PT If Anakin wanted to could he have killed Palpatine in this moment?

When Anakin finds out that Palpatine was the Sith Lord the Jedi were looking for, he turns on his lightsaber. If he wanted to when he was standing behind him, could Anakin have killed Palpatine or was he confident that he would not do that, and knew his life was not in any danger.

 

I think it's open to interpretation, but I think even if Anakin attacks, Palps likely escapes at worst. I also think he knows Anakin cares more about Padme then the war and what Palps has already done.

 

Anakin is too shocked at this point, so yes, I think Palpy is pretty sure he won't, altho he can't be 100% sure, but he's arrived at the stage where he wants to start pushing things to tipping point

 

If Anakin had been able to put aside his greed, then yes he could have killed him.

 

Well Episode 3 also makes a point that its not the jedi way to kill unarmed helpless foes. So Palpatine is enjoying the idea that Anakin wants to just kill him right there because it shows his anger is easy minipulated.

 

Remember, folks, at this moment in time neither the Republic nor the Jedi knew that Palpatine was the bad guy.

If Anakin struck him down right then and there, well, he would have just assassinated the highest political figure in the entire galactic republic. How well do you think that'd have turned out for him? The senate would be demanding answers, demanding Anakin be put on trial, declaring that he was obviously a mole for the Separatists.

Even if the Jedi could eventually gather the evidence they needed, it would still not be a good look for Anakin.

 

The Jedi knew of Darth Sidious at least (not just suspect info from Dooku in AOTC, but from various other incidents shortly prior to ROTS in both the Legendsverse and the Disneyverse).

And they knew Dooku answered to him - even if Dooku appeared to be plotting against him a bit.

Presenting Palpatine as "the real head of the Separatist Movement, and Dooku's boss" would be the starting point of any answer presented to the Senate.

 

Yes.

Anakin as a true Jedi is the ONLY threat to the Dark Lord.

The problem however is that at that point ….Palpatine has manipulated the situation to that moment …that Anakin could not kill him due to various contingencies he has placed up to that point..like are the Jedi the real villains, Padme’s death, Jedi Rules of not striking an unarmed man and the actual law itself.

 

you've also got to remember that until this moment they'd been friends for years, he was like a mentor .

 

Exactly!!!

Besides Obi-Wan, Anakin is closer to Palpatine more than he is to the other Jedi.

That is why it’s funny when people call Anakin stupid for believing Palpatine’s lies.

Because as audiences, we know more than the actual characters in the movie.

Throughout Anakin’s life, he has known Palpatine as a wise and kind man while he witness that the war has changed the Jedi into doing “un Jedi like” actions.

So when the script was flipped on Anakin then of course he will be conflicted at this moment.

 

Palpatine also used dark side force powers in a discrete kind of way to manipulate anakin to the dark side itself other than just normal manipulative human ways or regular seductions.

I also believe though it’s speculative on my part that palpatine used a force dyad that might of given emotion futures of padmes death to anakin in nightmares and anakin had the nightmares every night he fell a sleep and it might have been constant nightmares of padme dying in a terrible labor over and over again.

Anakin was trying to save padme from dying a horrible death that he started without knowing how she truly died but he did would padme because if you hurt a pregnant woman and punch her in the face and she knocked out unconscious that can kill her or she could go into labor faster in an unhealthy kind of way. But of course Anakin forced choked padme.

 

At that point is when Mace Windu told Anakin to let Palpatine know that Obi-Wan and the Clones started their attack on Grievous. "His reaction will give us a clue to his intentions."

After Anakin walked away Mace also says "I sense a plot to destroy the Jedi. The dark side of the force surrounds the Chancellor."

Doesn't that mean the Jedi were starting to realize Palpatine was the Sith Lord they were looking for?

 

They believed that the Sith Lord was one of Palpatine's inner circle, and manipulating him, and that this was why the dark side surrounded him. His actually being a Sith Lord came as a surprise - hence Mace's:

"A Sith Lord?!"

and Anakin's response:

"Yes - the one we've been looking for."

 

So, I guess when the Jedi Council was surprised that Palpatine wanted Anakin to be member, they didn't know 100% it was Palpatine and thought it the Sith Lord was someone from his inner circle?

That's when Obi-Wan told Anakin how something was out of place and how Palpatine's time in office should have ended and he stayed long past his required mandate.

 

Yup. They believed he was a power-hungry politician and that his association with the Sith Lord had turned him into an even worse person.

 

That's why Dooku said that by the time they learned the truth it would be too late. He realized after turning how weak the Jedi were.

 

Even when Obi-Wan asks Yoda if it was true about Sidious controlling the Senate, he said "Lies, deceit, creating mistrust are his ways now." The funny or ironic thing about that statement is after that Mace says they needed to keep a closer eye on the senate, which Yoda also agreed with. Even though he didn't want to believe anything he said, why even have a reason to keep a closer eye on the senate?

 

Sidious is familiar with Anakin's personality (literally watched him grow up) and acted accordingly to ensure Anakin wouldn't attack him:
1. Sidious appealed to their relationship, continued to talk to him like a friend/mentor, mentioning "Ever since I've known you" to remind him of their years together.
2. Sidious showed sincerity by putting himself into a vulnerable position, going so far as to turn his back to him, knowing that Anakin wouldn't attack him like that.
3. Sidious appealed to his sense of responsibility as a Jedi by pointing out his anger and urge to kill, which calmed Anakin down and reminded him that the proper course of action is to report the situation to the Jedi Council instead of rashly attacking out of anger.

That was in the beginning portion of ROTS. I think they were just starting to get suspicious of Palpatine due to this outrageous request, but didn't know if he had anything to do with the Sith. The Sith don't have to be behind every bad thing in the galaxy.

 

They did sense that the dark side "surrounds the Chancellor" so they knew something was up. Just not what.

 

I wonder when exactly they started sensing the dark side around him. When Mace mentioned it (iirc it's about midway into ROTS?), nobody was surprised, meaning everyone already knew (either they sensed it themselves, or Mace told them previously about it) by then. But I feel like they likely didn't sense it yet, at least not clearly, at the time Sidious requested Anakin be put on the Council. When asking Anakin to basically spy on Palpatine, Obi Wan only mentioned that "something is out of place," which is very different from "the dark side of the Force surrounds the Chancellor."

 

In addition to what you are asking, I wonder what would Mace, Kit Fisto, Angen Kolart, and Saesee Tiin were going to do prior to Anakin telling Mace that Palpatine was the Sith Lord they were looking for.

Mace had told Anakin that Obi-Wan destroyed Grievous and were making sure Palpatine would be giving up his emergency powers.

After that is when Anakin told him Palpatine was the Sith Lord they were looking for. If they had left a few minutes earlier, were they still planning to arrest Palpatine before Anakin told Mace what he found out?

 

Probably depends on how he responds.

 

No, if Anakin didn’t tell them he’s the Sith Lord then they wouldn’t have tried to arrest him. They were going to go and talk to him in ending the war or even stepping down after Grievous died. And if he declines they were going to go by legal ways through the Senate.

But that’s why Palpatine revealed himself in the first place. It will gage what Anakin will do while Him being the ACTUAL Dark Lord all this time will totally mess with Mace’s head making him reckless and cause him to make mistakes after mistakes which ends up him doing an UN-Jedi like action at the end.

Check mate: Sidious.

 

I have heard that if Anakin didn't come just moments after Mace got Palpatine onto the floor, he would have been able to kill him, because he legit on their flight. The people who said that claim it was from George Lucas himself. So, doesn't that mean Palpatine underestimated Mace and didn't mess with his head?