Before the sequel trilogy came along to throw all the themes off-kilter, the Star Wars saga was the story of Anakin Skywalker. Throughout the prequel trilogy, we saw Anakin go from a slave on Tatooine to a promising Jedi Padawan prophesized as “the Chosen One,” and eventually get corrupted by Emperor Palpatine and turn into the Sith Lord Darth Vader.
Throughout the original trilogy, we saw Vader go from a faceless evil overlord to a redeemed tragic hero. He’s the heart of George Lucas’ original story.
Prequels: Winning the pod race
What’s so impressive about Anakin’s podracing abilities is that nothing on his pod seemed to work. Anakin had to race in the Boonta Eve Classic while he was trying to avoid giant hunks of rock flying at him at 800 mph through the desert, and his rival Sebulba was sabotaging him, and all of the equipment on his pod was failing miserably.
The odds were stacked against the poor kid, and he still managed to win. Qui-Gon had so much faith in Anakin’s abilities that he bet his freedom on it. Winning the pod race allowed Anakin to kiss his life as a slave goodbye and join the Jedi.
Original trilogy: Boarding Tantive IV
The key to any great character is a great introduction. Unsuspecting moviegoers in 1977 were introduced to Darth Vader, one of the most terrifying villains ever created, as he boarded Tantive IV. Before Vader made his first appearance, we saw a behemoth Imperial Star Destroyer pursuing the plucky Rebel ship, introducing the Empire’s immense power.
Then, Tantive IV was invaded by Stormtroopers, who wiped out the first wave of Rebel troops in flurry of blaster fire. Then, Vader entered the ship. Emerging from the cloud of smoke that has filled the hallway, he frightened legions of new Star Wars fans across the globe.
Prequels: Killing Count Dooku
Anakin’s first step towards turning against the Jedi and joining the Sith comes in the thrilling opening sequence of Revenge of the Sith. Chancellor Palpatine has supposedly been kidnapped by the Separatists, and Anakin and Obi-Wan are sent to liberate him. They find Palpatine and free him from Count Dooku.
Palpatine encourages Anakin to kill Dooku – “Do it!” – and with very little hesitation, he goes ahead with it. There’s also a great Dooku moment when he realizes he’s not Palpatine’s true apprentice, as he’d been led to believe, and he was just a pawn in a larger game to bring Anakin over to the dark side.
Original trilogy: Force-choking Admiral Motti
Long before new Force abilities being introduced in a Star Wars movie led to eye-rolls at best and canonical encyclopedias being cracked open at worst, fans were stunned to see Darth Vader start Force-choking Admiral Motti in the middle of a meeting.
This was before Vader uttered cheesy quips like Rogue One’s “Be careful not to choke on your aspirations,” and instead, just coldly said, “I find your lack of faith disturbing.” It solidified Vader’s place as a sinister, powerful, and unforgettable villain. He’s not someone you want to mess with.
Prequels: “Did you ever hear the Tragedy of Darth Plagueis the Wise?”
After watching his career with great interest throughout the whole trilogy, Chancellor Palpatine went really gung-ho on his plan to manipulate Anakin and turn him evil in Revenge of the Sith. At a weird sort of opera starring bubbles, Palpatine told Anakin the story of Darth Plagueis the Wise. He preyed on Anakin’s biggest fear – not being able to save the people he loves from death – in order to sway him to the dark side.
Anakin asked if he could learn the ability to cheat death and Palpatine coyly said, “Not from a Jedi.” This began Anakin’s path towards slaughtering the Jedi younglings and becoming perhaps the most feared Sith Lord who ever lived.
Original trilogy: “No, I am your father!”
This is arguably the greatest plot twist in film history – no one saw it coming when The Empire Strikes Back was released in 1980, and yet it makes perfect sense in the context of the wider narrative – and it’ll probably never be topped, because most twists these days are just reworkings of earlier twists.
After making us wait through two whole movies for a one-on-one combat scene between Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader, George Lucas needed a stinger like “I am your father!” up his sleeve to give this scene the impact it deserved. Suddenly, a showdown between the hero and villain becomes a confused family drama.
Prequels: Battling Obi-Wan on Mustafar
John Williams’ breathtaking “Battle of the Heroes” track sets the tone perfectly for this emotionally charged sequence. (“Battle of the Heroes” is no “Duel of the Fates,” but it’s a close second.) In the climactic set piece in Revenge of the Sith, Obi-Wan finds Anakin on Mustafar; he’s already turned to the dark side and renounced the Jedi Order.
After a brief conversation, he determines that Anakin is lost and can’t be saved, so they fight across the lava-filled landscape until Obi-Wan reluctantly defeats his padawan and tells him, “You were my brother, Anakin! I loved you!” It’s pretty heartbreaking.
Original trilogy: Killing Obi-Wan on the Death Star
19 years after their showdown on Mustafar, Obi-Wan Kenobi and Darth Vader got to have a rematch, and it turned out very differently than their first lightsaber duel. Obi-Wan arrived on the Death Star with Luke Skywalker and the other heroes, and Vader immediately felt his presence. He tracked down his old master and they prepared for battle.
They were a lot slower in their advanced age than they had been on Mustafar. There were no backflips or severed limbs in this duel, but it did end with the poignant sight of Vader striking down Obi-Wan in front of Luke.
Prequels: Becoming Darth Vader
Emperor Palpatine first gave Anakin his Sith name, Darth Vader, after he chose to save Palpatine instead of Mace Windu. But he didn’t truly become Vader until he was put into the suit in the final moments of Revenge of the Sith. After losing the three limbs he had left and being burned alive by molten lava on Mustafar, Anakin needed the Vader suit to stay alive.
The “NOOOOO!!!” sort of ruins this scene, and it has since become a laughing stock (it was even sampled in an episode of South Park), but aesthetically and emotionally, this moment still resonates with Star Wars fans.
Original trilogy: Dying in Luke’s arms
When Emperor Palpatine started attacking Luke Skywalker with Force lightning, Darth Vader couldn’t bear to watch it. He wasn’t as far gone from the light side as Palpatine had hoped. He still cared for his son, and couldn’t stand to watch his master torture him like this. So, he picked up Palpatine and threw him down a reactor core shaft, killing him (albeit temporarily, thanks to The Rise of Skywalker).
The exposure to Palpatine’s Force lightning left Vader irreparably damaged, and he sat down to die. In his final moments, he wanted to see his son with own eyes, so he removed his mask and shared a sweet moment with Luke.