In Part III, Michael is furious that, while he was incapacitated in the hospital, Vincent killed Joey Zasa. He tells Vincent: "Don't ever, again, give that kind of order, not while I'm alive." This statement raises two questions.

First, does it mean that although Michael is still the head of the Corleone family (as he points out when he says "I command this family!"), he has already planned to step down and have Vincent be his successor by this time?

Second, what exactly does Michael mean by "that kind of order"? Does he mean that the hit on Zasa was done irresponsibly, given that it involved a gun battle in the middle of a large crowd that could have easily resulted in innocent bystanders being killed or injured? Or did he mean killing someone, period? If the latter, how can Michael be serious? Assuming he wanted Vincent to be his successor, did he really expect him to be the first Mafia don in history to commit to a "no killing" policy? What if, when Vincent was the don, someone tried and almost succeeded in killing him the way Sollozzo did with Vito and Roth did with Michael? What would Michael expect Vincent to do, send the person to bed without dessert?