Re: New Casting and Story Rumors re: EPISODE VII
I certainly think he lied to Anakin, according to the novel of Ep. III he leid to Dooku as well just to get him on his side and when he didn't feel like he needed Dooku anymore he told Anakin to kill Dooku.
I was certainly under the impression/assumption Palaptine was manipulating Anakin. I mean, if you go all the way back to
The Phantom Menace, he was manipulating everything from behind-the-scenes. He basically orchestrated the events that kick-start the prequel trilogy.
As Darth Sidious, he engineered the Trade Federation blockade - and as Senator Palpatine he manipulated Queen Amidala knowing she would resist. It was all a ploy to unseat Chancellor Valorum so he could take over as Chancellor. In
Attack of the Clones, Obi-Wan begins to uncover more of this conspiracy about the clones. Even though it is never outright stated, it can be assumed that Sidious/Palpatine had Dooku create the Separatist movement so Palpatine could commission the Clone Army at the appropriate moment.
In
Revenge of the Sith, it seems very much like manipulating Anakin to the Dark Side was the last cog in his very well orchestrated plan. I mean, Palpatine even says in
The Phantom Menace to young Anakin "We'll be watching your career with great interest". If that's not foreshadowing I don't know what is. One could say
The Phantom Menace even refers to Sidious/Palpatine himself. In any event, it was clear (at least to me at the time I was watching it) that Palpatine was manipulating a very vulnerable Anakin over to the Dark Side. Everything leading up to that moment - getting taken from his mother at a young age, watching her die as a teenager, falling in love with Padme - was all "part of the plan", to steal a line from The Joker. Palpatine's line about manipulating midichlorians to create life could be seen as further evidence/suggestion that Palpatine orchestrated the birth of Anakin, the "Chosen One", hinting that Palpatine was planning this for a very long time. Given the events of the prequel trilogy, I can buy it.
Honestly, as much as people openly dislike the prequel trilogy (and I can understand why), Palpatine's role has always been my favorite part. It was one of the things George Lucas actually did right. I can totally buy Anakin's transformation in
Revenge of the Sith and that's mostly
because of Palpatine's machinations. I feel really bad for the Jedi not just because they all get slaughtered and betrayed, but because they basically assisted in their own demise. They were
this close to Palpatine for so many years and unfortunately Mace Windu and the Jedi figure out his plan too late. Although, if I remember correctly, it was Anakin who tipped Mace Windu off - which was probably part of Palpatine's plan in the first place! Shesh. Talk about a bad guy.
