I was chatting with @clearbluewaters this morning about Qui-Gon, Obi-Wan, and Shmi (and how the latter two have things in common) which got me thinking about that classic fan theory about how Qui-Gon was the father that Anakin "needed" and that's why he turned which is, you know, not why he turned (he did that because his fear of people dying ate him alive and Palpatine was whispering in his ear etc. etc.) but even more than that, it's such a ... heteronormative way of looking at things? I hadn't really framed it like that before, but I don't really think that during Anakin's childhood, he was searching for his nonexistent father. He LOVED Shmi. Like it's very "a kid needs a mother AND a father" type of attitude. Sure, Qui-Gon could have been, and I suppose temporarily was a dad figure, but I don't think that would have fixed Anakin. I mean, I jokingly call Obi-Wan Anakin's brother-dad, but it definitely is more of a vibe of the much older brother raises the kid after their dad dies (in addition to, you know, he's a teacher/mentor in the way of his culture). I know I know I'm an Obi-Wan girl I'm biased, but I think Obi-Wan did as good of a job as Qui-Gon would have (but I won't get into all my thoughts on that branch-off topic).
I also don't think that Anakin particularly looks at Palpatine as a father, either? Those words never really leave his mouth (though they do about Obi-Wan!) Anakin views Palpatine as a friend more than anything else, which is, frankly, how Palpatine wants it. So, it's not like Qui-Gon The Father Figure died and Palpatine took his place because Obi-Wan couldn't, or something. To say that Anakin's fall centered around a lack of a father is strange, I think, when his fall has so much to do with his MOTHER. She died, and he was so determined to prevent it from happening to Padme that he chose his fear over the light. Padme obviously didn't want this, but Shmi herself tried to teach Anakin the lesson about letting go, she died at peace, and he still couldn't accept it. I don't think Qui-Gon could have fixed this just like Obi-Wan couldn't fix it. It was, ultimately, up to Anakin himself, and let's not undersell Sheev's manipulations here. They were immense.
TL;DR I think it's weird that so many fan discussions around Anakin's fall center lack of a father when it's really losing his own mother/terror of losing Padme to motherhood that was the catalyst.