Did Anakin Confide in the WRONG Master?

I have a question for you all: did Anakin confide in the wrong master about his visions of Padme? Okay, I may have gotten ahead of myself, what do I mean?

Anakin has visions of Padme dying, and everything goes downhill. He confides, in a way, in Master Yoda. Here's the question, though, was Yoda the WRONG person to confide in? If so, who should he have gone to?

The Death of Shmi Skywalker

So, to get to our answer, let's first look at where the problem starts with the visions - Attack of the Clones. While stationed on Naboo and working to protect Padme Amidala from assassins, Anakin starts having nightmares. These nightmares are about his mother dying at the hands of Tusken Raiders.

These visions lead him and Padme to his childhood home of Tattooine. His former owner, Watto, tells him that Shmi was sold to a moisture farmer who freed and married her. Anakin goes to see the farmer in question, and learns that his mom was taken a few months before by Tusken Raiders.

When Anakin gets to the raider camp, he finds his mother barely clinging to life. She subsequently dies in his arm and he goes berserk, killing everything that moves.

Visions of Padme and Palpatine's Tale

A few years after his mother's death, Anakin starts having visions about his wife, Padme, dying in childbirth. This subsequently causes him significant distress - as you'd imagine. Now, this leads to an interesting conversation with chancellor Palpatine about a Sith Lord named Darth Plagueis.

"Darth Plagueis was a Dark Lord of the Sith so powerful and so wise, he could use the Force to influence the midichlorians to create life. He had such knowledge of the dark side, he could even keep the ones he cared about from dying." - Sheev Palpatine, Revenge of the Sith

Palpatine goes on to say that Plagueis taught his apprentice (Darth Sidious) everything he knew before Sidious killed him in his sleep. Now, while any normal person who's hunting for a Sith Lord, would take this info straight to the Jedi Council. The story piques Anakin's interest because he's terrified of losing his wife the way he lost his mother. He therefore asks the obvious question: is it possible to learn how to save people from death?

The chancellor replies:

"Not from a Jedi."

Confiding in Yoda

Now, as a result of the visions, Anakin goes to Master Yoda for counsel. Why Yoda? Well, Yoda is the oldest master on the council and presumably the wisest. From that perspective, therefore, it makes sense that Anakin would go to him first.

Unfortunately, he doesn't get the answer he was hoping for. He tells the master that the visions are of someone he knows (not a lie). Yoda, of course, tells him that he shouldn't worry so much; death is a natural thing, you should cherish the time you have together and remember the good times after their passing. Unfortunately, this wasn't really the answer Anakin wanted.

Okay, so we know he went to Yoda. The Jedi master's philosophical answer was obviously not what Anakin wanted - as I just said. The thing is Yoda's about 800-ish years old at this point. He's had YEARS to develop his beliefs and philosophy. We also have to remember that Anakin's training was something that only happened because Obi-Wan promised Qui-Gon that he'd train the boy.

The Jedi council was adamantly against taking him because he was already too old for the training. His mind had been sculpted, for lack of a better word, in a particular way and he already had emotional attachments. The likelihood that Yoda could impart that belief on someone whose mind was the way that Anakin's was...not going to happen.

If Yoda was the wrong master to approach with the problem who should Anakin have approached? Well, the way I see it, there are two masters that he could've visited.

Option 01: Obi-Wan Kenobi

Anakin's former master, Obi-Wan Kenobi is the obvious first choice. The two have known each other since Anakin was 9 or 10 years old and are good friends. More than that, Obi-Wan is clearly aware of Anakin's relationship with Padme - right down to the forbidden marriage and resulting pregnancy. Heck, he outright asks Padme towards the end of Episode III:

"Anakin's the father, isn't he?"

Now, he has his own views on the Force but I was never really able to figure them out. Something else to keep in mind is that Obi-Wan became a master at a fairly young age and without going through the 5 trials of knighthood. For those who are unaware, the trials are:

1. Trial of Skill - proficiency with lightsabers and the force.
2. Trial of Courage - confronting ones fears.
3. Trial of the Flesh - focuses on sacrifice.
4. Trial of the Spirit - resisting emotional weaknesses.
5. Trial of Insight - resisting illusions/deceptions.

Yes, I had to look all that up. These trials are designed to bring out the absolute worst in you and force you to deal with them head on. Successfully completing the 5 trials will earn a padawan the title of knight. There is, however, a way to become a knight without going through the trials; to defeat/kill a Sith Lord. Now, I may be in the minority here but I think that loophole should be eliminated. It just doesn't seem to cover every aspect of being a knight; if anything it forces you into a role for which you may not be ready.

The fact that Obi-Wan hadn't gone through the trials means that he probably still had some hidden emotional baggage. Of course, it's possible he took the trials to become a master on the council. Being on the council is another consideration, he may have been obligated to inform the council of Anakin's illicit relationship which would've caused a lot of trouble for his former padawan.

Option 02: Mace Windu

Mace Windu seems like an odd choice for a confidante, but there's a good reason he's the second option. There isn't much that's known about Mace in the Star Wars films but the Expanded Universe (Legends) novels has quite a bit. So, what exactly do we know about Mace Windu and why should Anakin have gone to him for advice?

Mace is naturally very wary and doesn't trust easily. He was also vehemently against Anakin's Jedi training - citing his age as the reason. He has a sharp, cunning mind, and his approach is very...different. Now, for full disclosure, most of the information that I'm going to put forward comes from a book I read a while back. The book in question, written by Matthew Stover, was called Shatterpoint - great book, by the way.

We know, from the book, that he practices Vaapad - lightsaber form 7 - this form skirts that fine line between the light and dark sides of the force. He also has the ability to see weaknesses - shatterpoints - in an opponent's fighting style/performance. So, what does all this tell us? Well, it tells us that Mace Windu has a more practical mindset. He doesn't seem to really buy into the light and darkness idea beyond the fact that it exists and believes in having a more balanced approach to combat, hence his selection of form VII.

This doesn't mean that he's without compassion, however, and we get a pretty good look at that towards the end of the book when he has to fight a former Padawan who's turned to the dark side.

Had Anakin gone to Mace with his visions, the Jedi master would've most likely gone to the council with them. He also would've been able to provide a more nuanced insight as to how these visions may or may not come true. While it may not have been comforting to Anakin, it may have set his mind straight - more or less and made him a little more wary about blindly trusting nightmares.

I Turn the Question to You...

So, the question stands, did Anakin go to the wrong master about his visions? All this thinking has made my head hurt but this is an interesting question and so I turn it over to you, my lovely readers to discuss and share your own opinions in the comments.

Thanks for reading, and I'll see you in the next one!