guitarfan01 said:
end of 128 INT. CORUSCANT-CHANCELLOR’S OFFICE-EARLY EVENING
*MACE WINDU is defenestrated by Palpy's lightning*
ANAKIN sits down heavily, in shock at the turn of events he has precipitated.
PALPATINE: You are fulfilling your destiny, Anakin. Become my apprentice. Learn to use the dark side of the Force.
ANAKIN: I will do whatever you ask. Just help me save Padme's life.
ANAKIN kneels before Palpatine.
PALPATINE: Good, good.
And that is where the problem begins: to have Windu killed right in front of you and then the guy who you protected essentially turns around and says, "Yup, he was right; I AM the bad guy" and then Anakin goes "Okay!"... well, that is about the most WTF moment I can think of.
I like someone else's idea of Anakin charging at Palps and having it cut away as Palps fires his lightning; the idea being that you could essentially "kill" Anakin right there and from that point on show Darth Vader (in costume or just darken/alter Anakin's face for the rest of the movie) or add a scene or two of Anakin being "conditioned" by Palps (with or without said Kaiber Crystal that was used to torture him per my earlier suggestion) - this would make Anakin even more tragic in that he never really fell to the DSOF so much as was brainwashed into it.
- something else I just thought of too: when Luke is getting zapped by Palps, regardless of Ady or anyone putting audio or video "flashbacks" when Vader is looking on, to have the corollary to Anakin being zapped when Windu is killed (which led to his torture, confession and conversion), it would make the torture of Han in EMPIRE as well as his inflection on seeing Palps do to his son the beginning of the same process of what was done to him would add to Vader's character ie. that Vader understands the power of torture in that it was mental and force-powered torture that converted him to the point of being a willing believer and thus when doing it to Han or Leia - be it ANH or EMPIRE- he almost relishes it. Yet when it happens to Luke, with the added implication of what is to come AFTERWARDS (for the Prequel edits, maybe take scenes from A CLOCKWORK ORANGE and replace Malcolm McD with Hayden) and THAT is why Vader kills Palpatine.
Then again, Palps was intending to just straight-up kill Luke, but you get the idea. Maybe a corollary could be made between the Windu scene and Luke - have Windu not thrown out the window quite as suddenly but have him tortured a bit before being sent to his death, with Anakin watching helplessly (maybe being paralyzed with a lightning blast before Windu gets it, so while Ani is sitting upright, paralyzed but conscious, he has to watch what happens).