Join the Dark Side, why I hate Obi Wan now.

[Brian37]

I think showing characters to be not completely black and white/good and evil to be a good thing. It shows that people can change.
I have noticed that exploring the idea of "villains" doing the wrong things for the right reasons have become more popular (Wicked, Breaking Bad, etc). I think it is an important idea to explore, and actually quite anti-biblical. Usually characters in the bible are pretty one dimensional. Darth Vader is a clear villain to begin with, but slowly you realize he is just a pawn of the emperor, and even the emperor believes his regime will bring peace.

Anyway, redemption is a pretty common theme in stories. I hate that every story that contains any redemptive features automatically gets compared to Christianity. It existed in stories far predating the bible, and assuming we don't kill ourselves off, it will continue to exist long after Christianity is but another ancient dead religion.

I guess I am not as kind as you. I do not think you can avoid the transgressions of the OT or "end times" god anymore than you can or should forgive Darth Vader.

Again, there is a huge difference between forgiving a society suckered by the appeal of being sold a utopia, and forgiving the monster who sells it to them.

[Shiranu]

Darth Vader was corrupted by madness.

When Darth Vader dies, and his life force is returned to the force, Darth Vader ceases to exist and you now have Anakin Skywalker again. It is shown time and time again how the Dark Side of the Force can wreck the user's body... what is to keep it from also corrupting one's mind?

Luke doesn't smile at DV, he smiles at Anakin. I personally believe that in the lore a person can be corrupted or enhanced by the force; this is why some of the Jedi lived much longer than the average life span of their race while having Buddha-like personalities and the Sith often become very deformed and aged before their time.

Now if we realize that the force can change one's body, then it therefor change one's brain (it being a part of the body) and therefor one's personality. There are time's we seek Vader pause before doing something evil and of course at the end he over-comes this corruption.

I argue that Anakin Skywalker was a prisoner within the monster that was Vader. When the Jedi warn of anger consuming, they don't mean that the person is angry; they mean that the dark side of the force will feed off your fear and anger and magnify it to obscene levels that completely consume you.

So yes, Anakin is partly at fault to blame, but he is also human. He himself, the one who Luke smiles at, is not the monster; rather it is the force itself that created the monster that was Darth Vader. All Anakin needs to be forgiven for is for being a human with feelings.

In closing, this is why stories like this are amazing... they have much deeper philosophical ramifications than just, "He was evil, he was bad. This guy was good, we like him.". The character's are nuanced and their are outside forces acting on them.