why darth vader bad whyyy whyyyyy he was so sweet whyyyyyy. wot appened u changed man

[Jiro]

Anakin was hardly a saint. The animated Clone Wars shows him as a bit of a dick from what I've seen/heard, and he was always questioning Obi-wan's training because he was arrogant as smurf. He should not have been told he was the Chosen One; it did nothing for him but fill him with pride. His lightsaber skills were apparently off the wall though so there's that.

But, yeah. Easily corruptible. Jedi only train young children as a rule because they don't want them forming attachments and they want to kill off emotional responses before they take root. Just because we would react in a certain way doesn't mean a Jedi should. They're supposed to be custodians of the galaxy, a source of enlightenment and guidance and protection. Can't do that if they're committing crimes of passion all over the place.

Padme's loss of life is horrible 'cause she was a really cool character but I think we can head canon some of that bulltrout away with this: Anakin's affinity for the Force was so strong, and Padme's mind so susceptible to the image of adorable 9-year-old Ani, that she was unwittingly mind tricked into a sort of Force bond with him. When he "died", her body and mind freaked the smurf out and she could only cling together through the shared pain long enough to pop out a couple kidlings. I mean, Force bonds are explored in both Old Republic games so it's clearly a thing that was thought about.

[Freya]

He has a sensitive side too....

[blackmage_nuke]

I thought maybe he wanted to start the Empire because he didnt like that the Republic wouldnt help people and/or stop slavery in the outer rims but then Jaba still has slaves and I cant see why he needed to kill the Jedi younglings so I dunno.

[Newmani]

I thought maybe he wanted to start the Empire because he didnt like that the Republic wouldnt help people and/or stop slavery in the outer rims but then Jaba still has slaves and I cant see why he needed to kill the Jedi younglings so I dunno.

'Tis the moral event horizon. Basically he gave into the Dark Side and went power drunk and stayed that way for almost two decades.

[Jiro]

I thought maybe he wanted to start the Empire because he didnt like that the Republic wouldnt help people and/or stop slavery in the outer rims but then Jaba still has slaves and I cant see why he needed to kill the Jedi younglings so I dunno.

He might have had okay ideals but Palpatine had his hooks in by that point so it didn't matter. Idealism was just what helped push Anakin over the edge which is somewhat ironic given the idealistic vision the Jedi seem to have of the galaxy.

[Ayen]

When you think about the prequels in context with the original trilogy a lot of it doesn't make sense. Take the final battle between Anakin and Obiwan for instance and then think about how they interact when they meet up in Episode IV. That doesn't sound like a conversation one would have after being left to burn alive in lava, I'm just saying. You'd think it would have gone more like:

Vader: Hey, super prick, burn anybody today?
Obiwan: Nah. Kill any innocent children lately?
Vader: No, but I'm about to gut an old man like a pig.
Obiwan: Not if I gut myself first!
Vader: What?
*slow lightsaber fight*
Vader: They just don't make them like they used to.
Obiwan: I agree. Oh, hi, Luke! *lets down his guard and dies*
Vader: What the--? *kicks Jedi robes* This feels... anticlimactic.

And I agree with Jiro that Anakin was no saint. Wasn't some of the sand people he killed women and children that had nothing to do with his mother's death?

[Alive-Cat]

Yeah, like, I know Lucas always says he had basically the entire story planned out very early but I seriously doubt that. When Obi-Wan and Vader face each other for the second time, it's seriously out of context with their battle in Revenge of the Sith.

I feel you, ToriJ.

[Psychotic]

The transformation was ridiculous. A few moments of anger and arrogance, alright, but the guy was meant to be decent and we were meant to feel sympathetic towards him. Suddenly BAM, I'm your servant Mr Emperor so it's time cold-blooded child murder. I mean, what? Makes no sense.

[G13]

The few times that he crossed that line and tapped into the dark side of the Force were enough to get a bit of a stranglehold on him. It doesn't matter if it was a few times or the one that initiated the fall, the embrace of power is irresistible. I don't think his fall was supposed to be gradual. Look at how many times he entered then turned his back on the dark side before. The disaster after his mother's death, the beheading of Dooku, to name a few such events, were, I think, situations designed to foreshadow his eventual return to the light.

I think the event that ultimately lead to his fall was completely justified. He was confused and afraid. He had a vision of his wife, the woman he's loved since childhood, dying and there was nothing he could do to save her. Sidious played on that fear, told him of an option, gave him hope, and the showdown between Mace Windu and Sidious only served to further his confusion. Does he stand up for the light and possibly lose his wife and unborn child, or does he choose the dark path and turn his back on his Republic and his Order to save the only person he cares about?

It's pretty clear everything that follows is the "Oh trout, I'm really in it now" phase. Once you do something you can't undo it, and it'd be pretty hard to live down having a part in your former master shooting out of a window in an electric blaze.