I think it just depends on how you’re viewing it. The prequels just give some context for Anakin’s character. He was a young and misguided person who tried doing the right things but let his emotions get the better of him and lead to his downfall. From that sense I think he’s still an interesting character, but I do agree that his arc in the prequels wasn’t told in the best way. There’s still an interesting story to his character though in my opinion.

The saga overall is a family drama really and Luke in the Original Trilogy wants to turn Vader because of the good he senses in him still. It probably is naive because even if Vader survived after defeating the Emperor and turning back he wouldn’t have been accepted back, but that’s largely the character of Luke. He has largely the same traits as his father in that he wants to help him as well as others he cares about, but is strong enough to resist the pull to the Dark Side.

I think the logic behind Vader/Anakin’s redemption is a bit more complicated than some are giving it credit for. Especially from Luke’s stance. Anakin and Vader are really supposed to be viewed as two people in my opinion.

Anakin was basically thought to be long gone by not only the Emperor but also by himself. Vader even tells Luke that the name of Anakin no longer has any meaning to him. Even though we still see him in Revenge of the Sith he is Vader before he puts on the suit. Anakin was already half dead and consumed by the Emperor and the Dark Side before being critically injured and forced into wearing the suit due to the duel on Mustafar. After that point he’s pretty much manipulated into a tool to follow through whatever orders he’s given. In many ways it feels like he’s brainwashed by the Emperor into thinking that Anakin no longer exists and that he was rebirthed as someone completely different.

I don’t think that justifies his actions obviously and he’s still accountable for the horrific things he did, but that’s kind of how I’ve always thought of his redemption. Anakin wasn’t strong enough to resist the pull to the Dark Side because he let his emotions get in the way. Luke is able sense whatever good is left in Vader, even if just a bit and convert him back to the good man he once was even if it’s only for a final act.

Also him killing the Emperor was overall pretty impactful. That ended not only Palpatine’s reign over the galaxy, but largely hurt the Empire as a whole and brought peace back to the galaxy, even it it didn’t last forever.

Vader’s redemption really only works as a personal victory in the context of a father-and-son dynamic.

If he hadn’t had the good sense to die, he would have stood trial for war crimes and been executed.

While I think that’s an interesting idea I think that it would be a story better suited as a subplot and it would have needed to be shortly after Return of the Jedi rather than thirty years later. That’s the problem with the sequels happening so late. Unless they bridge the gap between Episode VI and VII someday either with a film featuring a new cast or maybe a series (could do it animated maybe). That could be a storyline possibly amongst other things.

Rian Johnson, constantly reaffirming my opinion that he can fuck himself. Not sure how he got involved with a franchise so big only to crap on it and it’s fanbase.

The problem is it wasn’t just that. That’s one example amongst many in which Johnson went out of his way in that film to be disrespectful to characters and lore set up by previous films. That’s all I’ll say about it so as not to ruffle up feathers in this thread.

Did The Last Jedi thread get deleted or something?

https://movieweb.com/star-wars-9-mark-hamill-vow-of-silence

Mark Hamill Takes a Vow of Silence on Star Wars Movies

The no comment stance doesn’t exactly fill me with confidence for IX.