Anakin's scar was basically Lucas admitting that Hayden wasn't a believable Vader.
The parallel to Luke was an interesting one, but I don't buy it. How can Vader die as an old man if he's Luke's age at the time of his conception. Besides which, Anakin's life was so unlike Luke's that forming a dichotomy between them was purely fanwank.
I'm a skeptical squirrelI always assumed it was a combination of the whole "my-entire-body-was-burnt" thing, and the "I-live-my-life-inside-a-cybernetic-suit" thing. Not a good combo for healthy looking skin.
Plus, maybe the use of the Dark Side helped age him too? The Dark Side making people ugly seems to be kind of a big thing in the Expanded Universe and stuff.
edited 23rd Mar '11 9:31:16 PM by Yoyoddd
Why did they burry the fireman behind the tree? BECAUSE HE'S DEAD!^ So did Lucas, I dare say.
Besides, lack of sun can only do wonders for your skin. by that logic, old Vader should have looked like.....Hayden Christiansen.
Anyway, Vader's face in ROTJ made sense because he knew Obi-Wan when they were both middle-aged. By making Anakin an emo teen, it upsets all that.
I'm a skeptical squirrelI'm sick of the "He's an emo teen" thing being thrown around. Annakin had a heavy burden thrown on him by being the Chosen One, leading clones, fighting almost all the time, not being trusted, having a secret forbidden marriage, enemies that could be all around him. Seriously, you live that life and see how whiny you get.
Though I in no way agree with replacing the original old-man Annakin with Hayden Christensen.
edited 24th Mar '11 1:22:30 PM by GethKnight
I killed the Sand-people! And not just the men, but the (helpless, defenseless) women and children!
I should be the most powerful Jedi ever!
Obi-wan doesn't understand! I'm not a little kid!
BAW!!!
He was a whiny douche, all the time, and he always thought he was better than everybody. This was before the Clone Wars started, before the marraige and when he was safe on Courasant and usually in the company of gaurds or other Jedi. There is no way this whiny asshole became Darth Vader.
He had emotions, we saw him angry in the beginning of Ep4. We saw him sad when Luke asked him to come back to the Light Side.
The problem with Anakin isn't that he has emotions or problems, it's that he's annoying and whiny about everything. He doesn't really do anything productive, like talk to Obi-Wan about the way he feels he's being treated (y'know, like a real person), he just pisses and moans all the time.
Probably, I've heard Hayden is actually a good actor, so Lucas may be partly to blame for directing. I'd believe that hearing what Portman's been capable of lately and thinking about what she has done before.
His mother died, that was sad, feeling bad for someone disqualify you from disliking someone. I feel sorry for all the people who suffered terror attacks, but I hate their excuse to war monger because of it.(And that's a long list so I shouldn't need to list it)
I feel sorry Jeph Loeb losing his son, but I still won't buy his comics.
edited 25th Mar '11 11:44:02 AM by Cider
Modified Ura-nage, Torture Rack
I think I see what you're saying. I agree, Anakin's mom died, but it gave him no excuse to kill the sandpeople, especially the women and children who most likely were absolutely helpless and defenseless. Atleast I think that's what you mean...
But the point of the prequels was to make Vader/Anakin a tragic character, Lucas's own words (paraphrased) if I remeber correctly.
edited 24th Mar '11 3:30:13 PM by NULLcHiLD27
It was certainly a tightrope, apparently Lucas wanted to make sure that Anakin doesn't come off as Evil Is Cool and we aren't rooting for him when he does turn to the dark side. Making him whiney probably wasn't the point, trying to make him filled with anger and frustration was likely the intention. Anakin's story was meant to mirror Lukes, where Luke made good and noble decisions Anakin made evil and selfish choices. This is most apparent comparing Revenge of the Sith versus Return of the Jedi. Luke looking at his glove at the end of ROTJ was the point where he realized it doesn't take that much to fall from grace.
edited 24th Mar '11 4:39:24 PM by KJMackley
You know what would have been nice?
Planets other than Tatooine.
Fight. Struggle. Endure. Suffer. LIVE.

The whole thing about Lucas ignoring the EU really comes from the fact that allowing books and games to be made is him him just saying "Go ahead and have fun." The idea that he has to conform to the EU doesn't make that much sense to me, I can't see any person allowing that to happen to the franchise they created (Imagine if fans expected Joss Whedon to have to be consistent with EU Buffy material). And the EU itself is not even consistent unto itself, let alone the movies. Lucasfilm accepted the EU as a degree of canon in the main universe, which no other franchise I'm aware of has done. I don't think they've ever claimed that George Lucas doesn't have veto power, but fans assumed as much.
But on the other topic, Maul dying in the first film was necessary as he is the kind of person who is "One of us must die" and having both survive a confrontation brings doubt to his skills (his first battle with Qui-Gon was cut short, but that was resolved in the climactic duel). The problem with Grievous was mostly just pacing, he was reinterpreted as a skilled warrior when the odds are in his favor (and a coward when it isn't) when the original idea was pretty much another generic badass (which was entertaining enough for Star Wars Clone Wars).