Fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate, hate leads to suffering. This is a lesson that Supreme Chancellor Palpatine, Darth Sidious, knew all too well.

These words of Yoda's are extremely applicable to the way Palpatine turned Anakin Skywalker into the most well-known and terrifying Sith Lord of all time, a man with more blood on his hands even than Exar Kun.

Anakin's fear was reflected in two beings: his mother, Shmi Skywalker, and the love of his life, Padme Amidala. It's unclear when Palpatine decided to begin manipulating the young Jedi, but I think it began shortly prior to the beginning of Attack of the Clones. By this time, Anakin was already suffering from the nightmares involving his mother Shmi. Palpatine obviously recognized Anakin's potential, as well as the overwhelming fear for his mother that he's held inside him for ten years. Even before AOTC, Palpatine had repeatedly told Anakin that he was "becoming the greatest of all Jedi. Even greater than Master Yoda." Clearly, he's succesfully planted seeds of doubt in Anakin. In a seemingly unimportant conversation while pursuing Zam Wessell in AOTC Obi-Wan tells Anakin "If you spent as much time practicing your swordsmanship as you did your wit, you would rival even Master Yoda!" (Or something like that.) Anakin replies, "I thought I already did." Obi-Wan responds "Only in your mind, my very young apprentice." In a scene with Padme, Anakin says, referring to Obi-Wan "In a lot of ways, I'm really ahead of him."

So Anakin's mother Shmi dies, from torture at the hands of the Tusken Raiders, and Anakin's fear is realized. He quickly passes anger, and the once innocent young Jedi has his first taste of hate, as he mercilessly slaughters the Tusken Raiders.

When Anakin tells the Chancellor, Palpatine must have felt like the knowledge was a lovely birthday present.

In the Episode III novel, Palpatine reveals that spies on Naboo had reported Padme and Anakin's marriage to him. The legend of Darth Plagueis the wise is an obvious reference to Anakin's desire to "keep people from dying", a concept he first explores in AOTC. So, Anakin thinks, the Jedi Council has kept this knowledge from me because they think I will surpass them, completely and utterly.

Palpatine reveals himself as Darth Sidious, Dark Lord of the Sith at just the right time. Anakin's last spark of loyalty to the Jedi Council is displayed when he reports Sidious to Mace Windu. But, just as Sidious intended, Anakin sees the Sith Lord as his only hope of saving Padme. He betrays the Council absolutely by attacking Mace, and with Windu's death, Anakin's finds that Sidious is the only living being that he can trust.

Darth Sidious preys on the anger toward the Jedi Council that Anakin harbored all the way through ROTS, and turns it into hate.

Darth Vader, the new Dark Lord of the Sith unleashes the greatest suffering the Star Wars universe has ever seen, as the galaxy burns at his hand.

This is my first entry, so don't be too hard on me.