Sidious used evil because he enjoyed it. He even tortured Luke in front of his father when he could have slain him quickly with a saber. He relished his wickedness. Vader saw wickedness as a means, and was therefore able to change his heart, repent and even die eschewing its trappings (refusing his helm which might have kept his life-support system operational.)

Vader was seduced, but was able to throw the lady of Sin out of his bed when he saw her in the light. Sidious sought out the same lady, and spent his days enjoying her charms.

The genius of Star Wars is that it explains why we sin, what sin does to us. Graham Greene once wrote that “love makes more mistakes than hate does.” In that light, the fall of Anakin related to the fact that he loved too much.

Response to spoof 1: Droid hands.

Your sequence of events is off. The war didn’t end until Anakin went to Mustafar and killed all the Separatist leaders.

Anakin was seduced by the dark side. At first, he wanted to learn the dark side to save Padme, but once he felt the power the dark side gave him, he became obsessed with the it and became consumed by his obsession. That’s why he force-choked Padme. His jealousy and greed for power clouded his judgement. Saving Padme’s life was now an afterthought to his lust for power. She gave him the option of running away to get away from all of this nonsense. His response, “We can rule the galaxy.”

Resonse to parody 2: You must’ve gone to the bathroom or concession stand during this sequence. Anakin started off by doing the right thing and telling Master Windu that Palpatine was Sith. Windu sensed the confusion and ordered him to wait in the Council Chamber. As Windu and the other Jedi go to arrest the Chancellor (only allegedly, a Sith Lord), we see the Anakin’s choice unfolding and the conflict simmering in him: Do what he’s been taught is right – the Jedi WayTM, or risk it all for the only hope to save Padme – keep Palpatine alive at the very least. He chose to make sure Palpatine would live to teach him how to save his wife from certain Force-predicted death.

His internalization of the matter is waaay more than 30 seconds, man. It occupies a large portion of the first half of the movie – from the time Palpy tells Anakin the tragedy of Darth Plagueis “the wise” to the moment that Palpatine is about to be slain by Mace. Once he made the decision to save Palpatine and betray Master Windu he knew there was no turning back if he wanted to save Padme. He had to do whatever Palpatine wanted him to do. He wasn’t seduced yet at this point. But the more he used the dark side, the more he tasted the sweet sensation of the great power it gave him. Great power he always wanted. His original intent was good – but he took on the dangerous policy of ends justifying the means. That’s what made him ultimately fall. He deceived himself. This is the “how” you’re missing in the retrospective.

Response to parody 3: They both sensed that Padme was gone. Sidious knew of Anakin’s encounter before the final battle with Obi Wan. In episodes V and VI, we see that neither Vader nor the Emporer knew of the existance of Skywalker’s offspring before Luke became famous after blowing up the first Death Star, so it’s a safe assumption of their part that Padme died before the baby could be saved – and Vader killed her with his spousal abusive stranglation. Besides, what a great tool it was for Palpatine to use to get Vader to finally harness his dark-side power and “come alive” in Frankenstein-esque manner.

You and your new friend have this wrong wrong wrong. Go watch it again. You still have much to learn, my young Padawan.

*shakes head in disappointment*

Michele liked it, Jay didn’t, and Timothy Goddard is keeping a running tally. If you don’t know I liked it…