Did anybody find out it was Anakin who blew up the command center?

Question

In Star Wars: Episode 1 - The Phantom Menace, in the climactic battle, Anakin Skywalker gets inside the command center for droids and destroys it from the inside. After escaping, one other pilot says:

BRAVO THREE: Look! One of ours! Outta the main hold!!

Did anybody find out it was Anakin who blew up the command center? Did Anakin brag to anyone about it? Or was Anakin not as cocky as older Anakin, and kept such an achievement to himself?

Shouldn't you be at your post instead of asking questions on Stack Exchance, TK-421? — Valorum, Aug 26 '19 at 07:53
@Valorum we just had a slight reactor malfunction, Chancellor, nothing to worry about, I will be back at my post right away! — TK-421, Aug 26 '19 at 08:05
@Valorum He was off making copies. Someone asked if he could make them and he had to demonstrate. — Machavity, Aug 26 '19 at 18:15
R2 would have known as well and could have reported it in any after action updates — NKCampbell, Aug 26 '19 at 18:57
@Valorum No need to be so hard on TK-421. They're a good Stormtrooper. They're welcome to look at Star Trek instead whenever they want to. — Sovereign Inquiry, Apr 15 '20 at 23:34

score 69 · Accepted Answer · answered Aug 26 '19 at 07:48

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In the original script, they found out almost immediately after landing.

RIC OLIE : We're all accounted for. Who flew that ship?

ANAKIN sheepishly opens the cockpit and stands up. All the PILOTS stare in amazement.

ANAKIN : I'm not going to get into trouble, am I?

The adult novelisation indicates that Obi-Wan found out shortly after that and considered it a sign that Anakin was the Chosen One the prophecies were talking about.

But it was a nine-year-old boy who had saved them all. Even without knowing exactly what he was doing, Anakin Skywalker had flown a starfighter into the teeth of the Federation defense, penetrated their shields, landed in the belly of the Neimoidian flagship, torpedoed the ship’s reactor, and set off a chain reaction of explosions that destroyed the control station. It was the destruction of the central transmitter that had caused the droid army to freeze in place, their communications effectively short-circuited. Anakin claimed not to have attacked with any sort of plan in mind or fired his starfighter’s torpedoes with any expectation of hitting the reactor. But after hearing the boy’s tale and questioning him thoroughly, Obi-Wan believed Anakin was guided by something more than the thinking of ordinary men. That extraordinarily high midi-chlorian count gave the boy a connection to the Force that even Jedi Masters on the order of Yoda might never achieve. Qui-Gon, he now believed, had been right. Anakin Skywalker was the chosen one.

answered Aug 26 '19 at 07:48

Valorum

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Ah, so it was the midi-chlorians who did it. I should have known. – Jörg W Mittag Aug 26 '19 at 15:40
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@JörgWMittag: And why would those midichlorians do that feat but not immediately kill Palpatine (a much simpler feat) when Anakin met him? Is it because the midichlorians just enjoy widespread destruction (compare the Clone wars, Order 66, Death Star, ...)? – user21820 Aug 27 '19 at 10:52
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@user21820 The Force is guided by Anakin's intentions. He intended to attack the Federation, and his high number of midichlorians ensured that intention was executed with the maximum effect possible in his situation. When Anakin met Palpatine, he had no intention to kill him as he had no suspicions about his darker nature. By the time Palpatine's darker nature was revealed to him, Anakin's own intentions were turned against the Jedi instead of the Sith. – called2voyage Aug 27 '19 at 13:11
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@called2voyage That's a scarier thought. So for 2 and 3, the universe conformed itself to the whims of a moody teenager? I guess that explains why Padme fell in love with him and his awful poetry. – IllusiveBrian Aug 27 '19 at 13:39
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@called2voyage: That doesn't make sense. Wasn't it supposed to be canon that Anakin was actually the consequence of the midichlorians fighting back against Palpatine's master's meddling in the Force? If they are so powerful as to be able to create such a highly-Force-attuned boy born from a virgin, why would they leave the destiny of the Force (and all Vader's destruction using the Force) to the whims of that easily corruptible boy? Even at the point Anakin cut off Mace Windu's arm, he didn't seem to want to kill him, contradicting your claim. – user21820 Aug 27 '19 at 15:08
Nah, I finally realized that the midichlorians are simply sadistic. They even have dark side nexuses where they can play out their fantasies. – user21820 Aug 27 '19 at 15:10
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@JörgWMittag - one of these days there's going to be "Star Wars XXVII - What The Midi-Chlorians Want, The Midi-Chlorians Get! (May The Force Help Us All..!)" – Bob Jarvis - Слава Україні Aug 28 '19 at 02:59

score 31 · Answer 2 · edited Aug 27 '19 at 10:31

In Star Wars: The Clone Wars S04E09 "Plan of Dissent", Fives is discussing attacking a droid control ship and says:

General Skywalker blew up a droid control ship when he was just a kid, and he told me the trick is hitting their main reactor from the inside.

So we know that Anakin told at least one person directly that he was responsible for blowing it up. Given his showboating personality, it's likely that Fives wasn't the only one that he told.

score -1 · Answer 3 · answered Aug 27 '19 at 06:49

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Yes, people found out. In a Clone Wars episode (which is canon) from the "Darkness on Umbara" arc, a clone mentions how Anakin took out the command ship.

answered Aug 27 '19 at 06:49

Inertial Ignorance

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Can you offer a quote from the episode that confirms this? – Valorum Aug 27 '19 at 06:57
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See Brian R's answer for the exact quote. – Inertial Ignorance Aug 27 '19 at 07:05
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Answers should stand on their own right and not rely on other answers, you should edit the quote into your answer. Also Brian’s answer mentions a different episode. – TheLethalCarrot Aug 27 '19 at 07:13
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No it's the same episode, I gave the name of the overall arc. – Inertial Ignorance Aug 27 '19 at 17:57
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Ah my mistake I misread what you wrote here. That said though you should still edit the relevant quote into your answer itself. – TheLethalCarrot Aug 28 '19 at 10:14

Did anybody find out it was Anakin who blew up the command center?

3 Answers3