How old was Anakin Skywalker during the events of Star Wars: The Clone Wars? Following the completion of the original Star Wars trilogy with 1983's Return Of The Jedi, creator George Lucas waited for over a decade for technology to catch up with his vision for the franchise. Upon seeing the computer-generated dinosaurs featured in 1993's Jurassic Park, he put plans in motion to make a prequel exploring the origin and downfall of Anakin Skywalker, the Jedi fated to become Darth Vader. Anakin was introduced as a boy in 1999's The Phantom Menace, while Attack Of The Clones saw him training under Obi-Wan (Ewan McGregor) and starting his romance with Padme (Natalie Portman).
Star Wars: Revenge Of The Sith dealt with his downfall and eventual transformation. The Star Wars prequels remain somewhat divisive, but one of the most acclaimed parts of the saga is the TV series it inspired. Star Wars: The Clone Wars has a slightly convoluted history, with the show starting life as a 2D action series by Primal's Genndy Tartakovsky that ran from 2003 to 2005, before the concept was rebooted with a 2008 computer-animated movie that - while lukewarmly reviewed - served as a pilot for the TV show.
The Mandalorian's Dave Filoni served as supervising director on Star Wars: The Clone Wars, with the show running for seven seasons and introducing fan favorites such as Ahsoka Tano, Anakin's Jedi Padawan. The Clone Wars also helped to flesh out the events of the titular conflicts, and develop Anakin Skywalker as a character. The show portrayed different shades of Anakin and made his switch to the dark side in Revenge Of The Sith more complex. The young Jedi was quite young when he became Darth Vader, with Star Wars: The Clone Wars picking up shortly after the events of Attack Of The Clones in 22 BBY (before the Battle of Yavin).
Anakin was 19 when Star Wars: The Clone Wars began, and the show covered the three years leading up to the tragic events of Revenge Of The Sith. This made Anakan 22 years old by the end of the animated series and when he became Darth Vader. Despite appearing to be much older when Luke unmasks the dying Darth Vader in Return Of The Jedi's finale - and being played by the then 77-year-old thespian Sebastian Shaw - Anakan is only supposed to be 45 years old.
Star Wars: The Clone Wars may not be necessary for newcomers to understand or enjoy the prequel trilogy, they add a lot more texture to the movies. Given how much he went through on the show, it's easy to forget how old Anakin is supposed to be in Star Wars: The Clone Wars too.