A Reddit post has Star Wars fans pondering what Anakin Skywalker would have done if the clones had targeted him along with the other Jedi during Order 66.
The Star Wars prequel trilogy follows the corruption of Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker by the Sith Lord, Sheev Palpatine. In Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith, Palpatine’s plan comes full circle as he uses the Clone Army to turn against the Jedi by executing Order 66. A majority of the Jedi were hunted down and killed in the ensuing slaughter with Plo Koon, Ki-Adi-Mundi, and Aayla Secura murdered, along with many others.
A recent Reddit post has Star Wars fans debating what exactly Anakin would have done if he was targeted by the clones during Order 66. One fan has surmised that the sheer amount of angst in Anakin would have carried him through the ordeal, writing “MF would see Rex aiming at him, do the typical mean angry boy face, throw on some Linkin Park and cut the planet in half.”
Another fan seems to have given this particular topic a lot of thought, citing other Jedi dying because they were caught off guard, and that if he were with either Ahsoka or Obi-Wan, it would have been no contest against the clones. However, they do go on to write, “The one thing counting against him in my eyes is the faith he has in Rex and the 501st… he might be in trouble.”
Throughout Star Wars: The Clone Wars Anakin did learn to put his faith in the clones, getting closer to some of them than he was with the Jedi. However, one Redditor thinks that this would have worked in his favor, writing “I think the betrayal of the 501st would drive Anakin into rage and he would go ruthlessly brutal against them in the Jedi temple.”
This would keep in line with how Anakin acted when he discovered his mother had died when he killed all the Tusken Raiders. If he discovered that the clones had turned evil and started killing his fellow Jedi, the amount of hate flowing through him might have caused him to transform into the Sith Lord he was later known as anyway.
Interestingly enough, it would not be the first time someone who was a former Jedi was a casualty of Order 66. In Darth Vader #17, a 2018 comic book written by Charles Soule and illustrated by Giuseppe Camuncoli, a former Jedi was gunned down by the clones. Ferren Barr, a former Jedi uses a mind trick on Purge Troopers, activating Order 66. The troopers then turn on the inquisitors they were working with, and they gun down the Tenth Brother.
The inquisitors are all former Jedi, who turned against their former Order to hunt the Jedi down. It would not be beyond the pale to think that a clone could turn on Darth Vader, either. Although, given that he was masked and that the name Anakin Skywalker was not a public name the Sith Lord went by, it is doubtful that many clones knew Vader’s true identity as a former Jedi.
This would be a fun what-if tale for a Star Wars series if Disney were ever to go down that road. One thing is for sure, fans think that the clones would not have fared easy against Anakin Skywalker.