The Reason for Anakin Skywalker’s Good Mood at the Beginning of ‘Revenge of the Sith’ Is Given in ‘Star Wars: The Clone Wars’
Star Wars: The Clone Wars is a rare example of a canceled, beloved show that came back stronger than ever thanks to their fans. The show had a nearly six-year hiatus between Season 6 and 7. But the final season just finished on Star Wars Day and it changed the way fans see Star Wars canon forever. One aspect that it shed some light on was why Anakin was in such a good mood in Revenge of the Sith.
Anakin Skywalker was immensely hopeful as he ran off to save the Chancellor because of Ahsoka
Revenge of the Sith is laced with turmoil and pain from the moment it starts. Fans knew how it was going to end, but even at the beginning, Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker are fighting. They’re off to save Chancellor Palpatine from Grievous, and it could go badly.
So, why is Anakin in a pretty good mood? Most notably by his hilarious line, “This is where the fun begins.”
To start off, Anakin is known to be cocky and have a little too much confidence sometimes. Star Wars: The Clone Wars shows that Anakin has fun when fighting in the war at times, even though it went on for years; he and Ahsoka often make games out of it.
However, as the author of the Ahsoka novel, E.K. Johnston, tweeted on May 10, The Clone Wars gave an actual reason for his mood.
“HEY NOW IT’S KIND OF CANON THAT ANAKIN’S LIGHTHEARTED MOOD AT THE BEGINNING OF RotS IS THAT HE THINKS AHSOKA IS GOING TO COME BACK… good night,” she tweeted.
Yep, if you wanted something else to cry to at night, this is a good one to add to your list. Anakin was immensely certain that Ahsoka would rejoin the Jedi as his Padawan after the Siege of Mandalore. As Johnston listed off, the Republic was more or less winning the war, and all they needed to do was capture Grievous; it was coming to an end. He was also going to see Padmé after months of being away.
On top of that, Ahsoka was bound to come back, now that she was in contact with him again.
Was Ahsoka actually going to come back to the Jedi Order?
And it wasn’t just hopefulness or blind optimism on Anakin’s end. He could probably sense that Ahsoka wanted to return to the Order.
Ahsoka left for a reason. When framed for bombing the Jedi Temple, the Jedi Council didn’t stand behind her claim of innocence. They instead just banned her from the Order, with no investigation on their part.
However, from the moment Ahsoka meets up with Anakin and Obi-Wan again, you can see she’s conflicted with her feelings. But her desire to rejoin is especially evident in her last meeting with the Council; after Yoda asks if she’s doing this duty as a Jedi, she says no, “not yet.” Then this spurs her to want to speak with Anakin, most likely to talk about coming back. Even with Mace Windu’s condescending tone, she still seemed open to working it out with Anakin.
If things had gone well or if Anakin had been able to talk to Ahsoka, then she definitely would have considered the possibility more. If she had talked to Anakin, he also might have been more deterred from joining Palpatine and the Dark Side. Especially if Ahsoka had told him, privately, about Maul’s vision.
‘The Clone Wars’ really changed the whole perspective of ‘Revenge of the Sith’ with the added context it gave
Up until Season 7 premiered, audiences never knew Ahsoka thought of coming back to the Jedi Order. In addition to that, Anakin’s perspective became more clear.
For one, Bo-Katan aggressively reminds Obi-Wan about her dead sister, Satine. Obi-Wan was in love with the now-deceased Duchess of Mandalore and even told her that had she asked him, he would leave the Order to be with her. But, they each chose their own duties, and she confessed her love to him as she died. Anakin’s struck by this, when Bo-Katan brings Satine up. You can easily see how that plays a part in his emotions when he has a vision that Padmé is going to die. He doesn’t want to make the mistake that his master did, and will do anything to stop her death.
Also, Ahsoka’s scuffle with Obi-Wan over helping the Chancellor and not Mandalore reminds Anakin that the Jedi betrayed her. They acted horribly, and pushed Ahsoka away. She tells Obi-Wan that the Jedi are “playing politics,” and not helping the people. This influence is clearly reflected in Anakin’s line on Mustafar, “In my point of view, the Jedi are evil.” Now, he’s already corrupted by then, but doesn’t he have a point to a certain degree?
Regardless, Anakin and the rest of Revenge of the Sith took on new forms because of The Clone Wars. It also doesn’t help that Anakin’s “This is where the fun begins” line is actually a nod to when Ahsoka says it first. These are things Star Wars fans cry over at night.
