#with that’ and I was literally so upset because that’s so utterly against Lucas’s worldbuilding which emphasizes choice over all else

[inquisitor-apologist]

In this post from yesterday, the OP pointed out that, in regards to whether or not Anakin should kill the Sith Lord, he will always be wrong. No matter what he chooses, to save the Sith or kill him, he’s wrong. And that’s true, and I think it’s really interesting. Why can’t Anakin make the right choice in Revenge of the Sith? Is it just because the narrative won’t let him? I mean yeah, on some level, but George Lucas was always very clear that Anakin’s Fall was about his choices, and painting it as narratively inevitable kind of ruins what GL was trying to say. In a universe where even destiny can be subverted by free will, it feels weird to say ‘because it’s a prequel’.

So why, on a Watsonian level, will Anakin always be wrong?

Because, in each scene, he’s acting out of fear, anger, and attachment. With Dooku, Anakin’s angry. This is the guy that cut his arm off, that humiliated him, that hurt Obi-Wan and kidnapped Palpatine. Anakin hates him, and he makes the kill/spare choice out of that hatred, so he kills him. If Anakin was able to let go of that anger and think rationally, he would realize that Dooku wasn’t a threat and that killing him would be wrong (which he recognizes after he releases his anger) and that Dooku is far more valuable alive. Dooku is the leader of the Separatists, so the Republic could use him to sue for peace. Dooku is a Sith, so the Jedi could interrogate him to find out the identity of the real puppet master. Dooku should live.

With Palpatine, Anakin’s scared. He’s terrified for Padmé’s life, for his unborn child, for his mentor and father figure. Anakin is attached, so he can’t live without these people. He needs his child to live, and his wife, and he needs Palpatine, who he deeply cares for, to live to save them. (From his POV, anyway. We all know Palpatine would’ve killed Padmé anyway.) So when Mace is threatening Palpatine, Anakin wants to save him. But of course Anakin is wrong to save him, because Palpatine, ironically enough, is too dangerous to be left alive. He’s killed millions, if not billions, and will kill billions more in the future. He controls the Senate and Courts, so no legal action can be taken against him, and he’s a powerful Sith minutes away from declaring himself dictator and murdering all the Jedi. If Anakin wasn’t so scared of Palpatine’s death, he could see that the responsible thing to do would be to kill Palpatine, or at least stand by and let Mace do it. Palpatine should die.

But Anakin would always choose wrong, because he’s acting out of attachment, he’s making his decision based on emotions that serve the Dark Side. Anakin doesn’t choose wrong because it’s canon that he becomes Vader and so he must choose wrong, he chooses wrong because he goes against Lucas’s thesis that attachment leads to the Dark Side.