Does a love triangle haunt 'Clone Wars'?

By JOSH L. DICKEY, A ssociated Press

Last update: August 28, 2008 - 2:28 PM

Darth Vader: Sith lord, murderous imperialist, deadbeat dad -- dirty old man?

The latest entry into the "Star Wars" canon, "The Clone Wars," features a new female character whose charms are not lost on Anakin Skywalker, the Jedi general on the brink of becoming the baddest bad guy in the galaxy.

Ahsoka Tano is smart, sassy and skilled with a lightsaber. She kicks up more chemistry in a few scenes with the animated Vader-in-waiting than the real-life Natalie Portman could muster over three whole films.

To be fair, there's nothing overt to indicate a relationship between Ahsoka and Anakin. But their mutual magnetism is a presence we haven't felt since the push-pull of Harrison Ford and Carrie Fisher. But if you thought a smuggler hooking up with a princess was inappropriate, then there's a reason to have a bad feeling about this.

For starters, when Anakin meets Ahsoka, she's barely a teen, while he's in his early 20s. What's more, he's supposed to be her teacher. Finally, he's already secretly married to Portman's character, the wooden Queen Amidala.

Ahsoka would've given some much-needed emotional juice to the romantically DOA "Star Wars" prequels. Instead, she's relegated to the critically bashed animated appetizer before the Cartoon Network show coming this fall. And because "The Clone Wars" is wedged between episodes 2 and 3, her disappearance before "Revenge of the Sith" will have to be reconciled.

Maybe she and Anakin keep it clean, she learns all she can from him and returns to her home planet of Shili. But one can't help but wonder if a second forbidden love adds some velocity to the dark descent of Anakin.

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