The Chosen One, who will return in Ahsoka Season 2 and appears in the recently-released Star Wars Zero Company, has joined forces with many notable heroes and villains.
The term “Zero Company” definitely doesn’t apply to the Chosen One in the galaxy far, far away. Throughout his most dangerous missions and scariest moments, Anakin Skywalker has had no shortage of allies, standing side by side, saber or blaster in hand.
As we join in on Anakin’s latest alliance as he makes a cameo in the Clone Wars-era video game Star Wars Zero Company and we get ready for Ahsoka Season 2, we present some of our favorite Anakin team-ups — before that business on Mustafar.
Padmé Amidala
Anakin’s secret love has been known to team up with him in battle, even though Padmé preferred words of diplomacy over weapons. Sometimes, you’re chained to a pole in a Geonosis arena waiting to become lunch meat for a pack of fearsome creatures. Then, you fight. And Padmé certainly knew how to fight.
Another memorable moment of peril for the loving couple was in the Season 1 finale of Star Wars: The Clone Wars (“Hostage Crisis”). Anakin playfully presents Padmé with his lightsaber in a show of devotion and love just before Cad Bane and his cronies drop by Coruscant in an effort to free Ziro the Hutt. Padmé is captured, and the now saber-less Anakin is also apprehended. Hasn’t he heard that a Jedi’s lightsaber is their life? When he wakes up, Anakin finds himself among the hostages and surrounded by laser-triggered bombs. Luckily, Padmé finds a clever way to return Anakin’s lightsaber and he saves the day just before the bombs detonate.
What makes Anakin and Padmé team-ups fun are the hidden layers of their relationship, a secret the fans are always in on. It was always interesting to me to see how Anakin’s urgency and motivations were amplified when Padmé was involved in a mission. And how could they not — there is arguably no more important figure in Anakin’s life than Padmé!
Obi-Wan Kenobi
I’ve read 5-Minute Star Wars Stories to my two young daughters countless times, cover to cover, and the tale they request the most is “The Last Adventure.” In the retelling of the infamous mission to save Supreme Chancellor Palpatine at the start of Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith, the duo of Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker are described as “the perfect team.”
Given their several years as Master and apprentice, Obi-Wan and Anakin have no shortage of team-ups to choose from. My personal favorite is the five-part Marvel comics miniseries Obi-Wan and Anakin written by Charles Soule. Released in 2016, the series dives into the trials and tribulations of the Master and apprentice dynamic and the growing pains that both Jedi face.
But it’s hard to top the excitement of their daring rescue in Episode III, with all the high-speed chases, slashing lightsabers, and levity that give Star Wars its action and heart. As the final line of “The Last Adventure” reads, “Obi-Wan was sure there was already another mission waiting for them. But he also knew that, together, he and Anakin would be ready for anything.” (Insert sad Grogu gif here.)
Ahsoka Tano
Starting with the exchange in The Clone Wars animated movie that resulted in Anakin’s nickname of Skyguy, Anakin and his Padawan Ahsoka Tano (AKA Snips) have become one of the most iconic pairings in Star Wars. (A rewatch of the latest Ahsoka Season 2 trailer supports our theory!) Whether it’s heading to Teth to rescue Rotta the Huttlet, freeing slaves on Zygerria, or any of the countless other battlefronts and planets they visited during the Clone Wars, Skyguy and Snips vanquished many foes as a team, all while playfully slinging verbal jabs at each other.
Choosing a single favorite Ahsoka/Anakin team-up is a matter of personal preference. I loved Anakin’s surprise return in Season 1 of Ahsoka in the World Between Worlds. The unexpected reunion felt like a beautiful love letter to their entire relationship — complete with a patented Anakin spin behind his back during a lightsaber duel. His “Hello, Snips….” still gives me chills, as well as the brilliant live-action interpretation of some of their pivotal animated moments on the battlefront.
Qui-Gon Jinn
Obi-Wan’s Master and his apprentice never fought in a war together, but they did team up on one very important battlefield: the podracing track. In Star Wars: The Phantom Menace, Qui-Gon went from Jedi Master to coach, and all because Watto didn’t accept Republic credits. Qui-Gon fills young Ani with confidence and determination before he puts on his helmet (and cute goggles) and nervously, but with youthful passion, heads to the starting line of the Boonta Eve Classic.
Anakin would go on to defy all the odds and win the big race, sending ol’ Sebulba into a spiral, which he no doubt is still feeling. Qui-Gon believed Anakin was the Chosen One, and this battle – from a certain point of view, anyway – was among Anakin’s most important and formative.
Thrawn
The Chiss and the Chosen One had one team-up, but it was memorable, and my personal favorite!
In the novel Thrawn: Alliances by Timothy Zahn, the future Grand Admiral and soon-to-be Sith Lord join forces to serve mutual benefits. Anakin wants to find and save Padmé from Batuu; Thrawn wants to learn more about the Clone Wars. This chance encounter would be remembered by Thrawn years later when Palpatine sends him and Darth Vader on a mission to Batuu. Showing off his cunning skill, Thrawn is one of the few to put the pieces together that Vader is in fact Anakin. While he doesn’t outright confront Vader with that knowledge – Thrawn, the master tactician, knows better than that – he leaves hints, both confusing and annoying Vader in the process. Seeing Thrawn carefully choose his words in an attempt to lead Vader just far enough along to give him pause makes for a buddy cop vibe that is, for me, perfect. That Thrawn is relishing it makes it even funnier.
