10 Things That Make No Sense About The Prequels

Summary

• The Jedi believed the Sith were extinct but cared about the Chosen One prophecy.
• The Jedi changed their minds about Anakin after Qui-Gon’s death without real reason.
• Yoda felt Anakin’s pain but never followed up on it.

The Star Wars prequel trilogy brought many incredible characters, concepts, and stories to the Star Wars timeline, but these 10 things about the trilogy make no sense. The prequels have come a long way from the initial response many viewers had. Despite a rocky start, the prequels are now considered some of Star Wars’ best movies.

However, the prequels remain far from perfect. Some initial complaints, despite being forgiven in large part due to nostalgia, remain true, including the at times odd dialogue and some of the confusing plot points and character decisions. Of all the parts of the Star Wars prequel trilogy that are confusing, though, these 10 make the least sense.

10 The Jedi Believed The Sith Were Extinct… But Cared About The Chosen One

Anakin Was Meant To Destroy The Sith, But Why Did That Matter?

In Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace, the Chosen One prophecy was introduced. Specifically, after encountering Anakin Skywalker on Tatooine and uncovering his midi-chlorian count and impressive strength in the Force, Qui-Gon Jinn became convinced that Anakin was the Chosen One. According to this prophecy, this was meant to be the person who would bring balance to the Force by destroying the Sith. When the Jedi Council met Anakin, they were very wary of him; however, they found the idea that he might be the Chosen One compelling.

Presumably, the Jedi may have even believed the Chosen One had already come.

In fact, this seemed to influence their perspective on whether Anakin should be admitted to the Order at such an older age than a typical Jedi initiate. This interest in the Chosen One prophecy is quite odd, though. In The Phantom Menace, the Jedi insisted that the Sith had been extinct for a millennium. If that’s the case, why did they care about the idea that the Sith could be destroyed by the Chosen One? Presumably, the Jedi may have even believed the Chosen One had already come.

9 Qui-Gon’s Death Changed The Jedi Council’s Decision About Anakin

The Jedi Were Certain Anakin Shouldn’t Be Trained, But Then They Changed Their Minds

Although Qui-Gon had presented the idea that Anakin was the Chosen One, the Council was still resolute in their decision that Anakin should not be trained because of the risk he posed. However, after Qui-Gon Jinn died, the Jedi changed their minds. This makes little sense, as the Jedi were so sure and, in general, are trained to not allow emotions such as grief to guide their actions.

The only possible explanation seems to be that the Jedi Council did not trust Qui-Gon Jinn, a routine rule breaker, when he offered to be the one to train Anakin, but they did trust Obi-Wan. After all, it was only with Obi-Wan as Anakin’s Jedi master that the Jedi finally approved. However, even this is odd, as the Jedi could have agreed to accept Anakin but assigned him to a Jedi other than Qui-Gon before Qui-Gon’s death.

8 The Jedi Refused To Believe Count Dooku Could Have Tried To Assassinate Padmé

Count Dooku Left The Order, But The Jedi Didn’t Believe He Could Have Changed

In Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones, Padmé’s life is at risk multiple times, as there is an assassination attempt being carried out by an unknown source. Somehow, Padmé correctly suspects that it is none other than Count Dooku who has ordered this attack on her life. However, because Count Dooku is an ex-Jedi, the Council doesn’t believe this is possible; Mace Windu explicitly says that because Dooku used to be a Jedi, it’s not in his nature to do such a thing.

However, this makes very little sense. Dooku was far from the first Jedi to leave the Jedi Order, and in so doing, he was clearly disavowing the principles the Order stood for. In light of that, it seems more than reasonable to assume he might have turned to the dark side or at least could be capable of such a thing. Of course, as Luke Skywalker rightly pointed out in the sequel trilogy, the prequel era Jedi did suffer from hubris; this is presumably a huge example of that issue.

7 Count Dooku Told Obi-Wan Kenobi Palpatine’s Entire Plan

Dooku Revealed Palpatine’s Plot To Obi-Wan, Which Was An Odd, Dangerous Betrayal

Hubris didn’t only move in one direction during the prequels, though. In fact, Count Dooku revealed a fair bit of hubris himself in Attack of the Clones when he captured Obi-Wan Kenobi on Geonosis. For reasons that remain unclear, Dooku laid out precisely what Palpatine’s plan was. Yes, Dooku asked Obi-Wan to join him, but he could have tried to win Obi-Wan over without actually revealing the entire Sith plot.

In fact, Dooku even directly revealed Palpatine’s name—Darth Sidious—which could have given Obi-Wan essential information to identify the disguise of the Sith Lord. Dooku also specifically told Obi-Wan that hundreds of senators were under this person’s influence, leading Obi-Wan right to the source. Perhaps even more curious than Dooku’s confession, though, is the fact that Obi-Wan didn’t seem to work all that hard to uncover the truth.

6 The Jedi Council Sent Anakin And Padmé To Naboo Together

Anakin’s Crush Was Obvious, And It Isn’t Clear Why He Was Best For The Job

One of the most bewildering choices the Jedi made in the prequel trilogy was to send Anakin and Padmé off to Naboo together. Although Padmé’s life was at risk and it made sense for her to leave Coruscant until the threat was identified, Anakin was arguably the worst possible choice for this mission. In fact, while it even made sense for a Jedi to be assigned for this mission, it’s nonsensical that Anakin would have been the first choice.

Anakin was powerful and even the Chosen One, but there’s simply no way he was the best equipped of any Jedi in the Order to handle this task.

