Dark but plausible Star Wars fan theory explains why the Jedi aren't allowed to love
'Anakin used his force powers from an early age to groom Padme'
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Your support makes all the difference.With The Force Awakens fast approaching (the queues have begun), Star Wars’ always ardent fanbase is being driven to go over the franchise’s mythology more than ever, and a new fan theory is gaining some traction today.
It attempts to explain why the Jedi are forbidden from falling in love, and gives evidence of the dark consequences when they do.
A Reddit user posited:
“I think we've been shown the strength of the Jedi's mind powers throughout all films. It stands to reason that in situations like relationships, whether realizing or not, they will probably be subtly (or not) manipulating the minds of those they are with, basically forcing people to be their companions.”
They go on to explore this through the case of Anakin and Padme in the prequels:
“Now firstly, she meets him as a kid. Stands to reason that relationship might be a little odd as they get older. Padme is also very against any relationship with Anakin first, but slowly comes around, then comes marriage, and then getting pregnant. At the same time Padme dies, anakin is at his weakest, so this is the only time she is free from his grasp, and allows herself to die. Remember in the originals Vader can kill someone merely via a screen - I'm sure he has a powerful connection with his wife. To conclude, Anakin used his force powers from an early age to weirdly groom Padme, make her the object of his obsession and committed many dark acts in her name. Since Palpatine was already familiar with Padme, perhaps he also had something to do with placing them along the same path.”
True or not, the theory does serve to point out how actually quite annoying Jedi telepathic powers would be - personally I look forward to a gritty drama spin-off when we get to like Star Wars 13 or 14, which sees a Master fall in love with their Padawan and attempt to pursue a relationship while resisting the temptation to read each other’s minds.
The theory went down well on Reddit, with one user responding: “This would also explain one of my biggest problems with Episode 3 for me. The Padme we meet in TPM is strong-willed and clever. By Episode 3 she only exists to love Ani and be loved in return. She's lost all her agency as a character, and that was a big disappointment for me. But it would stand to reason that someone as strong in the force as Ani could have been inadvertently molding her personality into the idealized version he thinks he wants. I like it.”
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