Darth Vader’s “Father” Officially Canonized

The Prequel Trilogy is a mixed bag. It's manic depressive with some of the highest of Star Wars highs and some of the cingeworthiest of Star Wars lows. Perhaps one of the most brilliant pieces of film making, and a demonstration of the power of visual story telling, is the conversation between Palpatine and Anakin during the space opera.


When Palpatine starts describing the tragedy of Darth Plagueis the Wise, he is looking straight forward as if he's a detached narrator. Then as he begins to describes Plagueis' ability to manipulate the midi-chlorians, his head begins a slow turn towards Anakin stopping at the three quarter mark for a dramatic pause after the phrase "...he could use the Force to influence the midi-chlorians to create...". He then finishes the turn to lock eyes on Anakin and complete the phrase with the word "life". In a movie series that could be ham-handed at times, it's an elegant scene to let the audience and young Skywalker know that Anakin's origin story had just been revealed.

Of course, it was somewhat open ended. We knew the “how”, but not the “who.” Who manipulated the midi-chlorians to create Anakin? It was safe to assume it was either Darth Plagueis or Palpatine. The recently released comic, Darth Vader #25, finally answers that question. According to Dork Side of the Force:

Anakin’s father is The Emperor. Palpatine manipulated the Midi-chlorians inside of Shmi’s womb to create Anakin

Of course, this means all subsequent Skywalkers technically descend from Palpatine. So while Rey comes from nobody, Anakin, Luke, and Leia's lineage just got a lot more significant.

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