her. Packing his stuff, Skywalker bid goodbye to C-3PO, but when it came time to leave, Anakin's resolve broke and he ran back to his mother. He promised that he would return and free her. Despite their sorrow at parting, Shmi convinced her son to go with the Jedi.

As they raced towards the starship that Naberrie and Jinn had come to Tatooine on, Skywalker was suddenly ordered to drop to the ground and complied just as a dark-robed figure, Sith Lord Darth Maul, shot overhead on a speeder. The man leapt at Jinn, drawing a red-bladed lightsaber and attacking the Jedi as Jinn urged Skywalker to get aboard the ship and to take off. He rushed aboard, and Naberrie took him to the cockpit to tell Jinn's apprentice, Obi-Wan Kenobi, what had happened. The pilot Ric Olié followed Kenobi's instructions to fly towards the fight, and Skywalker scrambled into a seat as Kenobi raced to the landing ramp and helped Jinn escape from the dark warrior. Skywalker and Kenobi rushed to help Jinn as the ship took off and left Tatooine. When they were convinced Qui-Gon was fine, the Jedi master introduced Obi-Wan to Anakin, who was happy to meet another Jedi.

Before the Jedi Council

 * "He is the Chosen One. You must see it!"
 * ―Qui-Gon Jinn pleads to the Council to train Anakin.

Later that night, aboard the ship, which Skywalker learned was the personal starship of the Queen of the planet Naboo, Skywalker struggled to fall asleep in the central chamber, as the ship's temperature was radically different to the constant heat of Tatooine that he was used. As he huddled in silence, Skywalker witnessed Naberrie enter the room and watch a recording of a plea for help from the Naboo official Sio Bibble. She soon noticed him and gave him her a blanket, and the two discussed the Trade Federation’s invasion of Naboo and Naberrie's hopes that the Republic's Galactic Senate could resolve the crisis. Skywalker gave her a japor ivory wood pendant that he had carved for her so that she would remember him, and Naberrie comforted him as he become sad as he remembered his mother.

When they finally arrived at the Republic capital of Coruscant, Skywalker watched from the cockpit in awe as they approached the city-planet, and the ship was greeted when it landed by Supreme Chancellor Finis Valorum, Senator Palpatine of Naboo, and a contingent of Senate Guards. The Queen and her handmaidens—including Naberrie—departed with Palpatine, though they brought Skywalker and Binks along with them to Palpatine's office and left them outside while they discussed the situation.

Before he went to the Jedi Temple, Skywalker went to the Queen's chambers in search of Naberrie, but the Queen promised to pass on his message when the handmaiden was absent. Unbeknownst to Skywalker, however, the Queen was in fact Padmé.

Harboring strong premonitions he had received on Tatooine, Qui-Gon Jinn believed Anakin Skywalker to be the Chosen One of prophecy who, it was foretold, would bring "balance to the Force"; Jinn revealed his belief and Anakin's corroborative midi-chlorian test results to members of the Jedi High Council before bringing the boy before them for their consideration of the boy's aptitude for life as a Jedi. At the Jedi Temple, Skywalker faced the twelve Jedi Masters on the Council. Mace Windu tested Skywalker's abilities by asking him to determine what images were appearing on a screen that the Jedi was holding but that the boy could not see. Skywalker named them all with perfect accuracy. However, when Windu and Master Yoda questioned him about his feelings and his mother, Skywalker asked how that was relevant. Yoda explained that fear was the starting point on the path to the dark side. The old Jedi master said he sensed a lot of fear in Skywalker.

As night fell, Skywalker, Kenobi, and Jinn were called before the Council. The Jedi Masters acknowledged Skywalker's great power, but refused to train him on account of his age—causing Jinn to declare that he would take the boy on as his own apprentice. However, Windu declared that the matter would be dealt with later, as the Naboo problem was more pressing. The Council permitted Skywalker to accompany Jinn, and the three returned to the Queen's starship, where Skywalker questioned Jinn about midi-chlorians. The Queen and her retinue departed not long afterwards, leaving Coruscant and heading back to the occupied Naboo in hopes of freeing the world from the Trade Federation.

