Crystal Clear

Was it, though? I don't think George Lucas really thought out anything other than the fact that he had to fill in 3 movies worth of time with CGI effects before linking the 3rd movie to the appearance of Darth Vader. In comes the Anidala love story, which should have been the driving force of the story but ended up being what most of the fandom chooses to hate about the 3 films (despite the fact that it resulted in the Skywalker twins) and generally, the prequels are not viewed favorably by fans. (As someone who enjoys all 3 trilogies, it saddens me that the fandom is now at a stalemate point where people are harassing others for actually enjoying some of the movies. There's no logic in that )

I usually take sides with brooding byronic heroes who are largely misunderstood by readers/audiences ( Edward Rochester, Edward Cullen and Bruce Wayne to name a few) but I think Anakin's storyline was so briefly dealt with in the prequels that he wasn't done justice. All anybody remembers is what you described Ben Solo as: a whiny bratty child.

I re-watched the Prequel trilogy recently, and this was my basic analysis:

Obi-Wan actually had stronger character development than Anakin (despite being quite a bland, straight-laced personality) and he was only ever intended to be a mentor, not the key role.

I remember watching Prequel reviews on YouTube and people making very valid points in their criticisms of how poorly handled the writing was for the Prequel trilogy in terms of Anakin.

You have Jake Lloyd's young, inexperienced, "I'm-just-here-to-play" acting with CGI races and some creepy foreshadowing with a --look-- from Padme at the end in Episode I.

Then in AOTC, you have a weirdly restrained, monotone Anakin who says bluntly and awkwardly poetic sensual things to try and seduce Padme, who gives him ridiculous mixed signals ("You are wrong about me!" ... "I truly, deeply love you!!!")

Then in ROTS, he falls to the Dark Side... Why? Because of one or two nightmares about a pregnancy that was only confirmed to him like 2 days prior, and he stupidly kills Samuel L Jackson's character despite seeing the arrogance in Palpatine over gaining control over Anakin in that moment, and you're supposed to believe everything he's doing is for Padme yet he ends up FORCE CHOKING her (what the??? ) and yet she carries on believing in him whilst laying dying and he turns to Vader despite three quarters of his body having disintegrated in hot lava and continuing to follow Palpatine despite the fact that he had broken his promise in keeping Padme alive.

I do think that Adam Driver's maturity and experience in acting shows on screen in the Star Wars movies, and despite what fans think of Kylo so far, it helps to see him portrayed by a committed actor who shows complexity in the actions of a man who could otherwise be seen as a villain. I'm gonna keep my thoughts mostly reserved on Ben Solo's overall character development until THE RISE OF SKYWALKER comes out. Without the details of the third movie, I cannot really say if his character arc had a point and was done well.

I can only say that I hope Han and Leia's greatest hope for him is somehow fulfilled. They didn't want him dead and they wanted him free of the Dark Side's influence. If they both die without this happening, then I do feel that this trilogy had no true purpose. It is never just about one side of the Force. It's about balance.

In the mean time, here are some EMPIRE magazine covers for the final Skywalker entry to the series -