if there’s one source of tension in the prequels that exists in a strange realm, it’s this scene in TPM where anakin meets the council, where anakin’s fear of losing his mother prompts yoda to share the old wisdom that fear is the path to the dark side. that is undoubtedly true in anakin’s case, given that fear is the very thing that’s his undoing in ROTS - but it’s such a weird context for lucas to place that foreshadowing in, because now the scene itself functions as an odd mixture of foreshadowing and yoda earnestly dunking on a nine year old for missing his mother. anakin lacks all of the context that would make anything yoda says understandable, to him; he doesn’t know that jedi aren’t typically as old as he is, he doesn’t know what the dark side is, he’s never been introduced to the basic tenets of being a jedi, the only thing he knows about being a jedi is “laser swords” and “qui-gon said it would be difficult.” it’s established in the script that anakin is familiar with the jedi, and believes them to be heroes; he had a dream once that he was a jedi and he freed the slaves, he believes no one can kill a jedi, and he earnestly believes qui-gon has come to free the slaves and help them until qui-gon tells him otherwise.
but this is anakin’s first formal introduction to the jedi; he’s tested for force sensitivity, he’s asked how he feels, and he answers that he’s cold. the council uses their psychic abilities to sense that anakin is dwelling on his mother, anakin answers that he misses her, and yoda corrects him and says that he’s scared to lose her. i don’t think the council is trying to be intimidating, and i don’t think they’re trying to come off badly; i think they’re actually just used to working with kids anakin’s age who have been raised jedi, who are used to things like being questioned intently by psychics who know your thoughts the second you have them, and are in the process of picking your feelings apart. but then - and, remember, the viewer currently knows more about the order than anakin does - the response to their line of questioning has to be baffling to him. no one has explained to him what the dark side even is, his introduction to the entire concept is what yoda says here…. and that’s hardly a good explanation of what it is! it’s hardly a good explanation of feelings! and i mean, i am emphasizing that i don’t think the council even realizes the extent to which their dialogue here is impenetrable to outsiders - because, again, none of what they teach, and none of these tests, are even designed for outsiders. they’re not malicious; they’re isolated.
it is well within the rights of the jedi to choose who they will train and who they won’t; if they opt not to train anakin, that is absolutely within their purview. but i think the real damage here is in the fact that this debate happens entirely over anakin’s head, that at no point does anyone explain why having too much anger is considered a bad thing, why it’s not considered recoverable, and how anakin being scared of a life without his mother factors into it - anakin has no context for anything that’s happening, and that lack of context doesn’t aid the amount of fear he’s feeling at all. it’s a rocky introduction, especially for a kid who used to dream of being a jedi - and it’s a rocky span in anakin’s life, too, because he’s allowed to stay with qui-gon, but his parting with the council comes with yoda’s ominous words, “young skywalker’s fate will be decided later.” anakin’s nine years old. he shouldn’t have to be left wondering what’s going to happen to him, seemingly turned away for reasons no one’s communicating properly. and, to make things worse:
this is what happens immediately after. this is a horrible introduction to the place you will be living for the next over a decade, and it’s specifically a horrible introduction for a kid with a history of abuse. but no one on the council, and definitely not obi-wan, was behaving with the intention of ever being responsible for anakin - i doubt they would’ve wanted a relationship to be fostered on these grounds. but then the worst came to pass, and now there’s a cracked foundation all of this rests on. and all of this was george lucas stuffing foreshadowing of anakin’s wicked fate into the story, but the problem is……… none of these characters know that. it’s the epitome of a self-fulfilling prophecy, once it’s been made you can’t stop the damage it’s done.