Battle of Naboo

 * "Now this is podracing!"
 * ―Anakin, escaping the droid control ship

As they came out of hyperspace and approached the Naboo system, Skywalker sat in the cockpit with Olié and learned about the ship's controls while Queen Amidala held a meeting with the Jedi and her staff and announced her intentions to ally with the Gungans in order to drive the Trade Federation off Naboo. The group landed in the swamps of Naboo and sent Binks to the Gungan capital city of Otoh Gunga. When Binks finally returned, he explained that Otoh Gunga was empty, but he took the group to the Gungan Sacred Place where the Gungans had no doubt fled after the Trade Federation invaded. When the group was brought before Boss Rugor Nass, the leader of the Gungans, Skywalker was astonished to learn that Naberrie was in fact Padmé Amidala, the Queen, and that she had been posing as her double's handmaiden as a safety precaution. Skywalker, the Jedi, and Amidala's handmaidens joined the Queen in dropping to their knees before Boss Nass in a plea for Gungan aid, and Nass agreed to lend his army to the Queen's cause. In the hours that followed the meeting, Amidala and the Jedi began strategizing with the Gungan generals, leaving Skywalker to wander over to the Gungan sentries who were keeping watch for the returning Captain Panaka.

Anakin was the member of the group which, led by Amidala, grabbed the chance to recapture the Theed Royal Palace. When the group entered the Theed hangar bay, Skywalker heeded Jinn's command for him to stay hidden in the cockpit of one of the hangar's N-1 starfighters. When several droidekas cornered the Naboo personnel in a firefight, Skywalker attempted to aid them with the N1's blaster cannons, although he accidentally activated the ship to go into space in the process. Skywalker fought in the Battle of Naboo in a vicious Starfighterbattle above the planet. After accidentally joining the battle in orbit, Skywalker single-handedly destroyed the orbital Droid Control Ship from within the ship, thus rendering the Trade Federation's ground forces inactive and saving the Gungan Grand Army from destruction.

The following celebration, however, was tainted with the death of Jinn, slain by Darth Maul. However, during the Master's funeral, Obi-Wan told him that he'd fulfill Qui-Gon's last wish and train him to be a Jedi.

The Naboo and the Gungans held a parade in Theed to celebrate their victory and mark their newfound friendship.

Kenobi's Padawan

 * "'His education is... complicated. He came to us later than we would ordinarily have liked. Obi-Wan took on an extremely difficult task when he accepted Anakin as his Padawan.'"
 * "―Mace Windu to Sheev Palpatine, on Skywalker's training"

As he grew, Skywalker's exceptional skills made him cocky, but he nevertheless idolized Kenobi, thinking there was "no one better" than his master. During one of their many adventures, he also rescued Kenobi after he fell into a nest of gundarks. During his time as Kenobi's apprentice, Skywalker was distrustful of teachers who corrected him, wondering if they were trying to put him in his place, knowing that many hadn't wanted him trained in the first place. He found it hard to make friends, as his fellow Padawans were all aware of the rumors of him being the Chosen One. Often lonely, he generally spent his free time in his quarters tinkering with machinery he found in trips outside the Jedi Temple. He also harbored a lingering resentment regarding the fate of his mother.

Further Training at the Temple
By the time he was 12 in 29 BBY, he had built his first lightsaber; after its construction, Kenobi said to him, "Anakin, this weapon is your life". Three years after the Battle of Naboo, Skywalker sought to impress his peers at the Jedi Temple. During a training session, he defeated a training droid, which he had programmed to mimic the appearance of the Sith of Naboo. All the while Mace Windu, Kenobi and Supreme Chancellor Sheev Palpatine watched—the last of whom was impressed. Sometime later, Skywalker struggled to learn the skill of taming creatures when Kenobi told him that the Chancellor wanted to see him. The two arrived at his office, where Palpatine requested that Skywalker accompany him on an errand, declining Kenobi's company. Left alone, Skywalker escorted Palpatine to Club Kasakar in Level 2685, all the while listening to Palpatine express concern for the situation on the sub-surface levels of Coruscant, the inability of the Jedi to respond efficiently, and the corruption that plagued the Senate, such as Colandrus—subtly, and unbeknownst to Skywalker, marking the beginning of his influence over him. At the end of the errand, Palpatine asked if Skywalker was happy as he was. Though Skywalker answered that he was and that "training to become a Jedi [was] all [he] ever wanted," it did plant a seed of doubt in his mind.