Anakin was powerful and the Chosen One, but there’s simply no way he was the best equipped of any Jedi in the Order to handle this task. More significantly, Anakin very clearly had feelings for Padmé. While perhaps the Council did not know the extent of his feelings, Obi-Wan certainly did, and he should have alerted the Council to the issues that could arise if Padmé and Anakin were sent off alone together. Of course, Anakin and Padmé had to get together in some way in the prequels, so narratively this was a necessity; it just didn’t make much sense.

5 Yoda Never Followed Up On The Pain And Anger He Sensed Coming From Anakin

Yoda Feels The Tusken Raider Incident From Afar But Never Followed Up

Perhaps Anakin’s first true Vader moment came when he found his mother tied up and tortured in the Tusken Raider camp and, upon her death, decided to massacre every Tusken Raider (men, women, and children, as he famously highlighted). It’s alarming enough that Padmé knew about this and never alerted anyone, but it’s also incredibly odd that Yoda never tried to identify what he’d sensed. While Yoda didn’t know the details or the extent of the massacre, he does say in Attack of the Clones that he sensed suffering, pain, and death connected to Anakin.

Yet, Yoda never seems to follow up on this feeling with Anakin. Given the severity of what Yoda sensed and his existing concerns about Anakin, it simply makes no sense that Yoda wouldn’t have confronted Anakin and prioritized uncovering the truth and addressing it. Yes, the Clone Wars began immediately after, and that no doubt required a significant amount of Yoda’s attention, but this was undoubtedly something that Yoda should have taken very seriously.

4 The Jedi Accepted The Clones Without Question

The Clones Had Very Mysterious, Concerning Origins, Yet The Jedi Used Them Anyway

Rounding out the oddest parts of Attack of the Clones is the fact that the Jedi accepted the mysterious clone army created for them without much concern. As with Yoda sensing Anakin’s pain but neglecting to find out more about it, the Clone Wars undoubtedly pushed the Jedi into a corner where they felt they had to accept the clones (all according to Palpatine’s plan). However, it remains unexplained why they weren’t more wary of doing so.

Of course, this entirely backfired, as these very clones carried out Order 66, nearly eradicating the Jedi. It’s very unlikely the Jedi could have discovered this exact plot, but had they been a bit more critical of the curious circumstance surrounding the creation of the clones, they might not have been as vulnerable when the time came. Arguably, as peacekeepers, the Jedi shouldn’t have been so involved in the war anyway; while the clones could have worked for the Republic, they likely shouldn’t have worked for the Jedi.

As peacekeepers, the Jedi shouldn’t have been so involved in the war anyway.

3 Anakin’s Knighting Ceremony Wasn’t Shown On Screen

This Was An Incredibly Important Moment, But The Prequels Excluded It

Although most of the moments that make no sense in the prequels occurred in the movies, one of the most confusing aspects of the prequels is something they excluded. Specifically, despite Anakin’s story being paramount in the prequel movies, his Knighting ceremony was not shown. In fact, this was never depicted in Star Wars canon in the shows or the movies; only the non-canonical 2003 Star Wars: Clone Wars TV show has shown this momentous occasion.

There are even many ways Star Wars could have incorporated this into the prequels. This could have been done in montage, paralleling Anakin’s wedding with Padmé and the Knighting ceremony to show his conflict and represent the schism he was bringing into his life. It could have also been done in flashback during Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith. Unfortunately, Star Wars canon skipped this event, and it doesn’t seem likely to revisit it now.

2 Yoda Told Anakin Not To Listen To His Visions After Telling Others The Opposite

Ahsoka Did What Anakin Could Not Because Of Yoda’s Advice

In Revenge of the Sith, Anakin somewhat surprisingly tried to do what was right when he began having nightmares about Padmé dying. Although he didn’t fully come clean about the extent of his relationship with Padmé, he did seek Yoda’s guidance and even confess that this was someone close to him. Unfortunately, Yoda more or less stonewalled Anakin, warning him of the dangers of such visions; in the end, this only added to Anakin’s anxiety.

Yoda had already provided the opposite advice several times.

What makes this strange is that Yoda had already provided the opposite advice several times, although not to Anakin. In fact, Ahsoka Tano had visions of Padmé being assassinated in Star Wars: The Clone Wars, mirroring Anakin’s fears, and she too went to Yoda. Yet, with Ahsoka, Yoda helped her use her visions to her advantage, which ultimately saved Padmé’s life. Yoda had also spoken before about being mindful of the future, confusingly directly contradicting what he told Anakin in Revenge of the Sith.

1 No One Wondered Who The Father Of Padmé’s Baby Was

Padmé Was In The Public Eye And Clearly Very Close To Anakin

Although Obi-Wan eventually asked whether Anakin was the father of Padmé’s baby in Revenge of the Sith, it’s odd that Padmé never seemed to be asked who the father was before. While, sure, that would have been rude, it would have been a bit curious that Padmé’s only close relationship seemed to be with Anakin, a Jedi. Moreover, even if no one directly asked Padmé, the shows and movies in this era didn’t reveal anyone, including the Jedi, really speculating. For the most part, Padmé’s pregnancy went unaddressed.

This is mainly odd because it undoubtedly would have been of major concern to the Jedi, and, clearly, they were being obvious enough that Obi-Wan knew. This also may have stopped a number of tragedies from taking place, as the Jedi would likely have kicked Anakin out of the Order. While this would have been devastating to Anakin, it would have meant no more secrecy, which clearly ate at him. This truly is one of the most confusing aspects of the Star Wars prequel trilogy because of its importance.