I hope the cutlist addressed why I’m going in a different direction, then. I do really like your idea with Padme and the rebellion, it just doesn’t fit with my edit. But I will forever lament that we never got that deleted Obi-Wan/Padme scene your idea implies happened.
As far as using outside audio sources, I’ve decided to go a lot more conservative about it and have already been removing some extraneous ones. Just-because-I-can-doesn’t-mean, and all that. I think the video game lines are more than likely going but I’m going to try to make them work a little bit longer. Maybe post some more tests soon. I’ve gotten used to them myself but if it’s really going to break the edit for a lot of people, it’s best to let it go.
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I guess to sum up who exactly this cut’s Anakin is and what motivates him, I’ll compare and contrast to the theatrical, and Hal’s, whose edit inspired me in the first place.
Theatrical: Anakin begins having nightmares, which exacerbates his frustrations in his goals to become more powerful. The Jedi are blocking his progress through what a paternal Palpatine is able to convince him is their inherent mistrust and jealousy of him. The dark side has the power and freedom he craves. He wants to save Padme but when he begins down that path, he cannot stop himself from wanting more power, seeing enemies in those who would stop him.
Hal: Anakin’s political allegiance to Palpatine puts him at odds with the Jedi Council. He believes in Palpatine and the perceived benefits of a government with “less deliberating,” even before he has a nightmare incentivizing frustration with the Jedi. When the council not only rejects what he feels he is entitled to, but also ask him to spy on Palpatine, he begins to think that the Jedi are truly planning to overthrow the Republic. The dark side seems the only logical choice for him to make, as the Jedi are his enemies and it can save Padme.
New Canon Cut: Anakin disapproves of the treason and dishonesty that the council is seemingly so comfortable carrying out. While he agrees with the Jedi about the danger of Palpatine, he is willing to give Palpatine the benefit of the doubt as his friend, having faith he will do the right thing. But Anakin from that median point begins to understand how everyone is playing each other (including Palpatine), and how the Jedi and Sith may be more alike than the Jedi would admit. Burned by both the chancellor and the Jedi, Padme’s foreseen death and the promise of stopping it become the determining factor in his final allegiance. The conflict itself stops mattering more than what saves his family. He knows he chose evil, but the ends justify the means.
Anakin’s preferences for control are in all interpretations, but they manifest themselves differently in each. In the theatrical its basis is on powerlust. In Hal’s it’s in his political ideology. In mine it’s in selfishness. Don’t get me wrong, there’s inherently elements of all of those in each other, but the magic of editing is how you can shift which becomes primary.