How long did it take for Vader to get over losing Padme?

I am not normally on THIS forum.

This is an idea I had while thinking of how post-ROTS would go. Apparently, it cant be on the ROTS boards for some reason, even though it deals with information FROM ROTS.

BUT anyway...

Did Vader have a hard time getting over the loss of Padme? Did he just simply put it out of his mind not long after he was told, since he had turned to the darkside? OR Did he EVER get over it??

OBVIOUSLY, he was MOST agrieved to hear that she had died. Was he SO strong in the darkside by then that he simply made himself forget about it?

He was ALREADY turned to the darkside when Sidious told him she was dead. Even THEN, he STILL was in despair/anger at losing her-so that meant he DID still care about her, even after he had turned. I mean one of the reasons he chose to follow Sidious' "teachings" was so he could SAVE Padme.

In MY opinion, I would imagine he never really FORGOT it. I think it probably DID take him at least a matter of years (between Ep. III and IV) before he was able to "put it out of his mind." I think it probably took him some time, and he struggled with that loss during his early years as a Sith. IMO. What a sad way to live...

What do you think?

 

Vader got over it pretty quick I believe... but ANAKIN on the other hand NEVER got over her.

 

Not until, "You already have Luke, you were right about me - tell your sister, you were right".

- O_F

 

About 2 minutes.

 

I doubt he ever got over her. I doubt he ever got over any of the bad stuff - he was thrilled to take out Obi-wan, for instance. He had to live with his disastrous choices for 20-odd years, and it was easiest for him simply to give himself to evil just to be able to go on.

Probably he got to a point where he simply refused to think about Padme or any other aspect of his life as Anakin. He focused on obtaining as much power as possible because there was nothing else. In many ways he was more or less "on hold" until he learned his son was alive - and then he had a new reason to live. GL says that at first he was only interested in Luke as a means for defeating Palpatine, it was a completely selfish motivation - but I think that began to change after Bespin. He had seen Luke, interacted with him, and revealed their blood tie. Before that he was more a concept than a person. After, he became personally invested, and that was the beginning of Anakin's return. He surely started thinking about Padme then, and saw some of her in his child. But he never ever got over her. Some things you never get over.

 

He didn't "get over" it, he just pushed it out of his mind when he became Vader. Full of anger, sorrow, and hatred, he just resigned himself to hunting down the last of the Jedi, whom he blamed for his pitiful existance. He served Sidious because he thought that somehow, someday he might find a way to bring her back, or at least that's what he told himself. After a while of killing Jedi and conquering the galaxy, the persona of Anakin was all but lost and he became Vader (kind of a Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde thing, if you read the book). After he was redeemed, he finally accepted Padme's death, and the life of his children.

 

Maybe he saw Padme in Leia or Luke.

 

*snort* How about two minutes. By the end of RotS, he was already calm enough to stand around on the bridge of a star destroyer sulkily observing construction on the DS. I like to think of the dark side as being a bit like cocaine; it's a drug that's so overwhelming addictive it changes the person you are with frightening speed. In the middle of RotS, Vader claimed he'd gone dark side to protect Padme. By the time of the Mustafar confrontation, he seems to be about equally split between the goals of protecting Padme and eventually getting enough power that he can toss Palpatine and take the throne for himself. And by the end of the movie, I think he's completely forgotten about her as his quest for power has taken over more and more of his conscious thought. Do you see any real evidence in the OT that he misses her or wants to observe her values?

I think old Anakin definitely felt guilt and shame over what he'd done, but I'm not sure I believe he would still be in love with Padme at that point. I'm just not convinced that the two of them have a mature/stable relationship at any point, and I think what they're feeling for each other is more akin to lust than love. They don't seem to know one another very well, and Padme even says in RotS that they aren't in the habit of being honest with one another. Honesty is one of the most basic foundations for a relationship! If you still don't have that after three years of marriage, you're in trouble. Twenty-three-year-old Anakin might have been swayed by lust, but I'd like to think that as he got older and more mature, he would realize what had really happened. He would probably feel sadness and a great sense of tragedy at how destructive their brief, tempestuous romance had been for both of them.

 

His pain feeds his dark side, so I'd say he uses his anger and loss to gain power.

There is a comic issue of "empire" where Vader pauses vacantly after being offered wine from Naboo by a chick (one of Xizor's species I think) who is secretly trying to kill him in revenge for wiping out her homeworld.

But I suppose you can take EU for whatever....

 

If you take the notion that Anakin and Vader are two different people then I believe that Anakin never got over Padme. Vader used his greif to fuel his anger, to allow him to survive after he was forced into his suit.

 

I also think Vader never got over losing Padme, however it seemed that he put it in the back of his mind and concentrated on being a dark lord instead. It was Luke who most probably brought back some old memories to the Anakin part of Vader.

 

A lot of people would have you believe that Anakin actually died. If so, he shouldn't have mentioned her at all when he became Vader. The fact that the first thing he talks about as Vader is Padmé provides evidence that Anakin actually didn't die. He just suppressed that part of himself until Luke arrived.

 

I don't think he ever got over it. To me it seemed that when he dawned the black suit, Anakin was still himself, and it was Anakin that wanted to know if Padme was safe. Once he found out that she had died he used his alter ego, Darth Vader, to later supress the loss and being full-fledged as Darth was Anakin's way of dealing with his grief. He was able to use his other half to become the menace that we all know so he wouldn't have to deal with those feelings and emotions that were constantly eating at him.

In simpler terms, using Darth Vader was Anakin's way of supressing the pain he had inside. If anything, I think that the way he let out his pain was by inducing pain on others.

 

From now on everytime I watch that scene of Vader thinking to himself in ROTJ right after the stormtroopers take Luke to the elevator on Endor, I will always believe that Vader is thinking about Padme and what life was before he turned.

 

It's true. GL was right when he told us that after watching the saga in its entire magnificense we will not see Vader the same way we did before.

 

Did you honestly not perceive the Endor sequence that way before, though? It was already obvious at that point in the OT that he cared about Luke, and Luke has just told Vader "my father is already dead". Can you imagine finally finding your long-lost child after 2+ decades only to be told you're dead to them?

Vader had to be hurting there, hurting and feeling ambivalent about his decision to take Luke to the emperor. I always saw it as a heartwrenching sort of scene.

For what it's worth, I wholeheartedly agree that Vader and Anakin are not two separate people. We can see shades of Anakin in Vader the same way there are shades of Vader in Anakin throughout the films. For example, when he rushes out in his TIE X1 in ANH because he loves to be the hero, that's Anakin there.

 

In the middle of RotS, Vader claimed he'd gone dark side to protect Padme. By the time of the Mustafar confrontation, he seems to be about equally split between the goals of protecting Padme and eventually getting enough power that he can toss Palpatine and take the throne for himself.

I understand your point and what you say is true. However, I get tired of people
ragging on Anakin about this ambition. One must consider, is it really any wonder?
I mean, the jedi have been telling Anakin since he's 9 that it's his
destiny and his destiny alone to destroy the Sith. The Sith turns out
to be the Emperor.

Anakin didn't occur by accident. He was programed by both tragedy and questionable
traning dogma.