The Nameless Planet - Star Wars/Insights

The Son of the Suns
August 16, 1999

"...And in the time of greatest despair there shall come a savior, and he shall be known as: THE SON OF THE SUNS."
                             - Journal of the Whills, 3:127

If you're familiar with the first drafts of A New Hope, you may recognize the above quote. There is a lot of speculation in the Star Wars universe recently about the prophecy of "The Son of the Suns". If you were sharp of hearing, at the end of the Special Edition of Return of the Jedi, you might hear someone yell: "The Son of the Suns!" during the celebration on Coruscant. And now, you can also hear the same phrase being yelled during the celebration on Naboo at the end of The Phantom Menace.

Celebration on Coruscant

Just who is "the Son of the Suns", though? I immediately come to the conclusion that it must be Anakin Skywalker. The obvious reason being that he did not have a natural father, but instead was concieved by the midi-chlorians. Also, the fact that he was born on Tatooine, which has two suns. So, taken in a literal sense Anakin Skywalker would truly be "the Son of the Suns". Perhaps this is a Tatooine folk tale? The one who is the Sun of the Suns could be an avatar who was sent to bring peace and prosperity to those of Tatooine. Another interesting fact is the dream that Anakin tells Qui-Gon and Padm� at the dinner table. He said that he was a Jedi who came back to Tatooine and freed all the slaves. This is most definitely the act of a hero, but he could also be the saviour of all the oppressed who live under slavery. This is probably something we will see in Episode II, since it is fairly obvious Anakin will return to his mother.

What about the one who brings balance to the Force, the chosen one? That would also be Anakin, and I think "the Son of the Suns" and the chosen one are the same person, just different names. That would support the "folk tale/prophecy" theory; that is, there will be one person that will be responsible for great things in the galaxy, he just has different names given to him by different cultures. That would make Anakin's place in the universe much more grand in scale. Not only that, it reinforces the fact that Darth Vader was not necessarily evil. If he truly was the one who brings balance, Anakin/Vader would be the one who introduces the Dark Side into a galaxy that is "overrun" by the Light Side, simply because it is his destiny.

All of this would explain why the people of Coruscant would be shouting the name of the chosen one at the end of ROTJ. Vader was the one who destroyed the Emperor, and in turn, the Empire itself. However, why this moniker was shouted at the celebration on Naboo is unknown. I have read that the voice used for both of the "hidden lines" is the same, so perhaps it represents the path that Anakin will be following as a Jedi, similar to foreshadowing.

In summary, although there is not a lot of information on the prophecy of the Son of the Suns, it is clear who this prophecy involves. Hopefully we will get more specific background information in the upcoming prequels.