The whole Vader Suit and all.....

I hope this has not been covered in any sense. I don't know if it has or not as I don't troll this board constantly. But my question is, if Bacta is supposed to be some all healing miracle goo, according to the books anyway, why did'nt they just throw Anakin in to a tank of the stuff and just give him new legs and a new arm to go with the one he already had. Doesn't Bacta have the properties that heal damaged body tissue. I would think the Bacta would have had the ability to repair lungs so that Anakin could breath on his own. It should also have healed any burns he had on him. Any theorys?

 

Yeah, I was wondering about that myself. I thought about starting a thread on it but was too lazy ^^

 

i don't think it could heal his lungs.

luke had a breather unit on in the tank which suggests you'd drown in it so it would not be able to heal the lungs because it is being kept out of the lungs intentionally.

still your argument is completely valid for the rest of his injuries and that scene has always seemed stupid to me when they put him together because they did not heal him first, this would not happen.

it is illogical.

 

Yeah, I agree and have wondered why too.

 

It's not a magical heal-all. It helped Luke recover from some wild animal scratches. That doesn't mean it will heal a guy who's had 3 limbs amputated and then been roasted alive.

 

Also a good point.

 

Bacta was used to heal most of the serious aspects of his injuries. That's what the medical capsule (sp) was for. But Palpatine wanted Anakin in enough pain as it would serve him best in making him into a monster. Bacta can heal a lot of injuries, but it also has its limits. Palpatine did this to Anakin on purpose, rather than taking the time to heal him with Bacta and artificial limbs.

 

Bacta doesn't seem like it can regenerate limbs, but I'm fairly certain that it could have helped to heal his lungs.

 

You are fairly certain of the medical properties of a fictional substance seen onscreen in one film for 10 seconds? Come on...

Also has anyone considered that Bacta could be a medical advance that didn't exist 25 years before?

 

I agree. Well said.

The presence of that particular droid model -- the same one present when Luke is in the tank and receives his new hand -- is probably also significant. Dare I say that a deliberate contrast is being drawn between father and son? Anakin is operated on in a place that seems willfully gothic: it's dark, there's a harsh light overhead, there is smoke (unlikely to be a cleansing agent) and Anakin cries in considerable pain. Anakin is also positioned at the centre of the symbol of the Empire; he's like some human sacrifice (not as crazy as it sounds -- the injuries he sustains that cause him to be operated on occur under the chapter titled "Immolation"). Everything is the opposite with Luke: he's in the light, everything is evenly lit, there is no smoke and he doesn't cry. Where there was pain, suffering and death for Anakin, there was healing, revitalisation and hope for Luke.

 

I think Anakin was beyond bacta. I mean.....if Bacta could have made Anakin whole again, there should be NO death in Star Wars. He was in pretty rough shape.

It seems bacta just accelerates the process of healing for an individual. In Anakin's case, his Lungs were never really going to fully heal. Luke got scratched up nastily by the Wampa, and probably could have healed without bacta..just more slowly and with a risk of infections and such. I really don't believe bacta is a cure everything.

Carnage

 

of course it wasn't going to make him whole again however his skin did not have to be in the shape it was as they slaped him together, he was basicly suffering 3rd degree fresh burns and they put him in a leather suit.

That's going to heal well and i'm sure it won't hurt at all /boggle.

i like the palpantine did it to him on purpose approach, makes me wonder if vader turns around and builds better artifical limbs later to replace the ones he's given, the legs and other arm look inferior to his right arm.

i think they made them look thinner and weaker at the end to support the silly notion that Vader is weak in ANH, but magically recovers before ESB but that's always been my take on the flimsy look, especially of the legs.

till now i could never come up with a decent reason they didnt' heal his skin.

 

Even in TESB, Vader is still not at his best. He cannot do all that he did against Obi-wan on Mustafar. He cannot flip over Luke. The suit slows down his movements, not so much the droid limbs. It is the suit and helmet that slows up his movements. Also the fact that his spine was broken and then fused during the operation to save his life. When it comes to fighting, it's not his ability to use the Force so much as it is his ability to fight like he used to, that takes him down a couple of notches.

Anyway, Bacta has healed burns, but even it cannot save everyone. Or totally treat injuries to look 100% healthy. There's also the use of synthflesh, which covers up old scars. Vader didn't have any of that. And in the eu, there was a drug known as Bota which heals even faster than Bacta, but it was no longer available by the time the Clone Wars ended.

