Star Wars Dave Filoni Names The Greatest Jedi Of All Time

By Douglas Helm | Published

Hayden Christensen as Anakin Skywalker

Disney+ recently released a hype trailer that gave us some behind-the-scenes insight into the upcoming Star Wars series Ahsoka. Dave Filoni, who co-created the character of Ahsoka with George Lucas, mentioned that she was the Padawan to who he refers to as “the greatest Jedi of all time,” Anakin Skywalker. Of course, the fandom had quite a few thoughts on this statement, and almost none of them were in agreement.

It could definitely be argued that Obi-Wan deserves the greatest Jedi of all time title, considering he beat Anakin one-on-one in Revenge of the Sith and the Obi-Wan Kenobi series.

After Qui-Gon Jinn took a young Anakin Skywalker in during the events of Star Wars: Episode One – The Phantom Menace and subsequently died in the same movie, Anakin ended up being Obi-Wan Kenobi’s padawan.

As this user points out, it could definitely be argued that Obi-Wan deserves the greatest Jedi of all time title, considering he beat Anakin one-on-one in Revenge of the Sith and the Obi-Wan Kenobi series. Sure, Vader turns him into a Force Ghost when Kenobi is an old man, but it sort of seems like Kenobi was expecting that anyway.

As for others, they feel like Filoni’s comments are sort of pointing out the obvious. All nine of the mainline Star Wars movies up to this point have been called “The Skywalker Saga,” and we’re told Anakin is the Chosen One over and over again in the prequels. With all that exposition, it’s not a stretch that George Lucas intended us to assume that Anakin is the greatest Jedi of all time.

But then again, Anakin does quite a few very un-Jedi-like things throughout the Star Wars movies, with his actions in Revenge of the Sith being especially notable. Jedis are supposed to be a force of good and peace in the universe, and killing innocent younglings probably doesn’t qualify you for the greatest Jedi of all time label.

hayden christensen
Hayden Christensen as Anakin Skywalker

We’re told Anakin is the Chosen One over and over again in the prequels.

Sure, it could be argued that Anakin was Darth Vader at this point, but he’s still the same guy, regardless.

Perhaps the most logical interpretation of Dave Filoni’s comments is that Anakin Skywalker technically was the greatest Jedi of all time before he fell to the dark side and became a Sith. Anakin was the Chosen One, had the highest midichlorian count ever recorded, and was obviously a very talented Jedi from the very beginning.

He even did eventually fulfill his prophecy and bring balance to the Force with the help of his son at the end of the OG Star Wars trilogy.

Speaking of Anakin’s son, it would be very easy to argue that Luke Skywalker actually deserved the title of greatest Jedi of all time. He was able to bring his dad back from the Dark Side, he was pretty much a paragon of good throughout the original trilogy, and he was also the hero of Star Wars since the first movie came out.

While the prequels ended up focusing quite a bit more on Anakin, the original trilogy was definitely more of Luke’s story.

Perhaps the most logical interpretation of Dave Filoni’s comments is that Anakin Skywalker technically was the greatest Jedi of all time before he fell to the dark side and became a Sith.

In any case, Star Wars fans are never going to universally agree on virtually anything in the franchise. The greatest Jedi of all time title could be applied to plenty of characters, and Anakin is one of them. That seems like it’s Dave Filoni’s opinion, and he’s sticking to it.

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