i know it's plot armour, so let's just breeze past that, but;
it was essential that the rest of the jedi were eradicated at the same time anakin fell, and vader rose. because otherwise, there would have been no way that anakin could have just disappeared off the radar of the universe without an absolute uproar, from all sides.
because imagine if the jedi purge didnt happen as completely as it did, if there were still enough jedi around to survive, testify, and keep records. anakin's “vanishing act” would be unignorable.
the republic's darling war hero just… gone. the hero with no fear. posters everywhere, adored in the outer rim for liberating worlds, known in the core as the youngest and most reckless jedi knight. and suddenly - nothing.
the propaganda machine would eat it up. either the jedi or the empire would have to spin it: “skywalker died heroically in the defense of the republic.” or, “the treacherous jedi murdered their most promising knight.” either way, he’s mythologized instantly.
conspiracy theories would go wild. did the jedi hide him? did he fake his death? was he too dangerous, too powerful, too un-jedi, and so they got rid of him? is he still out there, waiting?
the street art, shrines, the protests, the inquiries; especially in slave-heavy systems like tatooine or outer rim worlds that knew him as their liberator. “anakin lives.” murals of his podracer and jedi robes. kids pretending to be him in back alleys.
tabloids + holonews, “who was anakin skywalker, really?” “the padawan who died too young.” “did he leave behind a secret family?” (and imagine the gut-punch irony of those rumors being true with padmé).
and like, palpatine wouldn’t even need to squash this mythology. he could encourage it. let the galaxy mourn its “fallen hero.” let them keep the image of anakin skywalker in their hearts as the jedi who might have saved them if only the jedi weren’t traitors.
but, would people put together that at the same time, this dangerous, vicious, cold-hearted and spiteful sith-lord was able to rise up and be the right-hand man for the emperor? surely not, not their golden boy, their smiling, loyal and brave anakin skywalker, right?
