DAVE FILONI: The First Time George Lucas Talked About Ahsoka
"Anakin Skywalker has a Padawan.
Anakin has a Padawan."
Early 2008 discussion with Dave Filoni and Henry Gilroy
"No, I like my own characters. I want to get Anakin and Obi-Wan in. I want to give Anakin a padawan
Let's take that girl there."
Early 2008 development of Clone Wars,
How Star Wars Conquered the Universe by Chris Taylor
DAVE FILONI: Ahsoka vs Vader Duel Breakdown
A *Brilliant* decision that I *HATED* at the time -- mostly due to her initial childish attitude with all of that "Sky-Guy" sass and backchat. But of course, that's what pre-Teen/Teenage Girls DO, and that's also precisely why she is there.
There is also a great symmetry to it -- George often talks about the symmetries or "rhymes" that occur throughout his structuring of The Saga.
What is Luke's ultimate vulnerability? *His Sister.* Vader learns of, discovers and threatens, in an obscenely leery way to harm and corrupt, His Sister -- *That's what unleashes Luke's Passion.*
(It's also what unleashes Luke's Passion in a moment of Pure Instinct, when he contemplates murdering His Nephew in his sleep)
He is fully prepared to lose -- to give up his life, and allow His Father (or Palpatine) to kill him, rather than murder his own Father, in the absolute faith and confidence that His Father would never do it... What Luke is NOT prepared to do is allow His Father to harm His Sister (again). That's *DEEP.*
But it also means, that Vader needs to have some insight into the effect that *threatening* to harm Leia will do to His Son, as his intent in that moment is to *PROVOKE* Luke into breaking cover, emerging from The Shadows and MAKE him confront him in swordplay once more. And he cannot really *HAVE* an insight of that kind, having not experienced that kind of relationship, or the bonds of filial closeness -- other than Ashoka, he has only one half-brother, whose existence he cannot really cope with or deal with, who he can barely even look at until he has brought home Their Mother's body, from which time onward, he obviously despises him, and so no actual real or close relationship between the two hostile brothers is either feasible or possible.
When Obi-Wan hides and places Luke in the household of Anakin's only surviving blood-relative (and when Palpatine has no way of knowing for SURE that Anakin's heavily pregnant wife and unborn child are dead), The Emperor never even thinks to have his Jedi Hunters or Inquisitors look for them there.
Mind you -- he never thinks to ask one of the most popular and eminent members of his Senate : "Your wife was never pregnant -- explain this newborn baby girl that you are now raising as your daughter."
Why he decided to do it...? Well, he has daughters -- and nothing brings out the protective instinct and exposes the vulnerabilites of a Man more, than having a little sister to look after and care for.
It's also critical just how contrary to the spirit and ethos of the late-antebellum, decadent Jedi Order she is -- Palpatine is able to see their weakness and corruption and exploit the opportunity to overthrow them, seize power and crush them as a rival centre of Power in The Republic, because they have become sterile, aloof and complacent, whilst at the same time, ignoring their own rules and violating The Jedi Code whenever it is convenient.
It is against The Jedi Code to train anyone as old as Anakin is when Qui-Gonn brings him before The Council, who still remembers (and loves) his mother, yet they question him anyway and apply their testing, knowning going in that they are going to reject him; then, when Obi-Wan threatens to resign from The Order and train Anakin himself, without their blessing to honour his dying Master's wish, Yoda decides (by himself) to over-rule The Council and ignore The Jedi Code and allow Obi-Wan to train him as his Padawan.
By the time Ashoka comes along, ten years later, The Wars have started, and The Jedi simply begin to ignore their Code of Honour whenever it is inconvenient not to do so, for reasons of military expediency -- since no Jedi should be assigned more than one Padawan learner and (ordinarily) no Padawan can advance on to become a full Jedi Knight without successfully completing a series of trials at The Jedi Temple on Coruscant, and undergoing a ritual initiation ceremony (where the other Knights cut off your Padawan braid and salute you, sabres drawn), like Obi-Wan, they make the administrative decision that his displays of extraordinary courage, bravery and valour in shown in confronting a Sith Lord in single combat -- and saving his Master's life in doing-so) satisfies the requirement for having undergone The Jedi Trials and they just *MAKE* him a Knight. And give a Padawan of his own, IMMEDIATELY.
They are failing to follow their own Laws and govern (themselves) in a Fair & Equitable Manner, and those that do so have abdicated from their inherent Right to Rule (both over themselves, and others) -- when Master Windu takes the final step of seizing control of The Government in a Palace coups by disarming and arresting Palpatine, then attempts to execute a prisoner in his custody who is begging for his life, he has taken the final step into Total Depravity and Palpatine and Vader Rightfully Act to crush The Jedi Order and Salt The Earth beneath it.
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