Mission to Tatooine (Separatist Crisis)

"They're like animals, and I slaughtered them like animals. I hate them!"

- Anakin Skywalker

The Massacre on Tatooine was an incident that happened shortly before the Battle of Geonosis. Having gone to Tatooine to find his mother, Shmi Skywalker, Jedi Padawan Anakin Skywalker discovered she had been kidnappned by a Sand People raiding party and believed dead. After much tracking and investigation, Skywalker found his mother, extremely weak after a month of torture, who then died on his arms. Consumed by rage, the young Jedi touched the Dark Side of the Force and massacred the entire village, killing every male, woman and child, and paying no attention to the spirit of Qui-Gon Jinn, who spoke to Anakin in an attempt to prevent the carnage.

The intense rage of Skywalker, the fear and suffering of the Tuskens and the presence of Jinn's spirit created a disturbance in the Force that was sensed on Coruscant by Master Yoda.

For years, Anakin would keep the secret, which was known only to Senator Padmé Amidala, Jedi Knight A'Sharad Hett and Supreme Chancellor Palpatine. Amidala kept the secret out of her love for Anakin, while Hett did it because he believed Skywalker had the responsability to face his own darkness and reveal his actions himself. Meanwhile, Palpatine would use this knowledge to goad Skywalker further into the Dark Side during the Battle of Coruscant.

The site of the massacre came to be known as the Valley of the Spirits; Tuskens believed that the murderer was some kind of spirit or demon, leading them to leave objects or sacrifice animals to appease the ghost. By 8 BBY, a group of Tuskens tried to sacrifice Kitster Banai to the spirit. Ironically, Banai had been a childhood friend of Skywalker.

Appearances

 * Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones
 * Tatooine Ghost