Hey again! I was reading a blog at thishttp://blogs.starwars.com/she/7/comments link, about who was to blame for anakin's fall, and it got me to thinking.
Okay--it is my position that Anakin Skywalker is invariably responsible for Anakin Skywalker's choices, decisions, and actions. Not Padme, not Obi-Wan, not Yoda, not Mace, and not Palpatine. While certainly all of these people were factors in the decisions that Anakin made, none of them can be blamed for making them. A person's mind is under his own control, and only his control, correct?
Maybe not.
It occurred to me that Palpatine has an awfully vast array of Force powers. Force lightning, for one. If you buy the EU he can resurrect himself (on a side note, i know a lot of you would rather the Dark Empire comics and the Emperor Reborn had never been, but it makes a lot of sense when you consider the story in light of his claim to Anakin in ROTS that his master had learned the secret to prolonging life).
So who's to say that Palpatine could not, possibly, have actually reached out his filthy meddling claws and gotten inside Anakin's head, influencing his logical processes? It seems to me that would be lots easier than resurrecting yourself. He might even have begun meddling as soon as Anakin was brought to the Temple.
So assuming this theory to be true, we have him partially or wholly dictating Anakin's fateful decisions throughout ROTS, perhaps even AOTC. Thus Anakin might be only partially responsible for what he chose to do--or even completely blameless. He may not have had control over himself at that point. Perhaps being especially sensitive to the Force, he was especially susceptible to being manipulated by it.
Jump ahead to ROTJ. Here's a possible solution as to why Vader was able to turn on Palpatine, despite having been under his mental control. Luke's presence has a pull of its own on Anakin, one that weakens Palpatine's control. As Luke grows stronger in the Force, Palpatine's hold on Vader weakens, allowing him to begin realizing what he has become against his own will. Also, why Palpatine is so desperately afraid of Luke could be because he knows Luke's power must either be turned to dark or be extinguished if he is to retain control of the powerful Chosen One. But Luke's influence proves strong enough that Vader is able to break away from Palpatine, realize what has been happening, and finish his "master."
This theory might also explain why Vader never attacks Palpatine prior to ROTJ, as Sith were supposed to do, and why he never sensed Leia's Force strength.
I realize this is a rather far-fetched plot, but I thought it was an interesting possibility.
What do you all think of that? All comments welcome. Disagree and lambast as you please--I just want to hear your opinions!