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Anakin is furious when the Jedi Council ask him to spy on Palpatine and tells Obi-wan:

"They want me to spy on the Chancellor?! That's against the Jedi Way!"

And then he says something similar before he cuts Count Dooku's head off. He ends up doing it anyway which is partly for revenge.

Palpatine: "Kill him...kill him now" Anakin: "It's against the Jedi Way."

He also marries Padme, though, which is extremely against the Jedi Way. Later, when Yoda tells him he must lose connection with the thing he is dreaming about, he doesn't. Is he just a plain hypocrite? Or does he not realize it?

RedCaio
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Jack
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  • So far you've only really shown him breaking off from the Jedi Way when it's enjoyable. –  Jan 26 '16 at 19:47
  • I mean, he said those two quotes after he married Padme, so... – Jack Jan 26 '16 at 19:48
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    teenagers only supporting and following rules when it suits them? how incredibly unrealistic! – phantom42 Jan 26 '16 at 19:50
  • Are you any less of a [insert your religion/political/social group here] because you [insert an action or belief that isn't mainstream with said group here]? –  Jan 26 '16 at 19:51
  • @phantom42 Still...I would think that force users would be more intelligent and that even if he was only following and breaking rules when he suited him, the other Jedis should have noticed. – Jack Jan 26 '16 at 19:52
  • Qui-Gon was a known rule breaker. He was still a great Jedi. –  Jan 26 '16 at 19:54
  • @Axelrod Still...he didn't go so extreme to marry which is incredible against the ways of the Jedi. – Jack Jan 26 '16 at 19:55
  • @Jack It was against Yoda's way. It was extremely common in the past. –  Jan 26 '16 at 19:55
  • @Axelrod I never heard of that. – Jack Jan 26 '16 at 19:56
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    http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Marriage/Legends It's all Legends now, but you can't exactly expect Force proliferation if its hereditary and you take all the Force sensitives in and make them be abstinent. –  Jan 26 '16 at 20:04
  • It didn't state that... – Jack Jan 26 '16 at 20:18
  • Since when was Anakin a person to follow the Jedi Way? – CHEESE Jan 26 '16 at 20:21
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    Because he's a schmuck – Valorum Jan 26 '16 at 20:29
  • He was a Jedi who went on missions for the Jedis... – Jack Jan 26 '16 at 20:37
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    In fairness to Anakin and his jedi code, Padmé is a mega-hottie, uber wealthy, smart and powerful. It's not like he's given up his life's work because he knocked up the housemaid. – Valorum Jan 26 '16 at 20:44
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    This is kinda straying from the question... – Jack Jan 26 '16 at 20:52
  • Because Anakin is a schmuck. – Wad Cheber Jan 27 '16 at 02:54

2 Answers2

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Yes. He is a huge hypocrite.

Including the already cited deviations from the Jedi Way, he also tells Ahsoka Tano (his Padawan), when she is clearly attracted to Lux Bonteri, that she needs to bury her feelings and just focus on the mission and objective. This while he is secretly married to Padme.

Throughout the Clone Wars Anakin is seen to tout Jedi principles and then completely turn his back on them when it suits his purpose. Such as forcibly reading people's minds, or interrogating them using Force Choke and other forms of torture to get the answers he needs.

Like a teenager, he seems to think that all of his actions are pure and well reasoned, while the actions of those around him are those of know-nothings.

Xantec
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Jack B Nimble
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    To be fair, the majority of the high-ranking Jedi are huge hypocrites. – Null Jan 26 '16 at 21:52
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    Jedi, we only use our skills for defense, that's why we always attack first. – Jack B Nimble Jan 26 '16 at 21:59
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    Is he integrating his subject's trachea and esophagus with force choke? – Xantec Jan 26 '16 at 22:26
  • @Xantec With the Force, anything is possible. – Jack B Nimble Jan 26 '16 at 22:27
  • @Null how are they hypocrites? – RedCaio Jan 27 '16 at 00:23
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    @RedCaio Obi-Wan "only the Sith deal in absolutes, except when I make absolute statements" Kenobi; the Jedi claim to be anti-slavery but had no qualms about using the clones of the GAR as slaves in all but name to fight and die for them (the clones can't leave the GAR); the Jedi permit casual sex but only if they don't start caring about the person they just had sex with (because that leads to the dark side); the Jedi are willing to summarily execute the legally elected Supreme Chancellor just because he's their ideological enemy; etc... – Null Jan 27 '16 at 02:00
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    @RedCaio There's even more in Legends: Mace Windu's Vaapad "channels his darkness" but he's somehow still light side; Sith Lightning is dark side but when the Jedi create lightning it's "Electric Judgment" and light side; the Jedi forbid marriage but Ki-Adi-Mundi gets multiple wives. If the Jedi hadn't been so busy marveling at their "righteousness" they might have noticed that the Supreme Chancellor was a Sith Lord. – Null Jan 27 '16 at 02:02
  • @Null where did you get the casual sex part? – thegreatjedi Jan 27 '16 at 05:44
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    @thegreatjedi This question. – Null Jan 27 '16 at 05:50
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    @Null - See, I thought that Mace Windu was trying to kill the traitorous chancellor who had broken his oath of office and conspired against the Republic, literally leading the army that was trying to overthrow it and causing millions of deaths on both sides, and who used corruption, assassination and literal mind control in order to "democratically" take power, in order to stop him from becoming an oppressive absolute tyrant. Or...maybe it was just religious differences. Well, I suppose it just depends on one's point of view. – Adamant May 30 '20 at 07:26
  • Not to mention that being a Sith is not like being an evangelical Christian or an atheist or a deontologist or whatever. It's more like being a Nazi black-metal-style Satanist on heroin, with superpowers. – Adamant May 30 '20 at 07:40
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    @Adamant All of what you say about the chancellor is true, but the Jedi could not prove any of it and probably weren't even aware of most of it at the time Windu tried to execute the legitimately elected chancellor without a trial (despite Anakin warning Windu that the chancellor needed to be tried). From the perspective of the Jedi/Windu, all they knew is that the chancellor was a Sith Lord and they were going to execute him on that basis alone. I didn't say the Sith were good, but the Jedi are certainly not good either. Both are false religions fighting each other. – Null May 30 '20 at 16:33
8

