Image Credit: Topps
Here’s a rundown of the 15 moments that define the life of Darth Vader/Anakin Skywalker from Star Wars.
While George Lucas created a slew of fascinating concepts, worlds and characters, none more interesting than Darth Vader/Anakin Skywalker.
This is because all Lucas’ Star Wars movies, both the original and prequel trilogies, are dedicated telling his story. It’s quite a tale. In it, a galaxy-spanning peaceful Republic and an ancient order of warrior monks fall. From their ashes, a fascist Empire rises.
In the midst of all the thrilling space battles and epic lightsaber duels, the Star Wars saga tells the story of the rise of Anakin Skywalker and the fall of Darth Vader. Though that story is full of shocking twists and irritating incongruities, the whole is more than the sum of its parts.
Obviously, the best way to consume the story of Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader is to watch the first six episodes of the Star Wars film series. However, there are 15 moments from the series that can be isolated to show why the character has become such an indelible pop-culture icon.
In examining those moments, it can be understood why Anakin Skywalker is such a sympathetic tragic hero. Conversely, they also reveal what makes Darth Vader is such a terrifying villain.
Incidentally, considering the character’s top-15 moments also show that Anakin’s descent in the prequels makes Vader’s actions in the original trilogy more impactful. They also help point out what the new Disney produced Star Wars films get fundamentally wrong about the character.
(Photo by Sascha Steinbach/Getty Images)
15. Anakin Skywalker wins the pod race
By and large, Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace is bereft of meaningful Anakin Skywalker moments. The big takeaway from the first chapter of the prequel trilogy seems designed to illustrate the concept that no one is born evil.
As such, the viewer learns that Anakin was an exceptionally bright, but generally normal child during his adolescence. The key to his later darkness was rooted in the fact that his mother Shmi was understandably unable to protect him from the horrors of slavery. That said, The Phantom Menace does feature one standout sequence featuring the future Darth Vader.
There are a series of contrived circumstances, Anakin ends up in dangerous podrace with the stakes being his freedom. Despite being only nine years old, Anakin proves to be an exceptional racer. Not only is he able to overcome a field of much more qualified adult competitors, he also compensates for another racer’s attempted sabotage.
In this scene, the audience finds out that even as a child, Anakin was exceptionally talented and remarkably attuned to the Force. And why Qui-Gon Jinn would believe that Anakin should be admitted into the Jedi order despite his advanced age.
Of course, Qui-Gon was wrong. Anakin was in fact too old and too consumed by fear to be a Jedi. Instead of being the prophesied savior who would bring balance to the Force, Anakin would instead cast it and the galaxy into darkness. However, watching Anakin defy the odds to win the podrace is so thrilling. You can see how it would prompt a Jedi Master to make a tragic once-in-a-lifetime exception.
Photo Credit: [Rogue One : A Star Wars Story]Lucasfilm
14. Darth Vader slaughters the crew of the Profundity
Although it features some astoundingly beautiful cinematography, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story also has some major problems. Its protagonists are disappointingly, thinly-sketched. Its narrative, while thematically impactful, suffers from being a story that didn’t need to be told. Also, it depicts the character Darth Vader in a way that is strange, at the very least.
While not exactly breaking continuity with the other Star Wars films, Rogue One’s Sith Lord doesn’t really match up with the character as established. He seems more brash and less cunning than the character in the original trilogy, and oddly aware that he’s a supervillain.
Though the dark pun he makes while meeting with Director Krennic was eyebrow-raising, the dissonance comes in the scene where Vader boards the Rebel ship Profoundity.
In the sequence, Vader uses his lightsaber and the Force to slaughter a group of rebel commandos. Though well-choreographed, the sequence feels off for a few reasons. One is that it’s the sloppiest assault Vader’s ever staged.
Previously, the character logically leads from the rear, letting his Stormtroopers secure an area before he arrives. Charging in headfirst seems inconsistent with the cold tactical strikes Vader makes in the original trilogy.
Nevertheless, the scene is undeniably thrilling. No other Star Wars film makes Darth Vader seem as terrifying and unstoppable as he does in Rogue One. So while the character’s actions in the movie don’t line up with how he normally behaves, they do fit with the audience’s expectations. Rogue One’s Vader comes off as every bit the indefatigable monster of our collective nightmares.
Photo Credit: [Star Wars: Return of the Jedi] Lucasfilm
13. Vader defeats Han Solo
Although it lasts less than a minute, Darth Vader’s defeat of Han Solo in Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back is one of the best and most important scenes in the original trilogy. It’s also one of Vader’s greatest moments.