 

Also has anyone considered that Bacta could be a medical advance that didn't exist 25 years before?




Yes. But it was available at the time of ESB. Why didnt he use it then ? He still had a nasty scar on his head that didnt look like it was healing. Or does Bacta not work on old injuries ?

 

That's a possibility (1). As are a couple of others:

2) Vader no longer wanted to numb the pain or heal the injuries further.

3) The pain had subsided and the injuries had already healed as much as they were going to (a slight variation on your first point).

 

There was no point in putting Vader in a bacta tank. He lost his 2 legs and an arm, there went some of his force potential. Healing his burns and lungs would have been pointless. It would not have provided him with any more force potential and Sidious rather not have the Republic seeing Anakin Skywalker is still alive. He decleared the Jedi as traitors to the Republic and didn't want to deal with problems with explaining why Anakin Skywalker is the sole Jedi remaining and why is he solely serving Palpatine. Also if you read the Dark Lord novel, even within the suit Sidious still belived Darth Vader could become the greatest Sith Lord ever.

 

Apart from bacta probably not working on his extensive injuries I also think Sidious just wanted him in the suit as soon as possible. Once it became clear that Vader couldn't live without it, and it was decided that no one should know Vader used to be Anakin Skywalker, Sidious just needed to shove him in it. The longer a person looking like Anakin is left "out in the open to heal" the more dangerous it becomes. Besides, pain would help break Anakin's rebellious streak, and just further serve to piss him off and let him slip even deeper into the dark side.

 

i would have to dissagree with what you've put forward there.

Vader can do far more at the time of ESB than he can at the time of RotS, the special effects weren't as flashy but he's far more powerful. Slower? lets not confuse a totaly different style of fighting, the PT, to Vader somehow being lesser. At the time of ESB the Light Saber is still a very mystical, difficult to control weapon predominately used with 2 hands and Vader fights very effectively with 1 hand. The fact that lucas turned the light saber into a fencing foil for the PT in no way makes vader less powerful or less skilled. I do not think that it is a rational in universe explanation that Lucas offered up with his "vader is a cripple at the time of ANH" junk. He's not doing backflips and such, but he's throwing everything not nailed down and half of what is at his opponent durring a duel and does not have to stop fighting with his saber to do it, he stoped when he realized luke couldn't defend against his attack. He is bigger, stronger and probably does have some of his vision and movements hampered by the suit but i don't see a slower combatant, just more disciplined.

 

It's simple. David Prowse and Bob Anderson both wore a forty pound leather suit, with a black helmet that obstructs one's view. It is not that easy to move in, as all the actors and stuntmen can attest. Because the suit was so restrictive, the fights had to be done as they were. As a result of this, Lucas said that one reason Vader is a slow clod hopper is because he is not what he was. He can still fight, but compare him to what he was before going into the suit and he looks like a snail. TESB and ROTJ both fall under that same catergory. Yes, Anderson was in the suit by then, but the duels were still slow and certain elements were not used, because of the restrictions of the suit. Throwing objects is fine, but as we see, that doesn't win battles. Nor is it a fair one against a half trained opponet, regardless of who said it is not fair. Vader may be more in control of his opponets, but he's still slow moving.

 

Yeah, if you want to get all crazy about it and break it into lightsaber forms, Anakin and Vader were both Djem Jo (I think that's the name) stylists, which is predominantly a double handed grasp. By the OT, Vader was strong enough to use this lightsaber form with only one hand, leaving the other hand open to toss around 100 pound objects like confetti. He took an aggressive form that relied on power, thus requiring both hands and turned it into a single handed form. That's pretty damn impressive. Screw the backflips. Vader was a strong fighter in the OT.

Carnage

 

I thought it was funny how The Emperor had the suit all ready to go. How did he come up with that look? Did he have stormtroopers model it for him? Should have put a ?kick me? sign on the back of Darth Vader?s cape what would Vader do? Request a new suit? Yeah right that's a one of a kind, baby! Just a thought.

 

we agree then to dissagree because i don't see any of the things you do in this.

vision and range of motion being hampered is not the same as a 'slower and weaker opponent' which is what lucas has said, and i reject.

 

I would have liked to have seen a shot in ROTS of Vader in a bacta tank, in order to mirror the shot of Luke in the bacta tank in ESB.

 

Awesome idea - this will be sent to Supershadow.