CT Is it possible that The Emperor's death was the cause of Vader's death?

This is something I've often wondered about over the years.

The common explanation for Vader's death is, of course, that Sidious' Force Lightening fried the circuits of his suit. But is it really that simple?

When Luke says that removing Vader's mask will cause him to die, Vader says: "Nothing can stop that now."

Really? In a galaxy full of all kinds of high-tech kit, NOTHING could have saved his life?

I've often thought that there is (or was) much more going on. Here's another line from Vader earlier in ROTJ...

"You don't know the power of the Dark Side. I MUST obey my Master."

This line has always made me think that Vader isn't just serving Sidious at his own free will, but also as a necessity.

Vader also sounds a little upset when he says: "It is too late for me, son."

I've thought that maybe the original intention was that Vader's life wasn't just attached to the suit, but also to Sidious and his Dark Side powers. Vader, of course, would be aware of this and would know that if Sidious died, he too would die. This would also tie in with the whole thing about Sith being able to keep people from dying.

I always thought it would have been good if this was part of the plot of the prequel movies. It also would have made the ROTJ finale all the more emotional - Vader saving his son's life, knowing full well that doing so would cost him his own.

Whatever the case, I don't like the whole "Nothing can stop that now" business. That's quitting talk. There's no quit in Vader, damn it!

Anyway. I'd love to hear some thoughts.

 

There's also the fact that Vader, unlike Luke, was blasted to the extent that (at least, as it appears in the movie) his skeleton somehow glowed brightly enough to be seen through his armour. (Oddly, without any visible damage to his skin afterward).

 

This is an interesting idea. Granted..he was a dying man in the middle of a hive of dying men who were trying to escape their own dooms. I don't think he would have had access to the best Force Lightning doctor in the galaxy. And I've always seen Vader statement as meaning, "I must obey my Master or he will destroy me." Your idea is creative but I think Vader's life-force somehow being linked to Palpatine's is a little far-fetched.

 

Interesting thought. For me, it's a montage of reasons. The force lightning coursing through him didnt help. He NEEDED the helmet to breathe and survive. And Luke turning up had genuinely affected him, made him realise who he really was beneath the suit and how much he'd been deceived by the Emperor. This was the true fear the Emperor had of Luke. After all the evil he had committed in the name of the Empire and the Emperor he knew there was no redemption. For him personally it was over. The only comfort was dying looking upon his son with his 'own' eyes.

 

Vader only prolonged his life through pure hatred. Once he was able to let go, he had no further reason to live. Vader probably would have survived, but he chose to die right then and there.

 

I suppose it is possible, specially because its nearly impossible to prove a negative so ya can't go the other way with it. But never the less I don't think so, but it is POSSIBLE

 

Well, very since 1983 it's obvious to me that Vader's death was caused by the Sith lightning short-circuiting/damaging his armored life support system, and that's all. Sometimes the most obvious explanation is the correct one. Not sure where this has been confirmed either way, however.

I don't see that Vader could have been saved at that point since Luke had to focus on quickly getting off the DS before it was destroyed, and didn't have access to any kind of medical facility. Vader was probably dying fairly quickly at that point, IMHO.

Sure, Luke was also fried by the sith-lightning, but IMHO he was able to recover quickly?! due to his good health and youth.

Just my .02...

 

I think Vader knew that for the Sith to be truely defeated he had to die....for evrything he'd done theres no way the Rebellion would have let him lived anyway, it would have been to great of a risk

 

I see it that way too.

 

The answer to this well-thought of theory: no.

 

I think there is something in this. Granted its a movie and its a fictional universe where normal rules may or may not apply but the extent of his injuries and the rather pitiful looking medical attention we see him receiving in the ROTS montage don't really add up to survival under normal circumstances. Bit of "help" from the darkside via Sidious and/or hate fueled use of darkside energies from inside himself must have been involved surely.

 

I doubt that the death of Sidious was linked to his own. The rule of two dictates that the apprentice must kill the master and take an apprentice of his own. I believe that the circuits were fried by lightning and removing his helmet merely sped up the dying. I also think that Vader no longer wanted to live after realizing how far into the dark side he had fallen and the atrocities he'd committed across the galaxy.

 

It's an interesting theory, but why would it have never been an issue for other Sith? It's common for a Sith to kill his or her master and become the new master, this never weakens the former apprentice. And of course Sidious wanted Luke to kill him in ROTJ, knowing that he was becoming old and weak and Vader taking on Luke as a Sith apprentice would strengthen the Sith Order (the only thing he really cared about). Obviously he wouldn't have wanted that if it would have weakened or killed Vader, destroying the Sith.