#darth vader redemption

[obibabywan]

Originally posted to my twitter: Obibabywan

Obikin Vader Redemption AU

Obi-Wan didn’t notice the AU time traveler that sat next to him yet. ❤️

Half Tipsy Obi-Wan: One more, please.

Based on another messy outline of a fanfic amongst my wips. “We are young” by Fun. was the inspiration.

[ravenlocksentwisted]

Luke rests a hand on her shoulder. “Be careful.” Leia gives him an amused look. “Luke, I am at least seventy percent more cautious than you are.” “Yeah, but when you’re not, that thirty percent really gets you.”

cosmicocean's dreams walking in broad daylight

[musewrangler]

<It will come in time, Bright One,> the Lady said and her excitement was tangible. Padme’ frowned at all of them.

“Are you all…is the ship speaking with you?”

He wheeled on her. “How do you know of her?”

The answer came to him almost before he’d finished speaking and a surge of betrayal filled him.

“Captain Piett will pay for this breach of trust,” he growled, and immediately the lights in the bay dropped blood red.

<YOU WILL NOT TOUCH HIM,> the Lady commanded vehemently. <I will be very sad, Dark One, to lose you. But you taught me about choice. That I am no slave but your equal. I choose my Captain if you force me to it.>

He couldn’t help the hysterical laughter. It no doubt sounded bizarre coming from the vocoder.

The family he’d no idea existed until ten minutes ago had already managed to win the Lady to their side of things and the Force was once again kriffing with him like he was its personal plaything.

The life of Anakin Skywalker, he thought incredulously. Finding new ways to be karked since 41 BBY.

They were all looking at him—Luke with concern, Leia glaring, and Padme’ contemplatively.

He extinguished his lightsaber.

“I think,” he said at last. “That we need to go and speak rather than fight.”

[briliantlymad]

Nobody understands my viceral need for Anakin Skywalker to have a happy life with his little family.

I dont want angst and hurt and only bad things where he's redeemed only to be killed or punished with a hellish eternity where his kids never know him.

I WANT HIM TO HAVE HIS FAMILY, TO HAVE TO REPENT BUT STILL LIVE HIS LIFE TO THE FULLEST.

I want him to have to reconcile his choices with his feelings. To see that there were some things that were out of his control, that he was a child being manipulated by a creepy old man, I want him to reach inside and realise that though his choices were limited he still had a choice and that he made the wrong ones, that he made mistakes, that he fucked up bad.

I want him to get to know his kids. To heal. To repent in any way he can for the lives he took. to live with the choices he made and still chose to help after every thing is over

[but-a-humble-goon]

Online media literacy be like "this teenaged girl who maybe hurt some people is irredeemable and unforgivable and deserves only to suffer forever" Meanwhile popular male redemption arc characters:

[wayward-wren]

The Tragedy of Anakin Skywalker is that he was always in a box someone else put him in. Watto said you are a slave. Qui-gon said you are the chosen one. You are a Jedi, you are a general, you are a good person. And when he knew without any doubt that he was no longer what people told him he was, he had to find new boxes. You are a sith. You are a servant. You are mine.

He spent his whole life being defined by people around him. And then along came Luke. And Luke didn't say 'you are a good person, come back to the light where you belong.' Because Anakin by all rights didn't belong in the light. No, Luke said 'you are my father. There's good in you." Luke said 'you have done great evil, but you can still change.' Luke said 'I do not excuse your villainy but I believe you can make your own choices.'

And that--that--is what got through. Not 'here is another box you must fit into' but finally, after his whole life, someone told Anakin 'you decide who you are.' And Anakin decided he was a man who loved his son.

[charmwasjess]

Everyone wants to talk about the war crimes but not the fact that Dooku's solar sailer makes him the only green energy ecofriendly villain in the Star Wars saga.

[anakinskywalker97]

Rise of Skywalker

Darth Vader x Ex-Padawan Reader

Chapter Two: Finding Obi-Wan

Chapter One

Summary: You take Anakin to Tatooine to find his old master in hopes of settling off in a new direction.

Warnings: this is all fluff / hurt/comfort. No smut, idk how but I kinda made a plot for this story, so I guess this is a bit of a slow-burn for the next bit.

So he made the choice to follow you. 

This was easier said than done. You would not let him wear the suit. You fought with him and he surrendered. He wore some cotton robes he had stashed away. He hated how they reminded him of his time with the Jedi, but being able to move properly was a welcomed trade-off. 

You granted him the request of bandaging his face before he followed you out into the unknown. He left his chambers for the last time, your hand intertwined with his pulling him along. 

