Quote Originally Posted by InvisibleBison View Post
I'm not sure about that. Anakin chose to side with Palpatine as Mace was delivering a death blow to Palpatine. If Anakin had sided with Mace instead, it seems pretty likely that Palpatine would have just died then and there, and his schemes would have collapsed.
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.