Let me start by saying how good it feels to start writing on my blog again. My lengthy absence has been due to a combination of lack of time and inspiration, stress of schoolwork and summer without access to the internet. That was truly annoying, seeing as my summer was full of free time and inspiration following Celebration Europe. Anyway, I'm back and there will hopefully be many blog entries in the near future. That being said, let's get on with it, shall we?

When Darth Vader first appeared 30 years ago he was frightening, imposing and pretty much a horrible individual. Over the years we have gotten to know him better, and have learned that there is much more behind the intimidating mask and chilling breath than we thought when we first saw him. Since then fans have frequently discussed to which degree the "good in him" is displayed in The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, but A New Hope is rarely mentioned in these discussions. It seems as if many people still view Vader in ANH as the ultimate villain and personification of pure evil he originally appeared to be. I know I do this sometimes as well, though I try not to. Why is it that he is looked upon as being so much more villainous in this movie? I will attempt to answer this, and perhaps even remedy it slightly.

Comparing ANH to the other films in the series might give us a clue. It is the only one that is lacking the demonic visage of Palpatine, and that might have created an evil void. It is also the only one in which Vader's true connection to the Skywalkers isn't mentioned. In addition to this, ANH stands out among the Original Trilogy as the only episode in which Vader doesn't kill any imperials (some more imperial than others), and the only one in which he single-handedly kills non-imperials (some more single-handedly than others).

Another possibility is that those scenes that established who Darth Vader was, bings back memories of what we thought when we first saw them. I would like to take a quick look at a few of those scenes.

The scene that I believe foremost established Vader as a villain, was the scene in which Obi-Wan explains about lightsabers, Jedi and the Force. This scene explained all of the most essential parts of this amazing world and also what was going to happen next, in form of Leia's message. I think everyone, when they first saw it, assumed that everything said here was true. Assuming, of course, that it was the first Star Wars-movie they saw. Learning that Vader had murdered Luke's father, we knew he must be the villain. Such knowledge can be difficult to get rid of, even though we also know it was based on a lie.

Another memorable scene is the one that establishes Vader's supernatural abilities through his signature move. This shows that Vader is a powerful opponent, as any villain should be. I viewed this scene again yesterday, preparing to write this, and noticed something I hadn't payed attention to before. The final words that provoke Vader into assaulting Motti is not an attack on general belief in the Force, but on Vader's "sad devotion to that ancient religion". There is an implication here, which is further implied later as Vader and Tarkin discuss Obi-Wan, that the religion in question is not the Sith, but the Jedi religion. If Vader is still devoted to Jedi beliefs, and is provoked by ridicule of said beliefs, it would mean that he is an even more ambiguous character than I had considered up until yesterday.

The scene in ANH that disturbs me the most is that of Vader interrogating Captain Antilles. It seems to me that he loses control and that it is not quite intentionally that he kills Antilles. This establishes Vader as unstable and dangerous, but still not evil.

One thing that Vader does in ANH is very villainous. He kills the mentor! But, knowing their history and by looking closely at their words and actions during their fight, things are far from being that simple. They seem reluctant to fight each other, but do so as if it is something they both knew was coming, neither will enjoy, but that they have to go through, like a visit to the dentist.
Obi-Wan utters those famous words: "If you strike me down I shall become more powerful than you can possibly imagine." It seems to me that this might be a clever way of saying: "It's okay if you kill me." Vader replies: "You should not have come back." Which indicates something along the lines of: "I don't want to kill you, but, seeing as you have come here, I have no choice."
They continue to fight half-heartedly, basically just stalling. Obi-Wan is barely paying attention to the fight, he is looking for somebody. When he spots Luke, Obi-Wan turns back to Vader. The old man smiles as if to say: "Good bye, old friend." He raises his lightsaber, thereby, ironically, lowering his defenses, and allows Vader to, well, strike him down.

I have so far avoided mentioning scenes involving Leia, which I have done quite intentionally. We have finally reached the part of this entry that relates to its own title. It is my belief that Darth Vader felt a connection to Leia that he failed to identify. Perhaps he thought it was simply due to her reminding him of a certain senator he once knew.

When Vader and Leia first meet in ANH, she seems undeterred by him. Apparently they have met before, and at this meeting Vader has given the impression that he only follows the orders of such men as Tarkin, not that he is the Emperor's right-hand man. As they now meet in the movie, Vader chastises Leia for her actions, wags his forefinger at her and sends her to her room. The situation is oddly familiar.

Vader soon begins interrogating Leia. As expected Vader comes up with something cruel and unusual, a syringe. Of course, unless Leia is afraid of needles it probably shouldn't be all that intimidating. We later learn that Leia has been given a mind probe. Whatever that is, it must be a much more comfortable way of being interrogated than being lifted by your throat and shaken about. The difference is as vast as that between a Sith Lord and a loving father.

Vader also seems to be very protective of Leia. When Tarkin decides to interfer with Vader's interrogation, Vader seems shocked. As Tarkin's plan fails, Vader reminds him that he knew it would. Vader knows his girl.
Tarkin also decides to have Leia executed. That Vader would prefer a lengthy interrogation indicates that he would disagree to this. After the destruction of Alderaan, Tarkin orders Leia to be terminated immediately. Vader takes advantage of the first oppurtinity to quickly counter this order, thereby probably saving her life.

The last scene I will look at is the one in which Alderaan is destroyed. This scene indicates that though Leia greatly dislikes Vader, she prefers him to the likes of Tarkin. Through most of the scene she remains close to Vader. She only moves away from him twice, and both times she returns almost immediately. When Tarkin intimidates her, Leia backs away from him, back to Vader. As Tarkin gives the order to fire, she desperately runs forward, but Vader grabs her shoulder and pulls her back. Vader remains silent throughout this scene, possibly afraid of what he might say.

To conclude I think we can safely say that Vader is far from being pure evil. For reasons that beg for more blogging he is not even all that bad. Considering the circumstances I would also make the bold claim that he was a decent father.

Thank you for your time. I need a nap.