Why Is Anakin the Chosen One?
Anakin Skywalker is the Chosen One because he fits a Jedi prophecy: a child born without a father, stronger in the Force than anyone, who will bring balance to the Force. Here is what the films say about it, how he fulfils it, and what stays open.
Anakin is the Chosen One because he matches an old Jedi prophecy of one who will bring balance to the Force. Qui-Gon Jinn finds him on Tatooine with a higher midi-chlorian count than any Jedi, Master Yoda included, and learns from his mother that he had no father. Qui-Gon takes that as proof. Decades later Anakin destroys the Sith by killing Palpatine, which the saga treats as the prophecy coming true. (The Phantom Menace; Return of the Jedi)
The prophecy#
The films never quote the prophecy word for word. In The Phantom Menace, Mace Windu sums it up when Qui-Gon brings Anakin before the Council: "You refer to the prophecy of the one who will bring balance to the Force. You believe it's this boy?" (The Phantom Menace)
The canon novel Master & Apprentice, set before The Phantom Menace, gives one version of the text: "A Chosen One shall come, born of no father, and through him will ultimate balance in the Force be restored." (Master & Apprentice)
Why Qui-Gon believed it was Anakin#
No father. When Qui-Gon asks Shmi Skywalker who Anakin's father was, she says: "There was no father. I carried him, I gave birth, I raised him. I can't explain what happened." (The Phantom Menace)
The Force is unusually strong in him. Qui-Gon tests a sample of Anakin's blood and Obi-Wan reads the result: a midi-chlorian count of over twenty thousand. That's higher than Yoda's. Anakin also has fast reflexes and senses things before they happen, which is how a human boy wins a podrace. (The Phantom Menace)
Qui-Gon's conviction. He tells the Council, "He is the Chosen One. You must see it." The Council refuses to train the boy. Later, Yoda tells Obi-Wan the boy may be the Chosen One, but that he fears grave danger in his training. Dying on Naboo, Qui-Gon makes Obi-Wan promise: "He... is the Chosen One. He... will bring balance. Train him." (The Phantom Menace)
Doubts along the way#
The Jedi keep second-guessing it. In Attack of the Clones, Mace tells Obi-Wan that if the prophecy is true, his apprentice is the only one who can bring the Force back into balance. By Revenge of the Sith Yoda wonders whether the prophecy has been misread. When Anakin falls, Obi-Wan throws it back at him on Mustafar: "You were the Chosen One! It was said that you would destroy the Sith, not join them! Bring balance to the Force, not leave it in darkness!" (Attack of the Clones; Revenge of the Sith)
The Clone Wars puts the question to a test. On the strange world of Mortis, three beings who stand for the Force, the Father, the Daughter and the Son, bring Anakin there to find out whether he really is the Chosen One. Before he dies, the Father tells him: "You are the Chosen One. You have brought balance to this world." (The Clone Wars, "Overlords"; The Clone Wars, "Ghosts of Mortis")
How he fulfils it#
On the second Death Star, Vader watches the Emperor torture Luke with lightning, picks the Emperor up and throws him down a reactor shaft. With Sidious gone and Vader dying, there are no Sith left. In The Rise of Skywalker, when Rey faces a returned Palpatine, Anakin's voice is among the Jedi who speak to her: "Bring back the balance, Rey, as I did." (Return of the Jedi; The Rise of Skywalker)
What the films leave open#
Where he came from. At the opera, Palpatine tells Anakin that Darth Plagueis could use the Force "to influence the midi-chlorians to create... life". Interpretation: many viewers link that to a boy with no father, and wonder whether Plagueis or Palpatine made him. No film says so. (Revenge of the Sith)
What balance means. Interpretation: one reading is that balance meant ending the Sith, which Anakin does. Another is that the Jedi wanted a world with no darkness at all, and the prophecy never promised that. The films support the first reading most directly, since Obi-Wan's words on Mustafar make destroying the Sith the job. (Revenge of the Sith; Return of the Jedi)
Read more#
Anakin Skywalker covers his whole life, Qui-Gon Jinn the man who found him, and the Force the midi-chlorians and the dark side. The Legends take on where he came from is in why Plagueis met Anakin in The Phantom Menace. For his fall, see why Anakin turned to the dark side.
