Revenge of the Sith Rewrite
Author's Note: In honor of The Last Jedi trailer being released. I decided to remake my favorite part of my favorite Star Wars movie, the ending of Revenge of the Sith. I obviously love the original; this is just how I would change it if I were responsible for the storyline of the remake. Yes, some of these events greatly diverge from cannon
Note: In this head-cannon, Palpatine is a woman. This is not because I want "diversity cookie points", you will understand my reasoning later. Assume that all other previous events from Revenge of the Sith are the same, save for the conversation regarding Padme between Anakin and the Senator, (that correspondence did not occur within this remake) and an added character.
After his conversation with Senator Palpatine, there is only one thought on Anakin's mind as he speeds back to the Jedi temple, one undeniable truth and there is no time to waste revealing it. He arrives at the temple to find the council chambers empty save for the rays of dusk perforating the room. It is a struggle to suppress the overwhelming urge to let out a scream of frustration. The sound of his heart pounding nearly deafens him, yet he reaches for the Code to comfort him. There is serenity. He mulls over the words and expands his lungs until his mind is that of a Jedi.
The warrior steps into the opulent hallway and calls out to the lone Padwan lingering in the hall between tall pillars. "Zaver, do you know where the members of the Jedi council are?"
"I overheard Master Windu say they ought to visit the Chancellor, Master Skywalker," the young boy replies.
A slight grimace nearly plays on Anakin's lips before he suppresses it.
"I am not a Master." He struggles to say the words without allowing his bitterness to seep through. "Thank you, Zaver." The words are barely out of his mouth before he sprints towards the ship that awaits him. There is not a single second to spare.
As she gazes at Coruscant's night sky, Chancellor Palpatine takes another sip of water from the cup before returning to the report she was working on. Her next proposal will be a controversial one, but now that she has been granted emergency powers, the approval of the senate is merely a formality now, and she is more than willing to sacrifice the comfort of a few toes for the safety of the Republic. She feels a tinge of annoyance as she recalls the constant opposition she faces despite being granted full powers. Her late husband never faced this level of blatant insubordination. His proud yet wrinkled face hung upon the wall next to the doorway. Her throat tickles yet again? Am I ill? She finishes the water in the cup and returns her focus to drafting. Her hands move to form the next sentence but a sharp and blinding pain in her temple stops the action. She presses a hand to her temple in a futile attempt to ease the ache.
There is the hiss of the door sliding open behind her and the boom of several footsteps, louder than usual. Damn Hirrop Metes, I told him to ring me before granting visitors access.
She plasters a smile on her face before spinning her chair to face not a few Jedi, but what she suspects to be nearly all the members of the Jedi Council. The crow lines at the corner of her eyes do not falter at their numbers.
"Master Windu," she chirps. "I take it General Grievous has been destroyed then?"
The dark-skinned warrior's expression remains fixed in a scowl as he remains silent.
Her voice drops, to a serious tone. "I must say- you are here sooner than I expected."
"In the name of the Galactic Senate of the Republic..." the master begins, as he reaches for the saber in his cloak. "You are under arrest, Chancellor." He and his companions simultaneously draw their weapons.
Palpatine's eyebrows shoot up in surprise for a moment before settling on her brow in anger. "Are you… threatening me, Master Jedi?" Palpatine asks, her tone equal parts incredulous and furious. It is astounding, the insubordination these men think they can get away with…
"The senate will decide your fate." He forms the sentence with an unwavering confidence. She would be blown away by his arrogance if she were not infuriated by his rebellion.
"I am the senate." She clips each word of her reply.
"Not yet." He grips the lightsaber in his hand and Palpatine has had enough of the borderline-ridiculous attempt at a coup. She turns back to her workspace to reach for the button to call for security but falter as another bout of the migraine returns to plague her.
