jedi_jra : Nice, subtle editing of the Anakin/Padme scene overall! I might do the same in my edit for the most part. The use of Vader's theme I thought worked nicely, though the audio edit was a bit rough on the transition to the next scene. A couple of things that don't work well editing-wise is the cut from Anakin seated and looking straight ahead of him to the close-up of him looking to the side and the shortened Palpatine voice-over which sounds too fragmentary to be a complete line.

I know you didn't like the quick series of Anakin shots originally used in the movie, but there may be nothing that can be done if each of the other shots is too short to be used alone. Also, maybe you could cut Palp's line completely.

With the Vader music, it does seem to be much more fateful of a scene; nice job there. I was hoping to do an edit along the lines of yours in regard to Anakin rushing in and lopping Mace's hand off to stop him from murdering Palp, but the footage just doesn't seem to allow for it as the time/space relationship of Anakin's speed entering the room and his lightsaber ignition from a standstill don't really give the impression of one fluid set of motions.

The story I've ended up with in using the footage as best I could is that Anakin decides to involve himself in Palp's arrest against Mace's orders only to find the Jedi Master and council leader about to murder Palp; this makes Anakin's allegiance to Palp more understandable as he has witnessed a Jedi Master bent on a dark side act. It also makes what was originally Anakin's later lie to Padme about Mace a fact he really believes is true.

Anakin has been duped but only insofar as his slippery-slope moral descent has led him to that point. Where he actually fell to the dark side is up for debate, but I feel that moment may very well have been when he slaughtered the Sand People in Episode II. I am comfortable with this idea, because it makes sense of Anakin's violent acts up to this point and seems realistic in that his fall was not a leap but smaller steps made in the heat of the moment of which other Jedi were not aware nor did Anakin confess to make them aware; essentially, he hid his crimes of passion.

Regarding other edits you made, I like how Mace no longer says "Not yet"; it makes the arrest seem more official and less personal and works well. Taking out Palp's line "It's treason, then" might be a problem for the overall story, but it was nicely done; one small suggestion: cut Palp's lightsaber shot shorter so that we either do not see him hit the recorder switch (which is what it was supposed to be in order for him to record the supposed Jedi rebellion) or that the flick of the switch seems to ignite the lightsaber itself.

Your edit has shown me some possibilities which hadn't occurred to me, so thanks for those and for your critique!