Now this is just an idea, and it might not work out all too great but hear me out: I wouldn’t even show his fall.

One idea I’ve come to like is that the prequels could have shown Anakin becoming a Jedi and end on a high note. He can have moments of struggle through the trilogy, but at the end he still seems like a good man. However, elements must still be sprinkled that in retrospect would make his transformation into Vader make sense. Maybe he looses a limb still, emphasize his allegiance to more centralized power, interest in the Dark Side, etc. Some of his personal struggles cannot be completely overcome. He still needs to be flawed. One approach to take could be to have Anakin be an underdog, one who his fellow students look down upon. Then we can have a character who struggles to rise through the ranks and achieve greatness. We can root for him. (Again, just throwing out ideas.)

The end can leave off on a bittersweet note: the Clone Wars are over, but the Republic is now and Empire. All the steps of Anakin’s fall have been foreshadowed but only when we look retrospectively. We need to feel proud and happy with Anakin at the end of the war. That way going into A New Hope, we the audience may truly believe that an apprentice of Kenobi named Vader did really kill Anakin, and the plot twist in Empire is still kept a surprise.

Another cool idea is to have Anakin start deconstructing the Jedi Order by not just killing other Knights, but by creating an ideological rift between members of the Order. Some like Qui-Gon and Mace Windu are allegiant to following the Force and standing up to the Republic (which is still slowly becoming an Empire throughout the whole trilogy) and you have those like Count Dooku who agree with Anakin, and think that more government power is necessary to end the war, regardless of the cost. Its kind of like blind patriotism. Maybe this would be too much but still, I think it’s fun to think about.

Edit: To clarify, Jedi could have multiple apprentices at a time like in 90’s EU.