I was thinking about how Vader succumbed so easily to Palpatine's Force lightning, and was going to form a question to you all about that ... but I got thinking about another line of thought from that thought. I'll get to that question later, but I wanted to articulate my sub-thought first.

And that is how truly connected we can become to any one person. In my life, my wife is the most special and important person to me that I would do anything in the world for. We share a love and a bond so close that it goes beyond any words that I can put to screen or paper ... it's feelings that run deep for each other and always will.

And we see that kind of love and relationships in Star Wars as well. Han and Leia found love for each other, Luke and Mara (in the EU) found love and devotion for each other. Heck, I'm sure Threepio and Artoo had a bond that became inseparable (they kind of remind me of my bickering grandparents ... always at each other but in love as well!)

But we also have the bond of Master and Apprentice. An unspoken loyalty and devotion that one will always be there for the other and act as partners throughout the growing phase of an apprentice. It worked in the Jedi Order as such and resulted in many close bonds being formed. The masters would become close with apprentice, teaching them as if they were sons or daughters of their own flesh, instructing them to be loyal and honourable Jedi. This, of course, helped to nurture a trusting relationship with each other and with the Jedi Order and the galaxy.

But what of the Sith? In the Rule of Two, there is always a Master and an Apprentice. Only two. And in my thinking, how could these two not become close and form a bond with each other? Sure, Sidious seemed as little distant from Darth Maul (we didn't see much of them together) and he seemed to view Dooku as just a means to an end. But with Anakin, or Darth Vader, he was always the trusting friend and mentor. Before Anakin became Vader he trusted and listened to Palpatine ... thus nurturing the bond between the two. And after he became Vader he must have formed some kind of respect for his master that permeated into a deeper bond that held the two together in galactic rule. Yes, Palpatine was the one who held the strings and dictated the goings-on of the galaxy but it was Vader who executed his will ... who understood his master and dutifully performed his role. Who is to say they didn't have a deep bond that connected them as master and apprentice that was first realized as son and father figure and teacher and student? The Force held them together as a unit that was unstoppable for a time and connected them in a way that many in the galaxy would not understand.

Which brings me to my original question. Why did Sidious's Force lightning affect Vader so rapidly and effectively? Did not Luke lie there on the ground absorbing the lightning while calling for help from his father? Did not Yoda absorb the lightning in his body, as well as deflect it with his hands back to Sidious? Did not Mace withstand it with his lightsaber to disfigure Palpatine into what he would become?

And my own answer is that perhaps the bond that the two shared for so many years had affected Vader deeply in that he was rising up to destroy the man who had mentored him and taught him these powers of the Darkside. Their bond was so close that the act he was performing of stopping his master would destroy him mentally and physically. It literally drained him and caused him to succumb to the lightning that was trained now on him and not his son. Yes, he redeemed himself and found the Anakin still living within that would save his son from destruction, but the wound he opened by severing his ties and connection to his master would prove to be too much. It literally killed him.

And as it is in many of our lives. Our bonds are so close with our family and friends that it would feel like Force lightning striking us if those bonds were severed by either our own will or outside circumstances.

In Anakin's case he did it for the good of his son which redeemed him, which became Palptine's failure, at the expense of Darth Vader.