To set the scene, Han and company have come to Lando Calrissian’s Cloud City colony in hopes of evading the Empire’s forces. This attempt fails as the entire group is handed over to Vader shortly after arriving. Of course, being the fearless rogue that is, Han doesn’t go down without a fight. He whips out his blaster and shoots Vader several times.
Unfortunately, Han’s brave showing is for naught. Vader’s mechanical arms absorbed the blasts with minimal damage and the Sith Lord disarms Solo with a gesture. At that point, the fight is over. Vader’s plot to use the group to lure Luke into a trap works and Han is helpless put into suspended animation.
Vader’s casual defeat of one of the galaxy’s most clever outlaws is a brilliant study and how to subvert expectations. For all his skills and intelligence, Han is no match for Vader. The film makes no pretense that he is.
In having Vader put Han down so effortlessly, Empire primes the viewer for Luke’s similarly devastating defeat in the third act. In doing so, the film lets audiences know that sometimes its heroes, for all their pluck and tenaciousness, won’t always be able to save the day. And that Darth Vader won’t be defeated easily.
Photo credit: Lucasfilm
12. Anakin murders Count Dooku
While not always perfectly executed, Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith does bring Anakin Skywalker’s story to a fitting conclusion. One of the ways it does this is by cultivating a strong sense of tragic inevitability.
Throughout the film, Anakin Skywalker is presented with a series of important choices. In many cases, had he shown better judgment in his decision-making, his life, and the galaxy as a whole, would’ve been better off. But as the audience knows from the rest of the Star Wars saga, Anakin usually falls short when making tough calls.
Appropriately, Revenge of the Sith puts Anakin in a situation that, while difficult, is morally clear-cut. Having defeated and literally disarmed the evil Count Dooku, Anakin is presented with two choices. He can follow the code he is sworn himself to and take his enemy into custody. That would be the proper moral choice given the circumstances.
However, the lingering humiliation and anger he felt toward Dooku for defeating him in Attack of the Clones cause him to consider another course of action. With only a few words of encouragement from Chancellor Palpatine, Anakin chooses to execute a defenseless man.
Although killing Dooku isn’t among the top-five worst things Anakin does in Revenge of the Sith, it is one of the most telling. No longer the conflicted young adult he was in Attack of the Clones, Anakin is a man capable of defeating powerful adversaries and embracing moral relativism.
But notably, he shows some hesitation in committing a war crime. Consequently, the viewer can’t help but hope that he’ll find some way to pull out of the downward spiral he’s in.
Photo Credit: Lucasfilm
11. Anakin’s duel with Obi-Wan Kenobi
As opposed to the prior top moment, Revenge of the Sith’s concluding duel captures Anakin at his most irredeemable.
By this point, Anakin is well and truly damned himself. He is betrayed by the Republic and the Jedi Order. He has coldly slaughtered a group of innocent children and he has fatally wounded his wife.
Now all that’s left is to betray his best and oldest friend. After absurdly blaming Obi-Wan for the nightmare he’s made of his life, Anakin brushes off his Master’s condemnation with some empty fascist conversation. What follows is a long and pitched battle between brothers.
Although its outcome was never in doubt, Anakin and Obi-Wan’s duel still resolves in an unexpected way. Due to a key tactical error on Anakin’s part, Obi-Wan wins and brutally makes his former apprentice a multiple amputee.
In a mirror of the film’s opening, Obi-Wan also sets aside the Jedi Code in dealing with a defenseless adversary. Instead of bringing the erstwhile Jedi Knight to justice, Obi-Wan explains the totality of Anakin’s failure. He then takes his Anakin’s lightsaber and leaves him to an excruciating death.
And for his part, Anakin doesn’t seem to mind. After impotently voicing his rage, Anakin gives his former mentor one last pitiable look. Although he says nothing, it’s obvious that he knows how far he’s fallen.
That because of the horrors he’s committed, he no longer deserves the mercy the Jedi Code affords him. So he says nothing and lets the fire consume him without a word. But as the viewer knows Anakin’s suffering would not end at Mustafar.
Photo Credit: Lucasfilm
10. Vader force chokes Admiral Motti
In terms of real-world chronology, the first time filmgoers learned about the Force is when Obi-Wan describes it to Luke in A New Hope. Though he would later go into greater detail, he initially referred to do something that Luke would need to become conversant in to save Princess Leia.
That scene, coupled with Obi-Wan’s instruction of Luke in the Millennium Falcon, suggest that the knowledge of the Force allows someone a greater level of sensory awareness. However, the first time the viewer saw the Force in action was a moment when Darth Vader used it to kill someone.
