Anakin and Vader's Guilt

Hello Everyone! It’s a me! I’m back! Welcome back to my blog studying Anakin Skywalker/ Darth Vader through different aspects of motivation and emotion theories. Today we are going to be looking at a specific emotion of Anakin’s and Vader’s which I think is their strongest, their guilt. Lewis describes shame as being internal and originating from specific behavior failure. Writing it as “I made a mistake, and I can fix this”. There are some key moments in Anakin’s and Vader’s story, mostly when he was Anakin that make him a guilt-prone person.

Anakin Shedding a Tear after killing the Separatists on Mustafar 

From what we understand about those who are guilt-prone they have a strong desire to make things right, and oh boy does Anakin and Vader share that desire. I believe this comes from Anakin’s life being told that he is the Chosen One and that his very purpose is to bring balance to the Force and to make things “right” on a galactic scale. What we also can see as someone who is motivated by guilt is a strong link to empathy, as I have discussed before in previous posts that Anakin’s failure as a Jedi was that he could not let go of his attachments to those he cared for most, even his droid R2D2. So, let us look at 3 specific moments that I think show Anakin and Vader are motivated by guilt and not shame or embarrassment.

First, the leaving of Ahsoka from Anakin during the Clone Wars. As a quick refresher for those who do not know or remember, but in Season 5 of The Clone Wars at the end of the season Ahsoka Tano is framed for an explosion and murder at the Jedi Temple and is excommunicated wrongly from the order during the investigation and almost sent to prison by the supreme chancellor if it wasn’t for Anakin capturing the real villain. The process though did have its toll on Ahsoka, Anakin’s only padawan and she decides not to rejoin the order and be Anakin’s apprentice. Anakin himself apologizes for what has happened to her, instead of saying that the council apologizes for their actions. Obviously, he is interpreting something that was not his doing and finds himself at fault. Mainly for not solving the mystery sooner and saving his padawan from being excommunicated from the Jedi order. Even before she was excommunicated Anakin was saying how he did not know what to do. Now I am not saying Anakin did not feel shame about what happened, but I am saying that he felt shame because the cause of his guilt in his mind is letting his padawan down and not saving her. I use this as an example because instead of withdrawing from his padawan and the Jedi, Anakin set out to make things right for Ahsoka and to remedy the situation.

Ahsoka Leaving 

Anakin and Obi-Wan Talking about Ahsoka's Decision to leave and How Anakin Believes

That Ahsoka Failed him 

The second moment is when Anakin saves Darth Sidious from Mace Windu. In episode 3 Revenge of the Sith, The Jedi learn that Chancellor Palpatine is a Sith Lord and has been orchestrating the Clone War this whole time. The Jedi led by Mace Windu goes to capture Sidious/Palpatine but fails to do so because they miscalculate his power and Anakin helps kill Mace Windu. The reason I say that this is a guilt moment and not a shame or embarrassment moment for Anakin/Vader is that Anakin’s immediate response is “What have I done” of which he is focusing on his action and not himself. Anakin is perceiving what he has done as a failure but later attributes it to his success in being the Chosen One as soon as Sidious names him Darth Vader. He then instantly goes and exterminates the Jedi in the Jedi temple as a remedy for what he had done to Mace Windu, but his perception of what is right is not the same.

Anakin Killing Mace Windu 

The third and Final moment of Anakin’s Guilt is when he realizes that Padme is dead. After losing his duel with Obi-Wan on Mustafar he had to receive major surgery and become a cyborg. When he awakens, he asks if Padme is alright and Darth Sidious being the evil genius he saw an opportunity to further ensnare Vader to the Dark Side by saying that he killed Padme in his anger. Of which then he screams the now-classic “NOOOOOOOO”. Now, this could be a shame moment, but I do not know what an easier example is to show someone feeling guilt than this. Vader does show rage, but it is not shame-rage in which he gets angry at Palpatine for telling him this, but angry that Sidious did not save Padme and that was why Anakin saved Palpatine in the first place.

Vader Learning of Padme's Death

I do think there were moments when Anakin and Vader experienced Shame, Embarrassment, and Guilt, but I do believe that he experienced guilt in crucial moments of his story that shaped the path he was to follow.