QUOTE (Obi-Ken Barbi @ May 26 2005, 10:14 PM)
After watching the original trilogy, I could imagine Vader busy in the Clone Wars and after, actively leading assault teams to search for and destroy rebellious Jedi and their allies.
He actually absorbed a blaster bolt with his bare hand. How uber is that?!?
However, after seeing Episode III, I am forced to conclude that Vader is really just a whiney wussbag, incapable of defeating real jedi, since he never defeated any worthy opponent singlehandedly.
Episode II - Dooku singlehandedly fights off and/or defeats Obi-wan, Aniken, and Yoda.
No way. Totally disagree. First off, you're talking about Anakin in this e2 example. Vader didn't show up in the films until the last half of e3. Sure, you can argue that Anakin IS Vader, and, to an extent, that's true. They're the same biological human. BUT, Vader didn't truly exist until Anakin was "consumed" by him. It wasn't until Sidious gave Anakin the name Vader, that Vader was truly born. Vader didn't whine. Vader didn't say "It's not fair!" Anakin did.
Let's say that you join an elite group of martial artists. When you achieve the final belt color, they give you a new name- Lao'kung. Well, Lao'kung didn't exist at any time before that. Lao'kung has a red sash in Kung'fu. In the past, you didn't have a red sash in Kung'fu- therefore, you were not Lao'kung. Am I right? Sure I am. So, Vader didn't exist until Anakin turned to the dark side. Only then did Vader come into existence. So, citing e1-2 doesn't work because it's not Vader, it's Anakin.
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Episode III - Dooku is defeated by Aniken and Obi-wan. At first I thought this made young Skywalker very powerful. But Dooku must have spent some "mana" defeating Obi-Wan. And during his fight with Anikiken, the most powerful Dark Side wielder in the galaxy is sitting there doing nothing. Just MAYBE he's helping Aniken out a bit? So Aniken only defeats Dooku with the help of Obi-wan and Darth Sidious.
True- but still Anakin, and not Vader.
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Aniken kills bunches of small children. Not much of a challenge there.
Obi-wan Kenobi defeats Aniken.
Vader kills children. Obi-Wan beats Vader. True. Keep in mind there is also an entire Jedi temple full of Jedi that is also destroyed.
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So name one powerful force wielder that Aniken/Darth Vader defeats?
Nada. Not a single one.
In the security holograms, it shows Vader taking out Jedi- even two at a time. So, we not only see him killing full-fledged Jedi two at a time in the security holograms, but it's also infered that he killed a bunch of them.
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Every jedi that I can recall seeing in Episodes I - III is dead or accounted for (Kenobi & Yoda).
Since all the jedi and jedi disciples are dead ('cept for K & Y), who does Darth Vader have to search out and destroy?
You're forgetting the reason why Obi-Wan and Yoda returned to the temple in the first place. There was a signal going out calling all Jedi back to Coruscant. There are many Jedi left after e3 ends. These are the ones that Vader hunts down and kills until only 2 are left by the time we get to e4.
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If Vader had some success killing jedi, it all happened between movies. I & II should have been crammed into one movie and episode III could have been devoted to Darth Vader's missions for Darth Sidious, purging the galaxy of rebel scum
There's a live-action series in the works. It may suck- but it may be cool. Won't know until I see it. Anyway, this could provide a good set of stories for that work. Maybe focus on some of the no-name Jedi in the series, and have Vader coming after them and cool shit like that.
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(which would also give more than five minutes for the transition to "I should arrest you" to "Yes master, I will kill all the younglings."
Anakin gave himself, not to Sidious, but "to your teachings". Sure, he was doing it for Padme. As soon as he did that, he became Vader, and was subdued by the dark-side. He HAD to obey Sidious. Obviously he didn't realize that he would be practically stripped of his free-will which is why Anakin (not Vader) wept. He didn't expect he would have to kill younglings, or slaughter the Separatists. At that point, the conflict between Anakin and Vader was apparent. Tears mean someone in there is not enjoying what is going on.
Once Obi-Wan and Padme are out of the picture, the conflict is subdued. Vader wins. Anakin has nothing left to fight for. Until he finds out he has a son.