In it, Vader, Grand Moff Tarkin and other commanders of the Empire’s star fleet have a meeting about the threat presented by the Rebel Alliance. As part of the discussion, an admiral named Motti makes the near-fatal mistake of dismissing the Force as a superstition. In response, Vader shows the Imperial officer the perils of atheism.
The moment is important for two key reasons. One, it reveals some interesting facts about Vader. He’s cruel, possesses the ability to kill via telekinesis, and has to answer to someone. And two, it shows why the dark side of the Force is so seductive. In addition to binding the galaxy together, the Force is also, as its name suggests, is a power to be manipulated.
Since A New Hope’s release, the popular conception of the Force as being benevolent in nature has become prevalent. But as the beginning of the Star Wars saga showed, the Force can corrupt as easily as it elevates.
Photo Credit: Lucasfilm
9. Anakin is corrupted by Palpatine
Though George Lucas is incredibly good at world-building, choosing collaborators and crafting set pieces, and he also has some major flaws as a filmmaker. Without the talents of truly exceptional performers, his dialogue often comes off as clumsy.
The pace at which he tells stories is often needlessly languorous. And he has a penchant for convolution that has only gotten worse as he’s grown older. But while he does have a taste for the bombastic, he can do subtlety really well when he wants to.
One of the best examples of this quality is in the opera scene in Revenge of the Sith. On the surface, the scene exists to provide the exposition necessary to set up the third act. Chancellor Palpatine informs Anakin that he’s aware that the Jedi Council distrusts him.
This would set the stage for his launching the attack that destroys the entire Order. But in a subtextual level, the conversation functions as Palpatine’s corruption of Anakin.
To do this, Palpatine clouds the troubled Jedi’s mind with pernicious half-truths and tempts him with promises of unnatural power. He preys on Anakin’s mounting distrust and frustration with the Jedi Council to further erode his morals.
Palpatine makes the somewhat reasonable case that the Council’s attempt to spy on Anakin is seditious and motivated out of self-interest. Lastly, Palpatine dangles the possibility of hope in front of Anakin, suggesting that there might be a way for him to avert the tragedy he sees in his dreams.
Anakin’s full fall from grace would happen later in Revenge of the Sith. But the opera scene represents the moment when Anakin would consciously open himself to the dark side.
Photo Credit:[Star Wars: A New Hope] Lucasfilm
8. Vader’s duel with Obi-Wan
Over the course of the Star Wars saga, Darth Vader and Obi-Wan Kenobi have two lightsaber duels. And in one of the franchises most compelling parallels, the duels are actually complete inversions of one another.
The pair’s first in-universe confrontation is drawn out and incredibly intense. Their second is comparatively sedate and only lasts a few minutes. In the first, both men are overwhelmed by emotion, but in the second they are both fairly detached. And each dualist has undergone significant changes in time between lightsaber fight.
Initially, both men are young and full of vigor and while Anakin is the more natural Force adept, Obi-Wan has the edge in experience. Later, the fighters are older and tentative in their strikes. Where years of non-use have atrophied Kenobi’s skills and connection to the Force, Vader’s swordsmanship is sharp and he practically radiates with dark power.
However despite their differences, both of Vader and Kenobi’s duels end the same way. The man who walks away leaves the battleground with no satisfaction. And the person who is struck down has not been defeated for good.
The duels also represent crucial points in Vader’s life. In the first he reaches his personal nadir, failing as a Sith Lord, as a warrior and as a man. In the second, he learns that for all his years of devotion and natural faculty with the Force, it still kept secrets from him.
It’s also worth noting that in duels between Anakin and Obi-Wan, for all their narrative and emotional weight, end up with very little resolve.
Photo Credit: [Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith] Lucasfilm
7. Anakin becomes Darth Vader
When exactly does Anakin Skywalker become Darth Vader? The argument can be made for two key moments in Revenge of the Sith.
The first is when Chancellor Palpatine gives him the name. Directly before he receives his new moniker, Anakin has crossed the point of no return. Now convinced that Palpatine is an evil Sith Lord, Mace Windu moves to place the leader of the Republic under arrest.
Palpatine maintains that the Jedi are attempting to seize power and begs Anakin for help. Anakin accedes to Palpatine’s request by dismembering Windu and then agreeing to destroy the Jedi Order. This moment completes the character’s fall from grace.
The second big transition moment occurs at the end of the film. Having been saved from the fires of Mustafar, a badly burned Anakin is placed into his iconic black armor by Palpatine. Anakin’s first thought is of Padmé Amidala, who he is devastated to learn he accidentally killed.
