"Are you even allowed to love; I thought that was forbidden for a Jedi."

"Attachment is forbidden, possession is forbidden; compassion, which I would define as unconditional love, is central to a Jedi's life. So you might say that we're encouraged to love."

As many times as I have watched AOTC, I had until now been unable to put my finger on why this conversation seemed so important. It would seem that Anakin was simply trying to make an excuse for his love for Padme, but the truth is...Anakin really knew what he was talking about; he had discovered what all other Jedi had failed to see or understand.

The basis of the Jedi rule that forbids attachment seems sound at first glance; I mean, it was Anakin's love (and resulting attachment) for Padme that initially turned him to the Dark Side. And ironically, even with all his efforts to save her, he really managed to destroy her himself, and could have avoided this had he ignored his foresight.

This is how it seems on the surface, but Anakin's discovery of love had much more meaning than that. If a Jedi is asked to have unconditional love his whole life but never actually FALL in love with someone, how is he/she to ever express needed feelings in such a stressful life? The Jedi are so set on this, and yet Yoda sacrifices the capture of Count Dooku to save Obi and Anakin. What caused this other than attachment and love?

And though it was love that turned Anakin to the Dark Side, it was also love that saved him from it in the end. His love for his son...his son's love for him. It is my belief that if the Jedi would have recognized the need for love in a Jedi's life, they could have learned to understand it and prevented Anakin's fall. In the New Republic, Luke finds love, and Luke is the greatest of the Jedi.

So it turns out, Anakin was really on to something....he discovered the greatest truth of all.