The Essential Guide to Force Exile/Anakin Skywalker

They called him the Chosen One, the one who would bring order to the Force, but he turned out to be their greatest betrayer ever. Anakin Skywalker, rumored to have been conceived by the Force itself, was one of the most powerful Jedi ever, and as Darth Vader was also one of the darkest Sith ever to stride across the galaxy. Though his full life story is well-chronicled elsewhere, a definitive work on the Yanibar exiles wouldn’t be complete without mentioning Skywalker.

Brought into the Jedi Order at a late age for most Jedi of that era, Skywalker was tremendously talented, but also impetuous. The Padawan learner of Obi-Wan Kenobi, he was already a skilled starfighter pilot and had earned battle honors in the Liberation of Naboo even before ever touching a lightsaber. By the time of the Clone Wars, Skywalker was powerful in the Force and he fought valiantly at the Battle of Geonosis at the war’s beginning. However, the horrors of war told heavily on him and he increasingly sought more and more power to protect his secret wife, Senator Padme Naberrie of Naboo. Even his promotion to Jedi Knight and defeat of Dark Jedi Asajj Ventress were not enough to sate his desire for victory. Months of battle tormented Skywalker’s soul and he longed to bring about an end to the Clone Wars. At Boz Pity, on Vjun, in each instance, Skywalker undertook risky assaults in an attempt to force a decisive conclusion.

This lust for power led to his downfall as the Sith Lord Darth Sidious took advantage of young Anakin’s fears. The Sith turned Anakin to the dark side slowly over the course of the war, forcing the young Jedi to use his anger and succumb to the seductions of its dark power. The powerful Jedi ultimately betrayed the Jedi on Coruscant shortly after a battle there. Slaying one of the foremost Jedi Masters of the Order, Skywalker swore allegiance to Sidious, who named him Darth Vader and instructed him to lay waste to the Jedi Temple while Sidious, who was also Supreme Chancellor Palpatine of the Republic, dealt with the other Jedi. Vader carried out his orders ruthlessly. With a hand-picked legion of clone troopers, he ravaged the Jedi Temple, killing numerous Jedi, including Master Cin Drallig and his apprentice Serra Keto. However, he was not as thorough as his master might have wished; several Jedi escaped the Temple and more survived the subsequent galactic purge.

His next mission was to destroy the leaders of the Confederacy, who continued to oppose the Republic. He was successful, but Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi stowed away on Anakin’s wife’s ship to confront the Dark Lord on Mustafar. In a brutal duel, Vader was left maimed, limbless and burning next to a lava river, but his great rage and power allowed him to survive, albeit encased in an ominous full-body suit of armor, reduced in abilities and alive only because of cybernetic implants.

After Sidious reorganized the Republic into the Galactic Empire, Vader became its iron fist, executing the Emperor’s will across dozens of systems and hunting down other Jedi. When a scout ship reported a colony of Jedi on the distant moon of Susefvi, Vader ordered it destroyed. A year later, Vader would nearly encounter Selusda Kraen on Ord Cestus, who was evacuating fugitive Jedi. A pair of Jedi Masters, Djinn Altis and Plett, gave their lives to delay the Sith and Selu and the other Jedi escaped Vader’s notice.

Records indicate that although Vader was a Sith for over twenty years, he was ultimately redeemed by his son, Luke Skywalker, and personally slew his master, Darth Sidious, aboard the Second Death Star.

Appearances

 * Force Exile I: Fugitive
 * Force Exile II: Smuggler
 * Force Exile III: Liberator
 * ''Crossroads