After briefly walling in anguish, Anakin resigns himself to his faith. This moment marks the end of Anakin Skywalker. The person he was, the ideals he held and the love he had are now gone. All that remains serves as a tool of the Empire.
As such, I believe Anakin Skywalker doesn’t become Darth Vader until this moment. Up until then, it was just a title, a signifier of his rejection of the Jedi and his embrace of the Sith creed. Now, having lost his limbs, his best friend and his reason for living, Darth Vader is all he has left.
Photo Credit: [Star Wars: Return of the Jedi]
6. Vader kills the Emperor to save Luke
When I saw the Star Wars prequel trilogy in theaters, I remember wondering what the point was. At best, I considered the three films to be a mixed bag. I was impressed with the special effects and I enjoyed a handful of scenes.
However at that time, I found the story of Anakin Skywalker’s downfall to be uninspired. But in the years since then, I’ve reevaluated the first three installments of the Star Wars saga.
Despite some of George Lucas’ shortcomings as a filmmaker, I’ve come to see Anakin’s story is quite poignant. A lot of that poignancy comes from how the prequels inform Darth Vader’s decision at the end of Star Wars: Return of the Jedi.
In the film’s climax, Luke journeys to the second Death Star to face Vader and the Emperor. After beating his father in a lightsaber duel, Luke is offered the chance to take his place at Palpatine’s side. Luke refuses and is electrocuted for his impudence. After a brief eternity, Vader turns on his Master and throws the Emperor to his death.
Throughout this pivotal moment, Vader never says anything. And because he’s wearing his life support armor, his expression is hidden from the audience. So why does he betray Palpatine in the end?
Is it because his Master was willing to discard him so cavalierly? Was it because he felt pangs of sympathy for his son? Or did he do what he did because he was inspired by Luke’s words to be a Jedi Knight one last time?
In the context of the original trilogy, I think Vader’s actions can be attributed to the first two reasons. But when considering the context of all six original Star Wars films, Vader kills Palpatine to correct Anakin Skywalker’s greatest mistake.
(Photo by Kurt Vinion/Getty Images)
5. Anakin reunites with his mother
Although the Star Wars prequels reveal a great deal about Anakin Skywalker’s backstory, they don’t really touch on his Jedi training. That period in the character’s life is detailed extensively in various ancillary media.
But in the films, he goes from a child in The Phantom Menace to skilled apprentice in Attack of the Clones. However, despite all the skill and poise he displays in Clones, he clearly isn’t prepared for the life of a Jedi. That fact is made clear when he makes a return to his home planet of Tatooine.
To start, Anakin’s decision to abandon his duty and actually bring along the woman he’s supposed to be protecting to hostile territory is a major red flag. Still, his response to getting the Star Wars version of a 3 a.m. call from a hospital is understandable. As is his tearful and heartbreakingly short reunion with his mother Shmi.
Anakin’s 10 years in the Jedi Order should’ve taught him to approach the situation with detachment. He should’ve gotten Shmi free and taken her to get medical care. Instead, he reacts like a child and is paralyzed by seeing his mother slip away.
After Shmi dies, Anakin’s rage overwhelms him and he annihilates the Tusken tribe that held her captive. Once again, a decade’s worth of training and practiced emotional distance fails him. However, his lightsaber does not. In reuniting with his mother, Anakin is forced to deal with the fact that he is not a Jedi. And in doing so, he takes his steps toward becoming Darth Vader
Photo Credit: Lucasfilm
4. Vader reveals his connection to Luke
No list of Darth Vader’s greatest moments would be complete without a shocking confrontation with Luke at the end of Empire Strikes Back.
Not only one of the greatest moments in the Star Wars saga, the revelation that Vader is Luke’s father is one of the greatest moments in modern film history. The reason sequence is so effective is because it’s shocking, but fair. It’s shocking because, like Luke, the audience believes that Darth Vader murdered his father Anakin Skywalker.
That means not only is his father, not the heroic figure he was led to believe but is, in fact, the greatest menace in the galaxy. It also means that Luke’s mentor Obi-Wan lied to him about his origins.
However, the truth is Luke’s parentage doesn’t come out of anywhere. Earlier in the film, Luke confronts a vision of Vader while training on Dagobah. When venturing into the dark side cave, Luke duels with a phantom representing Vader.
Luke wins but sees his own face underneath Vader’s helmet. In the moment, Luke’s take away is that if he gives into the dark side, he could end up just like the Sith Lord. But as it turns out, the real message was that Luke and Vader were more connected than the young warrior could imagine.
