And just like that, Anakin is one step closer to becoming Palpatine’s next apprentice.
The Vision
Anakin is welcomed back to Coruscant as a hero, but he soon receives some alarming news: Padme is pregnant. Worse: he begins having visions of Padme dying during childbirth. Later books and comic books have suggested that Palpatine himself put these visions in Anakin’s head to expedite the process of turning him to the dark side. If true, it was genius.
Darth Sidious Revealed and Anakin Turns to the Dark Side
Anakin will do anything to save Padme, including joining the Sith and becoming Palpatine’s new apprentice. It all begins when Palpatine appoints Anakin as his very own proxy in the Jedi Council, a very unorthodox and alarming move by a supreme chancellor who has stayed in office long after his term due to the emergency powers he received at the start of the Clone Wars. This makes Anakin the youngest Jedi to ever sit on the council, but the other councilors refuse to grant Anakin the title of “Jedi Master,” which infuriates him. To add salt to the wound, the Jedi give him a secret mission on his way out: to spy on an increasingly suspicious Palpatine, who has become a bit of a father figure to Anakin in the years between Episode II and Episode III.
Later, when Anakin confides in Palpatine that his trust in the Jedi has been shaken, the secret Dark Lord of the Sith tells him the story of Darth Plagueis the Wise, a Sith lord who was so powerful that he could manipulate midi-chlorians (remember those?) to create life (hint hint about Anakin’s own “immaculate conception”) and stop people from dying. It’s this same power Palpatine offers to Anakin a few scenes later when he reveals to the Jedi Knight that he’s been Darth Sidious all along.
Only as Sidious’ apprentice can Anakin learn the dark side knowledge he needs to save Padme from death, says Palpatine. But at first, Anakin is disgusted and rushes back to Mace Windu to tell him the truth about the chancellor. Yet, just when Windu is about to slay the Sith lord once and for all, Anakin has a change of heart. He believes that if Palpatine dies, his chance to save Padme will be gone, too. (We all know Palps has no intention to save Anakin’s wife, but poor, dumb Anakin is incredibly gullible.) So Anakin saves Palpatine, and Windu goes flying out of a skyscraper window.
Knowing it’s too late to turn back now, Anakin vows to serve the Sith in exchange for Padme’s life. If you’re wondering why Obi-Wan wasn’t around to stop his former apprentice from being such a dumbass once again, it’s because while this is all happening on Coruscant, the Jedi Master is on a faraway planet fighting General Grievous, the last remaining Separatist military leader. The next time Obi-Wan sees Anakin, they’ll be enemies.
