Even more fascinating is the fact that Anakin takes the whole thing a step further. Rather than waiting more than 20 years and two Death Stars later, he just kills Palpatine right then and there. This makes Darth Vader the sole ruler of the galaxy and the leader of the Empire. But not the scary, armor-clad Vader that audiences first came to know in 1977. Rather, this would just be Anakin in his human form who had fully succumbed to the dark side. The ramifications of this outcome are hard to wrap one’s head around. What would become of the galaxy under this version of Vader’s rule?
Yes, Anakin had gone full-blown evil at this point. Let us not forget that he killed all of those younglings in addition to striking down Obi-Wan. There’s really no coming back from that. What he saves us from in this version, however, is decades of Palpatine’s rule. Would Vader rule the galaxy more diplomatically without having to answer to the Emperor? It’s questions like that we’re left to consider when looking at this version of events unfolding. Maybe the Rebellion never defeats the Empire in this version. And who knows? Maybe they don’t need to. Maybe things don’t go as poorly. We’ll never know.
Granted, there’s no evidence to suggest that Lucas ever considered this ending for the film. We do know that other endings were considered that never made it to theaters, including one where Padme tried to kill Anakin. This is also pretty outdated and the graphics don’t hold a candle to modern standards. The alternate ending doesn’t exactly unfold cinematically. Be that as it may, it leaves fans to ponder all the same.