It feels as if the weight of nine planets' oceans combined to bear down upon her silver hairline and she doubles over under their great mass. The agony spreads to her belly and transforms as it seeps throughout her body until she is certain it has infected her bones; foreign yet unadulterated rage. The buttons in front of her blur for a moment before becoming brighter, crisper than they have ever been before. Her senses are aflame, alight in a way they have never been, not even when she was a child. Palpatine grabs at her desk to help positon herself upright, pressing on random buttons as she does so. A small chamber appears from the confines of her workspace and she recognizes its contents right away. A small gold-plated cylinder with stacked rings on the bottom of the chamber and a small button protruding from its sleek frame.
She looks over her shoulder to see the traitors slowly approaching. Her senses burn and her wrath burns brighter, still.
"It is treason, then." Faster than even she would have considered possible, she grabs the lightsaber and swings as she ignites it, fatally wounding the Jedi warrior who was standing closest to her. The anger flows through her like a current and the more she dwells on it, the brighter the room seems to grow and the slower the Jedi's motions become. One steps toward her with his lightsaber above her head, his movement so tortuously sluggish that she finds it easy work to slice both his hands before plunging the saber into his chest. Windu and one other lumber towards her from both sides and she pulls the lightsaber out in time to block their blows. The other lunges and she ducks, stepping behind the female Jedi with a limberness and a speed she did not even possess in her teenage years. A diagonal slash across her opponent's back and she topples over, leaving only Mace Windu and the Chancellor. Windu's brow twitches, almost unnoticeable but now that she has the vision of a Condor Dragon, the meaning of that minute movement is clear: fear. She swings once more and the Jedi master crouches- then flees to her private chamber.
Anakin fears he may be too late. Night has already fallen and the members of the Jedi Council left the Temple well over an hour ago. The Republic Executive building is almost empty and it surprises Anakin to find Palpatine's assistant, Mirrop, sitting at his desk outside the Chancellor's personal office.
"Hello, General Skywalker," the white-haired youth greets. His amber iris have dimmed to brown in the dark lighting.
"Hello," Anakin pants. "Have any members of the Jedi council come by here?"
Mirrop smiles, making his cherubic cheeks even rounder. "Why, yes. They entered an hour ago, stating important business. As you know, the room is soundproofed, so I do not know the manner of business."
"I need to see them right away," Anakin says as he wipes sweat from his brow.
"Of course." Mirrop presses a button underneath the desk and the doors open.
A horrible sight awaits Anakin when he enters the Chancellor's chambers. Mace stands over the trembling body of the Chancellor and the glow of his saber casts a purple shadow upon her face. Her silver hair is unkempt, sticking in every direction and her clothes have tears in them. Sweat glistens across her face and the bags underneath her eyes seem even darker. Blue veins protrude under her wrinkled pale skin. Her hands are up, defensive. Her eyes are locked on Mace Windu.
"Please…" she begs.
The Jedi Master is unmoved by her pleas; his scowl does not soften nor does his saber move from its position inches away from her face.
"The oppression of the Sith will never return. You have lost!" he boasts.
Anakin's eyes widen in horror as the Master swings his lightsaber. In a moment, Anakin's saber is drawn, the blue clashing with purple.
"Master," Anakin exclaims. "This is not the Jedi way." How can there be such hypocrisy in a Master?
"Step aside, Skywalker." Mace commands, the same tone he used to deny Anakin the rank of master. "I am going to end this, once and for all."
"She must stand trial," Anakin insists. "And I don't think she is the Sith Lord. Yoda told me to search my feelings. She is not the one."
"She is too dangerous to be left alive," Mace screams and Anakin is sure that there is no serenity, only passion in the man standing before him. Before Anakin can say another word of protest, he feels a pressure on his chest, knocking him backwards and the purple saber moves in an arc. The Chancellor seems serene, then a thin line of red pours from her neck. For a moment, too long of a period, there is silence in the room.
All at once, the gravity of the situation pulls Anakin back to reality.
"What have you done?" Anakin screeches. "What have you done?" He is more than sure than the vein in his forehead that Padme teases him about is popping down from his brow.
"She was the traitor." Mace replies nonchalantly. "The Sith lord, ready to destroy us all." He turns his lightsaber off.
