Forgotten Phantom Menace dialogue from Anakin Skywalker makes his entire Star Wars journey even more heartbreaking. In Episode I, Anakin’s origins are revealed as he takes the first steps on his Jedi path. However, Skywalker’s full journey was remarkably teased before the before was even released.
A young slave boy from the desert world of Tatooine, the trajectory of Anakin Skywalker’s entire life changed the moment he encountered the Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn. However, the marketing for the very first prequel movie surprisingly foreshadowed far more of Anakin’s path than what’s seen in The Phantom Menace alone.
Remembering The Phantom Menace’s Unique Marketing With Tone Poems
The Phantom Menace had an insanely huge marketing campaign, taking full advantage of the worldwide phenomenon that was Star Wars’ return to theaters for the first time in 16 years. Several brands had Episode I was licensing tie-in products, and there was even a full television ad showing Pizza Hutt, Taco Bell, and KFC joining forces during the Battle of Naboo.
The Phantom Menace’s marketing also included a series of television spots known as “tone poems”. Featuring dialogue not heard in the movie itself, characters like Queen Padmé Amidala and Darth Maul are heard sharing character-defining poems alongside key sH๏τs from the upcoming prequel.
However, young Anakin Skywalker received his own tone poem as well, enтιтled “One Dream”.
Revisiting Anakin’s “One Dream” Poem Is All Kinds Of Heartbreaking
While Qui-Gon Jinn had “One Destiny” and Darth Maul had “One Truth”, Anakin Skywalker’s “One Dream” initially seems to be full of hope:
“What if dreams came true, and you could be who you wanted to be, and you could do what you wanted to do, and you could help who you wanted to help. What if dreams came true? And the world opened up, and YOU were never ever afraid. What if dreams came true? But dreams do come true. Don’t they?”
On the surface, it seems like these are simply the words of a young boy dreaming of a life beyond what he knows on Tatooine, just like his future son Luke Skywalker who dreamed of life beyond working on his uncle’s moisture farm for the rest of his life.
That said, one has to remember that while it was already known that Anakin Skywalker eventually becomes seduced by the dark side of and becomes Darth Vader in the original trilogy, what wasn’t known was the exact details that led to his fall.
This explains the foreboding scene at the end of the TV spot where Anakin questions if dreams actually do come true with a dark sH๏τ of Darth Maul. Additionally, things become even more tragic now that we do know exactly how Anakin’s was corrupted by Darth Sidious following Revenge of the Sith…and what happened to his dreams along the way.
Anakin’s Dreams Did Come True (With Major Conditions)
At the onset, it’s easy to say that young Anakin’s first dream came true. After all, he did become a Jedi. However, it was specifically Anakin’s dream to become a Jedi and be trained by Qui-Gon Jinn once the Jedi Master offered him a new life away from Tatooine.
In truth, Anakin’s first dream was warped following Jinn’s death at the hands of Darth Maul, resulting in Anakin being trained by Obi-Wan Kenobi instead. Thanks to the dark side, the dream was warped (and things didn’t stop there). When you really think about it, Anakin Skywalker’s childhood dreams never came true, despite becoming a Jedi Knight.
Thanks to the Jedi Council’s resistance, Anakin was never what he fully wanted to be (a full Jedi Master). He had to hide his romance with Padmé, so Anakin wasn’t able to do what he fully wanted to do.
Anakin also couldn’t help who he wanted to help, like freeing his mother and others from slavery on Tatooine like he’d dreamed of, as he tells Qui-Gon in The Phantom Menace. Likewise, Anakin was always afraid due to his fear of losing those he loved.
Instead, the dreams and visions that did come true for Anakin Skywalker were far darker. He dreamed of his mother’s death, and it came true. He was unable to save her (leading to Anakin’s violent Tusken Raider mᴀssacre).
Anakin also dreamed of losing Padmé, a fear that led to his seduction to the dark side in the hopes of gaining new power to save her. Following his corruption as Darth Vader, Anakin killed Padmé, once again resulting in one of his darkest dreams coming true.
In essence, the “One Dream” of Anakin Skywalker never came true the way he’d fully envisioned as a boy, while so many darker dreams and visions ultimately did. It’s actually quite remarkable (and heartbreaking) just how much Anakin’s The Phantom Menace tone poem foreshadows his full journey from Tatooine slave to Sith Lord.
Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader
- Created By
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George Lucas
- Cast
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Bob Anderson, Hayden Christensen, James Earl Jones, Matt Lanter, Matt Lucas, Jake Lloyd, David Prowse, Sebastian Shaw
- First Appearance
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Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope
- Died
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Star Wars: Episode VI – Return Of The Jedi
- Alliance
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Jedi, Sith
- Race
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Human