Later, at the Jedi Temple, Skywalker confided in Kenobi that he wished to leave the Order, feeling uncomfortable at the prospect of his entire life being decided when he was only nine years old, and surrendered his lightsaber to his master. Though Kenobi took the weapon, he pleaded for Skywalker to reconsider.

Mission to Carnelion IV

 * "The road lies before you, Anakin Skywalker. Will you walk it alone?" "No, Master. As a Jedi. If you'll show me the way."
 * ―Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker

Before Skywalker could give his definite answer, at Yoda's behest, both student and master responded to a mysterious distress signal from the supposedly dead world of Carnelion IV that specifically called for Jedi intercession. They began their journey to the coordinates, but their shuttle was damaged due to the planet's atmospheric debris field, and the two had to eject from the doomed vessel, landing below the Celadon Sea. Not too long afterwards, they came to be aware of life on the planet as a sky battle raged over them, and Kenobi returned his lightsaber to him so that he could defend himself. As one of the combatant airships began to fall, Skywalker and Kenobi saved its two-person crew by delaying the crash. The two survivors, Kolara and Mother Pran, who identified themselves as "Open," knew nothing about what a Jedi was. They were forced to take cover when a "Closed" airship, which Kenobi fell; Skywalker saved its pilot, Grecker, from falling to his death. But due to the historical feud between their factions, Grecker and Pran tried to murder each other, forcing Skywalker and Kenobi to destroy their weapons and to escort them to safety. To facilitate their journey, they used the intact parts of each of their airships to form a new one in order to fly to their destination. During the conversations that ensued, Skywalker mentioned his and Kenobi's purpose on the planet: to find the person who had sent the Jedi distress signal, which alerted Pran and Grecker to the location of "the scavenger."

During the journey, Kolara told Skywalker about the mysterious kites, before noticing that he was good at fixing things, as he made an adjustment to his lightsaber. Kolara and Pran then had Skywalker repair a bag of droid brains and, seeing his usefulness, threw away his lightsaber and abducted him when a horde of fishers attacked the ship, leaving Kenobi alone with Grecker as the airship crashed below the Celadon Sea. Skywalker was taken to one of the Open's fortresses, where he witnessed as Pran used the processors he had repaired to activate some battle droids. As they left to wage war on the mysterious scavenger (who reminded both Open and Closed of everything they had lost and how badly they had failed), Skywalker remained with the younger Open, whom he convinced to protect the scavenger and help him get back to Kenobi.

Using their help, Skywalker fixed the remaining droids and intervened in the skirmish between the Open and Closed unfolding right next to Sera's fortress. He saved his master from Mother Pran and met with Kolara and Sera, but rather than try to stop the fight, Kenobi had Skywalker repair a communications unit and called the Republic for aid. Soon enough, a task force arrived and forced the natives to cease hostilities. In the aftermath, his master offered Skywalker his lightsaber, asking if he was still adamant about leaving the Order, but Skywalker decided to remain a member.

Protecting Padmé Amidala

 * "'Ani? My goodness, you've grown.''"
 * "―Padmé Amidala and Anakin Skywalker"

Ten years after the Battle of Naboo in 22 BBY, as the Separatist Crisis threatened to tear the Galactic Republic apart, Skywalker, now 19, and Kenobi were sent to settle a border dispute on Ansion. Upon their return to Coruscant, an assassination attempt on Padmé Amidala, now Senator of Naboo, prompted the Jedi Council—at the behest of Chancellor Palpatine—to send Skywalker and Kenobi to protect Amidala from future attacks. Anakin was delighted to see her after so many years; he had thought about her every day since they parted. When Padmé said she wanted to know who wanted her dead, and Obi-Wan started to explain that they were only there to protect her life, not to investigate, Anakin promised Padmé to find who was responsible, annoying Obi-Wan. When Padmé retreated to her chambers, Anakin was disappointed, claiming that Padmé hardly even recognized him; however, Jar Jar, who was representative in the Senate during this time, said, Padmé was very happy to see him.

