Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader’s fall to the dark side is one of the most important events in the Star Wars timeline, but these 10 Star Wars stories from beyond the movies will completely change how you see his fall. Many Star Wars movies and TV shows have been dedicated to depicting Anakin’s fall to the dark side and redemption—not only the original and prequel trilogies but also, at this point, several shows as well. In fact, Anakin Skywalker’s Star Wars timeline is easily one of the most important in the entire franchise.

That still doesn’t mean everything has been shown, though, particularly in the movies. Several of the most significant details about Darth Vader’s fall and redemption have only been revealed in Star Wars’ TV shows, books, comics, and elsewhere. Of those key Darth Vader stories outside the movies, these 10 will most change how you see his fall to the dark side and his redemption.

The Jedi’s Treatment Of Ahsoka Tano Influenced Anakin’s Fall

The Clone Wars Reveal Just How Pivotal Ahsoka Was

Star Wars: The Clone Wars provided so much more context to Anakin’s fall to the dark side, and one of the biggest factors was the revelation that he had a Padawan, Ahsoka Tano. Throughout The Clone Wars, Anakin grew to love Ahsoka as a little sister, which unfortunately meant another attachment that he was afraid to lose. When Ahsoka left the Jedi Order, one of his worst fears had been realized.

It wasn’t just that Ahsoka left, though. It was also why she left. The Jedi had effectively abandoned Ahsoka when she was falsely accused of murder, and Anakin was disgusted by this. This turn of events shook Anakin’s faith in the Jedi that much more, making it so much easier for Palpatine to convince Anakin the Jedi had become corrupt and could no longer be trusted. While some argued that Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith made Anakin’s fall to the dark side too quick, The Clone Wars showed that there was so much more to it.

While some argued that Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith made Anakin’s fall to the dark side too quick, The Clone Wars showed that there was so much more to it.

Anakin Was Desperate To Find Obi-Wan After Discovering Palpatine Was A Sith

The Revenge Of The Sith Novel Completely Changed Anakin’s Response To This Discovery

After Anakin found out Palpatine was a Sith in Revenge of the Sith, he actually did the right thing—he went directly to the Jedi to report his findings. Unfortunately, the events that followed sealed the fate of Anakin, the Jedi, and the Republic, as it was Mace Windu who learned the truth first. The Revenge of the Sith novel revealed that Anakin had actually been seeking Obi-Wan Kenobi out, though.

In the Revenge of the Sith novel, written by Matthew Stover, Anakin’s desperation to find Obi-Wan at that moment becomes clear. The text reads:

“Master …” The voice was a hoarse half whisper. “Master Windu …?”

“Skywalker?” Mace was at his side in an instant. “What’s wrong? Are you hurt?”

Anakin took Mace’s arm in a grip of desperate strength, and used it like a crutch to haul himself upright.

“Obi-Wan …,” he said faintly. “I need to talk to Obi-Wan—!”

“Obi-Wan is operational on Utapau; he has destroyed General Grievous. We are leaving now to tell the Chancellor, and to see to it that he steps down as he has promised—”

“Steps—steps down—” Anakin’s voice had a sharply bitter edge. “You have no idea …”

Anakin’s desperation to find Obi-Wan at that moment made it clear that he was seeking the guidance of someone he trusted (something that was sadly very much not the case with Mace Windu). This raises interesting questions about whether Anakin would have fallen had he been able to speak to Obi-Wan instead—and, honestly, I’m pretty convinced he wouldn’t have.

Purchase the Revenge of the Sith novel

Anakin Reached Out For Obi-Wan Kenobi On Mustafar

This Deleted Scene Would Have Made Anakin So Much More Sympathetic

One of the many deleted scenes from Revenge of the Sith heartbreakingly included Anakin reaching out for Obi-Wan and pleading for his help as he burned up on Mustafar. For whatever reason, that clip didn’t make the final cut, although this would have fundamentally changed how Anakin was seen at that moment. In the final cut, Anakin/Darth Vader comes across as pure evil on Mustafar, fully committed to the dark side and unfeeling about all he had done.

This original scene would have instead made Anakin seem so much more sympathetic and would have revealed that, like Padmé and eventually Luke as well argued, he still wasn’t completely lost. This also would have made Obi-Wan seem so much crueler and more callous, which is perhaps why it wasn’t kept in. Nevertheless, knowing that Anakin asked for Obi-Wan’s help is genuinely devastating, and it casts a new and critical light on Anakin’s fall.

