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Star Wars: How to watch every Anakin Skywalker appearance in chronological order, from the prequels to Ahsoka

Sand haters of the galaxy unite as we travel from Anakin Skywalker's earliest days, to his time as Darth Vader, and to his appearances in recent Star Wars series on Disney+

A still of Hayden Christiansen as Anakin Skywalker in Ahsoka
Image credit: Disney+
Jules Chin Greene
Guides by Jules Chin Greene, Contributing Writer
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If there's one thing that Anakin Skywalker gave the Star Wars Universe, it was a sense of drama. And a dislike of sand's texture. The return of Hayden Christiansen to the role in recent Disney+ series like Ahsoka has been a satisfying full-circle moment for those of us who grew up watching the Star Wars prequels. With this in mind, let's put together a chronological watch order for all of Anakin's adventures and misadventures in a galaxy far, far away. 

For the sake of my own sanity, I've limited this list to just TV shows and movies that are official Star Wars canon. I will, however, encourage you to watch Genndy Tartakovsky's Clone Wars micro-series from 2003. While the 2003 Clone Wars is no longer canon, it expands upon Anakin's time in the Jedi Order with a stylish flair. It's also streaming on Disney+ and takes about two hours to watch all the way through, so what's your excuse? 

I've also left out Anakin's appearances in canon Star Wars novels and comics. But I also encourage you to check them out if you haven't already. The Star Wars: Bounty Hunters comic book series by Ethan Sacks and Paolo Villanelli reignited my love of Star Wars, and there are some brutal fight scenes between Vader and my favorite cyborg bounty hunter, Beilert Valance. 

How to watch every Anakin Skywalker appearance in Star Wars TV series and movies in chronological order

Star Wars
Image credit: Lucasfilm

For brevity and clarity, I've broken up Anakin's appearances in the 2008, 3D animated Clone Wars TV show into storyline chunks. And for all of my fellow Star Wars history heads out there, I've done my best to put dates for each of the stories here, noted by the "BBY" abbreviation (which is short for "before the Battle of Yavin," the battle from A New Hope where Luke blows up the Death Star). Anything that takes place after the Battle of Yavin is noted by ABY, for "after the Battle of Yavin." 

How to watch every Anakin Skywalker appearance in Star Wars TV series and movies in release order

Darth Vader in Cloud City in Empire Strikes Back
Image credit: Lucasfilm Ltd.

Now, if you want to see how both Star Wars and Anakin have changed through time, then you can watch all of his appearances in release order. It will be just like taking a trip down memory lane. 

And there you have it! This list is bound to keep you busy for a while, and hopefully by the time you're done watching through everything, we'll have a new Anakin and/or Vader appearance to add to it. 

Get to know, understand, and love the Star Wars franchise more with our Star Wars watch order, guide to all the upcoming Star Wars movies & TV shows, and all the Star Wars movies and Star Wars TV shows ranked.

Jules Chin Greene

Jules Chin Greene: Jules Chin Greene is a journalist and Jack Kirby enthusiast. He has written about comics, video games, movies, and television for sites such as Nerdist, AIPT, Multiverse of Color, and Screen Rant.

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