Mission to Tatooine ( Separatist Crisis ) This mission to Tatooine took place shortly before the First Battle of Geonosis , the first battle of the Clone Wars , in 22 BBY . After the Jedi High Council gave Jedi Padawan Anakin Skywalker a mission to protect Senator Padmé Amidala on Naboo , Skywalker had a dream of his mother suffering and both Skywalker and Amidala left Naboo to go to Tatooine to find his mother , Shmi Skywalker Lars . Skywalker received information of Shmi ' s whereabouts from his old slaver , Watto , and soon Skywalker met the Lars family , who bought Shmi from Watto , and discovered she had been kidnapped by a Tusken Raider raiding party and was believed dead . After much investigation , Skywalker tracked his mother , who was extremely weak after a month of torture , who then died in his arms . Consumed by rage , the young Jedi touched the dark side of the Force and massacred the entire village , killing every male , female and child , and paid no attention to the spirit of Qui - Gon Jinn , who spoke to Skywalker in an attempt to prevent the carnage , while Yoda felt Anakin ' s grief grow darker as the Jedi Master meditated in the Jedi Temple . Skywalker returned to the Lars Homestead with his mother ' s body in his arms . The Lars family , protocol droid — C - 3PO , Skywalker and Amidala buried Skywalker ' s mother near the Homestead and paid their respects . Enraged , he told Padmé Amidala of the massacre and showed no mercy to the Tuskens . He blamed the death of his mother on his master , Obi - Wan Kenobi , who had taught him to be mindful of his thoughts and dreams of his mother would pass in time . Skywalker ' s astromech droid , R2 - D2 , arrived during the funeral to alert Skywalker and Amidala of Kenobi ' s transmission from Geonosis . C - 3PO accompanied Skywalker , Amidala , and R2 and left Tatooine for Geonosis on Amidala ' s personal yacht . Prelude . After his departure from his mother , Shmi Skywalker Lars , on Tatooine in 32 BBY , young Jedi Initiate Anakin Skywalker couldn ' t let go of his attachment for his mother . The Jedi High Council saw this within Skywalker when Jedi Master Qui - Gon Jinn had brought him to the Jedi , due to his high Midi - chlorian count and believed that Skywalker was the Chosen One , a Force - sensitive that will destroy the Sith and bring balance to the Force . Prior to Jinn ' s death on Naboo , Jinn told his Padawan , Obi - Wan Kenobi , to train Skywalker in the ways of the Jedi . The Jedi Council promoted Kenobi to Knighthood and agreed with Jinn ' s request — Skywalker became Kenobi ' s Padawan . Ten years after the Invasion of Naboo , Kenobi and Skywalker were called to protect the Senator from Naboo , Padmé Amidala . Following her arrival on Coruscant , Amidala was involved in a plot to kill her , which was conducted by two bounty hunters , Jango Fett and Clawdite Zam Wesell . Skywalker , who had not seen Amidala since the Invasion of Naboo , was intoxicated by her presence and endured a sense of attachment . While Kenobi assured his apprentice that a Jedi must not become attached , Skywalker was having problems with his attachment to his mother ; who he had not seen for ten years . Kenobi knew of Skywalker ' s problem with attachments and encouraged his apprentice that the dreams of his mother would pass in time . The plot to assassinate Senator Amidala caused turmoil within the Jedi Council , who had sent Kenobi to the lost wild space planet of Kamino to track one of the two bounty hunters that were responsible for the threat against Amidala ' s life . The council had given Skywalker a mission to protect Amidala and transport her to her home planet of Naboo . As his attachment for Amidala grew on Naboo , dreams of his mother worsened and soon one night , he had a nightmare of her suffering . Skywalker insisted that he should return to Tatooine to find his mother , which disobeyed Kenobi ' s request for Skywalker to stay on Naboo and protect the senator . However , Amidala followed Skywalker and the two of them left for Tatooine on a mission to find his mother . The mission . The Lars Homestead . Amidala and Skywalker entered the Tatoo system on Amidala ' s personal yacht . They landed in Skywalker ' s childhood town of Mos Espa , which the two had not seen for ten years . Skywalker approached his old Toydarian master , Watto near his shop . Due to Skywalker ' s ten year absence , Watto did not recognize who the outlander was . The Jedi padawan refreshed his former owner ' s memory by asking where his mother , Shmi , was . Surprised , Watto was thrilled to see his old slave . Skywalker demanded to know the whereabouts of his mother , to which Watto informed him that he had sold her after Skywalker left Tatooine in 32 BBY . The Toydarian sold Shmi to a moisture farmer family that lived near the city of Mos Eisley . Watto gave Anakin the location of Shmi and both Skywalker and Amidala departed Mos Espa . The duo was greeted by