PT Did Vader ever think of Padme?

Hi everyone my first proper thread, not sure if i should have put this in the prequel section or not?

So aftet his turn to the darkside did Vader ever think of Padme, the love of his life? Or did he try to stop thinking about her, and if he did, did he ever remember her towards the end of his life?

 

Good question to ponder.

The comic books (Dark Horse and Disney) go into this quite a bit. The Rise of Darth Vader is also a great source on this matter, but, like the DH comics, is tragically not canon anymore. Still worth a read.
I can't remember if Lords of the Sith touched on this. I think so?

I can only image he couldn't help but think of her once he learned he had a son. And I feel it's only appropriate to assume especially when he was looking upon Luke with his own eyes and imploring him to tell Leia he was right about him.



--
as an aside, for what it's worth in the eyes of the beholder, in my own personal hobbies and pursuits I played V for Vendetta with Return of Jedi simultaneously, it all matched up stunningly, but particularly the last hour or so are almost the same shot for shot thematically and visually. One of the many juicy synchronicities is when Luke holds dying Anakin as Evey (Portman) holds dying V.
When you play them together with Pink Floyd's album Wish You Were Here, it's even more poignant.


Link: You have to download to see in it's entirety.
Or, just look for the cue time in the preview and do it yourself!
I used the 1995 VHS version of RotJ.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/hz0v2annyrjay0t/vforvader.mov?dl=0

 

I think he hated himself too much to think about her in the literal meaning of this word. After all, he thought he killed her, but I think that after knowing he has a son, it is impossible that his memories wouldn't come back. After the PT I think his obsession to find Luke looks explainable: Luke is the only think that is left of Padme (as he doesn’t know that he had twins till the end of ROTJ). The comics about Darth Vader explore that matter and is no surprising that there is plenty of fan art about this topic, as for example this:



Many fans think that in the so called meditation room he is thinking mostly about her. I also think that after knowing the true some glimpses of his true self begin to appear again.
Speaking of that, I have always thought that a good spin off movie of SW would be exactly this: Vader in search of the Luke origins, but I have no hopes that Disney would go in such pro PT direction.

 

Vader probably did his best to not think about Padme. It would have been painful, but I'm sure he did from time to time.

Also, after the discovery of Luke's existence, I'm sure she was on his mind more and more.

 

I bet you he remained obsessed with her over the years, based on the seemingly blatant throughline intended in the ST. Padme and Ren both mean "Lotus" in two different languages, and Kylo Ren of the Knights of Ren wants to finish what Vader started. Perhaps there was some secret project or effort he was working on, maybe even something he hid from Palpatine? A tribute to her? Vengeance for her loss? Maybe Vader killing Palpatine was what he started, and there's some connection to Snoke, and Kylo's whole goal is to get close enough to finish Snoke off? Join the Dark Side to destroy the Dark Side from within... a plotline that was used in "Dark Empire" when Luke joined the clone Emperor in the years following Return of the Jedi, with a similar intent. I think that would be a pretty interesting twist of events in Episode 8, resulting in who knows what kind of fallout?

 

I think he blames the weakness of the Anakin Skywalker side of himself for Padme's death, and thus would bury memories connected to his old identity.

I agree with others that Luke's return would spark memories though, makes sense that it would be part of his conflict in ROTJ. Deep down at first.

 

Wasn't there an old comic where Vader created a fantasy world to imagine what life would've been like had he not turned? Padmé was a respected senator, their son is named Liam and Obi-Wan apparently had Yoda's position on the council?

 

There was: Darth Vader and the Lost Command.

 

That would be trippy.

 

I'm not a fan of comics in general, but I've contemplated getting it just for the section on Vader/Padme.

Star Wars really knows how to crank up the angst.

And I would venture that he thought about her every day. First, it's hard to turn that off when you've been doing it since age 10. Also, his anger and grief would fuel him in the dark side.

 

That and Darth Vader: The The Ghost Prison were awesome. Question I have about the former is where Vader admits his guilt to the Padme figure. I notice the art shows her look so old. Why? Also was that really Padme's spirit?

