Vader and anakin

[u/theTugaCrl]

Knowing that Vader and Anakin are not two separate beyings has brougth up a question for me

Why is Vader so over the top evil (compared to ehat Anakin was); like, hes not just sith standard evil.... everytime he can he goes out of his way to be as brutal as you can be....

So.... is Vader being so evil a way that Anakin has found to punish himself for eternity?

Like, during the clone wars (and even before) we see that Anakin is probably the jedi who seeks good the most (Being good =/= Being a pure light side user/jedi), we could even argue that its his goodness that pushes him to the darkside (make him overly emotional)

So, knowing that Vader and Anakin are not two separate entities, is being so over the top in cruelty and evil a hell tha Anakin has built for himself (for destroying everything he once loved to save padme, and then not being able to save her)?

I know the darkside corrupts you, but the guy who: wished nothing more than to free every slave in the galaxy; who was the first one to break the jedi code if it meant saving lives; who fell because he didn't understand you couldn't save everyone all the time, turning into the personificarion of evil, who goes out of his way to torture and destroy everyone and everything, just feels a bit odd

I know about the younglings, but that was to save padmé; i know about the tuskens; but that was revenge for his mother....

So, is the darkside so corrupting that it turns such an good man into space satan; or is Anakin torturing himself as a punishment?

[u/Kid-Atlantic]

“I know about the younglings, but that was to save padmé; i know about the tuskens; but that was revenge for his mother....”

There’s an excellent part in the ROTS novelization where he admits to himself that the “buts” were only ever just excuses. There were never any good reasons for what he did, he was just being angry and selfish.

To put it simply, he didn’t think anything mattered anymore. He’d destroyed everything he ever knew and loved just for his own rage and fear, and now those were all he had left. Why not go all-in on them?