Getting into a fighter felt good, sitting in the cockpit next to you was even better. 

“Where are we going.” You asked him looking at the different controls. 

“My father -” Vader realized his mistaken words a moment too late. They had already left his mouth, you gave a nod and punched in coordinates for Tatooine. All of your decisions were one with the force, that's why you always landed on your feet, so he didn't correct you. When he said father, he meant Palpatine. But rushing the Sith lord looking like a mummy with his old padawan didn't seem smart. 

Going to Tatooine seemed unbelievably painful, but seeing his mother's grave would be nice. He had a lot to say to her. He wondered why you assumed that his father would be there. You knew his story better than most. Maybe some grand force connection point would be there and someone would finally tell him what to do with this stupid prophecy. 

He knew that the emperor had sent him into deep space to have a break from him after his inability to locate the rebel base. Palpatine was working on something that required a lot of concentration. Sure he might have noticed Vader’s change within the force but he doubted it. Looking at things from this position next to you he realized how stupid he had been. How pointless his role was after he had helped kill off the Jedi. 

He had lots to think about, the ship had switched to autopilot and he observed you pull out a paperback. You folded your legs up onto the seat and he remembered all the times you had done this next to him. He rested in your familiar presence. Only then could he feel how deeply attuned you were within the force. It was like looking into a star when he closed his eyes and felt its presence around you. 

“You didn’t fight me yesterday.” He asked wanting to know why you had seemed so weak and disconnected the night before. 

“I didn’t get the chance.” You mumbled absently. Back when you had been his Padawan you once threw a filing cabinet across a meeting room in a fit of rage and that was an accident. He’d seen just how far your reach was in battle and it was much farther than the Grand Masters that trained you. Reaching across the room to your lightsaber should have been a piece of cake, especially if you were under threat. 

“You seemed weak within the force.” He stated watching you carefully.

“My master told me to leave that life behind. That’s what I did.” You answered honestly, there was a deep bitterness in your chest. A wound he had left, one he had no salve to fix. 

“I’m sorry.” He said not sure what he was apologizing for this time. 

“I know.” You said simply. “It's not gone, within me. It's always around me, it's just pulls me along these days. Up until yesterday anytime I tried to use it, I don't know how to describe it. It felt like rejection. In some ways I wonder if it was keeping me hidden or something.” 

The rest of the time passed as he asked you questions about your life. You were a smuggler, you had an apartment on Yavin 4. You didn't work with the rebels but occasionally piloted for them if you thought they had a good cause. You lived alone. You ran runs alone but occasionally, you smiled, you did runs with a friend. Jealousy burned through him. He was happy you had a mostly danger-free life compared to what it was during the Clone Wars when he had trained you. It was however very lonely. 

Tatooine was it’s usual hellscape. It was nice to have one thing that managed to be consistent throughout his life. He let you land and choose what direction they went in. Observing you choices carefully but feeling no resistance from the force. They traveled through the mountainous rocks and felt no threat from Sand People. 

When you got to what appeared to be a house carved into one of the rocks. He was about to correct you, and tell you that this wasn't his childhood home when a presence moved within the dwelling. It was too weak to determine its owner. When the door opened a familiar face took him in. Would he even recognize him? He looked like a mummy next to you. 

But unarmed and hands open Obi-Wan walked toward him. He said nothing embracing Vader in a hug. For a moment he thought about killing Obi-Wan as it had been a personal mission for so long. Obi-Wan was impossibly calm, his peace radiated through his body around Vader. He used to find this so unbearably annoying, and now for the first time, he welcomed it. Obi-Wan didn’t have anything to hold over Vader, he just accepted him as is. It felt like a big burden was lifted from his shoulders. 

 Vader finally caved and wrapped his arms around his former master. Finally able to accept him for who Obi-Wan was. They were two sides of a coin, mirrored opposites.  He watched you closely as you abandoned him and went into the house. He felt weird being alone with Obi-Wan but he was happy that your skin was out of the harsh sunlight. Obi-Wan released him and looked into his eyes. He knew they were still an awful red, but he also wasn't sure what side of things would be his final outcome. Things needed to be balanced. 

Obi-Wan motioned for him to sit on a large rock. What happened next was surprising. 

“I’m sorry. I was blinded, I only realized this after communication with Qui-gon.” Obi-Wan said softly, then filled Anakin in on the force ghost concept. “I failed both of you. You were my responsibility, my brother. I should have never left you alone with anyone, especially not a politician.” 