Skywalker ' s old protocol droid , C - 3PO , who went with Shmi when she was sold by Watto and left Mos Espa . C - 3PO took his former master into the Lars homestead , where Skywalker met the family who bought his mother . Young Owen Lars and his girlfriend , Beru Whitesun , greeted Skywalker and Amidala . The owner of the homestead , Cliegg Lars , approached Skywalker after he questioned Owen about his mother ' s whereabouts . The group went inside the homestead while Cliegg explained his relationship with Shmi . He bought Shmi from Watto after falling in love with her , freed her , and married her soon after . One early morning , a group of Tusken Raiders stormed the homestead and took Shmi with them . Cliegg and his fellow moisture farmers began a search party , though only a few returned and Cliegg lost part of his right leg from an undisclosed incident while he searched for Shmi . Cliegg told Skywalker that he didn ' t want to lose hope , but she had been gone for a month . Skywalker insisted that he would find his mother , however Cliegg , without hesitation , told him that she was dead . Skywalker ignored him and prepared to leave the homestead , intent on searching for his mother . Amidala joined him outside and soon Skywalker departed on the Lars ' s swoop bike , determined to find his mother before it was too late . Reunion and massacre . The voyage to find his mother proved to be a challenge for Skywalker . He received information from a Jawa about a Tusken camp not far from his location . Skywalker continued on and stopped near the edge of a cliff . The young Jedi saw a Tusken camp barely illuminated by its campfire and knew that his mother was there . Quietly , Skywalker proceeded towards one of the tents and used his lightsaber to cut a hole through the thick cloth that held the tent together . Skywalker saw his injured mother who was tied to two wooden poles inside the tent he entered . Skywalker proceeded and freed his mother and lowered her into his arms . Pleased to see her son , Shmi had a brief conversation with Skywalker . She weakly expressed that in seeing Anakin one last time , she was complete . Their talk ended when Shmi died from her injuries in her son ' s arms . Enraged , Skywalker left his mother ' s body in the tent , ignited his lightsaber , and killed the two Tuskens guarding the tent . The sound of the lightsaber alerted more Tuskens who were nearby which caused them to attack Skywalker , flanking wort - like creatures as they launched their attack . However , the Jedi showed no mercy and proceeded in his Tusken massacre . He did not stop until the entire camp was silent and every man , woman , and child present was destroyed . The spirit of Qui - Gon Jinn , tried to calm Skywalker in an attempt to prevent the carnage , but it was in vain . On Coruscant , Grand Master Yoda heard Jinn ' s voice through the Force and felt Skywalker ' s pain , and also told Mace Windu when he asked about it . Return to the Homestead . Skywalker returned to the homestead on the swoop he left with . Shmi ' s body was wrapped in a large piece of cloth . The Lars family and Amidala , whom thought she could not be found , were shocked to see Skywalker with his mother ' s body . Cliegg was one of the few who could not bear to look at the sight while Skywalker entered the homestead . The rough moment for Skywalker turned when Amidala entered the room where Skywalker was inside the homestead . She tried to ask him of what happened and Skywalker revealed to Amidala of the massacre that he started . His hatred for Tuskens grew worse as he claimed that he slaughtered the Tuskens for the death of his mother . He blamed his master for not letting him find his mother during the ten year span of his absence from Tatooine . Skywalker soon became emotional and wept for his mother ' s loss . Shortly after , Skywalker , the Lars family and Amidala buried Shmi outside , near the homestead . Skywalker assured his mother that he would not fail to lose another loved one again . During the funeral , Skywalker ' s astromech droid , R2 - D2 , approached the group . C - 3PO told Skywalker that R2 had received a message from a person named Obi - Wan Kenobi and soon Skywalker , Amidala , and the droids left the homestead to listen to the message that Kenobi transmitted from Geonosis , on Amidala ' s yacht . Aftermath . Shortly after the Mission to Tatooine , Skywalker and Amidala endured on a rescue mission to release Kenobi , who was captured by former Jedi Master , Count Dooku on Geonosis . The First Battle of Geonosis , the first battle in the Clone Wars , soon began after a Jedi Strike Team arrived , led by Jedi Master Mace Windu . Skywalker married Amidala after the Battle of Geonosis on Naboo and his attachment for Amidala grew more during the war . During the Clone Wars , Skywalker became a Jedi Knight and took on a mission in 21 BBY . Skywalker thought he wouldn ' t return to Tatooine due to what had happened