A new book by Kristin Baver, Skywalker: Family at War, is questioning whether or not Anakin Skywalker was the Chosen One, a being destined to bring balance to the Force, by digging into the main players in the Star Wars saga, as well as the interpretation of prophecy.
Written as a fictional history, Family at Wars explores how the Chosen One could be variously interpreted, depending on the trilogy, as Anakin, Luke or Rey. Part of the reasoning against Anakin fulfilling the role involves the death of Qui-Gon Jinn, which altered the timeline where he would have been the young Jedi’s master. In an alternate continuity, Anakin may have gone down a much different path, raising questions over whether he had a destiny, or was the victim of circumstance, or even whether the Chosen One was partly an invention of Qui-Gon’s.
What appears to be the case, then, is that Baver’s publication isn’t claiming that any one take on who the Chosen One is can be taken at face value, and looking at its contradictions reveals the complexity of fate in the Star Wars universe. Of course, the suggestions in the Prequel Trilogy that Anakin was a miracle birth does make a stronger argument for his being a messianic figure, and for his later influence as Darth Vader and a Force ghost on the unfolding of the battle with Palpatine.
As ComicBook.com explains it:
One of the central theories Baver offers is that had Anakin’s Jedi Master been different, his influence as the “Chosen One” would’ve also been vastly different if it still existed at all. As the theory argues, Qui-Gon Jin dying while fighting Darth Maul stripped Anakin of the master who was most like him: willing to challenge the Jedi beliefs, yet still warm and empathetic to the young boy he took under his wing (Anakin). Obi-Wan was much stricter and by-the-book, which led Anakin to the sort of insecurity and unresolved emotions that eventually became the dark seeds of Vader (anger, fear, etc…). The purpose of looking at this alternate version of Star Wars lore seems to be the idea that Anakin was a man propelled by circumstance and choice – and perhaps not the grand destiny that everyone said he had.
Like other theories and “what ifs” about Star Wars, including one about Anakin’s real father, there’s always room for discussion in the mythology. A lot of debate has focused on an episode of Star Wars: The Clone Wars wherein Hayden Christensen’s character confronts literal manifestations of the Force, and what this says about the meaning of balance. In addition, other people see Baby Yoda in The Mandalorian as playing a part in a parallel arc involving a “Mother” and “Child.”
What do you think about the Chosen One, though? Is there really a clear cut answer to who it was or what the idea actually means? Sound off below.