15 best Anakin Skywalker moments in Star Wars

12. Anakin versus Mace Windu

Anakin’s relationship with Mace Windu is marked with tension almost from the beginning. Mace doesn’t trust Anakin, and Anakin feels like he constantly needs to prove himself. When the Jedi council is manipulated into making Anakin a member of the council in Revenge of the Sith, Mace is the one to break the news to Anakin that he won’t be granted the title of Jedi Master. Anakin feels betrayed. He’s given his life to the Jedi Order, and though he’s reckless, he has proven himself repeatedly.

But Mace Windu and other members of the council refuse to see it. When Anakin reports to Mace that Palpatine is the Sith Lord they’ve been looking for, Mace tells him to stay at the Jedi temple and that if what Anakin has told him is true, then Anakin will have earned Mace’s trust. But Anakin believes he needs Palpatine alive to show him how to save Padme from dying, so when he finds Mace in a confrontation with Palpatine with Mace clearly winning, Anakin jumps in just before Mace deals a killing blow to Palpatine, slicing Mace’s hands off. Palpatine takes the opportunity to strike Mace with Force lightning, sending him falling to his death.

Immediately after, Anakin can’t believe what he’s done, but because Mace treated him with mistrust throughout the course of their relationship, you get the sense that Anakin also feels vindicated in that moment. And it demonstrates how powerful Anakin has become, easily overtaking a Jedi Master like Mace Windu.