Summary

• Star Wars fan theory, "Two Anakins," addresses differences in Anakin's character in different mediums.
• The "Two Anakins" theory suggests that an evil clone of Anakin was created by Emperor Palpatine, replacing the "good" Anakin between The Clone Wars and Revenge of the Sith.
• The theory showcases the flexibility of the Star Wars universe and how perceived gaps in continuity can lead to interesting storytelling.

Star Wars fan theories can go to some wild places, adopting all manner of explanations for offscreen events or onscreen discrepancies. Even the most ludicrous idea can be fun if taken in the right spirit. The "Bigger Luke" theory is among the wildest and most widespread, explaining away filmmaking technical discrepancies in Mark Hamill's eye-line. Fans say its proof of a second, "bigger" Luke Skywalker, via hologram or Force-projection, because of Leia's "too short to be a Stormtrooper" line. And yet, it's compelling enough to merit consideration as an intellectual exercise, if nothing else. But now, that theory seems to have spawned a spinoff: the "Two Anakins" theory.

Star Wars fans center this theory on the idea Emperor Palpatine cloned Anakin Skywalker. That purportedly explains the differences between his character in the movies and the Star Wars: The Clone Wars animated series. It's equally intriguing, just as out there, and another fun exercise in world-building elasticity. This time, at least, the incongruities it addresses can go beyond filmmaking technicalities and into fun theory about Star Wars lore.

Updated September 27, 2023 by Joshua M. Patton: As the Star Wars canon continues to evolve from The Bad Batch animated series to the live-action Ahsoka on Disney+, the stories continue to reinforce the idea that Anakin Skywalker and Darth Vader are the same person. Darth Vader's belief that he killed Anakin Skywalker and replaced him is meant to be just another Sith deception. The Two Anakins theory undercuts that idea somewhat. It's supposed to be unpleasant to see the amiable Anakin from The Clone Wars be that evil. Still, since the second Anakin would fully believe he was the same person, it doesn't undermine the overall message.

Star Wars' Two Anakins Theory, Explained

The theory, proposed by Redditor TheChainsawVigilante, states that a second, "evil" clone of Anakin was created to replace the "good" Anakin who fought in the bulk of the Clone Wars. The Emperor could have conditioned the clone toward the dark side as it incubated, leaving it ripe for a full turning once it matured. Once fully grown, the clone killed and replaced the "good" Anakin between his final appearance in The Clone Wars and the beginning of Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith. According to the Two Anakins theory, the clone was programmed to forget his origin and believe he is the original Anakin as he completes his fall to the dark side and becomes Darth Vader.

The Two Anakins theory has little direct evidence in its corner, but that's beside the point. In this case, it fits the narrative better than the Bigger Luke theory and requires (slightly) fewer logical somersaults. It's intended to explain the differences in characterization between The Clone Wars and the prequel trilogy. The new Star Wars canon from The Mandalorian to The Bad Batch have all underscored that clones in this universe can't touch the Force. However, if anyone could figure out how to do it, it would be Palpatine. Perhaps Vader's suit was required less because of his wounds on Mustafar and more because his body degraded like Palpatine's in The Rise of Skywalker.

Actor Hayden Christensen's turn as Anakin in Revenge of the Sith bore shades of his performance three years earlier in Star Wars: Attack of the Clones, which depicted Anakin as immature, overconfident and petulant at times. The Clone Wars, released well after the prequels, had much more time to develop Anakin as a character, both in terms of screen time and in the actual years that The Clone Wars aired. Accordingly, Anakin comes across as more measured, thoughtful and mature, which can come as a shock when shifting from the end of The Clone Wars to Christensen's angrier Anakin.

How Two Anakins Works Better Than Most Wild Star Wars Theories

As with Bigger Luke, the reasons come down to the harsh reality of telling a connected story out-of-order. The Clone Wars was intended to flesh out characters like Anakin and Obi-Wan Kenobi in ways the live-action movies couldn't. George Lucas directed Revenge of the Sith as a continuance of Attack of the Clones. The animated series simply couldn't stay bound to the movies' incremental character changes without doing a grave injustice to Anakin, Padmé or Obi-Wan.

The Clone Wars also made no bones about Anakin's slide toward the dark side, rendering the discrepancy limited to mild variations in performance. Recent episodes of Ahsoka have finally shown Hayden Christensen's Anakin behaving like Matt Lanter's take on the character.

However, the theory carries an elegance with it that the Bigger Luke theory lacks -- and while the evidence supporting it is purely circumstantial, it doesn't completely violate canon. The Emperor's obsession with cloning has been well-documented in modern stories. The obsession actually stems from the old Star Wars Legends stories, like Dark Empire by Tom Veitch and Cam Kennedy. With a prize like Anakin Skywalker, he could have conceivably hedged his bets by preparing a clone he could more easily manipulate in the event his would-be apprentice resisted the dark side. Furthermore, as the Reddit post observes, it makes Obi-Wan's claim that Darth Vader "betrayed and murdered" Anakin the literal truth, whether Kenobi knows it or not.

If Emperor Palpatine was experimenting with cloning anyway, using the Chosen One as a test-subject was a way to hedge his bets. Either he'd learn the secrets of cloning a powerful Force-adept body, or he'd remove that prophesied threat to the Sith from the game board. That elegance helps give the more off-the-wall theories some weight. But, more importantly, it demonstrates the flexibility of a property like Star Wars and how readily interesting stories can be spun out of perceived gaps in continuity. Those gaps provide space for filmmakers like Dave Filoni to expand upon, and theories like the one about Two Anakins follow as a logical extension on a smaller scale. The facts fit, and they let fans look at the universe in an entirely different way.