Anakin stares at the corpse; her empty eyes seem to beg him to do something, to prove that he isn't truly as lost as he has been feeling recently. Slowly, the younger man, lifts his lightsaber, until it points at Mace Windu's neck.
"You are under arrest, Master Windu." He could feel the foundation that had been laid down in youth crumbling, one more decision of ambivalence away from ruins.
The dark-skinned man looks at him incredulously. "Skywalker, put the lightsaber down."
"Can you be this arrogant, this hypocritical?" Anakin struggles to keep his voice level, in the manner a Jedi should. "It is you who said that we are keepers of peace, not soldiers. You have made mockery of the Jedi Code and the laws of the Republic."
The master lets out a sigh before drawing his lightsaber from his cloak once more. "Has it come to this?"
Anakin does not miss a beat. "Yes, it has."
Mace ignites his lightsaber and his dark skin turns to purple. He assesses Skywalker, no longer as confident as he was minutes ago. The two begin to slowly circle, neither one of them prepared to make the first blow.
"She was not the Sith." Anakin yells. His words taste like copper now. "In fact, I am sure of it." He swings his lightsaber and Master Windu barely has time to react. The older man blocks and immediately, turns it into an attack. With a few exchanges, the two transverse the room. Their lightsabers connect one time before a short lapse in their duel.
Mace pants out, "Anakin, end this madn-"
The Jedi master never has a chance to finish his words. Two pale hands grab his crown from behind and lightning arcs through his body. Yet even as he looks on in horror, Anakin can sense it is not electricity, but something much stronger. Mace writhes as the energy overtakes his body, and smoke escapes his nostrils. The hands release him and his burnt corpse drops to the floor, revealing a familiar young man.
"Hirrop Metes," Anakin gasps. "I- It was you."
Even in the dark light of the room, the cherubic man's irises glow gold. He reaches out a hand and the gold-plated lightsaber floats into his left hand.
"Yes, it is I." His friend's voice is no longer light and melodious, but rather deep and croaky, like an old man. His round face contorts into a sneer as he glances down at the charred body of Mace Windu.
"The Jedi." He spits those two words as if they were a curse. "Too prideful to train their saber-skill properly. Too arrogant to study the difference between a drugged woman and a Sith lord," he settles into the Chancellor's seat. "So overconfident that they could not detect the Sith in their midst. Sit, young Skywalker."
Anakin deactivates his lightsaber and settles into a chair; he doesn't realize how weary he is until he touches the cushion. The question fly through his mind, chaos, but one far more important than the rest.
"Can you save Padme?"
The Sith lord chuckles and it sounds far more sinister than Anakin has ever realized. "The Chancellor told you my story, yes? Well, it occurred over one thousand years ago," he gestures towards his wrinkle-free face. "Suffice to say, there is ample evidence that I have the power to save the one you love. But, you must choose."
Anakin wishes that the decision was a struggle. He hopes that somewhere in his heart the values that have become the foundation of his personality would make this arduous. But all that he has seen in the past day has eroded his hopes until only one choice remains.
He stands and approaches Darth Sidious. "I will do whatever you ask. Just help me save, Padme's life." His voice cracks. "I can't live without her."
Sidious smirks as he replies, "You are fulfilling your destiny, Anakin." Sidious rises from his seat, half a head shorter than the Jedi. "Become my apprentice. Learn to use the dark side of the Force."
Anakin falls to his knees. "I-I pledge myself to your teachings." As he says the words, he can feel it: all the memories and anger and hurt he has repressed, bubbling to the surface. It aches and burns to resurrect these emotions… yet it is pleasure beyond compare. Power unleashed and potential that had gone untapped.
"The Force is strong with you and surely, you shall be a powerful Sith." Sidious croaks as he lays a hand upon his apprentice's shoulder. "Do away with Anakin Skywalker, for henceforth, you shall be known as Darth Vader."
A/N: I want to explain my method a bit. I think the original plot twist was very unexpected but in a remake, plot twists should definitely not be recycled. I also wanted to really emphasize the pride and overconfidence of the Jedi Council; it is apparent in the movie, but not overt enough. I plan to continue with the story until the end of Revenge of the Sith