CT Why did Vader die exactly?

So what was the actually cause of his death? I mean, realistically he only got his hand sliced off. So what gives?

 

Metal is a good conductor of electricity.

 

imo,It's just one of those things that happen because ''it has to happen''.
His life support would endure the lightning if the movie wanted it to. It didn't. Therefore he died.
I buy it & try not to think of it because all movies have things like that basically...

 

Not really. Vader originally was supposed to fall into lava and die that way. Bionics can only take so much abuse.

 

Less so than a normal body? Robocop would disagree
On a more serious note though...a galaxy that advanced in technology would most certainly be aware of such basic things as Faradey cages (or whatever the name of the one that discovered them in the SWU would be)...this is why i try to overlook things like this.

 

Sith lightning isn't exactly normal electricity though.

 

Murphy got lucky as the technician said that it could kill him.

 

I didn't even remember that , LOL!
I was just referencing Robocop as a part human/part machine with much higher tolerances to most things that would kill a human.

Back to my original post...if he didn't die, it would still be ok 'cause we would make sense of it by saying opposites of what we say now.
ex. Vader survived because he was part machine and much stronger than a mere humanoid or his suit had a Fa'ra'day enclosure referenced in book 'x' in the EU or the dark side lightining only hurts living cells etc. etc. etc.
As i said b4, i just don't try to think about it, because if pure logic were applied, his mechanical/electronics would most probably be just fine if we took into account the technology depicted in SW....but then again...pretty much nothing in SW would happen if pure logic were applied to SW....so, i just let it get by me...
It certainly doesn't bother me unless i try to make sense of it, LOL...

 

I remember reading years ago now that one reason why the Emperor was looking to recruit Luke in RotJ was that after twenty odd years Vader's body was slowly but surely giving in to the injuries that he had suffered all those years ago. In fact too much over exertion could do him in like say a lightsaber duel.

Something else to chew on as well is that for twenty years Vader had clung to his self-hatred like one would cling to a flotation device so learning about his son and then their fight was slowly wearing away at his self-hatred. In the end his self-hatred was one of the few things keeping him alive.

He also could have allowed himself to die to take the knowledge of the Sith with him.

 

That's exactly how i make sense of it too, although it's not clear!
Looking it from a sentimental point of view, instead of techno/bio/logic/physical explanation, it kinda makes sense.
Sth along the lines of:
He lived a very sad&difficult life...but after saving his son&redeeming himself, he was pleased to meet his death & finally be in peace!
(just thought about this...maybe he also lost the will to live rhyming back to ep3? )

Even though that still isn't a clear answer as to 'why' he died...which takes me back to my original post...

 

You could already hear his labored breathing immediately after sustaining the Emperor's attack. I believe that removing his breathing mask was what did him in (hence Luke's "but you'll die!"). Though it seems that Vader was already mortally wounded and wouldn't have lived much longer anyways ("nothing can stop that now"). The whole point was that he chose to cut his own life short just to have a face to face with his son.

 

Vader can briefly be heard wheezing while he's lying on the floor with Luke standing over him, lightsaber at Vader's throat, and as he gets up to stand next to the Emperor, before the Emperor's attack. However, it is much more pronounced and consistent after the electrocution.

Not that I'm disagreeing, just making a note. I prefer the simple explanation myself, electrocution equals life support failure, life support failure equals death.

 

No doubt he was badly injured after the duel with Luke, but the lightning was what mortally wounded him

 

Like others said, lightning and life support boxes... not a good mix.

There's also the theory that the Emporer was using the dark side of the force to sustain Vader after Mustafar. Not only that, but it was his hatred that kept him alive, and now that he had let go of that and turned back towards the light, he was ready to let go.

Most simplistic answer though, besides the lightning... it was the end of the movie/ trilogy.

 

He did seem in some sort of distress not long after Luke took off his hand and still was to some extent as he was standing up. I'd have to watch RotJ again and LISTEN when the Emperor is using the Force Lightning on Luke to see if his breathing pattern changes but at one point I believe it was normal just before he grabbed the Emperor but something was wrong the life support system after he tossed Palpatine over the edge.

 

This I always wonder what would have happened if he had lived.

 

His suit went boom de gasser!

 

In Star Wars becoming a cyborg is not an improvement. General Grievous chronic coughing was to illustrate this. That the techology isn't perfect and that Cyborgs live with chronic health issuses and pain.

 

Having never had evasive surgery isn't something that should done lightly because of potential setbacks. We don't know truly how long it took the droids to assemble the pieces, attach what was needed and then put him in it. Going by RotS hours but we have been told that after arriving on Coruscant not everything was told in the right order. Even if it did take the droids only a few hours to do everything Bail arriving on Alderaan, the visit to the Death Star and Luke being given to his aunt take place on different days. Vader would need serious rehab to learn how to not only move but to learn how to fight again. Any outings are going ot be short and no side trips.

For the record I have only had to go to the hospital three times. Once was for a broken collar bone between 18mos-2yrs (gotta love slightly older siblings trying to prove that they're big enough by carrying the second youngest) the second was 8-9yrs for a MRI where I would be sleeping through the entire thing (wouldn't have been able to stay still) and the last time was a few years ago when I did something foolish. Don't remember the first time but because of the nature of the last two I was hooked up to monitors.

Cutting into a human chest to not only implant some sort of pacemaker but to remove organs and place other devices in the chest takes some time and is major.

 

Vader did have to die in order to fulfill the prophecy. He and Sidious were the only 2 Sith alive. In order to fulfill the prophecy, he too had to die. No Sith. Force back in balance. Anakin may have thought he redeemed himself to his son and himself at that. But he knows he would never be redeemed in the eyes of anyone else. But redemption isn't even the issue.

 

I'm surprised it hasn't been mentioned yet, but wasn't Luke taking Vader's mask off technically the reason he died? Sure, Vader's life support was damaged, but Vader wanting to see Luke "with his own eyes" sped up his demise. They could have tried to get his suit repaired, but I reckon Vader was either ready to die or didn't want to risk missing the chance to speak to Luke one last time.