May 30, 2020
So here's how this happened...
In looking at The Rise of Skywalker and comparing it to Return of the Jedi over the past few days, I've been thinking a lot about the theme of redemption in Return of the Jedi, and how it's the main theme for that movie, but only a secondary theme for The Rise of Skywalker. Well, the more I started thinking about Vader "redeeming" himself in Return of the Jedi, I got to thinking - is he, though?
I'll explain my well-nigh sacrilegious take on this subject, and how the subsequent 37 years of storytelling supports the case - but you can make the case merely by what happens in The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. We'll also speculate as to how this may have made George Lucas decide to have Vader scream "NOOOOOO!" in the Special Edition. Punch it!
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