Despite Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader being my absolute favorite Star Wars character, I’ve been completely misunderstanding his fall to the dark side and Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith for the last 20 years. Revenge of the Sith is arguably the most important moment in Anakin Skywalker’s Star Wars timeline. There were many defining moments in Anakin’s fall to the dark side, but in Revenge of the Sith, he took that final step, becoming Darth Vader and fully turning against the Jedi.

This had been a long time coming for Palpatine, who had been priming Anakin for this role since he first met him in Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace. Yet, Anakin’s turn to the dark side and transformation into Darth Vader isn’t quite what it seems. Although Anakin accepted his new role as Palpatine’s Sith apprentice, certain aspects of Revenge of the Sith confirm he had another plan all along.

Anakin Saw Palpatine As A Means To An End, Nothing More

Almost Immediately, Anakin’s Plan Was To Overthrow Palpatine

In Revenge of the Sith, after Anakin turns on Mace Windu and Palpatine sends him flying out the window, Anakin is quick to swear his allegiance to Palpatine and accept his new role as Palpatine’s apprentice. This has actually become one of the biggest complaints about the prequel trilogy. Many viewers felt this turn was too sudden for it to really be believable (especially before Star Wars: The Clone Wars came out and provided considerably more context).

Part of that was undoubtedly that Anakin really was as desperate to save Padmé’s life as he claimed to be, and another was likely him feeling irredeemable in the eyes of the Jedi given what he’d done to Mace Windu. The argument could be made that this immediate loyalty and deference was also in part put on, though. Realistically, even when consumed by the dark side, it would be more than a little out of character for Anakin to kneel in front of someone and essentially promise to obey completely.

One line in particular supports this theory and suggests that Anakin may actually have been plotting to overthrow Palpatine and become the true Sith master right away. While on Mustafar, Anakin tells Padmé:

“I am more powerful than the Chancellor; I can overthrow him. And together, you and I can rule the galaxy. Make things the way we want them to be.”

This would be in keeping with the Sith Rule of Two, wherein the Sith apprentice is meant to crave the power of the master and ultimately grow powerful enough to overthrow them. Of course, this would be a very expedited version of this dynamic, but who better than the Chosen One himself to attempt an immediate takeover? With how self-aggrandizing Anakin was at that moment, it’s also not difficult to imagine that he really did think this was possible.

Were that the case, it would mean that Anakin only ever saw Palpatine as a means to an end, even right when he turned to the dark side. He needed Palpatine to teach him how to save Padmé’s life, as that was something he couldn’t do on his own. Once he saved Padmé, though, Anakin had no more use for Palpatine, and he was already making that clear.

Anakin Didn’t Even Know Palpatine Had Founded The Empire – He Planned It Himself

Palpatine Kept Up His Charade Even After Anakin Turned To The Dark Side

One of the most shocking aspects of Palpatine and Anakin’s competing interests—and something I’ve certainly missed in my countless Revenge of the Sith watches all these years—is that Palpatine never actually told Anakin that he was establishing/had established the Empire. In fact, throughout Revenge of the Sith, including in their very last conversation before Anakin and Obi-Wan Kenobi had their Mustafar showdown, Palpatine maintained the charade that he was protecting the Republic and wanted to bring an end to the war when he spoke to Anakin.

When convincing Anakin to carry out Order 66, Palpatine said every Jedi, including Obi-Wan, was an “enemy of the Republic” and failing to destroy them would mean “civil war without end.” Palpatine was still playing this angle in their final conversation before Anakin and Obi-Wan fought, when he told Anakin that all Separatist droid units needed to be shut down immediately, as though the conflict was still Separatists versus the Republic. This messaging seems to have worked on Anakin, given he told Padmé “I will not betray the Republic” when he went to see her before leaving for Mustafar.

In light of that, it seems safe to ᴀssume Anakin was unaware, even on Mustafar, that Palpatine had entirely overhauled the Republic and established the Galactic Empire. Shockingly, this means Anakin arrived at the idea of establishing his own empire independently. Palpatine had certainly planted the idea, telling Anakin at one point, “Once more, the Sith will rule the galaxy,” but Anakin had taken that and run with it—and his plans had nothing to do with Palpatine.

Anakin Dreamed Of Ruling The Galaxy… With Padmé At His Side

Anakin’s Request For Padmé To Join Him Was In Earnest—And It’s All He Really Wanted

​​​​​​​When Anakin told Obi-Wan he had brought “peace, freedom, justice, and security” to his new empire, and Obi-Wan expressed incredulity that Anakin would call the empire ‘his,’ he wasn’t referring to Palpatine’s Galactic Empire at all. Rather, Anakin wanted to rule his own empire with Padmé by his side, which is precisely what he’d said to her when he told her he could overthrow Palpatine. Anakin’s true plan, it seems, was to exploit Palpatine’s knowledge to save Padmé’s life, kill his new Sith master, and rule his own empire alongside his wife.

It’s always been clear that Anakin was power-hungry, unpredictable, and self-serving in the latter half of Revenge of the Sith, but I’d never quite caught that Anakin’s intentions were never really to serve Palpatine. Yes, he’d dropped to his knees and called Palpatine “master,” but that was Anakin’s very short-term plan the whole time, it seems. Undoubtedly, as soon as Anakin had obtained what he needed to save Padmé’s life, he would have turned on Palpatine, just as Palpatine had done with his own Sith master. Unfortunately for Anakin, two key things prevented this plan from ever being realized.

Padmé’s Death Saved Palpatine From Darth Vader’s Wrath

Anakin May Very Well Have Been Successful Had He Not Lost Hope (And His Fight With Obi-Wan)

Darth Vader became one of Star Wars’ most powerful Sith, but George Lucas himself has said that Vader would have been so much more powerful had he not sustained the injuries he did in his battle with Obi-Wan. While the Darth Vader suit saved his life, it also restricted him and caused him daily pain, all of which prevented him from becoming as powerful as he could have been and once was. This is in part why Anakin’s plans to overthrow Palpatine never came to be; he simply didn’t have the power to do so anymore.

However, an equally significant reason why Anakin never made good on these plans was that he’d lost his true motivation. Anakin only ever wanted to align himself with Palpatine in the first place because he’d claimed to be able to save Padmé’s life. With her death at the end of Revenge of the Sith, Anakin lost the only thing he’d even wanted from the dark side, and he also lost the person he’d planned to rule alongside.

Given Anakin/Vader’s power had been so seriously diminished and he had lost Padmé, there was simply no fight left in him to carry out these plans. This is all rather good news for Palpatine, as, arguably, Vader would likely have been successful had he attempted to destroy Palpatine when he was at the height of his power. Clearly, Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader never really intended to serve Palpatine in Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith at all, but nothing went according to plan.