The Fallen Hero

The Fallen Hero

            The fallen hero is a hero that makes self-conscious decisions that leads to his or her own destruction or downfall. In Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, Anakin, the protagonist, makes a number of self-conscious decisions that lead him to become the fallen hero. His selfish actions lured him into the dark side of the force.

            The first mistake the Anakin makes was when he was fighting Count Dooku. Count Dooku says to Anakin "I sense great fear in you, Skywalker. You have hate. You have anger. But you don't use them." The anger and the hate are only used by the dark side. A Jedi has a code of conduct such as a knight to chivalry. As Anakin is being taunted by Dooku, he uses his anger to disarm and decapitate both Dooku’s hands. While Dooku is incapable of fighting, the chancellor urges Anakin to kill him. Anakin consciously thinks of what decision to make. He knows it’s not the Jedi way but also knows that Dooku is too dangerous to be alive. As Anakin makes the decision of killing Dooku, he is drawn closer to the dark side.

            The point when Anakin was most lost was when he was told by Obi-wan to spy on the chancellor. Anakin sees this as treason to the republic and doesn’t like this mission because the chancellor is his friend. He is confused and upset about the whole situation. At this point, he doesn’t know what to do which eventually leads him to make selfish decisions that ultimately lead to his downfall.

            The crucial mistake that Anakin made was when Master Windu was about to kill the chancellor. Anakin was either going to choose the Jedi force or to save Padme. Anakin tells Windu that the chancellor must stand trial but Windu disregards it and says that he is too dangerous to be alive. As Windu was going to kill the chancellor, Anakin intervened and cuts off Windu’s hand. The Dark Sith shocks Windu out the window to fall hundreds of stories down to his death. At that point, Anakin knows he cannot go back. He pledges allegiance to the Dark Sith in return to learn the power to save Padme. He becomes the apprentice of the Dark Sith and is known now as Dark Vader. This decision he made was the point of no return.

            Did Anakin ever have a chance of remaining a Jedi? He had many chances of remaining a Jedi but chose not do. He could’ve let Windu kill the chancellor but instead he betrayed his master. He could’ve let Count Dooku live and stand trial as the first decision he made. He had many chances of remaining a Jedi. When he betrayed Master Windu, it was the point he could not remain a Jedi. In that point, he made his ultimate decision to pledge allegiance to the dark side. That one selfish decision he made erased any chance of remaining a Jedi.