SPECULATION Lucas/Kasdan on Anakin's History (1981) and how it will effect The Force Awakens

I think you are not possibly overlooking it. My first thought was that Anakin's fall was rushed but at reflection thought that it was the turmoil caused by Windu's death the fear for Padme, for himself now a traitor. I felt that the emperor was manipulating things. Like he needed the trama of the situation to hide that he was using the darkside to control Anakin. Also at the end he again causes emotional pain and seems happy at the power it gives him through Anakin. So I think after killing Windu all the considerable power he was using to prevent the Jedi from sensing him was turned to controlling Vader.

 

Apperantly Anakin was sleep deprived ay the time of turning to the Darkside of the Force. He was a torchured individual and wasn't thinking clearly either. Under appreciated, overworked, new father jitters. He just needed a friend. Serious about the sleep deprevation though.

 

This in itself explains pretty well why he serves the emperor the way he does. While Vader is a strong force user if his physical weaknesses can be exploited and over powered he can be destroyed. Which he was. I think if you were the last two force users left and a newcomer came along who was powerful even when just beginning to learn his capabilities you would stick together to either make him your ally or destroy him as Vader and the emperor attempted to do. The emperor just couldn't foresee the power of a family bond overcoming the power of the darkside. The future the emperor had foreseen was clouded by his inability to see what the light side could do and his over confidence in the darkside.

 

Obviously, the Emperor would have had to have done something to convince Anakin that the Jedi were a genuine threat. Not just, "Oh, those old meanies won't let me get married or NUTHIN'!"

I always thought that a far stronger opening for AOTC would have been for the attack on Padme's cruiser to have been made by a cloned Jedi who was operating on behalf of Palpatine. Because there was never really a credible "Jedi plot" established in the PT that would publicly justify the liquidation of the Jedi. Palpatine's claim that he was attacked by Jedi was an unprovable, isolated event. Take security camera footage of the attempted assassination of a pacifist Senator by a "Jedi" and broadcast it throughout the galaxy... NOW you've got some real PR leverage.

Plus, you'd have early doubt sown in Anakin's mind, especially since the alleged target was the love of his life. That could work to turn Anakin against the Jedi on a number of levels.

 

I like your thinking on this. That would have made for a cool opening scene.

 

Lucas was much better back then, should have done the PT like the op posted it.
I would have like the PT much more then, no doubt.
Really weird, why this outline got discarded.
Maybe Lucas was finally interested in merchandising and kids stuff.
It's a tragedy, because the Prequel Trilogy had capability.
So easily thrown away, ist just mind boggling.

 

I feel that after so many years of direct control over Lucasfilm, ol' George was suffering from the same weakness that did in Palpatine: overconfidence. His outlines from back in the day were not "good enough" for him by the time he got around to making the PT; he wanted flashier ideas, stories that could show off all this new technology he could finally use, technology that arguably led to such a poor execution of his stories. I believe he also felt pressure to recreate the "magic" all those kids felt when they saw ANH back in '77; this led to such unfortunate decisions as Jar Jar, little-orphan-Annie, and kung-fu Yoda. Instead of having a little more faith in his friends and giving up some creative control, he got swept up being The Creator and ultimately gave us a flawed product.

I do not hate the PT; there were some great ideas that eventually made it on screen that were never mentioned in his original notes (Maul and Qui Gon are prime examples). However, I do think that, much like The Emperor before him, his ego became his downfall.