MannyOrtez wrote:
aclerok wrote:
I agree that they build in a lot of the emotions Anakin is feeling in ROTS and because of this it works. But if you look at it from the point of view of people who aren't thinking about it as deeply as we are then it can definitely seem that his switch is quick. I think that they didn't space it out enough in the movie. One minute he's telling the emporer he's going to turn him in, 15 minutes later he's killing Mace and joining the dark side. Just an issue of bad sequencing in the movie if you ask me.
There's obviously conflict within Anakin - characters don't always say what they mean or feel in movies, in fact, in a well written one, they rarely do. Clearly when Anakin is telling Palpy he's going to turn him in, there is part of him that is saying he needs Palpy alive. And that part won out. I really, really do not see how that is so hard to follow, yet I see this complaint many times.
I agree, colorsblend & raveers, about AOTC being great for Anakin's character, but like I said, my only beef is that Anakin's story seems to end on Tatooine. I wish Dooku had at least mentioned the dark side and its advantages to Anakin during their battle, just to keep that thread going. I do love all of the stuff that takes place on Tatooine, it's great, and it makes his downfall so clear and understandable (which again, makes me all the more surprised when people say they thought his turn was too quick in ROTS). But I would've liked AOTC's climactic battle to have been as personal and conflicting as ESB's was.
Maybe it's just a difference in perspective. Anakin was clearly torn up about what happened on Naboo and Tatooine. I mean, he gets shot down by the girl of his dreams, loses his mother and loses a great big part of his identity by murdering the Tuskens. The conflict is crystalized for me during the battle of Geonosis. When Padme fell out of the ship, Anakin was perfectly willing to let Dooku escape, thereby virtually assuring open warfare between the Republic and the Separatists. A war that would unquestionably kill millions (since this is on a galactic level) and could plunge the entire galaxy into unending chaos.
Anakin was willing to let all of that happen because of his selfishness.
As is stands, Dooku escaped anyway but you can't say that Obi-Wan, Anakin and Yoda didn't do everything in their power to stop that from happening. Which goes back to another point. Any morality Anakin showed in AOTC was brought on strictly by other people. He did good for good's own sake in TPM, but by AOTC he could only make the right moral choice when someone else did his thinking for him. I'm sure a village of slaughtered Tusken Raiders would agree with me. The only difference between Anakin's choices on Tatooine vs. his choices on Geonosis is Obi-Wan.
Frankly, I don't see much difference between all that stuff and Luke's turmoil in ESB... except that perhaps Anakin suffered a lot more. Anakin's choices defaulted to amorality, if not sheer evil, unless a second party intervened. Luke was still capable of making the right moral choice (go save Han and Leia because they're my friends) but for the wrong reasons (half-trained though I am, I'm the only one who can save them). It's a trait that would very nearly cost him everything in ROTJ.
As for ROTS, I'm with you Manny. I found his turn completely in character. The guy was clearly wrestling with the Dark Side from the time he killed Dooku in cold blood until he stormed Palpatine's office. It's worth noting there's a huge difference (at least in Anakin's mind) between turning Palpatine over to the Jedi Council to be arrested and prosecuted and letting Mace kill him. Selling him out to the Council is not in any way the same thing as advocating execution without a trial. Anakin needed him alive... and preferablly "behind bars" (or however one goes about arresting Sith).