10 Most Brutal Star Wars Movie Deaths
3. The Younglings (Revenge Of The Sith)
Cause Of Death: Killed off-screen by Anakin and his lightsaber.
The fact that George Lucas chose to even imply the deaths of a group of defenceless children is a bold move, and that's without even considering the act itself.
In a way, the effect of the scene is heightened because we're shown nothing - like all those great monster movies that use their central beast sparingly - and instead, we're left to fill in the horrifying blanks ourselves, imagining what the children felt as they were struck down, and imagining Anakin painting the room red with their blood. Thanks, George.
This slaughter takes place toward the end of Revenge Of The Sith after Order 66 has been executed and the Jedi are being purged. Unfortunately for the Younglings, they're Jedi-in-training so they're next on Anakin's hitlist, and he presumably shows no mercy as he wipes them out one by one.
It was an incredibly dark moment that cemented Anakin's turn to the Dark Side, showing that nothing was off-limits in the Empire's quest for dominance, and it took Star Wars to a place that not many family-friendly franchises would dare go.