I think the prequels would make a lot more sense if we (and Obi-wan) met Anakin when he was at least a teenager, or ideally in his mid twenties, after he had already made a name for himself as an ace pilot. I’m imagining an early aviation enthusiast who joins the military to fight in WW1 for king and country. Much of Anakin’s powerful exploits happen on alien battlefields and away from the eyes of the general populace in the galaxy. Each episode concerns a different war, these wars being ever larger threats in the galaxy intended to sow unrest and drive the people into supporting a military dictatorship. Anakin is devoted first to the Republic, for he has a wife and family to protect on a peaceful world, while Obi-wan only has the ideals of the Jedi. Thus, they grow farther apart politically and ideologically even as they grow closer in friendship.