1 of the ‘Most Powerful’ Shots in All of ‘Star Wars’ Isn’t From a Movie
The original Star Wars film A New Hope first mentioned the Clone Wars back in 1977. Though A New Hope and Revenge of the Sith, briefly mentioned the Clone Wars, neither movie provided much detail. Star Wars creator George Lucas knew early on that he eventually wanted a series to explore the aspects of the Clone Wars further.
Lucas and Dave Filoni teamed up to create seven masterful seasons of The Clone Wars. The entire series of The Clone Wars is available on Disney+. Fans were captivated from the first episode to the final moments of the series.
Anakin’s transformation required Ahsoka
Lukas revealed that for Anakin to transition into Darth Vader, Anakin needed to experience great responsibility, friendship, loss, stress, and failure to push him over the tipping point from light to dark. Lucas created Anakin’s padawan, Ahsoka, with this goal in mind.
The Clone Wars shows Anakin’s precise transformation from a powerful Jedi of Light force to Palpatine’s apprentice of the Dark Side, Darth Vader.
In Season 5, Padawan Barriss Offee framed Ahsoka for a bombing at the Jedi Temple resulting in multiple fatalities. Anakin, Padmé, and Rex knew she didn’t cause the bombing. However, she was expelled from the Jedi Order before they could prove her innocence.
Ahsoka lost her faith in the Jedi Order, and when they eventually offered her an opportunity to come back, she refused. The calculated loss of Ashoka as a Padawan caused Anakin to see yet another flaw with the Jedi Order.
Anakin’s difficulty with attachments led to his downfall
Related: Nothing Compares to The ‘Star Wars: The Clone Wars’ Series Finale — Review
Although the Jedi aren’t supposed to have personal attachments, it’s clear that Anakin and Ahsoka share a strong bond beyond teacher and padawan, they had a friendship. Filoni was very careful when he developed Ahsoka’s personality and reactions, and she was fiercely loyal to people she shared a close bond with. She refused to kill anyone who she once considered a friend, even the clones she was supposed to destroy during Order 66.
Anakin always struggled with attachments and loss of closeness with others. Anakin took it personally when Ashoka refused to rejoin the Jedi Order.
Even though Ahsoka’s decision to leave the Jedi Order was not due to Anakin, he still saw it as a personal attack against him. When Ahsoka refused to rejoin the Jedi Order, he asked her: “What about me?”
The loss of Ashoka was an ember that continued to fuel his growing darkness and hatred.
One image sums up the entire plot of ‘the Clone Wars’
In the final moments of the Clone Wars, a solitary helmet with Ahsoka’s markings lay in the cold snow. The reflection on the helmet shows a hooded figure off in the distance. The scene is simple yet profoundly steeped in symbolism.
On Reddit, fans discuss a picture of the ‘most powerful’ shot in Star Wars. Several fans admitted that Clone Wars is the only Star Wars presentation that brought them to tears. Reddit user, Chromiesome, pointed out that the whole purpose of the Clone Wars was to “…destroy the republic, and create Vader.”
The series did just that, and the photo of the lone helmet provides symbolic meaning and visceral emotional response.
Reddit user, Present-Still, provided clear insight into the magnitude of the photo, “The cold, symbolizing death. The cracked helmet of a broken era. The joy Anakin felt showing Ahsoka her unit translated to more pain for Vader, I can’t imagine how he would’ve felt seeing this, even after everything he did it would hurt like hell.”
The photo provides a symbolic revelation of everything that transpired. Anakin Skywalker is gone; his transition to Darth Vader is complete. If a part of Anakin still existed within Darth Vader during this scene, he would have lifted the helmet.
Even though Ahsoka left the Jedi Order and disappointed Anakin, he once cared for her deeply. If a part of Anakin remained, the emotion of the lost friendship would have shown through. Instead, the reflection shows Vader retreating in the distance, leaving his former life behind.
