Re: [Movie Review] Star Wars - Revenge of the Sith
Wrathchild said:
Also, having been unable to prevent the death of his mother, after forseeing it, and wanting to prevent the death of his wife after having forseen that as well, with the assurance of Sidious that the Dark Side of the force held the secrets of immortality, coupled with a disposition towards reactionary thinking,.. I thought there was planty of plot material to provide a reasonable explanation for Anakin's journey, if abrupt, to the Dark side.
I'm not sure I'd say that Anakin's fall towards the dark side was so abrupt. The beginnings of it arguably existed in Ep 2 where he gave into his feelings of anger and hate and slaughtered the village "...they were animals, and were slaughtered like animals...I killed them all, even the wimen and children" or something to that effect.
Remember what Yoda warned Luke about, when he went to rescue his friends after his prophetic vision of the future where his friends would be in trouble. Something to the effect of not succumbing to hate, anger (possibly fear?), etc (the very things Anakin succumbed to, even in Episode II) as they lead to the dark side. What Yoda warned Luke of, Anakin already succumbed to prior to Ep III. It was his hate and anger which the Emperor also wanted Luke to give in to in Return of the Jedi with the "use your Jedi weapon and strike me down...I am unarmed" or whatever the exact quote was. Though I don't think (from a practical standpoint that Anakin's fall to the dark side was inevitable at this point, except that it was the movie plot and from Ep IV we already knew it happened), this would have no doubt been a turning point for him.
Looking at Ep III, I'd have to say that Palpatine planned this all along, and this is what he wanted. He no doubt saw the same potential in Anakin (but as a Sith lord) as Obi Wan did... Given the powers Darth Sidious posessed, I'm not sure that projecting these dreams to Anakin (aka implanting them in his mind) would have been beyond his ability (though at least from the standpoint of the movies it isn't stated one way or the other). Palpatine was certainly aware of Anakin's dreams however, and also his reaction from Ep II, though how he knew (told or through using the force) is left for the viewer to imagine. That unless some other Star Wars source/book/etc out there is more specific...
I of course have some issue with the Palpatine character here (and not because the act doesn't fit the portrayal of an evil Sith Lord, or the sort of planning that an amoral politician would engage in). Rather because on a personal level, I happen to believe in a certain degree of loyalty when it comes to friendship, and Palpatine had presented himself as Anakin's friend practically from the day they met. What he was however, was something entirely different IMO...