Lucasfilm president Dave Filoni knows his Star Wars. He’s been working in that world for almost 20 years, first with The Clone Wars, then Rebels, The Mandalorian, Ahsoka, and much more. When he sits down to discuss the franchise and the philosophies behind it, it’s a joy to listen to because he gets it in a way few people do. But sometimes, you have to read a few inches below the surface for the full expanse of that knowledge.
Earlier this week, Filoni spoke after a screening of the Maul: Shadow Lord finale in which Darth Vader appears. Vader may be long gone in the movies, but in Star Wars television, video games, and comics, he pops up from time to time. Filoni spoke about why it’s important to handle Vader in the right way and what he believes the character is feeling in this specific time frame, which is before the events of A New Hope. The full discussion is here, but for purposes of this article, we’ll highlight just this taste.
“The key to Vader for me is that he’s not Anakin,” Filoni said. “He doesn’t recognize that. He can’t. Anything that reminds him of Anakin, he’s going to destroy. So when he sees a Jedi, he’s going to destroy the Jedi, because the Jedi would remind him unconsciously or consciously that he betrayed all of his friends and everything he knew and the life he grew up with. For what? For nothing. He lost everything. He made a bad trade. He was lied to. He was deceived. He can’t accept that truth.”
In the days since Filoni’s quotes, fans on social media have focused in on that first line: “The key to Vader for me is that he’s not Anakin.” Some are mad because, obviously, Anakin Skywalker is Darth Vader. Why would Filoni say he wasn’t? We watched six movies about that very fact. Well, Filoni isn’t dumb. He knows this. And a little later, he explained it very clearly.
“I find a lot of pity for him because of what he did and the depth of his treachery. And that’s Darth Vader. Anakin’s trapped in there somewhere, and Darth Vader won’t let him surface.”
See? Filoni isn’t being literal here. He knows that, literally, Darth Vader is Anakin. He’s being metaphorical in using “Anakin Skywalker” as a way to describe the powerful, loving, yet flawed Jedi we saw on The Clone Wars and “Darth Vader” as the evil, violent, unforgivable version he’s become by following the Dark Side. Same person, two sides. And, on Maul: Shadow Lord and beyond, the Vader side is very much winning.
“This is the price you pay when you give in to your anger, when you give in to that terrible side of yourself,” Filoni said. “And it should terrify all of us. Because we’re all capable of that depth of terror. We’re all capable of doing the wrong thing.” You know, like not reading a little bit further than the headline.
Watch Darth Vader at the height of his powers on Maul: Shadow Lord, which is now streaming.
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