Star Wars may have just taken its biggest step toward revealing the true origins of Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader in the last 5 years based on one blink-and-you-miss-it cameo in The Acolyte. Anakin is easily one of the most compelling and beloved characters in Star Wars movies and TV shows. While he may have been introduced as one of Star Wars’ most powerful Sith in the original trilogy, the prequels fleshed out his time before he joined the dark side, revealing that he was so much more.

However, the true explanation for Anakin’s mysterious conception has remained elusive in the franchise. There are theories that the Force itself created Anakin to bring balance, but many believe that it was Palpatine who manipulated midi-chlorians via the Force to create him. While there remains room for debate, The Acolyte may have just revealed how Star Wars will conclude this decades-old question.

Darth Plagueis Possessed The Power To Create Life

Little has been revealed about Darth Plagueis in canon, although his Legends backstory was extensive. In canon, Plagueis is confirmed to be Palpatine’s Sith master, but most of Plagueis’ canonical backstory was revealed in a conversation between Palpatine and Anakin in Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith. Specifically, Palpatine asked Anakin if he had heard the “tragedy” of Darth Plagueis the Wise and informed Anakin that Plagueis was powerful enough to create life and keep those he cared about from dying.

In Revenge of the Sith, this became pivotal information because it got into Anakin’s head (which is precisely what Palpatine intended), as he was desperate to learn the same power to save Padmé. However, as important as this revelation was in that movie, it has much larger implications for Star Wars more broadly. Not only does this reveal perhaps the single greatest power in all of Star Wars, but also, it implies that Anakin’s miraculous conception might have a very clear source after all.

Star Wars Has Hinted The Sith Created Anakin

When Anakin was introduced as a child in Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace, it was immediately clear that his story was going to take on a much different tone than many had anticipated. Yes, many had assumed that following the original trilogy, Vader’s backstory wouldn’t go so far back that he was a child. However, viewers were also surprised (many for the worse) to discover that Anakin’s story began not with a person who already seemed evil but rather with someone entirely innocent and pure of heart.

This notion that Anakin was conceived without explanation essentially gave him the arc of a Messiah.

This shocking turn took on an even greater meaning when it was revealed that, according to Anakin’s mother, Shmi, he had been born without a father. This notion that Anakin was conceived without explanation essentially gave him the arc of a Messiah, which was reinforced by the idea that he had been foretold in the Chosen One prophecy. However, while the prequel trilogy explored this idea of the Chosen One quite a bit, the true explanation for Anakin’s spontaneous creation remained entirely mysterious in the prequels.

Of course, Revenge of the Sith did plant the seed that there was more to this story, as Palpatine revealing Plagueis’ ability to create life immediately seemed connected to Anakin’s curious origins. In fact, with the added context that Plagueis was Palpatine’s master, this story suggests that Palpatine might have even acquired this knowledge directly from Plagueis, perhaps using it to create Anakin himself. Even so, Star Wars didn’t confirm then that this was how Anakin was made, and, really, the franchise has avoided a clear answer since the prequels.

The closest Star Wars has come to confirming that Palpatine created Anakin with the Force actually came in a Star Wars comic book, Darth Vader (2017) #25. In the comic, Darth Vader enters a portal, within which he encounters various visions from throughout his life. The one most suggestive of Palpatine’s role in Anakin’s creation shows a pregnant Shmi Skywalker with a creepy phantom of Palpatine behind her. A subsequent image shows a close-up of Shmi’s pregnant stomach with a swirling image in the middle and the words “the chosen one.”

The swirls could be a visual representation of Palpatine manipulating midi-chlorians to create life.

Interestingly, the details of this image might even offer more insight into how Palpatine could have done this. Presumably, the swirls could be a visual representation of Palpatine manipulating midi-chlorians to create life. While this imagery does also seem fairly straightforward, even this does not confirm that Anakin was created in this way. At the end of Darth Vader (2017) #25, Palpatine ominously tells Vader, “Finding even one true thing… nothing is more difficult.” Theoretically, this could mean the visions Vader saw were false.

The Acolyte Clearly Shows The Origin Of Plagueis’ Power

Now, The Acolyte might be the show that finally connects the dots. The Acolyte comprised numerous mysteries, although one of the most significant was Osha and Mae’s origin story. Like Anakin, the twins had no father, but the circumstances of their birth were quite different. Rather than a type of Messiah coming to effectively save the Force, Osha and Mae were a creation of the witches of Brendok, Mother Aniseya in particular. However, like Anakin, Osha and Mae seem to have been created with the Force.

Many worried that this meant The Acolyte was stealing from or otherwise ‘ruining’ Anakin’s legacy in Star Wars, although that isn’t the case—far from it, in fact. Not only did The Acolyte make it clear that Osha and Mae aren’t the Chosen One, but also, their existence may be the very thing that ends up finally explaining Anakin’s own origins. In The Acolyte finale, it was shockingly revealed that none other than Darth Plagueis was on the Unknown Planet, watching Osha and Qimir.

It remains unclear whether Qimir is working with Plagueis or not, but either way, it’s clear that Plagueis has taken an interest in them. In all likelihood, it’s really Osha that he is interested in, not Qimir. After all, Palpatine already confirmed in Revenge of the Sith that Plagueis ultimately acquired the power to create life. Now, more than 100 years earlier, Star Wars has shown that he found a being who had been created with the Force. The implication is clear: Osha will be the key to Plagueis unlocking the power to create life.

The implication is clear: Osha will be the key to Plagueis unlocking the power to create life.

Is Anakin The Result Of The Sith “Arms Race”?

These revelations also set up a thrilling possibility regarding Anakin’s backstory. It seems more than likely that The Acolyte is establishing, finally, the history that led to Anakin Skywalker’s creation, meaning that Plagueis will seemingly uncover the nature of Osha and Mae’s creation and learn how to wield that power himself. Whether he is the one to create Anakin or Palpatine is remains unclear, although it seems probable that one of the two of them did. However, this could also mean that Anakin was made because the Sith were competing to achieve this power.

After Osha and Mae make it clear that such a power can exist, undoubtedly, dark side Force-users would be obsessed with the ability. Could it be that the events of The Acolyte set such an arms race in motion? That could be the plot of a second season of the show, although season 2 has yet to be confirmed. Whether or not The Acolyte is renewed, though, Star Wars seems to be getting closer and closer to confirming that Anakin was indeed created by the Sith.