“I made my choice,” He said firmly frustrated by the man's guilt, he much preferred the master who was above it all. Not the man, the brother he had left behind. 

“The choice you were groomed into,” Obi-Wan said with a finality to his voice that reminded him of many past arguments. This one he was happy to lose. 

“You need to come inside, out of the sun,” Obi-Wan said hurriedly finally taking in his bandaged appearance. Vader sat uncomfortably next to you at Obi-Wan's table. He listened as they discussed his medical needs, all the advanced procedures. His skin, his lungs, if he would even need a new suit. They decided going to Yavin 4 would be best as they had the best medical and your apartment was there. He perked up at the idea of seeing more of your life, how you lived. He trusted you to know about the medical side of things, that was always an area of special interest for you. His power was still unmatched and the rebel base was little threat to him and by extension you. 

“The climate there will be easier on your skin, I have no doubt we will find a good solution there,” Obi-Wan said before getting up to grab some drinks. 

Then he was sitting there listening to all the rebel plans and current politics. He was at a table with the man he needed to kill while being handed everything he needed to destroy the rebels. Both you and Obi-Wan were out of practice, it wouldn't be a challenge for him to kill both of you and give all this over to his master. 

He thought of the power. Then he heard you let out a loud laugh. His attention moved to you as you ran over to the window sill. 

“No don’t engage with it.” Obi-Wan scolded as you picked up a sand cat. They were normally rude but not necessarily dangerous, he had never seen one this affectionate though. He was waiting for it to attack you. “Take it outside.” 

“But he’s so cute.” You said enjoying the way it nuzzled against your chest. Eventually, you took it out to the front door and watched as it hurried away. You paused at the door for a moment looking at the sunset. He thought of killing you one last time and knew that he would be unsuccessful. You looked at the sun from the doorway the same way he had observed his mother doing countless times. There was a lot to you, he had trained you to be a ruthless fighter, dangerously independent, all things you already had in you. But there was also the softness he felt only fell on his eyes, parts of you he selfishly wanted all to himself. You were beyond kind and caring, a nobility about you he knew he would not be able to sway. Those parts of you were the closest thing he could compare his mother's love to. She had been beaten down badly by the world and yet helped everyone and somehow always had enough left over for him. 

You came right back to his side and rested against his shoulder. You were totally relaxed. You knew that he wouldn't betray you, but why?

Because you never wanted to in the first place - Your voice rang in his head and shame gripped him. He had to be more careful with his thoughts. They force bond between the two of you had tripled compared to how it used to be. 

Don't shy away from me now. I like the way you look at me -  you gave him a look that ended the night. 

“‘Dinner and bed,” Obi-Wan announced before moving into the kitchen. 

They made a nest out of cushions and blankets in the living space, the two of you could have stayed on the ship but he could sense how badly you wanted to stay in the house. Sleeping away from you was not an option for him so he didn't suggest it. After a lot of insisting on who would take the bed, you finally convinced Obi-Wan to stay in his room. 

Vader eyed the mash of pillows and blankets suspiciously, would you want to share a bed with him again? Maybe you would prefer it if he slept on the ship. Then he realized how stupid he was being, the chances of him actually sleeping were extremely low. Tatooine held too many painful memories for him to risk sleeping. They would drown him. He would sit here and watch over you while you slept. 

It will be easier if you lay down first - You gave him a confused look as if it was obvious. He was about to argue with you when he realized you might see his inability to sleep as a form of rejection. He could sit here all night, or he could hold you. It was an easy choice. 

He got down on the floor slowly and was surprised that it wasn't so painful. He tried to move over so you would have enough space. When you pulled his arm away from his side you gave him a look.

Is this not alright? - you cocked your head to the side. He opened his arms in response and felt you press against him with your head on his shoulder. - Wait does this hurt? 

No- he responded feeling more at home than he ever had under Palpatine's control or at the Temple. He felt like he was home. Obi-Wan’s strong force presence gave him a sense of comfort. He could catch you probing his mind now, and you sighed enjoying the same feeling. Happy the two of you were in alignment.

You see Obi-Wan as my father? - He asked softly.

No, it's just easier to see Qui-Gon when he is around - you answered sleepily. He had a million questions but wouldn't press you now when you needed rest.

That night he didn’t wake up to check your breathing, he was in a deep sleep trusting the two of you to be there in the morning. This was the first night he had really slept since he had sent you away all those years ago.

[sea-owl]

This might be an unpopular opinion, but if they are redeeming Tai lung in the 4th movie, then I need to see some regret from him for his actions and need him to put in some work for it.