This original scene would have instead made Anakin seem so much more sympathetic.

Vader’s First Moments In His Suit Were Full Of Pain, Grief, And Guilt

The Revenge Of The Sith Novel Shed A New Light Upon Vader’s True Feelings

Also in the Revenge of the Sith novel, the brutal pain of Darth Vader’s suit and the immense guilt and grief Anakin/Vader felt about Padmé are clarified, all of which makes Vader’s fall to the dark side and his time as a Sith seem much less like a powerful victory and much more like a tragedy. The text says:

This is how it feels to be Anakin Skywalker, forever:

The first dawn of light in your universe brings pain.

The light burns you. It will always burn you. Part of you will always lie upon black glᴀss sand beside a lake of fire while flames chew at your flesh.

You can hear yourself breathing. It comes hard, and harsh, and it scrapes nerves already raw, but you cannot stop it. You can never stop it. You cannot even slow it down.

You don’t even have lungs anymore.

Mechanisms hardwired into your chest breathe for you. They will pump oxygen into your bloodstream forever.

Lord Vader? Lord Vader, can you hear me?

And you can’t, not in the way you once did. Sensors in the shell that prisons your head trickle meaning directly into your brain.

You open your scorched-pale eyes; optical sensors integrate light and shadow into a hideous simulacrum of the world around you.

Or perhaps the simulacrum is perfect, and it is the world that is hideous.

Padme? Are you here? Are you all right? you try to say, but another voice speaks for you, out from the vocabulator that serves you for burned-away lips and tongue and throat.

Padme? Are you here? Are you all right?

I’m very sorry, Lord Vader. I’m afraid she died. It seems in your anger, you killed her.

This burns H๏τter than the lava had.

No…no, it is not possible!

You love her. You have always loved her. You could never will her death.

Never.

But you remember…

You remember all of it.

Yes, Darth Vader had carried out horrible acts at that point, but one would have to be pretty heartless to not feel bad for Anakin/Vader given that description.

This is perhaps the best evidence that, after what happened to him on Mustafar, Anakin was barely human anymore. Like General Grievous, he’d been replaced with many parts, and it was clear that he felt like a shell of who he had once been. It’s also crushing to realize how deeply he regretted and even tried to be in denial about what he had done to Padmé. That, too, was his fault, and it was obviously a much greater tragedy for her, but this nevertheless provides new insight into this period for Darth Vader.

Darth Vader Tried To Resurrect Padmé Amidala

This Was Expected, But It Was Never Shown On Screen

This isn’t all that surprising, especially in light of what the Revenge of the Sith novel revealed about Vader’s feelings regarding Padmé’s death, but Star Wars comics have confirmed that Darth Vader tried to resurrect Padmé after her death. In the canon comic book Darth Vader (2017) #25, written by Charles Soule, Vader attempts to use his castle, Fortress Vader, to bring Padmé back. He actually comes very close, and even experiences a vivid Force vision of Padmé, but he is ultimately unsuccessful.

Purchase Darth Vader (2017) #25

This certainly doesn’t absolve Anakin/Vader of his role in Padmé’s death, although it yet again does humanize him a bit more. It’s surprising that Star Wars has yet to depict that on screen, especially because it makes so much sense that this would be a focus for Darth Vader, particularly early on in the Dark Times. Perhaps that could be coming in an upcoming Star Wars project, although that remains to be seen.

Bleeding His Kyber Crystal Nearly Turned Vader To The Light Side

Vader Still Felt The Pull To The Light, Even When He Seemed Lost

One of the absolute best Darth Vader stories was never shown on screen in Star Wars, but it deserves to be. At the end of Revenge of the Sith, Anakin Skywalker’s lightsaber was still blue—not red. When the story then jumps to Obi-Wan Kenobi, Vader already has a red lightsaber, although this change wasn’t depicted at any point. In the comics, however, Vader does create a red lightsaber by bleeding a kyber crystal, and it nearly brings him back to the light side.

One of the absolute best Darth Vader stories was never shown on screen in Star Wars.

