Why Did Anakin Turn to the Dark Side?

Anakin Skywalker turned to the dark side because he was terrified of losing Padmé, and Palpatine convinced him only the Sith could save her. Here is how the films and The Clone Wars build that fall, from his mother's death to the night he knelt to Darth Sidious.

By Joe GarrattPublished 9 Oct 2026

Anakin turned to the dark side because he was afraid Padmé would die. He'd been having visions of her dying in childbirth, the same kind of visions he had before his mother died, and Palpatine told him the Sith knew how to stop death. When the Jedi moved to arrest Palpatine, Anakin chose the man who promised to save his wife. (Revenge of the Sith; Attack of the Clones)

The fear started with his mother#

Anakin left Tatooine as a boy and had to leave his mother, Shmi, behind as a slave. Ten years later he dreams she's in pain, goes back and finds her dying in a Tusken Raider camp. She dies in his arms. He kills the whole camp in revenge, and afterwards tells Padmé he'll become powerful enough to stop people from dying. (The Phantom Menace; Attack of the Clones)

That promise is the root of everything that follows. When the dreams start again in Revenge of the Sith, this time about Padmé, he's sure they'll come true, because the last ones did. (Attack of the Clones; Revenge of the Sith)

The Jedi couldn't give him what he wanted#

He takes the visions to Yoda without saying who they're about. Yoda tells him death is a natural part of life and that he must train himself to let go of everything he fears to lose. For someone in Anakin's position, that's no help at all. (Revenge of the Sith)

His trust in the Order is already cracked. The Council puts him on the Council as Palpatine's personal representative but refuses him the rank of Master, then asks him to report on the Chancellor, his friend. In The Clone Wars he's also lost his apprentice: Ahsoka Tano is framed for a bombing at the Jedi Temple, the Council expels her and hands her over for a Republic trial, and even after Anakin clears her name she walks away from the Order. (Revenge of the Sith; The Clone Wars, "The Wrong Jedi")

Palpatine offered him the one thing he wanted#

Palpatine had been Anakin's friend since he was a boy on Coruscant. At the opera he tells him the tragedy of Darth Plagueis, a Sith Lord who "could use the Force to influence the midi-chlorians to create... life", and who "could even keep the ones he cared about... from dying." Anakin asks whether that power can be learned. "Not from a Jedi." (The Phantom Menace; Revenge of the Sith)

Palpatine then admits he is a Sith Lord. Anakin does the right thing at first and tells Mace Windu, who goes to arrest him. But when Anakin arrives, Windu has Palpatine on the floor and is about to kill him. Anakin says he needs him alive, cuts off Windu's hand, and Palpatine throws Windu out of the window with Force lightning. "What have I done?" Anakin says. Minutes later he kneels: "I will do whatever you... ask. Just help me save Padmé's life. I can't live without her." Sidious names him Darth Vader. (Revenge of the Sith)

Why he couldn't turn back#

Once he'd crossed that line, Sidious made sure he went further. Vader's first order is to go to the Jedi Temple and show no mercy, and he's told that only then will he be strong enough with the dark side to save Padmé. He leads the attack on the Temple, then kills the Separatist leaders on Mustafar. When Padmé arrives and begs him to leave with her, he's convinced she and Obi-Wan have turned against him, and he chokes her. (Revenge of the Sith)

Interpretation: the tragedy is that his fear made it come true. He turns to save Padmé, and the turning is what leads to her death. Obi-Wan tells him on Mustafar that he was meant to destroy the Sith, not join them. (Revenge of the Sith)

Even years later the question haunts the people around him. The Clone Wars shows Anakin glimpsing his future as Vader on Mortis and briefly siding with the dark side to stop it, before the Father wipes the memory. In Obi-Wan Kenobi, Vader tells his old master he isn't Obi-Wan's failure: "You didn't kill Anakin Skywalker. I did." (The Clone Wars, "Ghosts of Mortis"; Obi-Wan Kenobi, "Part VI")

He does come back, in the end. In Return of the Jedi he watches the Emperor torture Luke and turns on him to save his son, the one person he still can. (Return of the Jedi)

Frequently asked questions

When did Anakin turn to the dark side?: In Revenge of the Sith, at the end of the Clone Wars. After he helps Palpatine kill Mace Windu, he kneels to Darth Sidious and is named Darth Vader the same night.
Was Padmé the only reason Anakin turned?: She was the trigger, but not the only cause. His mother's death, his anger at the Jedi Council, Ahsoka leaving the Order and years of Palpatine's friendship all pushed him the same way. Revenge of the Sith makes the fear of losing Padmé the final push.
Did Padmé die because Anakin turned?: Revenge of the Sith ties the two together. Anakin turns to save her, chokes her on Mustafar, and she dies after giving birth to Luke and Leia. Sidious tells the newly armoured Vader that he killed her in his anger.
Did Anakin ever come back from the dark side?: Yes. In Return of the Jedi he turns on the Emperor to save his son Luke, throws him down a shaft on the second Death Star, and dies as Anakin Skywalker.