The ending of Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith, when Anakin became Darth Vader and helped destroy the Jedi Order, is one of the darkest moments in Star Wars. He threw everything away for a chance to save the one he loved. At least, that is what everyone has always believed. In reality, that is not what happened because Anakin could never have actually loved Padmé. If he truly loved her, things could have turned out much different.
As Star Wars shows, Anakin Skywalker had a rough childhood, growing up as Watto’s slave on Tatooine. In a galaxy where slavery was supposedly outlawed by the Republic, it still persisted in much of the Outer Rim Territories, and nobody seemed concerned enough to do anything about it. So, when Qui-Gon Jinn showed up in a giant, glistening starship, offering him a chance to be free and leave the planet, it was the opportunity of a lifetime. On top of all of that, Anakin was going to be a Jedi.
Even with all of the excitement, everything was not as perfect as it was supposed to be. For starters, Anakin had to leave his mother and everything he had ever known. At nine years old, he felt small and alone in a cold, menacing galaxy. Then, Qui-Gon died while fighting a tattooed menace that looked like something out of one of his nightmares. On Naboo, he lost the only father figure he had ever known. Without his mother and Qui-Gon, Anakin was forced to turn to the Jedi for family.
Anakin almost didn’t even become a Jedi because when the Jedi High Council questioned him, Yoda could sense his fear. The Jedi Master told him, "Fear is the path to Dark Side. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering." While Anakin did end up being a Jedi, thanks to the stubbornness of Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan, Yoda was more right than even he knew. When Anakin’s mother died, his fear quickly developed, just like Yoda had warned. His fear then grew into anger with everyone, hate for the Sand People and suffering for himself. It was the worst experience of his life because he knew that he had abandoned his mother to her fate when he left as a child. On top of that, he had not become a powerful enough Jedi to find her or save her in time. It was his fault that she was dead, and after that, Anakin was more alone than ever.
That’s why Padmé was so important to him. As the young queen of Naboo, she was the object of his infatuation, and as they grew up, Anakin was always obsessed with her. When his mother died, Anakin needed something to fill the hole in his life. While the Jedi Order had provided him with comradery, it was not what Anakin needed at that point in his life. He had experienced life outside of the order and wanted to love, but more than that, he wanted to be loved. It was something he had not felt since he was a child, and he was desperate to find it again. So, he married the Senator from Naboo, and kept their relationship a secret from Obi-Wan and his other fellow Jedi.
Anakin, however, did not keep his marriage a secret from Chancellor Palpatine, and that was a mistake. He and Padmé became pawns in Darth Sidious’ game that ultimately destroyed Anakin, the Jedi and the Republic. The Dark Lord knew how important Padmé was to Anakin, so he decided to use that against him. He made Anakin have dreams of his wife dying in childbirth, and that put Anakin in the most difficult position of his life. He was faced with the very real possibility of losing Padmé. He was constantly distressed and on edge.
Anakin probably thought that he really loved Padmé, but his actions, combined with his difficult past, prove otherwise. His motivation to save her life may not have been the love that he thought he had. Theologian John McDowell, and author of The Gospel According to Star Wars, offers some insight on the subject. He writes that Anakin’s "anxiety is less about what will happen to Padmé than about what the loss of his possession will do to him, his loss of being loved."
Anakin had spent most of his post-Tatooine life looking for love and belonging. Although he was part of the Jedi Order, he had lost his mother when he left her on Tatooine and lost her again when she was captured and killed by the Sand People. He also lost Qui-Gon on Naboo, and later, even Obi-Wan and the Jedi High Council had started to push him away by making him spy on the chancellor and denying him the rank of Jedi Master. So, when he was faced with losing the last person who loved him, he knew that he could not just stand by and watch. He could not go through the grief and pain of someone important to his identity dying yet again, and he definitely couldn’t stand to be alone.
That motivation does not sound like love at all. Instead, it sounds like attachment and selfishness. McDowell confirms the theory when he writes, “Anakin’s love looks more like greedy and possessive self-gratification than self-renouncing self-giving.” While the distinction may be a small one, it means a great deal for Star Wars. Yoda predicted that Anakin’s fear could hinder his development into a Jedi and lead him to the Dark Side, and that is exactly what happened. Anakin never loved Padmé, but he was always afraid to lose her and what she symbolized to him. Presented with the possibility of her dying, he chose to destroy the Jedi Order so he could keep his sense of belonging, along with the last person that loved him, and so he wouldn’t be alone. The bottom line is that Anakin's “underlying worry is over what love will be returned to him, and in this way, it is never truly a giving away of love at all.”
Of course, the Jedi never helped Anakin develop his relationship, but if he actually loved Padmé, he should have behaved much differently. For example, if nothing else, he could have confessed his relationship and asked for help. Yoda could have advised him that his visions were not set in stone, and they only came true because Anakin played into Palpatine’s plan. For that matter, he could have given up his relationship with Padmé all together. If Anakin really loved her, he might have realized that his involvement with her was the thing that was endangering her in the first place. Letting her go just might have saved her life and the Jedi Order. So, clearly, Anakin never actually loved Padmé. He was simply afraid of being alone and losing the one that loved him, and that is only greed, attachment and selfishness, not love. Yoda was right all along: Anakin's fear led him to the Dark Side.