Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith’s most terrifying moment doesn’t concern Anakin Skywalker or Darth Vader, despite the significance of his fall to the dark side. The tragedy of Anakin Skywalker is a cornerstone of the prequel trilogy; much of George Lucas’ story is built around it, as the choices that the Jedi as a whole, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Padmé Amidala, and Palpatine make feed into Anakin’s desperation and his need for acceptance, love, and power.

Anakin’s transformation is undoubtedly hard to watch, but in the grand scheme of things, it is only a small part of what’s happening in this Star Wars era. The larger story is about authoritarianism, war, and manipulation. While Anakin was at the center of it all, even his predestined role as the “Chosen One” ultimately didn’t affect the shift of power the galaxy underwent in the aftermath of Order 66. Not really.

It’s Shocking To See How Quickly The Galaxy Embraced The Empire

What’s most shocking of all, even more so than Anakin choking Padmé, even more than Obi-Wan cutting Anakin down on Mustafar, and yes, even more than Anakin slaughtering innocent younglings, is how the galaxy so easily accepted Palpatine’s orchestrated power grab. Aside from a few well-meaning Republic senators like Padmé, Bail Organa, and Mon Mothma, the Republic’s planetary representatives barely hesitated to align themselves with their new Emperor. They readily embraced a loss of freedom and political influence in exchange for a false sense of security and order.

As Padmé says in Revenge of the Sith, “So, this is how liberty dies… with thunderous applause.” George Lucas’ Star Wars has always been political; we know that the Rebel Alliance in the original Star Wars trilogy represented the Viet Cong, and the narratives of the Star Wars prequel trilogy and the animated series Star Wars: The Clone Wars are about representational politics, trade agreements, and the right to personal expression. Many fans have even pointed out how Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace’s much-maligned tariffs storyline is eerily reminiscent of what’s happening in politics today.

Palpatine’s power grab in Revenge of the Sith is, in essence, a study of history. For millennia, emperors, conquerors, kings, and dictators have lured people in with lies and promises of a safer society, and that’s exactly what Palpatine did, too. He orchestrated a galactic war to terrify people into submission, then used their terror to his advantage the moment they were desperate enough to forget about what it would mean for their future.

Palpatine Would Have Had His Empire, With Or Without Anakin/Vader

There’s no denying that Palpatine wanted Anakin by his side, or he wouldn’t have spent so many years grooming him for nefarious purposes. Palpatine coveted power above all else, and Anakin had that power. If he controlled Anakin, turning him into a shell of his former self, a shell fueled by loss and hatred, then Palpatine would become (nearly) unstoppable.

However, while Anakin certainly helped Palpatine enforce his new version of galactic order, hunting down surviving Jedi, and terrifying rebellious planets into accepting the Empire’s dictatorial rule, Palpatine didn’t actually need Anakin to become the galaxy’s new Emperor. The clones took care of most of the Jedi Order, after all, and Republic Senators enabled Palpatine’s plans, without the looming threat of Darth Vader and the dark side of the Force.

The Star Wars prequel trilogy isn’t just the story of how Anakin Skywalker became Darth Vader. It is also the story of how a galaxy came to be held captive by an authoritarian leader and the circumstances that led to the Galactic Civil War. The events of Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith are the culmination of Palpatine’s decades-long planning, and Anakin, unfortunately, was caught in the middle of Darth Sidious’ horrifying schemes.