Thread:LucidPigeons/@comment-27729149-20151002040714/@comment-27560932-20151107055351

The prequels... weren't the best written. At all. True, it showcased Anakin's descent into the dark side fairly gradually, but the way it was written... Anakin was never really a likable character if you go exclusively by the prequels.

But don't forget that Vader's moment of realization at the climax of Return of the Jedi was the moment when Vader died and Anakin was reborn for that tiny moment. That's the moment the levity of his crimes finally got to him and he used his last moment to sacrifice himself, repent, and do something good for someone he finally realized he loved- his own son. And keep in mind in-universe, the entire galaxy feels the same way about Vader the way you do about him. Only Luke and a select few others actually knew about Anakin's redemption; the rest of the galaxy knew him as the greatest evil to have ever scourged the galaxy, and even in spite of Anakin's redemption it was the image of Vader that would live on forever.