No,Star Warshasn’t confirmed Palpatine was Darth Vader’s true father. Back in 1999, viewers were taken aback when George Lucas added a Messianic layer to theStar Warssaga. He revealed Anakin Skywalker was theChosen One, a being conceived by the will of the Force itself. The theme wasn’t really fleshed out in the prequel trilogy, with Lucas avoiding explaining it.Yoda even suggested the Chosen One prophecy had been misread, leaving everything up in the air.
Every now and again, though, you may see claims online that Palpatine is actually Anakin Skywalker’s true father. The idea is loosely modified from James Luceno’sExpanded UniversenovelPlagueis, in which Darths Plagueis and Palpatine combined their power to attempt to create life. They failed, but their experiments backfired, leading the Force to respond by creating the Chosen One to counter the potential imbalance. There are some claims that canon goes even further, though - but that isn’t really the case at all.
Why Some Star Wars Fans Think Palpatine Is Anakin’s Father In Canon
It’s all based on a single comic book panel
The main clue is found in Charles Soule and Giuseppe Camuncoli’sDarth Vader#25. There, Darth Vader’s attempts to resurrect his beloved Padmé Amidala led to his channeling the power of a Force vergence. He unlocked a realm that’s similar to theWorld Between Worlds, where he experienced visions of his past, present, and future. One scene in particular stood out; his pregnant mother Shmi, with a leering Palpatine looming behind her.
In the comic book panel, Palpatine is shown with his hands hovering over Shmi’s distended stomach. There’s then a flurry of dark side power;at first glance, this seems to suggest Palpatine himself is responsible for Shmi’s miraculous conception. In other words, according to this interpretation, he is in fact Anakin Skywalker’s true father. Amusingly, this would completely reinterpret Rey’s claiming the Skywalker lineage at theend ofStar Wars: The Rise of Skywalker- because she’s exchanging one Palpatine lineage for another.
No, This Doesn’t Mean Palpatine Is Anakin Skywalker’s Father
The truth is so very different
But here’s the catch; Force visions are notoriously difficult to interpret. The truth often lies in the details - and here,the details suggest a very different interpretation. Notice that, in the vision, Shmi is already pregnant when Palpatine hovers over her - suggesting this is actually a symbolic way of saying that the shadow of the Sith looms over Anakin Skywalker’s entire story. Underscoring this is the fact that the being in Shmi’s womb seems to be completely dark, which says more about Darth Vader’s perception of himself than it does about his true nature.
The Chosen One would ultimately learn he had light at his core, after all, at the end ofReturn of the Jedi. It was how he’d become aForce Ghost, proving the point. All of which supports the interpretation that this whole vision is all about Darth Vader’s own perception of his life - rather than a statement of fact.
Reinforcing this point, Lucasfilm execs actually took to social media to reinterpret the scene. As one explained:
“But I can tell you definitively, as someone who worked on the comic, that is 100% not the intended implication. I’m not saying there isn’t a logical misinterpretation that they’re coming to. I’m just telling you definitively that it’s not correct.”
They confirmed readers were never supposed to conclude Palpatine was Anakin’s father. They could understand the misinterpretation, but it was simply not correct; Palpatine did not create the agent of his own destruction. Rather, inStar Wars, Anakin was conceived by the will of the Force - and that’s what counts.
Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader
Conceived by the will of the Force itself, Anakin Skywalker was the prophesied Chosen One, destined to bring the Force into balance. Anakin struggled to balance competing attachments to the Jedi Order and his wife Padmé Amidala, and ultimately fell to the dark side, becoming Darth Vader. For years he served as Palpatine’s right hand man, but he was ultimately redeemed by the faith of his son, Luke Skywalker. Now a Force Ghost, Anakin continues to act as an agent of balance.