months prior to his return . It was painful for Skywalker to speak of his past and would not tell his Padawan , Ahsoka Tano , who accompanied Skywalker during the mission . On Tatooine , various Tusken Raiders learned of the event , and came to refer to Anakin as the " Demon Outlander , " due to his butchery of the camp as well as his allegedly not being from Tatooine . They also conducted sacrifices to appease the " Demon Outlander " . In 19 BBY , shortly after Skywalker killed the Separatist leader , Count Dooku , over Coruscant , Supreme Chancellor Palpatine , a close friend of Skywalker , when feigning sympathy for Skywalker ' s guilt for doing so , referenced Skywalker ' s massacre when mentioning it wasn ' t the first time the boy gave in to anger , due to Skywalker having earlier told him about the event . In addition , Skywalker had dreams of Amidala dying from childbirth . Palpatine had knowledge of the massacre and his marriage and soon this knowledge would play a role when Palpatine revealed himself to be Darth Sidious , though it is uncertain if the dark side had been involved in the killing of Shmi . When Mace Windu dueled the Sith Lord on Coruscant , Skywalker was present at the time of the duel and saw Windu attempted to murder Sidious . Enraged and desperate , Skywalker severed Windu ' s lightsaber hand , and Sidious blasted Windu with Force lightning . With the knowledge of Amidala dying , Skywalker joined the dark side and became Darth Vader . After Vader ' s duel with his former master , Obi - Wan Kenobi , Vader received life threatening injuries from the fires of Mustafar . Sidious brought his apprentice back to Coruscant to be resurrected with the suit he would wear for the rest of his life . Amidala soon died on Polis Massa after giving birth to Luke Skywalker and Leia Amidala Skywalker . In large part because of the pain this event afflicted on Skywalker / Vader , as well as his past in general , Vader rarely ever visited Tatooine , which likewise resulted in Vader ' s son , Luke , growing up with minimal risk of ever encountering Vader on Tatooine . In addition , when Vader successfully managed to arrest Leia Amidala Skywalker , by that time going by the name of Leia Organa due to being separated at birth from her twin brother , he was largely displeased about the arrest occurring above Tatooine due to having lingering memories of the event . Ultimately , only one survivor of Anakin ' s slaughter existed , KkH ' Oar ' Rrhr , who had been bonding with his bantha at the time of the massacre . KkH ' Oar ' Rrhr would later end up working as a Teräs Käsi student of the Emperor ' s Hand Arden Lyn and fight Luke Skywalker , under the belief that he was the " Demon Outlander , " by 1 ABY . 23 years after the mission , Vader and his Sith apprentice , Tao , encountered a vengeful Tusken Raider that belonged to the group of Tuskens that were murdered on Tatooine . The Tusken engaged Vader in a fight , and soon brought Vader to his knees . As a act of revenge , the Tusken claimed that Vader murdered his entire family that night in 22 BBY . The Tusken was about to kill Vader until Tao saved his master ' s life by killing the Tusken . Tao was injured and soon died in Vader ' s arms which caused Vader to scream in rage . 29 years after the resulting massacre , Skywalker ' s daughter , Leia Organa Solo , and her husband Han Solo came to Tatooine for a mission to stop an auction that included an Alderaanian piece of art . However , their journey in Tatooine soon became a mission of learning the past . Leia ' s father , Anakin Skywalker , murdered a group of Tusken Raiders some 29 years prior to their mission , in a camp called Valley of the Spirits . Leia and Han traveled across the area and were consumed by wind like weather , possibly the spirits of the Tuskens . Behind the scenes . The mission first appeared in . Anakin Skywalker ' s problems with attachments began when he left his mother in " " , and it became worse throughout his life as a Jedi . In , Anakin would have dreams of his wife , Padmé Amidala , dying from childbirth . The image of Amidala dying in Anakin ' s dreams was shown on screen and would play a major part in Anakin ' s downfall to the dark side in " Revenge of the Sith " . George Lucas has commented about Anakin and his dreams in the audio commentary of " Revenge of the Sith " DVD , stating that after he left Tatooine in Episode I , the pain of losing his mother would continue on in his Jedi life until her death in Episode II . While Anakin had matured much since then , he still had problems with attachments , which only worsened with his dreams of Padmé ' s death during childbirth in " Revenge of the Sith " . . In an interview with eucantina . net , James Luceno , one of the authors of the DK visual dictionary lines , implied that Darth Sidious was involved in the Tusken Raider ' s abduction of Shmi Skywalker as a means to ensure that Anakin would fall to the Dark Side .