 

I think it wasn't her but an enemy force-user trying to manipulate him - "guilt-tripping" him - and the transformation of her from normal to extremely aged (decayed?) was part of it.


http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Saro

 

I would bet he did think of her..

He held onto that pain for over 20 years. It wasn't all about his disfigurement. So surely a lot of that pain and suffering that kept him deep into the Dark Side came from Padme's death and what he did.

There is a print that I want to buy, just haven't pulled the trigger yet... It's called "Regrets"



$360 on canvas, $165 on paper..

In Vader's eyes we can see the reflection of something he's looking at, I always felt it may have been Padme's grave marker (hence the title of the piece "Regrets")...

 

The observations here are very possible. My guess however is that Vader grew to hate Padme. He became so twisted & consumed with anger & hatred that I think there's a good chance of that. He grew to hate everything & everyone, including himself. The more he hated the more power he felt. He probably thought back & blamed her for betraying him. For leading Obi-Wan to Mustafar which led to his terrible injuries that he has to suffer & endure each day. That have stopped him from displacing Palpatine & ruling the galaxy in his own right. Prevented him from discovering greater knowledge of the Sith & of the Force to fulfill his full & rightful potential. Blamed her for "forcing" him to kill her which robbed him of his child & rightful heir who would've ruled by his side & created an eternal dynasty through the ages. That sounds like Darth Vader to me. Some of these other interpretations sound more like Anakin Skywalker. He didn't reappear until RotJ.

 

Anyone ever see that art of Vader at Padmé's tomb? Him reaching out holding the slab? Very sad. An image of Padmé in stain glass? It's on Deviant Art.

 

According to Star Wars wikia it was commissioned and on some trading cards.

 

There it is!

 

A couple other pieces I want that are inline with the topic...

I don't think that Vader hated Padme. The first thing he did upon being released from the operating table was ask about her, and his reaction to him killing her wasn't one of anger towards her, but, towards himself...

I love the Vader Padme themes prints... First of all it connects the two trilogies, but, also the tragedy of their relationship!

 

I believe he did, although he tried not to, and there were probably long stretches where he pushed her out of his mind.

 

You guys may not agree, but my personal reading is that the conflict - the voice Lucas describes Anakin having that says "what am I doing?" - dies on hearing Padme is gone. When he finds out it was all for nothing, Vader now believes he no longer has use for a conscience. To me this would mean he buries any connection to his old self; including past desire to do anything out of love, and by extension having any thoughts of Padme. He kind of takes it out on the galaxy, for being too "blind" to not cause further conflict to total order.
Going just by the films I think when Luke returns to the picture he begins to think of her again, at first just like a memory of a past-life that he sees as a fleeting weakness, until he is redeemed.

 

I don't think you are completely wrong. I can see and even agree that he may have gotten to that point, however, I still have to think that there were times that the monster that he made of himself kind of rescinded and those old feelings came back, even before Luke came along.

Yes, when he realized Luke was his son, that must have been a crazy experience for him with the feelings rushing back. However, I believe that those feelings did come up once and while on their own. Meditation, something familiar happening, etc etc... Even in ANH when he must have known he was so close to Tatooine must have stirred something deep down?

 

When I mentioned the fan art, I meant that I like it, but I also think that only Anakin could think about Padme. But I don't think Vader hated her, he hated himself and he avoided any thoughts i.e. memories about Padme. I dare think he visited her grave when he started searching some traces and proofs about his son. Of course, this is only a speculation, but how can be sure that he has a son of he doesn't check all the traces left? I think in the beginning he was too conflicted to realize what is happening but his obsession to find what's left of Padme , i.e. Luke makes sense for me.
The version of the comic looks logical to me (not about Boba Fett but about Vader's reaction) https://comicnewbies.com/2015/06/04/darth-vader-learns-luke-is-his-son/

 

That is actually an awesome depiction of the movement with the flash of memories, feelings, realizations. The love, the sorrow, the pain, the lie...

What issue is that from, I might buy a couple copies just to rip those pages out and frame them lol...

 

I've always felt that he probably did think of her at some point (Not exactly sure what happens in the comics), but ultimately after ROTS he pretty much tried to distance himself from his Anakin persona and anything relating to it as much as possible, hence the "that name no longer has any meaning to me" in ROTJ.