Frequently asked questions
- What is the Chosen One prophecy in Star Wars?
- An old Jedi prophecy of one who will bring balance to the Force. The canon novel Master & Apprentice gives a version of it that says the Chosen One will be born of no father.
- Who said Anakin was the Chosen One?
- Qui-Gon Jinn, first. He tells the Jedi Council in The Phantom Menace that Anakin is the Chosen One, and with his dying words makes Obi-Wan promise to train him. The Council isn't convinced, and Yoda warns of grave danger in his training.
- Did Anakin fulfil the prophecy?
- The films say so in the end. He destroys the Sith by killing Palpatine in Return of the Jedi. In The Rise of Skywalker his voice tells Rey to bring back the balance, "as I did".
- Was Anakin created by Palpatine or Plagueis?
- The films never say. Palpatine tells Anakin that Plagueis could use the Force to create life, and Shmi says Anakin had no father, but no film connects the two. Treat it as a theory.
Sources
- VideoThe Phantom Menace, Lucasfilm, 1999
- VideoAttack of the Clones, Lucasfilm, 2002
- VideoRevenge of the Sith, Lucasfilm, 2005
- VideoReturn of the Jedi, Lucasfilm, 1983
- VideoThe Rise of Skywalker, Lucasfilm, 2019
- VideoOverlords, Star Wars: The Clone Wars, season 3 episode 15, 2011
- VideoGhosts of Mortis, Star Wars: The Clone Wars, season 3 episode 17, 2011
- BookMaster & Apprentice, Claudia Gray, Del Rey, 2019
Spotted a factual error or a primary source we missed? Email a correction. Every flagged claim gets reviewed.
Followed from this entry
How Did Anakin Bring Balance to the Force?
By destroying the Sith. In Return of the Jedi Anakin throws Palpatine down a shaft on the second Death Star and dies himself, leaving no Sith alive, which is what the films say the prophecy meant. Here is how that works, and what Palpatine's return in The Rise of Skywalker does to it.
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.
Anakin Skywalker
Anakin Skywalker was a Jedi Knight of the Galactic Republic and the prophesied Chosen One destined to bring balance to the Force. He fell to the dark side and became the Sith Lord Darth Vader, then found redemption at the cost of his life by destroying the Emperor.
Qui-Gon Jinn
Qui-Gon Jinn was a human Jedi Master, the apprentice of Dooku and the master of Obi-Wan Kenobi. A defiant follower of the living Force, he discovered Anakin Skywalker and died on Naboo at the hands of Darth Maul, later returning as one of the first to learn how to persist as a Force spirit.
Why Plagueis Went to Meet Anakin in The Phantom Menace
In Legends, Darth Plagueis was still alive during The Phantom Menace. The moment he saw Anakin Skywalker arrive on Coruscant he was hit by a vision of a black helmeted cyborg, and he went looking for the boy. He was too late.
The Force
The Force was an energy field created by all life that bound the galaxy together. It granted supernatural powers to the Force-sensitive and underlay the millennia-long conflict between the light-side Jedi and the dark-side Sith.
Mentioned in4 entries
Anakin Skywalker
Anakin Skywalker was a Jedi Knight of the Galactic Republic and the prophesied Chosen One destined to bring balance to the Force. He fell to the dark side and became the Sith Lord Darth Vader, then found redemption at the cost of his life by destroying the Emperor.
How Did Anakin Become a Force Ghost?
The films never explain it. Anakin never trained in the technique Qui-Gon discovered, but StarWars.com's canon Databank says his sacrifice let Obi-Wan and Yoda preserve his spirit in the Force. Here is what the films show, what canon adds, and why he appears young.
How Did Anakin Bring Balance to the Force?
By destroying the Sith. In Return of the Jedi Anakin throws Palpatine down a shaft on the second Death Star and dies himself, leaving no Sith alive, which is what the films say the prophecy meant. Here is how that works, and what Palpatine's return in The Rise of Skywalker does to it.
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.
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