Well, considering some of the most tragic and upsetting elements come directly from his works (midi-chlorians, Anakin killing younglings and being an unlikable D-bag, the fight scene between Mace and Sidious, etc.) it would be great if someone who was a greater fan of the OT were to take over as an absolute canon editor.
But that doesn't happen. Leeland Chee couldn't give two ****s about continuity, instead blanketing EU canon with statements that cannot be enforced without intense subjective debate, and at this point every author and their mother has had a chance to muck up what is or isn't kosher in SW.
I thought it was incredibly extreme and out of character.
Yeah, Anakin felt emotionally overwhelmed because his lust-love partner was gonna die. Yeah, he had already crossed a point of no-return when he helped kill Mace Windu and pledged his allegiance to the enemy of the Jedi. But killing younglings? That's heinous and I don't see how it makes us embrace the fall any better. If anything, it made me totally disgusted with his desire to unite with his son in the OT after seeing it. A selfish child killer, wanting his son to join his side. No, **** you, dad.
Oh, well I'd agree with that to an extent. I wouldn't go so far as to say that it was out of character; considering that in the movie just prior he went apeshit and slaughtered an entire village of tuscan raiders, "the women, and the children" included. His turn in RotS was definitely rushed, though. Going from "reluctantly killing Mace to save Sideous/his wife" to "Kill kids and the people I've known my whole life? suuure" in the space of 15 minutes is one hell of a jump. But to be fair, it was all a jump. Killing all the Jedi in the temple at that timepoint wasn't any less realistic than the kid killing, imo.
Honestly, it wasn't out of character. It fit very well with Anakin, I feel. The man was just so f*cked up and extreme anyways, that taking it one step further seemed to fit. It really was only one step further--harbored a ten-year lust, experienced extreme emotional outbursts, slaughtered a village, boned/married/knocked up a senator (in secret), executed an unarmed man, stabbed a Jedi master in the back, pledged allegiance to the Sith, struck down many fellow Jedi, would go on to nearly murder the purpose behind it all...
The film's version of Anakin Skywalker was already a pretty f*cked up guy and a failure as a Jedi. He was also an extremely unlikeable character. Killing kids wasn't much of a shock after all that.