3 Times Anakin Showing a Little Darth Vader in ‘The Clone Wars’

We all know how Anakin’s story ends throughout the Prequels and the Original Trilogy. However, what I really like while watching The Clone Wars is how the show drops subtle hints—little moments that foreshadow his transformation into Darth Vader.

Across the series, there are moments where Anakin’s anger, obsession, and fear of loss start to break through—moments where the Jedi Knight we’re rooting for begins to feel more like the Sith Lord he’ll become.

Here are three times The Clone Wars let a little bit of Vader slip through.

1. Anakin’s Silhouette Foreshadows Vader

In The Clone Wars Season 6, Episode 5, “An Old Friend,” Padmé is arrested by the Banking Clan during a tense diplomatic mission on Scipio. Anakin travels to the planet to negotiate her release. Teckla has been found dead, and the Muuns believe she sabotaged the power grid, putting the entire mission on edge. When Anakin learns that Rush Clovis is involved again, his temper flares.

The very next scene drives that shift home. As Anakin approaches Padmé’s holding room, the door slides open—and for a brief moment, his shadow stretches across the floor, draped in his cloak, shaped almost identically to Darth Vader’s silhouette.

2. Anakin’s Desperation to Control Ahsoka Reflects the Vader He’s Becoming

In The Clone Wars Season 5, Episode 18, “The Jedi Who Knew Too Much,” Ahsoka has been arrested and accused of bombing the Jedi Temple. She’s been imprisoned in the Republic military base, and Anakin, completely distraught, rushes in to see her. But when Commander Fox coldly denies him access, something shifts in Anakin’s demeanor.

His frustration boils to the surface. His tone sharpens. He starts demanding access, his voice rising with anger, and for a moment, you can tell Fox and the other guards are preparing for a worst-case scenario. It’s tense. If Anakin had pushed just a little further, there’s no doubt they would’ve drawn weapons on him.

This scene may seem small, but it reveals so much. Anakin’s emotions aren’t under control. He’s not calm. He’s not composed. He’s deeply attached to Ahsoka and will break protocol—or even threaten his own allies, just to reach her. That’s not how a Jedi is supposed to act.

It’s a glimpse of Vader without the armor. That intensity, that sense of entitlement to override the system, and that underlying rage—it’s all there. This is a Jedi who already feels above the rules. And when those rules get in his way, his first instinct isn’t diplomacy—it’s confrontation.

It’s especially haunting when you consider what would eventually happen between these two characters. In the 2017 Darth Vader comic series (issues #9 – 10), long after Anakin becomes Vader, he crosses paths with Commander Fox again—and it ends violently. During one of Vader’s missions to eliminate surviving Jedi, he tracks Jocasta Nu to the ruins of the Jedi Temple. He orders Fox and his clone battalion to guard the entrance, allowing no one in or out.

But when Jocasta triggers an explosion to escape, Fox and his men mistakenly interfere with Vader’s pursuit. Without hesitation, Vader uses the Force to snap Fox’s neck. No warnings. No second chances. Just a brutal reminder of how far Anakin has fallen.

Looking back, that short clash in the detention hallway—Anakin seething with rage as Fox blocks his path—wasn’t just a tense moment. It was a quiet preview of a future where that restraint would be gone. Where Anakin wouldn’t argue, or plead, or demand. He would kill.

3. Anakin’s Vision of Becoming Vader

The Mortis arc is full of strange visions and Force mysticism, but no moment hits harder than when the Son shows Anakin a vision of his future—the very path that leads him to become Darth Vader. For a brief moment, we don’t have to imagine what’s coming. We see it: the betrayal, the destruction of the Jedi Temple, the fall to the dark side, the screams of Padmé as she dies, and Anakin igniting his red lightsaber in rage.

And it breaks him.

Faced with this horrifying vision, Anakin doesn’t reject it. He doesn’t vow to change it. Instead, he chooses power. He submits to the Son, believing that by joining him, he can prevent this future. The tragedy is, of course, that this choice is what causes it. This moment—Anakin willingly surrendering to the dark side in the name of control and fear—is pure Vader energy.

This isn’t just foreshadowing. It’s the most direct preview we’ve ever had of Darth Vader in The Clone Wars. The Mortis arc strips away all the war and politics and shows us who Anakin really is underneath—someone who, no matter how noble his intentions, always reaches for control over trust and power over peace.