Star Wars: What Happened to Watto?

Many helped in the process of training Anakin Skywalker to become a Jedi in Star Wars. But, even if they weren’t directly involved on Coruscant, teaching Anakin how to use the Force and practicing with him the techniques of lightsaber dueling, certain characters still played a role in his eventual rise in the Republic as a Jedi General and beyond.

One character who might actually wish they hadn’t provided Anakin with a path to fulfilling his destiny as a Jedi was the junk dealer Toydarian, Watto. In Star Wars, Watto lived on Tatooine, and was the last owner of Anakin and his mother, Shmi, before they were both eventually freed from being slaves at his parts shop in Mos Espa.

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Watto had only two major appearances in the Star Wars storyline: one in The Phantom Menace, and another briefly in Attack of the Clones. Nonetheless, if it weren’t for Watto’s gambling problem and greed, Anakin would be stuck on Tatooine for his childhood, and who knows how his story would have gone.

Who Is Watto?

In Episode I: The Phantom Menace, we first see Watto living on Tatooine in Mos Espa. He was the owner of two slaves: a woman named Shmi Skywalker, and her son Anakin. Anakin was an exceptional machinist, being Watto’s primary droid technician and even a gifted podracer. Watto owned his own parts store named Watto’s Junkshop, and he made additional money from his frequent gambling, primarily for the many podracing events that occurred in Mos Espa.

In 32 BBY, Watto was approached by a Jedi Master named Qui-Gon Jinn, who was in need of a hyperdrive generator for his Nubian spacecraft. However, he lacked sufficient credits to pay for it, and suggested betting money on Anakin to win the Boonta Eve Classic podrace. If Qui-Gon were to win, he would obtain the parts he needed, as well as custody of Anakin, while Watto would keep the money won in the bet. Watto eventually agreed. Anakin went on to win the race, and Watto was obliged to honor the deal.

Although Watto was just gambling and making deals for parts as he always did, his role in The Phantom Menace is crucial to the Skywalker Saga. The Force brought Qui-Gon to Watto’s Junkshop in search of the generator, where Qui-Gon was introduced to Anakin. He sensed the overwhelming presence of the Midi-chlorians that led him to believe Anakin was the Chosen One as foretold in the Jedi prophecy. It might have proved more difficult for the Jedi to leave Tatooine with young Skywalker, had he been in the possession of another slave owner. However, thanks to Watto’s bartering and willingness to bet his ownership over Anakin, Qui-Gon was able to take Anakin with him. He was eventually have him trained as a Jedi Knight, with the knowledge that he is the long foretold Chosen One who will bring balance to the Force.

What Happened to Watto in Star Wars?

Watto
Portrayed By	Andy Secombe
Origin/Race	Toydaria/Toydarian
Major Appearances in Star Wars	Episode I: The Phantom Menace Episode II: Attack of the Clones

After losing Anakin to Qui-Gon Jinn as a result of the Boonta Eve Classic podrace in 32 BBY, Watto and his business, Watto’s Junkshop, began to decline. He kept Shmi Skywalker around to aid him, although he gradually treated her less as a slave, and more as an assistant (although still unpaid and forced to stay). Watto shared Shmi’s grief over losing Anakin, but more than that, he missed Anakin’s help in the shop and his brilliance in machine work and droid repair.

Wventually, Watto was even forced to trade Shmi away to a moisture farmer named Cliegg Lars for various parts he needed while trying to sell a Needle ship. After this, Watto never again owned a slave. Rather, he hired Anakin’s childhood friend Wald to be his assistant.

After a while, once the Empire had started to conquer the galaxy, Tatooine was a planet that was under their control, and thus had its own Imperial Base. At this point, thanks to his reputation as a junk dealer, Watto was called on to help retrieve various parts for the Empire and their cargo. Watto never really wanted to help the Empire, but he never really had a choice in the matter.

One of Watto’s last jobs was helping a group of spacers retrieve parts for and assemble an R2-series astromech droid sometime around 1 ABY. He had them run around all of Tatooine obtaining parts for a speeder he was repairing himself before giving them the locations of the parts they needed. Sometime after that, he decided to call it quits and gave his shop to Wald, who renamed the store Wald’s Parts.

Watto has only made on-screen appearances in The Phantom Menace and briefly in Attack of the Clones. However, much of his story is told through the many junior novels written as part of the Star Wars Legends series. While he is mentioned many times, here are a few of the more notable appearances he has made in the written media of Star Wars:

Episode I: Anakin Skywalker (junior novel)
Episode I: Queen Amidala (junior novel)
Episode I: Qui-Gon Jinn (junior novel)
Podracing Tales (online comic book series)
Star Wars Tales #8 (comic book series)
Star Wars: Episode I Racer (video game)

Many of these stories deal with Anakin as a child on Tatooine, so Watto’s presence is inevitable, seeing as though his junk shop was both Anakin’s place of work and residence.