Did Revenge of the Sith Accomplish What it Needed To?

The lynchpin step is Anakin's swearing of allegiance to Palpatine as his new master, after the killing of Mace Windu. Again, the Jedi Council's general unbalance and their own fear have created an atmosphere where Mace can plausibly contemplate murdering Palpatine, rather than have him face trial. The clouded Anakin sees a respected Jedi Master in the position of powerful tyrant over a crumbling (seemingly) helpless old man. Anakin is stunned after Mace is killed, his dead body flying out the window, but drawn by a desire to know more and resigned to a life of uncontrollable rage, he takes the path of least resistance. Anakin is not a triumphant Jedi, switching sides in the battle, rather he seems a broken young man resigned to allegiance with evil. Susceptible to the influence of a powerful father figure, Anakin aligns himself with what he sees as the only option left: Palpatine. To him, the Jedi have acted dishonorably, broken the Jedi code, and seem to be making a political power grab.

The final steps in Anakin's descent would have to be his acts of brutality after assuming the Darth Vader name. He obediently goes to the Jedi Temple and kills everyone there, including the very young Jedis. Thankfully, Lucas does not show gratuitous blood, gore or violence here. Simply the image of the young, hopeful children contrasted against the stark, black hooded figure of the psychically transformed Anakin is enough. Obi-Wan's disbelief and horror when viewing the security recording is palpable. How can a young father to be, who had only recently said that young children were precious, simply slaughter younglings? There is no excuse. Anakin has willfully embraced evil, whatever lies about ensuring "peace" he may be telling himself.

Nor is there an excuse for what happens on Mustafar. Worried about Anakin, Padme follows behind. He greets her passionately, but his loving embrace becomes a chokehold of death when he spies Obi-Wan disembarking from her ship. He pitilessly squeezes her throat until she passes out, she the mother of his unborn child(ren) and object of his professed love. Never does he once stop to check her, return to her side or demonstrate any remorse for his actions. In one misguided act, Anakin has caused the very thing he feared most of all. Like Sophocles' Oedipus, he has fulfilled his tragic destiny by his brash decisions and passionate displays.

The brutality of this tragic

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