During that night, Anakin and Padmé agreed on a plan of using her as bait, in order to capture the assassin, much to Obi-Wan’s dismay. Anakin told him that although Padmé had covered the cameras in her bedchamber, he was certain he would sense if anything were to happen in the room. Kenobi had doubts about his Padawan’s power. Shortly after, when his master noticed that Skywalker was tired, he admitted that he had constant nightmares about his mother; he also revealed his powerful affection for Amidala. Obi-Wan warned him to control his emotions, saying that Padmé was a politician after all, and could not be trusted. This led the two into a debate about whether every politician, including Amidala and Palpatine, was corrupt. As Skywalker expressed his faith in Palpatine’s benevolence, he sensed something in Padmé’s room. He arrived just in time to cut two venomous kouhuns in half, just a few centimeters from the senator’s face. Obi-Wan noticed the assassin’s droid at the window and threw himself out, grabbing it. Anakin rushed to a row of speeders parked near Padmé’s apartment. When the bounty hunter Zam Wesell shot her droid down, Skywalker arrived upon the scene as his Master was in free fall. Catching Kenobi, the Padawan continued the pursuit of Wesell's airspeeder. Spotting the Jedi, Wesell took her speeder on a nosedive—plunging several meters toward the lower levels of Coruscant.

With the Jedi relentlessly pursuing her, Wesell flew through the exhaust flames of the Kerdos Company recycling plant, hoping that the flames would scorch her adversaries in the open-top speeder. Seeing the pair still chasing her and unharmed by the flames, Wesell fired at the couplings of a nearby electrical plant, causing the Jedi's speeder to be inundated by electrical shock.

Skywalker, an expert pilot himself, quickly caught up to Wesell. The bounty hunter steered her craft into a network of skytunnels, aiming once again to lose the pursuing Jedi. Skywalker did not chase directly into the tunnel, but opted to travel an alternate route. Wesell wove through the local network of tunnels. Anakin and Obi-Wan thought they lost her, but just a few minutes later Anakin noticed the bounty hunter’s airspeeder below, and jumped out, let his body drop the intervening distance through the air, then latched a firm hand-grip to its rear canopy handle. He ultimately was forced to let go when she shot at him, although not before getting a good look at her, wherein he deduced that Zam was not only a female, but also a changeling (he'd briefly glimpsed Wesell's true form when she looked up). The Jedi ignited his lightsaber and sliced at the windscreen, knocking out the guidance systems. Wesell shot the lightsaber out of Skywalker's hand, but the ensuing struggle caused Wesell to misfire her blaster pistol, damaging the control pipes. Meanwhile, Kenobi, who was behind Wesell at this point, captured Skywalker's lightsaber. The airspeeder began to plummet toward the surface, crashing near the Outlander Club. Wesell crawled from the crash site and fled into the club.

Anakin was about to follow Zam into the building, when Obi-Wan stopped him, returning to him his lightsaber, reiterating, "this weapon is your life." As they headed to the Outlander, Kenobi said he had the feeling his apprentice would be the death of him. Anakin indignantly responded that Obi-Wan was like a father to him. Inside the Outlander Club, Anakin was instructed by his master to search the premises while he went for a drink at the bar. Wesell hid until the two Jedi separated, then slowly approached the seemingly vulnerable Jedi at the bar. To secure the accuracy of her shot, she continued approaching the Jedi with her weapon drawn while Kenobi, through the Force, sensed the bounty hunter's intentions. In an instant, Kenobi ignited his lightsaber, spun around, and severed Wesell's arm below the elbow.

Skywalker and Kenobi took the wounded bounty hunter and dragged her from the club, setting her in an alley behind the club for interrogation. Wesell was initially reluctant to give any information about who had hired her, replying that it had simply been a job. As Skywalker pressed her, however, Wesell prepared to divulge the information. Suddenly, a mysterious figure fired a toxic dart into Zam’s neck, killing her within seconds.

