Star Wars: The Best Moment From Every Movie, Ranked
2. The Tragedy Of Darth Palgueis The Wise - Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge Of The Sith
The kid in me wants to say the best scene in Revenge of the Sith is actually Obi-Wan and Anakin's deliriously over-the-top and brilliant duel on Mustafar, but the truth is nothing compares to the film's actual high.
Halfway through the movie, Anakin attends the opera with Supreme Chancellor Palpatine, his close confidant, and learns a stunning piece of Sith history; that once, long ago, the late Darth Palgueis the Wise was so powerful in his use of the Force that he was capable of literally stopping death.
The brilliance of the scene is layered and unsettling. There's Ian McDiarmid's increasingly cold performance, the way Palpatine so easily manipulates Anakin's fear of losing Padme to turn him closer to the Dark Side, and then there's the horrible atmosphere of the gloomy opera playing around them as they talk.
The so-called "tragedy" of the Darth Palgueis the Wise heralds the beginning of Anakin's final descent to the Dark Side, and, dreadful as its effects prove to be, what a stunning little scene it is. Chills.