Anakin Skywalker always had darkness within him, but between that, the machinations of Chancellor Palpatine, and the lack of faith the Jedi Council had in his abilities, his fall was perhaps inevitable.
The former slave becoming a Jedi Master wouldn't have necessarily fixed Anakin, but it might have helped him realise that his fellow Jedi weren't conspiring against him. Ultimately, there were mistakes on all sides, though it was his desire to save Padme that pushed Anakin to embrace the way of the Sith.
Palpatine had convinced him that doing so was the only way to save the woman he loved, though we now know the future Emperor was twisting Anakin's nightmares from the shadows. Even without that villain manipulating events to his liking, the Jedi showed his darker side when he murdered those Tusken Raiders on Tatooine, proving he was always conflicted within.
The Star Wars franchise has rarely dealt with Marvel-style "What If...?" scenarios, but this fantastic piece of fan art reveals how Anakin might have looked as a Jedi Master.
Being welcomed into that group would have surely changed everything for the fallen hero, and had he struck down Palpatine instead of Mace Windu, Anakin and Padme happily bringing Luke and Leia up on Coruscant seems vastly more likely. The Galaxy may have also been spared from decades of darkness, though another evil could have risen elsewhere.
We spent more time with Anakin as Darth Vader in Obi-Wan Kenobi earlier this year, and it was apparent that, while still conflicted, the Dark Side retained a firm grip on him. Well, until his fateful meeting with Luke helped the villain see there was another path open to him.
Anakin eventually found some redemption when he killed the Emperor, and the hope among fans is that we'll get to see his Force Ghost in Ahsoka.
Check out this awesome piece of Star Wars fan art below: