Quote Originally Posted by Infernally Clay View Post
Yeah, Windu wasn't letting Palpatine out of that room alive. With Palpatine dead there would be no Order 66, because as far as we're aware only Palpatine or Dooku knew about it and could initiate it.

To think that all Windu needed to do was bring Anakin along and the Jedi Order may not have been wiped out and the Republic may not have fallen for a little while yet. Not only was Anakin far stronger than any of the other Jedi that Windu took with him, but Anakin would have seen the powerful and malevolent force that Palpatine truly was rather than the weak and dying old man that needed to be protected from the Jedi.

But that was the point, I s'pose. Palpatine knew the Council wouldn't trust Anakin enough to keep him in the loop even if he pointed them right to their sworn enemy. He knew they'd send their best and leave Anakin, their real best, at the Jedi Temple.
If Windu brings Anakin along on his illegal coup - Anakin who sees Palpatine as a sympathetic ear and mentor figure - then Palpatine simply plays the scene differently.

Most likely, he immediately surrenders to Anakin.

"Don't let their rhetoric fool you. This is an illegal coup, my friend. But I trust in your judgement, Anakin. I surrender to you, and I place my life, and the Republic, in your hands."

Now, Windu can either keep Palpatine under "house arrest" (leaving him able to pull strings behind the scenes to make the Order look terrible and manipulate Anakin further), or try to kill him and immediately force Anakin to team up with Palpatine against the Jedi.

To win, Mace and the Council need to persuade Anakin, to win him over to supporting their decisions (and make better decisions at the same time). And I don't think they can, because there's too much water under that bridge.