This Friday, January 28th, Anakin will learn of the prophecy of the chosen one, spelled out in the Phantom Menace, and thus his fate. The episode, the first of a three part arc, will bring Obi-Wan, Anakin, and his teenage padawan Ahsoka Tano to a world inhabited by very powerful creatures of the Force. The family that they meet, especially the father, is convinced that Anakin is the one, the one that will bring balance to the force, just as Qui-Gon Jinn recognized in the films, and he tries to convince the young jedi to remain on the planet Mortis where he can help to forge a balance between the two sides.
There is no doubt that Anakin’s biggest influences at the start were Qui-Gon Jinn and his mother, Shmi Skywalker. And for these important episodes, which will mark a big revelation in Anakin’s life, they return. His mother pushed him to go into the stars with the Jedi and learn the ways of the force and her death pushed him toward the dark side, while the Jedi Master knew what his once apprentice would mean to the galaxies. To make this more dramatic, creators wanted to bring back the actor and actress that made these characters so memorable. And with luck, they were willing to do it and by their own accounts glad to be included in the new tales since both their characters had perished. Liam Neeson will reprise his role as the stately and noble Qui-Gon Jinn and Pernilla August will play the loving matriarch as she did in the films.
Qui-Gon will appear as a ghost just as Anakin, Yoda and Obi-Wan did with Luke, while there isn’t word how Shmi will be inserted, but my guess is it will be a dream or flashback.
Star Wars: The Clone Wars airs Friday night at 8:30pm on the Cartoon Network.
