Quotes from the book will be in italics.

"He couldn't imagine not being at war." Anakin is so used to turmoil and chaos that he isn't able to handle peace and tranquility.

If Palpatine was "a black hole of the Force", imagine what Anakin would have been like if he had been mature and patient.

Before Mustafar, Anakin's weaknesses all stemmed from fear and pride. After Mustafar, they stemmed from self-loathing.

Anakin had a "dread of himself". How awful must that have been?

Pride fuels his anger; anger heightens his fear of what he is becoming; his fear infuriates him in its (perceived) weakness; fury consumes his restraint. And the vicious circle continues.

"He decides to win." While winning is admirable, it is not always the end you are seeking. I believe that at this point (he is fighting Dooku at this time), Anakin has set out on the path to his destruction.

"It isn't actually an order .... It is what he has been waiting for his whole life. Permission." I think that speaks for itself.

"In the dream, whatever he did was the right thing to do simply because he wanted to do it." Gee, this line of thinking might be bad for an unstable fella like Anakin.

"Anakin glanced up at the Supreme Chancellor and for that instant he didn't like the man at all" ... yet he pushes it away.

If Anakin hadn't continued making stupid decisions like this, it might be easier to feel sorry for him.

Anakin's power is his most cherished possession. He tells himself it's Padme ... and perhaps he's even partly right, for a time ... but the majority of his thoughts are of recognition for his power.

However ... Anakin offers to help when the four Masters go to take Palpatine, and he is rudely rebuffed and treated like a 4 year old. In this way, Mace must shoulder some of the blame for what Anakin did later. (I do maintain that it is primarily Anakin's bad choices ... but some of them were simply reactions to outside stimuli.)

"I would ask [the Sith Lord] if he has any power he could use ... to save Padme." At this point, I believe Anakin's fall has been sealed. His inability to accept change in life leads him to consort with the one person he deep-down knew would destroy the Republic and the Jedi.

With the Jedi asking Anakin to spy on Palpatine, Anakin's trust in the Jedi (what little there was) was irrevocably shattered. When it came time to choose, he chose the person who had never given Anakin reason (that he admitted to himself) to doubt.

When Padme just wants to be with him, "like at the lake on Naboo" ... he can no longer remember what that had been like. The first seeds of doubt had been planted toward the one he cared most about.

"Anakin took Mas Amedda's seat [in the opera box]." Such a small thing, but so filled with import. Mas Amedda has been Palpatine's right-hand man. It's fitting that Anakin should sit there. Did he choose it consciously or not?

"'The Sith rely on passion for strength, but when that passion runs dry, what's left?'"

Anakin wants to save Padme, but it's because he needs her. He never mentions "because we have a child" or anything else like that. Even his good reason seems to be motivated by selfishness.

The duel between Obi-Wan and Anakin is a physical re-enactment of Anakin's inner battle.

Anakin expected everything to come easy to him, to be handed to him, because he was the Chosen One.

He never owned his actions, unless they were good ones. Everything else was laid at others' feet.

"Obi-Wan had never realized he'd always expected, for no discernable reason, that when he died, Anakin would be with him." Whoa.

And the pivotal moment ... when Anakin knows, when he could have overpowered and defeated the Sith ... his selfish desires got in the way and he wavered. He shrank from the challenge, too weak to handle it. He finally had the chance to prove himself - to end the war, destroy the Sith, and restore peace in one swoop - and he didn't. He put his wants before the good of civilization. He finally has a chance to show everyone what he'd been dying to show them - that he was worthy of their respect, of the title of Master, of being treated like an adult ... and he blows it.

Anakin knows he isn't strong enough to handle Palpatine's scheming alone.

"The brightest light casts the darkest shadow." How painfully true this statement becomes. Vader's shadow is cast over two decades of oppression and misery, and it all came from the bright light of a small boy who'd been taught to help others and who loved unconditionally.

When Anakin is pacing the chamber, waiting for the Jedi who have gone to arrest Sidious ... that would have been the time to go to Padme. But he didn't.

"All he had to do was decide what he wanted." Given the chance to escape the whole quagmire ... he didn't want to. He wanted the power and the recognition and the revenge for slights real and imagined.

Part two up next ...