I think a huge part of Anakin's conflict - and thus his "erratic" behavior - comes from the dichotomy of the teaching he was getting: Obi-Wan, Yoda, Mace Windu, etc. were teaching him to control his emotions and basically surrender to the Force, while Sidious was teaching him (however subtly) to harness his emotions and bend the Force to his will. Consider the following:

Yoda, in an attempt to teach Anakin about the Jedi view of death and to leave behind personal attachments has this conversation:

Yoda: Premonitions, premonitions. These visions you have...

Anakin Skywalker: They are of pain, suffering. Death.

Yoda: Yourself you speak of, or someone you know?

Anakin Skywalker: Someone.

Yoda: Close to you?

Anakin Skywalker: Yes.

Yoda: Careful you must be when sensing the future Anakin. The fear of loss is a path to the dark side.

Anakin Skywalker: I won't let these visions come true, Master Yoda.

Yoda: Death is a natural part of life. Rejoice for those around you who transform into the Force. Mourn them do not. Miss them do not. Attachment leads to jealousy. The shadow of greed that is.

Anakin Skywalker: What must I do, Master Yoda?

Yoda: Train yourself to let go... of everything you fear to lose.

Then, Anakin has the following conversation with Chancellor Palpatine:

Palpatine: Did you ever hear the Tragedy of Darth Plagueis the Wise?

Anakin: No.

Palpatine: I thought not. It's not a story the Jedi would tell you. It's a Sith legend. Darth Plagueis was a Dark Lord of the Sith so powerful and so wise, he could use the Force to influence the midi-chlorians to create...life. He had such a knowledge of the Dark Side, he could even keep the ones he cared about...from dying.

Anakin: He could actually...save people from death?

Palpatine: The dark side of the Force is a pathway to many abilities some consider to be unnatural.

Anakin: What happened to him?

Palpatine: He became so powerful, the only thing he was afraid of was losing his power...which, eventually of course, he did. Unfortunately, he taught his apprentice everything he knew. Then his apprentice killed him in his sleep. Ironic. He could save others from death...but not himself.

Anakin: Is it possible to learn this power?

Palpatine: Not from a Jedi.

Now, I might argue that both of these "instructors" knew exactly what was on Anakin's heart and mind at the time of their conversations, and they were both trying to lead him to the understanding that they held, but these are two very different and conflicting lessons that Anakin must now reconcile for himself. Anakin has already proven through his actions that he is strong-willed and self-reliant - one of the dangers of being so powerful in the Force and knowing it. He says to Padme in Episode II:

Padme Amidala: You're not all-powerful, Ani.

Anakin Skywalker: Well, I should be! Someday I will be. I will be the most powerful Jedi ever. I promise you. I will even learn to stop people from dying! It's all Obi-Wan's fault! He's jealous! He's holding me back!

Anakin is an impetuous teenager, rebelling against his "strict parent" figure, Obi-Wan, who is doing everything he can to reign in the over-inflated ego of someone who is just learning to control and use the ability with which they have been gifted. Of course, Anakin doesn't see that, and, whether this is just an angry outburst, or it's what he truly believes, there's a part of him that longs to be free of the Jedi and all their "rules".

Add to this a "teacher" in the form of Palpatine who is feeding those longings and casting little "digs" to undermine the Jedi teachings every chance he gets, along with Anakin's apparent need to learn everything the hard way and "I'll do it myself" attitude. Now you have a kid who is careening down the highway at breakneck speeds, barely staying on the road because he keeps banging into the guardrails on the sides. Anytime the guardrails are missing, he starts to go off the road. He can and does "recover" and get back on that road many times, but it's just a matter of time before he loses control entirely... Darth Vader.

G_Hosa_Phat
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