Fans remember how Anakin’s eyes turn yellow in Revenge of the Sith. This change helped announce his transition to the dark side, but how it came about was not straightforward. And, his yellow eyes came with interesting contours that fit Anakin’s division between the light and dark sides.
How Anakin’s Eyes Turned Yellow
Originally, Anakin’s eyes were not supposed to turn a menacing yellow when he killed the Separatists in Revenge of the Sith. Yet, it was not George Lucas who came up with this idea. Actor Hayden Christensen proposed it, and at first, Lucas was not on board with it. But Lucas came around to see the value in having Anakin’s eyes turn a Sith yellow.
Christensen sought to have his character’s eyes change after Mace Windu’s fight with Palpatine. However, Lucas and he came to agree that Anakin had not fully emerged as a Sith yet. So, a better moment was when he attacked the Separatists.
Seeking “a visual cue” to announce his transition was one reason why Christensen advocated for this change. A second reason was that it corresponded with how both Maul and Palpatine’s eyes had this evil yellow luster. Further, the fluctuating nature of the change in eye color signaled Anakin’s battle with his emotions and the dark side.
In connection, when Anakin killed the younglings at the Jedi Temple, his eyes did not change to yellow. At that moment, he did not want to really carry out this act, but doing it to save Padme. We can see that he wavers from the dark side when he speaks with Padme too, to a point. Killing the separatists, in contrast, fueled his dark side anger and transition to the Sith.
This video explains how Anakin’s eyes turned yellow but not all the time as a reflection of when anyone “fully immerses themselves in the dark side.” To that point, after Palpatine was revealed as the top Sith lord, and a disfigured one at that, his yellow eyes shone all the time.
When Anakin fought Obi-Wan in Revenge was another key interval of when his eyes were not yellow and then shifted to that color. Throughout their fight, Anakin ferociously battled Obi-Wan with his normal eyes. However, at the conclusion of their duel, after Anakin slid down the lava banking and became consumed with rage, his eyes ignited yellow.
For Anakin, his eyes were representative of his torn state of existence that actually never went away. We can even see this internal turmoil in the Obi-Wan series when the two battled again. After Obi-Wan stared again at Vader-Anakin and apologized “for all of it,” Anakin-Vader’s left eye was at first normal but quickly transformed back to yellow.
Anakin’s Yellow eyes
Since Vader was ultimately redeemed by Luke, hidden inside was an Anakin who resented the path he had taken. Christensen presented the idea for Anakin’s eyes to change to yellow to capture that shift to the dark side but in a way that was not constant and reflective of the tragic character he played.