My argument re: the prequels has always been that George had no editors, producers, or studio executives with enough clout to get him to change things. They are his director’s cuts already, if you will.
You could argue this was already beginning to happen with Return of the Jedi, whereas ESB is widely regarded as the best in no small part because someone other than George directed it.
It’s like when authors get famous … their books get longer and longer because the editors and publishers lose the ability to force the authors to cut parts out.
The novelisation of III is really good and IMO does a better job of making sense of Anakin’s fall.
For instance, in the book, he learns that the restricted section of the Jedi Temple library might have the answers he seeks re: saving Padme, but in order to access it, he has to be a Jedi Master.
That is why he gets upset when the council refuses to grant him that status, not because he’s still a whiny, immature child as portrayed in the film.
And that is why he ultimately succumbs to Palpatine’s machinations – because the Sith Lord has masterfully manipulated Anakin into believing that only he can provide the answers. “Is it possible to learn this power?” “Not from a Jedi.”
After all, it is Palpatine who tells Anakin about the restricted section, and Palpatine who forces the council to accept Anakin as his representative (knowing it won’t sit well with them).
