CT Emperor Death - Blue Exsplosion

I like that theory, myself. I felt like he had just become such a black hole, a void of dark energy, that when he died it all just expanded rapidly outwards and sent that rush of energy out.

 

Exactly, that's a perfect way of explaining it!

Also, from a practical perspective, I just cannot imagine an individual creating such a large explosion, even if they are charged with lightning. If debris fell down the reactor, it would be pretty dangerous and then to have to this in the emperors throne room is just idiotic.

 

I pretty much agree with Admiral Volshe. Someone can explain if Sidious had become a wound in the Force or nexus of the dark side, but, if memory serves, he did not become the latter until Dark Empire. (I believe Darth Nihilus was a wound in the Force. Sidious became a nexus, I think.) But even if he hadn't literally become that, he had done such violence to his own soul that he was an abyss in that sense. Doing such terrible things to others takes out of oneself. In that regard, Sidious had taken more out of his himself that most would ever do. The sick thing is that he enjoyed it, but we're often broken records about that topic.

 

Sorry. I forgot to include this in my post. But I have to give this example. Had Mace kept fighting Sidious in ROTS, their fight would have gone on for ages if Anakin hadn't shown up. Sidious woudln't have been able to escape, and Mace would have kept fighting in his determination to destroy the Sith. Sidious would have grown incessantly angrier and been filled with hatred, and Mace would have kept reflecting all of this back at him through Vapaad. This would have gone on forever until Sidious exploded. The question is not who would have won. The question is: Would Mace have survived the explosion?

Similarly, as some people, including yours truly, have speculated, Anakin/Vader was taking everything within him to force Sidious to not fall down but to prevent him from levitating back up when he defeated him. Sidious was beyond infuriated and could not contain the hatred and fear within himself. That's what caused him to explode when he hit something. If it was just fear, Sidious would have simply broken his neck and died more painfully.

Gosh, this is morbid... Darth Dreadwar would love it.

 

In addition to the injuries DV sustained from Palpatine's lightning (which appear to me to be much stronger against DV than Luke, as his skeleton and various prostheses are literally visible through his body and armor when Luke's never were) and the blue energy waves (which I believe do appear to do a lot of harm), I think the fact that Vader was also pulling away from the dark side has an impact on why he dies.

The way I see it, if Vader had been in a wounded state in the past (say, he sustained damage to his suit/body in fights with one or more particularly adept Jedi-in-hiding post Order 66) then he would have drawn deeply on the dark side of the force to sustain him until he could get to a place where he could repair himself/get treatment. However, throughout RotJ, there are many markers showing that he is moving away from the dark side, and after he disposes of Sidious he deliberately choses not to slip into this hate/anger-fueled state to preserve his life at all costs. We even get direct quotes from the film that he feels, as I read it, that he is at some measure of peace with dying when he asks Luke to remove his mask.

 

I agree. Darth Sion used his pain, hatred, and anger to remain alive. When he began to feel love for the Jedi Exile, that weakened him, and he let go of his negative emotions and allowed himself to die.

It's possible that Vader may not only been kept alive only by the life support systems. He may have also been kept alive by his hatred, pain, and dark will to live. In the EU, Vader was able to draw upon the dark side to survive a temple collapse, among other things. But in ROTJ, he turned from the dark side out of love for Luke, and he was ready to die.