And as much is the Cloud City showdown is a seminal moment for Luke, it’s just as pivotal for Vader. In his own twisted way, Vader is genuinely trying to reach out to another person, likely for the first time in decades. That his attempted outreach involves a regicidal plot and extreme brutality is very telling about Vader’s character.
Photo courtesy: Penguin Random House
3. Anakin’s confession to Padmé
Although Anakin Skywalker does a lot of heinous things in his life, the audience rarely sees how he feels about doing them. In his guise as Darth Vader, his face is concealed by his armor and his voice rarely reflects anything other than varying degrees of anger.
There’s only one moment in the original saga that really delves into the psychic toll his lifetime of violence and destruction exacts from him. But the audience does gain some insight into his inner thoughts in Attack of the Clones.
After reuniting with his mother and slaughtering the Tusken village, Anakin returns to his stepbrother Owen’s home. Padmé, immediately sensing something is awry, slowly coaxes Anakin into explaining what made him so upset.
In addition to confessing to the massacre, Anakin also unloads all of his pent-up frustrations. Namely, his resentment of Obi-Wan, his frustration at being unable to save his mother and his deep-seated hunger for power. He also confesses to killing the entire small community, women and children included.
What’s disquieting about this moment is that Anakin’s confession does not include a repent. He feels shame in letting his emotions take over, but doesn’t feel bad about what he’s done. If anything, he feels justified and more than a little unsettled in the sense of release that came from fully indulging in his darker emotions.
Tellingly, when Anakin meets up again with Obi-Wan he doesn’t tell him about what happened on Tatooine. He likely believed his mentor would be horrified at his actions. So instead of facing retribution, he keeps the massacre a secret and pushes down his feelings, allowing his guilt and anguish to fester. It’s something that he becomes very good at in the years to follow.
Photo Credit: [Rogue One: A Star Wars Story]Lucasfilm
2. Darth Vader boards the Tantive IV
Though the character says nothing and does little, Darth Vader’s first appearance in A New Hope is incredibly powerful.
In it, Vader and a group of Stormtroopers board the Rebel starship Tantive IV in search of the stolen Death Star plans. Vader’s unit encounters heavy resistance, and several Stormtroopers are killed in the initial conflict. Ultimately, the Imperial forces succeed in seizing control of the ship.
After the Stormtroopers secure the perimeter, Vader makes his appearance. Unusually tall and dressed in all black armor, he immediately cut the striking figure. And his ominous inhuman breathing makes Vader feel viscerally unsettling.
The greatness of Darth Vader’s first appearance is due to how information rich it is. The way the attack unfolds, it’s clear that he’s the raiding party’s leader. For one thing, Vader allows his lower ranked subordinates to bear the brunt of the enemy’s fire.
He doesn’t board the Tantive IV until the coast is clear. His importance within the Imperial military is further confirmed by the fact the Stormtroopers immediately form up on Vader upon his arrival. And by his indifference to the dead bodies surrounding him, the film makes it clear that Vader is as callous as he is powerful.
With that one 30-second scene, A New Hope’s audience gains a lot of crucial information about the villain of the piece. And everything suggested to the viewer about Vader in his introduction – his tactical acumen, his lethal temperament and his monumental cruelty – would be confirmed by his actions in the rest of the film.
Truly, Darth Vader’s introduction is one of the most economical pieces of character work in modern film history.
Photo Credit: Marvel, Lucasfilm
1. Anakin Skywalker Dies
Stories gain their meaning from their endings. It’s only in putting the final period on the last sentence that the truth of everything that came before it becomes clear. The life of Anakin Skywalker, more widely known as Darth Vader, is a perfect example of that truth.
Anakin began his life as a slave. He later became a Knight for a prestigious and benevolent order and later Lord for an obscure and depraved one. His wish to create order and peace led him to commit mass murder on an imaginable scale. At the time of his death, he was one of the most feared men in the galaxy. However, his final act was one of profound love.
At the end of Return of the Jedi, Darth Vader finds himself in an odd position. The Empire he helped build is crumbling all around him. His surrogate father, now revealed as a cruel user, is in the process of killing the son he never knew he had.
Breaking with 20 years of ingrained behavior, Vader turns on his Master to save Luke. The effort costs him his life, but he doesn’t regret it. In his last moments, he removes the armor that sustained and imprisoned him and begs his son to tell his daughter that he died a Jedi. Afterward, it is revealed that Anakin received grace in finally turning into the dark side.
Anakin Skywalker’s death isn’t the character’s greatest moment because he redeems himself. It’s because, after a lifetime of self-interested evil, he died selflessly to do good.