Return to Tatooine

 * "Ani? Is it you? Ani?" "I'm here mom, you're safe."
 * ―Shmi Skywalker and Anakin Skywalker

Subsequently, the Council sent the Master and Padawan on separate missions—Skywalker, on his first solo mission, would protect Amidala on Naboo, whereas Kenobi continued an investigation into Amidala's aggressors that took him to Kamino.

While on Naboo, as he experienced inner conflict between his strong desires for her and his duties as a Jedi, Skywalker revealed to Amidala his love for her, but she refused since Skywalker was not supposed to form attachments as a Jedi, even though she felt the same for him. Skywalker was also troubled by dreams of his mother suffering, which prompted him to return to Tatooine and rescue her, to which Amidala agreed to accompany him. On Tatooine, the two located Watto, who revealed that he had sold Shmi to a moisture farmer named Cliegg Lars. The couple then visited the Lars farm only to discover that Shmi had been abducted by Tusken Raiders about a month before their arrival, and was feared dead. Determined to save her at all costs, Skywalker took the swoop bike of his stepbrother, Owen Lars, and went looking for his mother. Though he managed to find her in a Tusken camp, she died in his arms moments later. Consumed with grief and rage, Skywalker slaughtered the entire village of Tusken Raiders—men, women, and children.

Only then did Skywalker bring his mother's body back to the homestead, where her funeral was held, and when he claimed he would become so powerful in the Force he could stop the people he loved from dying.

The event left him full of pain and guilt, for failing her and failing as a Jedi, as well as haunted by the prospect of letting go of the people he loved. Sitting at her grave for hours, Skywalker, full of rage and hopelessness, would never be the same. The event which shaped his life was this - and he would never come back.

First Battle of Geonosis

 * "You call this a diplomatic solution?" "No, I call it aggressive negotiations."
 * ―Anakin Skywalker and Padmé Amidala —

It was then that Skywalker received a message from Kenobi telling him of Separatist presence on Geonosis, which they retransmitted to Coruscant so that the Jedi Council could see it for themselves. Upon learning he had been captured, Skywalker and Amidala departed for the planet, where they entered one of the factories (where his lightsaber was destroyed) but were subsequently captured and placed with Kenobi into the Petranaki arena to be executed by beasts. However, the trio managed to avoid the creatures (in Skywalker's case, a reek), only to be surrounded by droidekas on Count Dooku's orders. However, a Jedi assault team, led by Mace Windu, arrived to rescue them. Nevertheless, they fought a losing battle against B2 super battle droids, until Master Yoda arrived with the newly established Grand Army of the Republic and safely boarded the survivors of the arena—including Skywalker, Kenobi and Amidala—onto LAAT/i gunships. As the battle raged between the clone army and the Separatist Droid Army, they caught sight of Dooku; though Amidala and a trooper were knocked from the troop bay by a cannon blast, Skywalker and Kenobi continued to pursue the Count to a secret hangar, where they engaged him in a duel. Both were defeated, and though Kenobi suffered minor wounds, Skywalker lost his right forearm. It was then that Yoda arrived and fought Dooku until the Sith Lord made his escape on his solar sailer. Skywalker received a cyberneticreplacement for his lost arm and, while Kenobi returned to Coruscant, Skywalker accompanied Amidala to Naboo, where they were secretly married, their sole attendants being their faithful droids R2-D2 and C-3PO.

The Clone Wars

 * "You fought in the Clone Wars?" "Yes. I was once a Jedi knight, the same as your father. [...] He was the best star pilot in the galaxy, and a cunning warrior. [...] And he was a good friend."
 * ―Luke Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi, on Anakin Skywalker

After his ascension to the rank of Jedi Knight, Skywalker became a General in the Grand Army of the Republic during the galaxy-spanning Clone Wars. The 501st Legion was under his command during much of the war effort, his "first"-in-command often being Captain Rex, whereas the Venator-class Star Destroyer Resolute served as his personal flagship, under the admiralty of Wullf Yularen. He also built a new lightsaber to replace the one lost in Geonosis.

During the early days of the Clone Wars, Anakin Skywalker participated in the Battle of Arantara. At some point during the battle, Captain Rex was wounded and unconscious. After been found by Anakin, Rex was suprised to see Skywalker come back for him to which Skywalker responded that it should have been him in his place and that a leader always lead from the front.