In my opinion, at this point in time, he doesn't deserve a redemption. Yes, Shifu pushed him his whole life to be the best and become the dragon warrior, but he was still grown when he got told no. Then instead of accepting his disapoimtment and moving forward with his life, he proceeded to throw a tantrum that hurt the village and put innocent lives in danger. In that whole first movie, he never once took responsibility for his actions and chose to lay the blame on Shifu. If that's his attitude in the 4th movie he can go back to the spirit world at the end for all I care.

Actually, please let someone call him out on his shit. My top picks would be Tigress, Po, or even Shifu himself. If they redeem him, so be it, but I need him to show some actual regret, a want to change, and put in the work for it.

[eyesofthetrees]

Eeth Koth's daughter as a grown up

This is my version of Eeth Koth's daughter and how she would have grown. We only saw her as baby in the Darth Vader comics but even today we don't know her fate. Most probably she was raised by the inquisitors and indoctrinated by their beliefs but after the fall of the Empire she realized that she was manipulated and used as a weapon. She joined a more peaceful life as a Jedi after learning about her father's story and the old jedi order.

[vertigoartgore]

Star Wars Galaxy 2 "Darth Vader Unmasked" Trading Card Art (1993) by Sylvain Despretz.

[goldens0422]

you know what would have been funny? i was busy thinking of some Imperial! Anidala AUs and there's one which just crossed my mind.

Imagine Padmé joins Vader on Mustafar, Vader beats Obi, and kills Sidious to take over. Vader tries to deepen his connection to the Dark Side as he and Padmé rule over the galaxy. Vader tries to portray himself as this evil, fearsome autocrat but is way too popular: he doesn't create the Death Star because neither he nor Padmé likes it, he abolishes slavery because duh, literally all of the clones (they don't get replaced) love him, he's still seen as the war hero, he's very handsome, and Padmé's presence + coregency mellows him out a lot. Padmé and his children are also there, and his love for them is wayyyyyy too much that he isn't nearly as evil and dark as he should be

Eventually, Vader comes to Padmé crying about how his connection to the Dark Side is weakening because of how much he loves her and the children and how he can't fuel his inner darkness anymore. He isn't really a Sith anymore and eventually Padmé convinces him to just let it go, renounce his darkness, and let the love flow through him so now he's just emperor anakin, former jedi and failed sith

emperor vader: suffering from success

[jedikaylin]

Can’t stop thinking about this

Sad space boys are elite 🧎🏼‍♂️

[pirate-of-the-southern-isles]

I just wanted to state how much I love the fact that Ben Solo exists*. His redemption arc was totally unearned, undeserved and underdeveloped, just like his grandpa's (one half-decent thing is not enough!) and they both got it anyway. Now everytime someone says "oh, this character can't be redeemed, they did unforgivable things" I can just point my finger to those two menaces and all the terror they caused on countless planets. There is no such thing as unredeemable in fiction.

And yes Marvel Loki, that goes for you too.

*exists as a character in culture, of course

[to-proudly-go]

WIP SNIP

Thanks for the tag @spikybanana !!!

Also open tag for everyone if yall like 😘

Dad Vader/Anakin and slowburn Obikin LEZZGO (although it's really just a compilation of random ideas in a document rn 😩)

***

“Peace, little one,” Anakin whispers, and the near-forgotten notes of a lilting warm voice almost floats in the air, harmonizing with his own broken timber. “I am here."

His gloved thumb slides back and forth on Luke’s forehead, smoothing out the lines over bunched-up muscles.

“Nothing will hurt you here.”

As he comforts his son, in his mind unfolds long ago memories and sensations. The anxiety and fear in a place so unfamiliar and unknown, full of beings that distrusted him. The determination to stay near the singular Light that felt safe and welcoming, and the cold hard floor on his back as he dared to get as close as he could to the source of the warmth. His mind skirting on the edge of consciousness and feeling engulfed by gentle touches and reassurance. Then the surprise when he wakes up and is greeted by the sight of two blue eyes crinkling at the sides with the strength of their owner’s smile, and soft words to greet the day.

***

He will have time for guilt later. For now, Anakin hopes that he can give the precious bundle in his arms the same measure of love that he was also selflessly given that night - and many other nights after - so long ago.

[marvelstars]

Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader: Redemption & Forgiveness

The matter of redemption in Star Wars has always been a matter of discussion in the fandom and I wanted to give my take on this.

