Saga Anakin's redemption in ROTJ

As a big fan of the Star Wars and mainly Anakin's character I have to say after watching all 6 films for the first time in a row I have to say Anakin's redemption in ROTJ is all the more emotionally powerful to me.

I am wondering after watching the PT was Anakin's redemption in ROTJ that more emotional to you than when you first saw ROTJ before the prequels?

 

No, it was the same to me after the PT than it was when I first saw ROTJ in 1983.

Vader/Anakin's turn to the good side at the very end, especially the unmasking scene, has always been deeply emotional, tragic, beautiful, both sad and hopeful.

The events of the PT, and the specific details of his fall, haven't added something more I must say.

But anyway, I'm among the people who really have a hard time seeing the 6 films as a whole cohesive saga. I basically see and feel each trilogy as 2 rather independant series of their era.

So....

How does the PT add something more to you ?

 

Growing up with the prequels and being invested into Anakin's character is mainly why. In a lot of ways I can relate to a lot of Anakin's struggles in my personal life. I love complex characters with shades of grey. Anakin is a tragic person that makes his decisions based on the circumstances and is a very emotional person. I can relate to that on a very personal level so whether that is a good or bad thing idk lol.

After seeing all 6 films in a row for the first time the PT just made it more emotionally impactful. It's amazing the love Luke had for his father even after all the terrible things he did and the forgiveness he had for his father was very emotional. It goes to show the strong power of unconditional love.

Anakin was willing to die to save his son and finally be at peace and end the pain once in for all. I love the arc of Anakin even with it at its core being a very tragic one.

 

Yes, and one of my fears with the ST is that it will downplay the significance of it

 

Yup.

 

The prequels hammer home how much of what Luke was doing was an act of faith. After you've seen Anakin massacre an entire village, execute a prisoner, wipe out a room full of children, kill his wife and nearly kill his oldest friend, it's kind of fair to wonder if Luke's not being hopelessly optimistic with his "I know there is still good in you" shtick. After all, how do you know? You weren't there. Obi-Wan and Yoda were. Has it occurred to you that maybe they're right and your dad really IS a complete and utter scumbag, as far gone as his Emperor? But he chooses to believe (and appeal to) the best of him, and in so doing, brings it out.

 

Yeah, the ending of ROTJ is always very satisfying for me too. The redemption of Vader, the ending with the force ghosts and all of it ending in just a great way.

 

Alright. I see your point.

Although, unlike you, I grew up with the OT, I too became most fascinated by Vader/Anakin Skywalker's character from ROTJ actually. Like many I guess.

 

VASTLY

When I was a kid, I really only watched SW for the cool fights and special effects and stuff. The story and characters took a back seat to 10 year old me. Then a few years passed where I didn't watch SW at all. One day I decided to pick up the blu-rays and marathon it

There's only one way for me to view it: I-VI without any major breaks, no interruptions, nobody else in the house to distract me. I want the experience to be as immersive as possible
With every viewing too, it seems my emotional reactions become stronger as it becomes more real to me. Anakin's entire story arc speaks volumes to me about life, what I want to see it as, what I do see it as, the way I used to see it, ways I acted on certain thoughts/feelings, etc

It does help, perhaps, that I am easily able to quickly form a personal connection to Anakin, and by the time of ROTS, I feel like he's sort of a best friend to me, in a way, he is me in that he's my window into SW because I relate so powerfully to him. And then to see him fall is.... I don't know, heartbreaking. I feel betrayed. It honestly makes me almost more sad than I can take to see my hero fall, and even more so when I see that it was all for nothing in the end, and that he ruined his own life from his own bad decisions. I'm just sitting there, IMPLORING him to stop and think about what he's doing, to turn back and do what's right. But it just can't be controlled

To see him as Vader throughout the OT fills me with either disappointment or a sense of sorrowful longing, then come ROTJ and to me, it's quite clear what he's feeling most of the time. As I said, I am quite similar to Anakin, almost acutely so (minus the genocide) that I can pretty much feel what he does. Getting past the emotional deadness, then seeing the blind unfocused rage in TESB (that I admit even I can feel at times) lead into the conflict he feels in ROTJ, I can't help but have a sense of hope, that maybe Padme was right and so is Luke

Then my absolute favourite scene in the saga, the most pivotal moment, the turning point of everything, the downright most beautiful moment in storytelling, to see the moment of his turn recreated, seeing his son suffering when he feels he can't do anything, but deep down he knows he can, when all of his history flashes before him, names, places, people, events, and he chooses to finally do things the way he should have all along.... I feel so many things that I can't even describe them. My brain goes into shock in a sense. His death is heartbreaking, and then to see his ghost, restored to the way he was before making all the wrong choices, is simply beautiful

I don't think that any of what I wrote adequately describes my feelings, but.... they're quite strong, when before to me, they weren't really there at all

 

Vader was always destined to be redeemed, he was never truly evil in my opinion.

 

Yes! My feelings exactly too!
I cannot bring myself to see him as evil, no matter the acts he did. I can really only feel pity for him, and sadness at everything he's done. But he felt like he had no choice. He felt helpless. Evil is when you embrace it and enjoy it. Tragedy is when you're forced to become something you're not and can't get out

 

The impact was greater strictly with the OOT, for me, the PT cheapens it.

 

It might be because I see the word "Evil" in fiction most often in a D&D context - but the term has to do with a pattern of behaviour. If a character is consistently doing Evil Acts, they gain an Evil Alignment, regardless of their personal feelings about it. Not every Evil aligned character embraces and enjoys their acts, after all.

 

I definitely find it difficult to care all that much about Anakin's redemption, from Anakin's perspective, without the PT, though obviously I can feel the emotion of that scene from Luke's viwpoint. I just didn't know him well enough. I mean, good for Luke, but the emotional connection to Anakin himself was lacking. The PT made that connection by showing a deeply flawed, emotionally immature man-child, who despite his generosity of spirit never learned to truly put others first. But how many of us do? Very few, but fortuitously our selfishness doesn't have the consequences Anakin's did.

I prefer to think he wasn't destined for redemption, at least not in a deterministic way. I'm all for saying the Force Willed his redemption, as long as that's understood consistently with free will, but to call it destiny sort of takes away from the magnitude of Luke's achievement IMO.

I think he really was evil, as evil as anyone can get. I don't see that enjoying it or not makes so much difference. He knew what he was doing was wrong; he went ahead anyway. It makes no difference that he wasn't gleeful about it if that wasn't enough to make him stop doing it. Makes him pathetic and evil, but not less evil. But then again, I think all evil is pathetic/tragic in its own way, and redemption is always possible. That interpretation, where he's really evil, is all the more compelling to me. Like "if someone that wicked can be saved from their own monstrousness, there's hope for everyone".

 

That's one of the reasons I like David Gemmell books so much. "Really evil person achieves at least some level of redemption" is a very common subplot in those.

 

Bingo. I second that too.

 

Or as Katie Holmes once said: It's not who you are underneath, it's what you do that defines you.