In Darth Vader (2017) 5, written by Charles Soule, during the process of bleeding the kyber crystal, Vader is reminded of the people he loved and all the horrible things that he did. Throughout this process, he experiences intense conflict (perhaps the most we ever get to see Vader experience conflict after his fall to the dark side), and he very nearly gets pulled back to the light. Sadly, in the end, he obviously remains on the dark side, but this story shockingly reveals that Vader wasn’t as committed to the dark as one might expect at that point.

Purchase Darth Vader (2017) 5

Darth Vader Destroyed A List Of Force Sensitive Children

Star Wars Still Hasn’t Explained Why Vader Made This Shocking Choice

In yet another canon Star Wars comic, Darth Vader (2017) 10, written by Charles Soule, Darth Vader comes face to face with the former archivist of the Jedi Order, Jocasta Nu. He is on a mission sent down by Palpatine himself to recover a list of Force sensitive children in the galaxy that the Jedi had as a means to keep track of possible Jedi Initiates. Sadly, this story ends with Jocasta Nu’s death—although she fights bravely until the end—but it also reveals one of the most bewildering Darth Vader moments of all time.

Purchase Darth Vader (2017) 10

Darth Vader manages to get his hands on the list of Force sensitive children, but, rather than turn the list over to Palpatine, Darth Vader destroys it. I’m still trying to make sense of this decision, as, on the surface, this seems like Vader protecting Force sensitive kids. Surely, that wasn’t his true intention, but this is nevertheless an incredible Vader story that everyone needs to know.

Anakin Reᴀssured Obi-Wan That He Wasn’t His Failure

This Was Yet Another Surprising Choice By Darth Vader

This moment with the list of Force sensitive children is far from the only surprising Darth Vader choice in Star Wars. On the contrary, in Obi-Wan Kenobi, Vader reᴀssures Obi-Wan that he wasn’t the product of Obi-Wan’s failure and that Obi-Wan hadn’t been the one to kill Anakin—Vader had. Yet again, on the surface, it almost seems as though Vader was trying to bring Obi-Wan some peace, although that feels impossible.

After all, he had spent the last decade hunting Obi-Wan down, and he had been gleeful about getting to cause Obi-Wan pain. There are other explanations, of course, like Vader wanting to hold onto the notion that he was the one to kill Anakin. Even so, this is a surprising moment, and it just reinforces that there was always more to Darth Vader than there seemed to be.

Ahsoka Nearly Got Through To Anakin On Malachor

For Just A Second, It Was Anakin Speaking To Ahsoka

Mirroring Obi-Wan’s encounter with Darth Vader in Obi-Wan Kenobi, Ahsoka Tano came face to face with her former Jedi Master on Malachor in Star Wars Rebels. This interaction was truly devastating because it saw Ahsoka finally confronting the truth about Anakin that she had been so intensely in denial about. However, this also revealed an incredible moment in Darth Vader’s history, as it seems like Ahsoka came very close to getting through to Vader.

Ahsoka came very close to getting through to Vader.

This is most obvious when Vader calls out Ahsoka’s name, and it is Anakin’s voice that breaks through the mask. Anakin’s eye can even be seen through Vader’s cracked helmet, and it’s clear that he’s processing seeing Ahsoka again with his own eye. In the end, this wasn’t enough to turn Vader back to the light side, but the fact that Ahsoka seems to have come close speaks volumes.

Learning Luke Was His Son Affected Anakin/Vader Profoundly

This Revelation Truly Mattered To Vader/Anakin

It’s well-known that Luke Skywalker was the person who ultimately got through to Anakin and helped him turn back to the light side, but Star Wars has since revealed how much it impacted Vader to learn that Luke was his son. In fact, this revelation led Darth Vader to Padmé’s tomb on Naboo, desperate for answers, as shown in Darth Vader (2020) 5, written by Greg Pak. This alone shows how much knowing he had a son meant to Vader, as this was his first trip to Padmé’s grave, in spite of all the grief he’d carried for two decades.

Purchase Darth Vader (2020) 5

This is yet another humanizing Darth Vader story that hasn’t been depicted on screen. Yes, we know Luke was enough to turn Vader, but getting to see how deeply the knowledge that he had a son affected Luke makes him so much more sympathetic and his redemption more believable. Although none of these Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader stories were shown in Star Wars movies, they are key to understanding his fall and his redemption.