Popular Theory May Have Solved Star Wars' Biggest Mystery (But Fans Hate It)
Who is Anakin Skywalker's father? A widely popular fan theory has the answer that still spurs debates in the fandom.
Anakin Skywalker's mother, Shmi, told Qui-Gon Jinn that her son doesn't have a father in Star Wars: Episode I — The Phantom Menace. Since then, Anakin's birth remains a mystery, even though some people believe that the big secret is not actually that tough to crack.
According to a popular fan theory, Palpatine could be Anakin's father, as the Sith lord himself told Anakin that his former master, Darth Plagueis, learned how to use Force in order to create life. Plagueis also taught Palpatine everything he knew, so... why not?
Even an early screenplay excerpt shared in the book The Making of Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith reveals that George Lucas initially planned to explicitly hint that Palpatine could be Anakin's father.
"I arranged for your conception. I used the power of the Force to will the midichlorians to start the cell divisions that created you," Palpatine was supposed to say.
However, this line never made it to screens, so the speculation remains nothing but a fan theory — and frankly speaking, the fandom is not overly fond of it.
"I've always taken it like Shmi said in EP1 that their was no father and that it was purely the force balancing itself out as it could see the power of [Palpatine]," Redditor yekimevol said.
Even if the early script could prove the theory, fans argue it doesn't necessarily make Palpatine a biological father.
"Even if Palpatine manipulated midichlorians to create Anakin, that wouldn't make him a biological father; I doubt Sheev used the Force to teleport his sperm into Shmi," Redditor ForceWave-1139 noted.
If anything, fans don't want their favorite story to be turned into a "Somehow, Palpatine got laid" kind of thing. After all, why can't the appearance of Star Wars' biggest villain remain a mystery?