This Star Wars movies and TV shows, which arguably became clearest in the Star Wars prequel trilogy. In Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones, Anakin was having nightmares that his mother was in danger and needed him, and they ended up coming true. This persisted and became a much graver issue in Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith.
In Revenge of the Sith, Anakin began having similar visions/nightmares, this time about Pé, driving him to betray the Jedi and turn to the dark side of the Force just in an effort to save her. One fascinating arc in The Clone Wars explored the connection between Force visions and the future once more, but it also threw one of Yoda's most well-known lines into question. In The Empire Strikes Back, Master Yoda told Luke, "Always in motion is the future," but this arc in The Clone Wars suggests he may have been completely wrong.
The Son Was Able To Show Anakin Exactly What Would Happen In His Future
During The Mortis Arc, Anakin Saw Precisely What Would Happen To Him
The Clone Wars introduced the Mortis Gods, a fascinating trio of deities who went by the names the Father, the Son, and the Daughter. The Father represented balance in the Force, and the Son and the Daughter embodied the dark and the light side, respectively. This arc ended up being truly one of the most fascinating in The Clone Wars, if not the whole of Star Wars, in large part because this was a major update to what was known about the Force at that time.
There were several thrilling aspects of this arc, but one of the most compelling was the fact that the Son showed Anakin exactly what his future would hold, in a shocking degree of detail. Specifically, Anakin experienced a series of visions, including Palpatine shooting Force lightning from his fingers, a youngling looking afraid in front of Anakin's lightsaber, Pé being choked, and Obi-Wan raising his lightsaber and being posed to strike. These visions were so specific that Anakin even heard Obi-Wan say, "You were my brother Anakin," just as he ultimately does on Mustafar in Revenge of the Sith.
Anakin Skywalker's Complete Star Wars Timeline Explained: Chosen One Prophecy, Fall To The Dark Side, & Redemption
Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader's influence on Star Wars cannot be overstated, and this complete timeline represents all the key events in his story.
In addition to the implications this arc had for Anakin's Star Wars story, this scene in which the Son shows Anakin his future so clearly raises a number of other questions. These visions weren't just possibilities or even vague ideas about what could happen. Rather, Anakin was accurately seeing the exact events that would eventually transpire, down to the very last detail. This raises the question: Was Yoda right that the future is always in motion?
Was Yoda right that the future is always in motion?
Is The Future Always In Motion... Or Was Yoda Wrong?
The Mortis Arc Calls This Into Question
The idea that the future is always in motion suggests that nothing is set in stone and people therefore still have free will to make choices that could change their fate. This is clearly Yoda's understanding not only of the future but also of visions—in Yoda's view, visions are just versions of what could be. They are not predetermined, nor are they guaranteed to come true. This is precisely the lesson he is trying to teach Luke in The Empire Strikes Back.
Yet, this scene in The Clone Wars suggests that the future may not be so free and fluid after all. Based on what the Son showed to Anakin, his destiny was truly set in stone, not only in of him being the Chosen One, but also down to the smallest detail of his fall to the dark side. Anakin was an exception to the rule in many ways throughout Star Wars, but this scene and its implications do suggest that Yoda may have been entirely wrong. Perhaps, no matter what Anakin did, this would always have been his fate.
Based on what the Son showed to Anakin, his destiny was truly set in stone.
Does The Clone Wars Hint Dark Siders Can See The Future Better Than Jedi?
The Son's Visions In The Clone Wars Are Unlike Anything We've Seen
It's worth noting that, at the end of the Mortis arc in The Clone Wars, Anakin's memory was wiped. This means he didn't these horrible events that would befall him if he continued on his current path, so he wasn't working to change this outcome. Yet, Anakin is far from the only person to experience such visions. Also in The Clone Wars, Ahsoka (ironically) has visions of Pé dying at the hands of the bounty hunter Aurra Sing.
These visions don't come to entirely the way she sees them, as Ahsoka is able to prevent them from happening. That is similar to Luke's visions, including seeing his own head in Darth Vader's helmet, not coming true. Given the pinpoint accuracy of the vision the Son showed Anakin, it makes me wonder: could the future be fixed, but dark side Force s are more capable of seeing it?
It's possible, particularly given the Jedi worked so hard to avoid fear, whereas the Sith and other dark side Force s have embraced it. Luke's visions in particular seem to be borne out of fear, so it's possible his struggle to let go of his emotions actually clouded his judgment. If the future is fixed in Star Wars, this would be a major and shocking update, but that is certainly what this scene suggests in Star Wars: The Clone Wars—making Yoda's guidance about the future incorrect.
Star Wars: The Clone Wars
- Release Date
- 2008 - 2020-00-00
- Network
- Cartoon Network, Netflix, Disney+
- Showrunner
- Dave Filoni
Cast
Tom KaneNarrator / Yoda / Medical Droid / Yularen / Kraken (voice)
Anakin Skywalker (voice)
WHERE TO WATCH
- Directors
- Brian Kalin O'Connell, Steward Lee, Giancarlo Volpe, Bosco Ng, Danny Keller, Rob Coleman, Justin Ridge, Nathaniel Villanueva, Saul Ruiz, Jesse Yeh, Duwayne Dunham, Atsushi Takeuchi, Robert Dalva, Walter Murch
- Writers
- Katie Lucas, Christian Taylor, Brent V. Friedman, Matt Michnovetz, Drew Z. Greenberg, Steven Melching, Chris Collins, Charles Murray, Eoghan Mahony, Bonnie Mark, Craig W. Van Sickle, Daniel Arkin, Jose Molina, Steven Long Mitchell, Cameron Litvack, George Krstic, Carl Ellsworth, Craig Titley, Julie Siege, Jonathan W. Rinzler, Ben Edlund, Douglas Petrie, Kevin D. Campbell, Kevin Rubio
- Franchise(s)
- Star Wars
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