Even people who are not drug users can be extremely toxic through their own poor decisions, spending a lifetime blaming others for their pain and sorrow. It's all too easy, when watching acquaintances destroy their own life, to understand how Vader would keep spiraling downwards. At least the dark side gave him some sort of power, so there was even an incentive to stay there.

In my mind a big reason is also, because he wants to kill Palpatine. He knows it’s nearly impossible for him with his injuries and his suit, however he desperately wants to find a way to get revenge on the guy that told him wrong promises. In Episode 5 his plan essentially is to get Luke to help him kill the emperor.

Palpatine also had been manipulating Anakin since he was ten years old. Presenting himself as a carring uncle-like figure. Everyone else Anakin knew were either far away or jedi, who taught him to never get attached to anybody. Due to the age Anakin started jedi training at, he was probably an outsider among his peers. So his only friend among the jedi was Obi-Wan, who didn't even like him at first and was very strict and by-the-rules even as a padawan. While the jedi council was genaly really bad at working with people, who think out of the box of their rules, Anakin beeing Anakin did interpret many of their actions as personal attacks against himself. So when he bacame Darth Vader he probably imagined those few, who were his friends to stay by his side. When Padme called him out, Obi-Wan fought him, R2 stayed with Bail Organa and Ahsoka and Rex "died" he lost the last of his friends. And Palpatine, no matter how much he had lied to him, was the only person, who gave him power. Palpatine also saved him from Mustafa, instead of just looking for a new apprentice.

This is actually a really good character study on Anakin Skywalker! Good Job!

"The dark side is like a drug "do you mean Deathsticks?😂

I love this channel!

I could see Vader having a case of stockholm syndrome as well. We don't see Vader's training after ROTS. But we did see Kylo Ren's training under Snoke, which was physically and emotionally abusive. Palpatine's training of Anakin was very much the same as shown in the expanded universe, in the Legends novel Dark Lord: The Rise of Darth Vader, and in the new Darth Vader comics, we see this with Sidious electrocuting him, leaving him to die on Mustafar, and even having him burned Bova massive kyber crystal on Exegol. Vader is addicted to the pain because he is desperate to cling to whatever little power he has.

Uhh, the nature of dark-light side is one of my favourite subjects, because it touches upon RL philosophies. Suffice it to say, the dark side stands for transformation of consciousness. And the easiest way to transform an entity is through a) corruption, b) destruction. For this reason when Anakin succumbs to the energies of the dark side, he is corrupted and transformed into a monster, both in body and in spirit. Contrast that with Luke who when subjected to inner and outher darkness is also transformed, but thanks to following strong principles he becomes more than he was. He loses a hand, changes his demeanor, gains an "edge" - all of which is reflected by his black attire in ROTJ.

personally i always thought that he stayed in the dark side because he has nothing left, nothing but anger, and hatred. He lost everything he once hold value, padme died and his children died (so he thought) and the jedi betrayed him. The only thing that he has left is the empire and palpatine which he is hate as well for deceiving him, but he knows he's too weak at his broken state to kill him alone. but you have good points too. I like how you looked at the dark side as a drug, and vader's hatred of anakin and of what he has become.

It's funny, Obi-Wan did fail him as a master, mostly by being a by the books Jedi teacher. Had Qui-Gon managed to survive, Anakin probably wouldn't have fallen. He probably would have been Anakin's best man at his wedding. And when Anakin had dreams of his mother the first time, probably would have been close enough to Qui-Gon to confide in him about them. Because Qui-Gon would not have been a brother to Anakin, instead he would have been the father he so desperatly needed. Obi-Wan, both in canon and in legends,m was described as the penultimate Jedi. The jedi other jedis should take after. For better and for worse.

Vader: Its to late for me son

“It is too late for me, son.”

You hit the nail in the head for me with the whole "cycle of hatred" concept. I always thought about him that way..

That’s actually explained in the prologue/first chapter of the “lords of the sith” book. Even if you ignore the rest of the book I highly recommend any vader fan read that portion as it explains a lot about what his mentality was only a few years after revenge of the sith.

The simple answer is Natalie Portman was in her prime at the time. It was totaly worth destroying the Jedi.

I imagine shame is a big part. Like Ben said in TROS, “You can’t go back to her now, like I can’t.” But also Vader has intense power lust, to regain control, seeded by his upbringing as a slave where he had none. He equates power with happiness, and a lack of power with loss. Although I’m sure a part of him wants to please his surrogate father of Palpatine, another part of him wants to overthrow Palps and rule the galaxy, to be the master, not the slave.

