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He has no reason not to think that, perhaps, Palpatine was lying to him all along?
why should he? He he thinks that he killed Padme in his anger.
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Anakin had no lust for power, no desire for anything other than saving Padme
His "lust for power" centers around his desire to keep the things he loves, yes. I don't understand why you want to belittle that fact, or why you regard it as unimportant.
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and in order to do this, he completely destroyes and enslaves an entire galaxy and in the end he winds up failing to do what he initially set out to do
But those things are after he becomes a Sith. "The good man who was your father was destroyed". Thats the whole point of Vaders character as it relates to his son, is there still good in him?
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with no apparent motivation
His motivation is to get some of his family back together. Heres a guy whos lost everything, but rekindles part of his lost humanity through his son. he makes the same offer to Luke as he did to Padme. Rewatching that scene now, i'm torn between wanting Luke to say yes and no. That scene where Luke escapes in the falcon with Vader calling him has suddenly turned into one of the most poignent in the saga.
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he's stupid bcause he's a puppet. I've been in love, deeply in love, it didn't suddenly make me want to stick a knife in a toaster or lick a frozen pole, or take candy from a stranger...
But how would those things help you keep that person you loved? Your comparison makes no sense. Yes, Anakin was manipulated, but so was everyone else. Thats what Palpatine was good at, and its what made the sith powerful.
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he doesn't want to be evil? he thinks he's saving his wife by killing heaps of children, participating in the aquisition of power by a flamboyant autocrat, chokes the woman he claims he's doing it all for, attacks the one who trained him, and says he's planning to kill the guy who promised to help him save his wife so he can have power of the galaxy...
Alright, so let me rephrase what I said before. Vader wasn't doing those things with 'evil' as the goal. The goal was to save Padme, and everything he does his towards that end. The trouble is that before he knows it hes too far into Palpatines clutches, and he twists the truth to justify his actions. Everything he does is motivated, but none of it by 'evil'.
When Palpatine says "good is a point of view", he was right. Although ive no doubt Palps is evil to the bone, theres a truth in what he says if the jedi are not all wiped out it will be endless civil war.
I dont know if his acts are entirely forgiven by what happens in RotJ, but I felt that guys suffering. People complained about the Frankenstein birth scene, but to me it was perfect. Its not the cool suit of armour it was when you were a kid anymore, its a clastophobic prison.
long post, sorry...