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So. Anakin and attachment.
Anakin's true downfall was his lust for power, we all understand that by now, right? That's a rhetorical question. I know we somehow are NOT all aware of that by now.
Anakin's true downfall was his lust for power, we all understand that by now, right? That's a rhetorical question. I know we somehow are NOT all aware of that by now.
This is very, very clear in the narrative. He laments not having been able to save his mother, he feels he must be the one to save Padmé. He thinks he *should* have this power, that he deserves this power.
Sidious preys upon these attachments, his fear surrounding them, makes him feel that not only does he deserve the power he desires, but that it's within his grasp if he becomes Sidious's apprentice.
He convinces Anakin that the Jedi are withholding information from him, and thus holding him back. This is, of course, unacceptable to Anakin- NOT because he loves Padmé, but because he feels he is owed this knowledge and power.
The Buddhist idea of non-attachment has less to do with the attachment itself and more to do with accepting the impermanence of all things. Love and attachment are not the same thing.
An unwillingness or inability to accept impermanence is what leads to pain and suffering. But it is not Anakin's unwillingness to accept impermanence that leads to his fall. It is the lengths he goes to in order to DEFY that impermanence, specifically the acquisition of power.
A lot of folks like to compare Kanan to Anakin, as an example of someone who had attachments and didn't turn to the dark side. This is not actually a good comparison at all- Kanan had no desire for power.
He could also, at least to some degree, accept the impermanence of all things, as we saw in the scene where he fights the temple guard. He acknowledges that he can't save Ezra, even if Ezra's future was to fall to the dark side and eventually die.
If Kanan had been more like Anakin, he might have sought paths to power that would have allowed him to protect his apprentice- much like Ezra does with the Sith holocron. Kanan simply does not have that in him.
Ezra is a much better comparison for Anakin, actually. And one thing Rebels did well was that it avoided harping on attachment and instead focused on the real issue, namely, the ease with which one can traverse a dark path in the name of good intentions.