Great video!

Why do I remain in love with you?

The dark side of the force is a drug addiction some consider to be unnatural.

when you actually look back on it through the storyline George made none of Anakin's personality from the first clone wars are his own besides being a rebel every thought he has is Plapitine's opinions and influence. infact by the time he is making his own moves he very much a student of two masters 3 if you count qui gon

He just no point in wanting to return to the light until the one person left that saw good in him was minutes away from dying and therefore had no choice but to abandon the dark forever and literally throw down the parasite that got him their

so basically I've long since concluded the only reason Anakin's was a whining teen was because plapitine was in his ear from the moment he stepped into the jedi order and the jedi were shit as a support group. therefore even his love for them comes with resentment and distrust. counting on they keep openly calling him the chosen one while also treating him like an afterthought if not a nuisance. you get an annoying teenager. who eventually turns on the family and because the thing that makes him turn is so corrupted it's almost a extermination of the family than him just turning on them. he'll he even hunts the survivors because of his pain.

Are you telling me that I can't stop drinking if I wanted to? Cause I can. I just don't want to!

I think it's worth mentioning that dark and light side of the Force does not exist in our universe (Or maybe it does? ;) ) In Star Wars it's not just about morality and principles (as we could think about it in our world) - the Force is real, it affects and influences all living beings.

When people discuss Anakin fall they talk about accountability and that is true but Anakin fall and hatred for the Jedi is justified.. Anakin choice to follow palpatine was a desperate LAST RESORT. Yoda brushed off his plea for help and said normal let go of attachment spill.. the Jedi council then asked him to spy on his father figure and commit treason. Obi wan was a bad master because he knew all those things about Anakin yet didn’t give him any advice on how to navigate these situation. Even knew what the council was doing to Anakin was wrong yet he didn’t object against them. Obi wan even showed up on mustafar not to talk and understand but to kill him.. Anakin wasn’t a good Jedi but he is a good person. Anakin took and took until he couldn’t take anymore. Now it was time to deal righteous fury. To Anakin the ends always justified the means

As for Anakin, unfortunatelly the prequels did not do sufficient job in explaining why he turned to the dark side in the first place, so it's even harder to imagine why he would stick with Palpatine : 1) Anakin knows that Palpatine orchestrated the entire conflict between Republic and Separatists being de facto leader of both factions... which makes it obvious that Mace Windu did not want to take over the Republic, so the entire "from my point of view the Jedi are evil" spiel, rings hollow. 2) The prequels did not establish why Anakin would hate the Jedi. If they did something to him one could imagine why he turned against people he essentially grew up with. Before his sudden turn Anakin had no real reason to hate Jedi... actually after his turn he has no reason to hate them other then following Palpi's orders.

Is.....is this really a question ⁉️ Are people just THAT incapable of looking at characters and worlds from their perspective and not that of the real world?

This is part of why I think the PT is ultimately a story that shouldn't have been told. Or at least, Anakin's fall shouldn't have been told. When Vader is given explicit backstory of killing children, it simply goes too far. Vader's redemption in ROTJ works on a thematic level because although we know he's a bad guy on the wrong side in a deadly war...the most evil acts one can commit in a war are left unsaid and not shown. It's all inference. Inference helps on a symbolic and thematic level to make Vader's redemption feel earned. But in ROTS...he goes from feeling overwhelmed and regretful he killed Mace to marching into the temple to kill children by his own hand within literal minutes. It simply feels FAR TOO RUSHED and extreme. Thus, it retroactively makes his final moments in ROTJ feel a bit more icky and hollow. When that kind of explicit context is given after the fact it just muddies the water.

Even though the damage the lightening did to him was enormous, I don't believe it was the reason Anakin died. Yes physically it wounded him greatly, but nothing short of a near decapitation could have killed Vader, for one reason. Anger. As you stated, Anakin used his hatred in Mustafar to survive. Had it not been for his rage, Anakin would have died. And for over the next 20 years, that hatred was what kept him going, gave him power, made Anakin into Vader. So, when Vader let go of all that rage and Anakin came back, he had no reason to live. He'd saved his son, and that was all that mattered. In his eyes, his life was complete. Once Anakin let go of that rage, Vader died and do did the thing that had kept him alive for so long. Vader died and for the first time in his life, Anakin Skywalker was free.