Why Did Anakin Choke Padmé? (Explained) | Lore Hero (2024)

The fall of Anakin Skywalker and the rise of Darth Vader came to completion at the end of the Duel on Mustafar in 19BBY. The lightsaber duel between Vader and Obi-Wan Kenobi resulted in the former being left for dead, engulfed in flames on the fiery planet.

Immediately before their battle, the newly anointed Darth Vader used his new dark side powers to choke his wife, Padmé. But, why did he do this? Well, here is the answer.

Why did Anakin choke Padmé?

Anakin Skywalker Force choked Padmé on Mustafar due to the fact that he had become so blinded by hatred and rage after embracing the dark side of the Force. Given that Anakin had turned to the dark side because he wanted to save Padmé from death, it seems crazy that he would proceed to Force choke her. However, that is exactly what he did, proving how consuming the dark side can be.

You can find out why Padmé is confused with Queen Amidala here.

How Obi-Wan’s presence played a part in Anakin choking Padmé

The reason why Padmé was on Mustafar in the first place was because Obi-Wan had revealed to her that Anakin had become a new Sith Lord named Darth Vader. To find out for herself, she went straight to Mustafar to confront him.

Shortly after Padmé arrived on Mustafar, the former Queen of Naboo was crestfallen when she learnt that Obi-Wan had been telling the truth. In a conversation with Vader, she confronted him about Kenobi’s claims. Upon hearing Obi-Wan’s name, Anakin started to become annoyed and angry.

Amidst Padmé pleading with him to come with her and run away, Obi-Wan emerged from her ship sending Anakin into a fit of rage. The fallen Jedi thought that Padmé had brought Obi-Wan to Mustafar to kill him, when in fact the Jedi master had snuck onto the ship without her knowledge.

Without any hesitation, Anakin began to Force choke Padmé while his former Master watched on. While Anakin had done ungodly things in the days leading up to Mustafar, this is arguably the moment Obi-Wan realised that the boy he trained was lost.

You can find out more about Padmé and Anakin’s secret marriage here.

How the events before Mustafar led to Anakin choking Padmé

Ultimately, Anakin Skywalker fell to the dark side of the Force because he believed that it was the only way to save his wife from dying. Anakin had been experiencing nightmares in the weeks leading up to his dark side turn. These dreams resembled the ones he was having about his Mother before she perished at the hands of the Tusken Raiders on Tatooine.

In a bid to stop history repeating itself, Anakin became desperate to save Padmé from, what he assumed to be, certain death. Darth Sidious, who was better known as Chancellor Palpatine at this point, knew about these nightmares. In fact, some people theorise that he used the Force to create them.

Palpatine then seduced Anakin to the dark side by promising him that he could teach him to use the Force to save those he loved from dying. Anakin ultimately fell to the dark side on the back of this promise and subsequently became Darth Vader.

Vader’s first mission was to wipe out as many Jedi as he possibly could at the Jedi temple on Coruscant. Due to the fact that many Jedi were scattered across the galaxy trying to end the Clone Wars (which Sidious had orchestrated), Vader had the opportunity to catch the remaining Jedi at the temple off guard.

With each swing of his blade, Anakin became more twisted by the dark side and more consumed by Darth Vader. After finishing his mission at the Jedi temple, he was sent to Mustafar to wipe out the remaining separatist leaders.

By the time Padmé arrived on Mustafar, Vader had killed hundreds of Jedi, including children, as well as the final group of defenceless separatists. The result of this was a broken soul, one which may not have even loved Padmé anymore, but one that was on a mission for all-encompassing power.

How Anakin choking Padmé imprisoned him to the dark side

Although Padmé survived the choking from Anakin, she passed away shortly after but not before giving birth to Luke and Leia. While officially she had lost the will to live, some people theorise that Darth Sidious had sucked the life from her to preserve Vader’s.

Vader’s life was hanging by a thread after Mustafar, resulting in him being placed in his iconic life support suit with replacement limbs and a breathing support system. Although he was still incredibly powerful, the suit meant that Vader would never fulfil his phenomenal potential.

Upon learning that Padmé had died, and believing that it was him who had killed her, the tragedy was complete. In his mind, he had ended up killing the person he was hell-bent on saving and now that he was imprisoned in his suit, he was now no longer in a position to overthrow Sidious.

Any hopes of him returning to the light appeared gone, until many years later when he discovered that his children had survived. Although it was his love for Padmé that sent him down this dark path, it was also his love for her and their children that eventually brought him back to the light.

Conclusion

To conclude, Anakin Skywalker didn’t Force choke Padmé, but Darth Vader did. By the time Padmé had gone to visit Vader on Mustafar, the man she fell in love with and married was essentially dead. His mind had been twisted by Palpatine and his actions during Order 66 had completely changed him.

One of these was when he started killing younglings, and you can find out more here.

The reasons for Vader choking Padmé essentially tail on from this. He was blinded by hatred and a lust for power and probably didn’t even realise he was severely harming the person he had turned to the dark side to save.

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