"A redemption arc is a literary term for a type of character development in which a bad or morally gray character turns into a good person by the end of the story. They redeem their worst sins through their actions in the story's resolution"

From a literature pov Darth Vader had a text book redemption arc on ROTJ which Lucas talks about as him "stopping the horror" by learning and having compassion for his Son.

"It really has to do with learning. Children teach you compassion. They teach you to love unconditionally. Anakin can’t be redeemed for all the pain and suffering he’s caused. He doesn’t right the wrongs, but he stops the horror. The end of the Saga is simply Anakin saying, ‘I care about this person, regardless of what it means to me. I will throw away everything that I have, everything that I have grown to love - primarily the Emperor - and throw away my life, to save this person. And I’m doing this because he has faith in me, loves me despite all the horrible things I’ve done. I broke his mother’s heart, but he still cares about me, and I can’t let that die.’

Anakin is very different in the end. The thing of it: The prophecy was right. Anakin was the Chosen One, and he does bring balance to the Force. He takes the ounce of good still left in him and destroys the Emperor out of compassion for his son."

George Lucas, The Making Of Revenge Of The Sith; page 221

But redemption can also have different meanings which also played a part in the way Lucas choose to represent the moment of Anakin/Vader´s redemption. Redemption:

(IN RELIGION):(especially in Christianity) an occasion when someone is saved from evil, suffering, etc. The state of being kept from evil or of improving morally. The act of paying back a loan

In many ways Redemption is also the act of paying back a moral debt owned by the evil or morally bad acts someone committed, this act on itself means the person in question improves their morality because they are turning back from evil to do good and make reparations.

In this way, thanks to the intervention of his Son, Anakin was saved from the suffering of the darkside and able to "turn back from evil" , improve morally by showing compassion once more in many long years and pay back his actions at the price of his blood.

This doesn´t mean it was the only way he could have paid his debts but it was the one way he was able to also stop the evil his master commited agaisnt the galaxy, this despite the fact Vader "loved" the Emperor, his love didn´t mean he didn´t recognize what they did was wrong and instead of washing himself of blame given he was initiatily manipulated into turning to the darkside by the Emperor, Vader took responsibility for them both, took the ounce of good left inside of him and "stopped the horror" in one self sacrificial action. Redemption is about the choice of the person who is seeking redemption.

Now when I see this creates confussion and even anger in the fandom, because is seen as unfair, is that many fans believe this means other characters HAD to forgive Anakin because Vader redeemed himself but this is not the case at all, forgiveness is another action all together, the fact Anakin redeemed himself in the end doesn´t mean Obi-Wan, Leia, Han, Luke, rebels and the Imperials, etc or any other person hurt by his actions HAD to forgive him, that is their prerrogative but at the same time, the fact they DIDN´T forgive him or the fact many didn´t even know Vader was the one who defeated the Emperor giving way to the New Republic rule(acording to the new canon), this doesn´t erase Anakin/Vader´s redemption.

Anakin/Vader was redeemed by his own actions, the act of being forgiven can only be made by the people hurt by his actions and no one else but even in the case they don´t forgive him doesn´t take away anything from Anakin´s sacrifice and the good that came from it.

Anakin lying dying and thinking of joining the force once more while being grateful to Luke for showing him how he could love again without knowing if his sacrifice was even going to be known or not was part of his redemption, he did what he could, at the price of his life, it didn´t matter what else happened after this. He was at peace.

Obi-Wan teaching Anakin how to become a force ghost was Obi-Wan´s choice, his way of showing Anakin that he forgave him but Anakin was already redeemed before he did this by Anakin´s own sacrifice.

Luke forgiving his father to give him a chance to turn from the darkside was Luke´s choice, no one else and Luke was at peace with his choice even when his father told him it was "too late for him"

Leia trying to forget everyting about Vader, not wanting to know about Anakin to get some peace but later remembering her mother and the good actions of her biological father, told by Luke, to stop herself from falling to the darkside by hating him when he was already dead, but not being able to forgive him either was her choice, it gave her peace, and the fact Anakin redeemed himself doesn´t mean she had to forgive him.

So in the end redemption and forgiveness is a matter of choice of the person seeking redemption and the person giving forgiveness. They are related but they aren not the same thing and just like Anakin choose to come back in the end, this possibility was open to any other imperial or rebel who did wrong at one point of their lives. It´s a personal decision, a personal choice.

"The boy was good, and the boy had come from him- so there must have been good in him, too. He smiled up again at his Son, and for the first time, loved him. And for the first time in many long years, loved himself again" (Anakin Skywalker - ROTJ)