The latest episode of Star Wars: The Clone Wars took Anakin to a dark place by having him kill one of his old enemies in cold blood.
It’s almost a miracle that we have The Clone Wars back since the animated series came to an inconclusive end in 2014 with a shortened sixth season. Now, the hit show has returned with a final run consisting of 12 episodes, and Dave Filoni has a lot to wrap up in his bridging story that leads to the events of Revenge of the Sith. Most importantly, this is a great opportunity for the creators to depict Anakin leaning closer to the dark side and losing control as the story draws near to the end of the Clone Wars.
Of course, up to this point, we’ve had many instances where Anakin has succumbed to his emotions and done things that didn’t exactly accommodate the Jedi Code, but no one would’ve imagined the character, voiced by Matt Lanter, murdering someone in cold blood. In the fourth episode, titled “Unfinished Business,” the Jedi lead a counterattack against Admiral Trench’s forces on Anaxes, but things quickly spiral out of control, leading to Anakin confronting the Separatist leader on his flagship.
When Trench calls out Anakin on his bluff and mentions the nobility of the Jedi, the Chosen One cuts off three of the admiral’s six arms. Trench eventually relents and gives up the code to disarm the bombs, but tries Anakin’s patience by attacking him. The young Jedi knight doesn’t hesitate this time and runs Trench through with his lightsaber, finally killing him.
What makes this even more interesting is the fact that even though the Separatist military commander was no threat to the power of Skywalker, he got rid of him without batting an eye, making up one of the show’s darkest moments in the entirety of its run.
This was certainly an interesting development for Anakin in Star Wars: The Clone Wars, and we can’t contain our anticipation for what’s to come for the soon-to-be Darth Vader in future episodes as they premiere every Friday on Disney Plus. Don’t miss out on all the fun!