(2005)

Submitted by Curt, the Grand Poop-bah

What are you looking here for? If you’ve seen the other five films, you already know the bottom line:

Anakin Skywalker (Hayden Christensen) surrenders to the Dark Side of The Force, becoming the apprentice to the Sith Lord Palpatine (aka Darth Sidious) (Ian McDiarmid), and receiving the name ‘Darth Vader.’ The two of them and the Clone army exterminate all of the Jedi except Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor) and Yoda (voice of Frank Oz). Palpatine declares himself Emperor as a ‘security measure,’ claiming a Jedi attempt to overthrow the Republic. In a final confrontation between Obi-Wan and Darth Vader, Kenobi leaves his former apprentice mutilated and horribly burned. Thinking Anakin is dead, Obi-Wan brings Padmé (Natalie Portman) home, where she dies immediately after the twins Luke and Leia are born. Bail Organa (Jimmy Smits) takes the baby girl home with him to Alderaan, Obi-Wan takes the boy to Anakin’s step-brother Owen Lars on Tatooine, and Yoda goes into hiding on Degobah.

Oh, you came here for the tidbits that weren’t a complete given? Let’s see…

  • Anakin’s motivation for wanting to learn the Dark Side was his terror upon having a recurring dream of Padmé dying in childbirth. When Palpatine narrates the tale of a Sith Lord with the power to overcome death, the temptation is too great, and Anakin discards his Jedi training in an attempt to save the woman he loves.
  • Ironically, it’s Anakin’s own Dark-side powers that cost Padmé her life, making his dream come true. When she tries to persuade him that he’s made a horrible mistake, he calls her a traitor and applies the Vader-trademark ‘remote chokehold’ on her, from which she never really recovers.
  • It’s Palpatine who rescues the charred remains of Anakin and after installing him into the fearsome black suit, tells him that he killed Padme (Anakin never realizes that Padme was carrying twins or that she survived long enough to give birth).