First of all i'd like to point out that Anakin is by far my favorite character. I love Vader but Anakin, before the mask, was who i favor. For me it was honestly the hadest thing to see Anakin, in Episode 3, be led down the dark path, betray his friends, kill innocent younglings, and more than that, be physically destroyed at the end. what started as an innocent boy, turned to destruction. everytime i see the movie i have to fight back my tears. a lot of it being so hard was that it really seemed that it was hard on Anakin. After Anakin cuts off the hands of Mace Windu to help a Sith Lord, Anakin falls back in disbelief, with tears in his eyes: 'What have i done?!?!' While killing the Separatist leaders on Mustafar, Anakin lets out a yell of almost regret and frusteration at the same time. once again you can see tears in his eyes. Of course, there's after the saughter of the remnants of the Separatists, when Anakin is seen on a balcony overlooking the volcanic scenery. You see a face that seems frusterated, in anguish and pain, and of misery. Tears are streaming down his face. He's as a confused child that is absolutely miserable. he has so much pressure on him to save another. after seeing these things you can tell that this is not something Anakin is taking pleasure in. he is suffering while performing these heinous acts. he is throwing his compassionate self, and everything he long believed in out the window in order to save someone he loves, and is the most important thing in his life.

Anakin, may have been a bit over-confident but i loved him for it. He knew he was more powerful than most and that he would only continue to gain strength with time. According to Lucas, the Star Wars CREATOR, Anakin had the potential of being 10X as powerful as the Emperor. Lucas said that when Anakin was restrained to his life support body suit, he was only at about 80% of Sidious' power. After analyzing this you could make a case that if Anakin was already at 80% of the Emperors power when he was confined to the suit, that he was probably already just as powerful if not a bit more so when confronted by Obi Wan. he was almost as strong while having his ability to use the force consticted, and it would make sense that the Chosen One was a lot more poweful before the mask.......

........... And just to get this off my chest, there has been debate as to who was the stronger and more powerful. my opinion on this, may be only mine, but that Anakin was greater than his mentor, Obi Wan. Obi Wan confessed that Anakin was a greater Jedi than he could ever hope to be. According to even Obi Wan, his pupil was stronger. If you notice in the duel between the two at the end of Episode 3, Anakin has Obi Wan on the ropes for the entire battle up until Obi Wan's wisdom catapults him to higher ground. Obi Wan is being driven back and is constantly on the defensive, always having to fend off the more powerful Anakin in many situations when Anakin has him within his grasp. When Obi Wan does put himself in better position on the higher ground, it is Anakin who foolishly and over-confidently tries to hurdle him. Anakin basically did himself in as he probably could have found another way onto land and back to putting his opponent on his heels. Although, credit is due for Obi Wan's wise decision as he was clearly outmatched with a lightsaber. Obi Wan's experience gave him a sole, but key position, in the duel. This just comes to prove that power isn't everything when one has more wisdom.

Anakin, as it seemed, was led rather easily to Palpatine and his Sith orientation. However, you've gotta put into consideration that he was being pulled in every direction. His wife's life was being threatened and he had to find a way to save her. Palpatine, his best friend, probably second only to Obi Wan, was trying to convince him that the Jedi Order, which Anakin was a part of, was evil while knowing that he was vulnerable in having had disagreements with the Jedi Council. Obi Wan, the man that Anakin looked to for guidance, was unavailable while the Chosen One was pressured at every angle, more than he had ever been. That and you factor in that Anakin is young and very impressionable, this wasn't just an easy, conscious decision to make.

Anyway, after all that rambling, i come to my point and question which this blog was originally about. I have the hardest time seeing Anakin as Vader when he's in the suit. I'll watch the Original Trilogy and i'll have the most difficult time putting the Anakin from the Prequel Trilogy in the suit. I can't seem to see them as the same person and it's frusterating as hell! does anyone else have this problem? i'm sure some would say that after the transformation they basically were two different people, which i can totally see, but that's not the question. i don't know why my fascination with this is so strong but it's killing me, lol. Can anyone relate? (probably not, eh? i'm just losing my mind, right?)