Darth Vader's Biggest Fears - Star Wars Explained: Wisecrack Edition 

It’s a shame that Vader’s most significant line isn’t in this video. It’s probably the most emotional moment in the entire trilogy. Luke: I will not leave you here, I’ve got to save you! Anakin: You already... have...

Say what you want about the prequels, you put it on paper and Anakin's path to becoming Darth Vader is a modern tragedy and he is one of the most sympathetic villains of our culture. A boy born into slavery, no father figure, having great talent at the cost of leaving behind the only family and world he knew, being scrutinized by the almighty council who try desperately to control him since they suspect him of being the Chosen one. Grows up, banned from feeling the human emotion of love, lest he be forced to abandon the council, which was all he had in the world, yet he loves anyway in secret. Haunted by visions, he fears the death of his loved ones, is preached by the council to find peace only to be forced into a war (hypocrisy). He succeeds as a warrior, only to be preyed upon the dark side again and again and is seduced by a supplementary father figure in the Emperor to avoid the death of another loved one. He commits heinous acts, kills his own loved one in anger and high on power, is defeated by his master, loses limbs, burned, and forced into a metallic suit that the Emperor INTENTIONALLY made painful, slow, and cumbersome to feed his rage and keep him in line, a shell of his former power. Now he is coerced into continuing evil, constantly reminded by his pain and the acts he commits, the shame and agony making him a lifeless puppet of the Emperor who cannot forgive himself. One of the comics have him state that the key to his power, hate, comes from the one thing he hates more than anything else: himself. Sorry, but I just LOVE Darth Vader.

"He kills children, his wife, and even tried to kill his mentor". I love how that last point is apparently the most serious. LOL.

I think it's kind of ironic that the Sith who are self centered can save others from death. but the Jedi who are more selfless can only save themselves from death

anikin turned to the dark side because he doesn't like sand

Perhaps then it's no surprise that Vader's master literally looks like the grimm reaper. Vader is in some sense literally controlled by death.

Anakin/Vader character arc His arc is the 5 stages of grief over fear of losing his love ones to death. Denial - in TPM Anger - in AOTC Bargaining - in ROTS Depression - When he becomes Vader Acceptance - When his Son, Luke turns him back to the light in ROTJ

“Your mother.” -Ki Adi Mundi

The lack of views disturbs me.

Fun Fact: Mark Hamil (the guy who played Luke Skywalker himself) wanted to see Luke turn to the dark side. He wanted to play the "fallen hero" and thought it would be a good twist to the classic story.

This could have been avoided if the Jedi council had rescued Anakin's mother.

This video was magnificent. The Sith, attached to the material world, think that power and never dying are the main drives. But the Jedi show, with humility and the simplest irony, that their path is the right one. By giving up power, they become more powerful than the Sith could possibly imagine. By accepting death, they become immortal.

The most extreme case is Darth nihilus... it literally consumed him into a shade.

Do the Philosophy of *Filthy Frank*! This is my 11th petition.

Its kind of annoying how theres so many things that can lead to joining the dark side, like basic human qualities that are well basic

Doesn't the philosophy of death denial also apply to Voldemort someone who kills in order to preserve his life through horcruxes

This feels more like "the psychology" of Darth Vader, rather than the "the philosophy" I always thought the latter was more interesting aspect of Vader: i.e the entire seduction of the Dark Side is the prospect of imposing *order* on the universe, not just as a pallative of the pain of personal death-events, but as a broader social goal for the benefit of the galaxy: By establishing a total force, one can create a monopoly of violence that inhibits the emergence and power of smaller and petty tyrants, and chaotic conflicts, and later advance to other aspirations. Hence the Death Star and the murder of the Jedi is like a metaphor for our own establishment of state power, born of destroying local territorial feudal power and violence. Darth Vader's variant of 'the dark-side'' is seductive precisely because of its latent nobility, and is vexing because it is ultimately subsumed by the very ruthlessness it requires. Furthermore, it makes the Jedi look like a bunch of crypto-religio tyrants unfazed by death or suffering and with no broader agenda to lessen it. Their Zen-ness is acquiescence to animal forces, Vader's evil is the triumph of the will.

The philosophy of don't hug me I'm scared!

Well actually, it's believed that Padme was killed by Palpatine, he allegedly took her life to save Darth Vaders

FINALLY SOMEONE who researched the right stuff(because I couldn't pull the sources for backing why Sith childish PASSION worship(anger emotions) is bad vs JEDI control of passion GOOD). So many ignorant youth getting into Star Wars are making up their own selfish wants desires needs as paramount why SITH ARE COOL BETTER THAN LAME JEDI cuz they embrace passion. The fact it relates to DENIAL OF REALITY of Life/Death was the argument I kept missing.

DARTH VADER = The Best Vilain

to be fair, Anakin did bring balance to the force there were tens of hundreds of Jedi and like 2 Sith. after order 66 there are now like 2 Jedi and 2 Sith Balance

9:43 An interesting take on that sequence which I quite like, is that Darth Sidious was actually responsible for Padme's death. After Anakin force chokes her, we see her drp to the ground, in great discomfort and emotional distress, but very much alive. When Sidious finds Anakin after his duel with Obi-Wan, he's a quadruple amputee with fourth degree burns to everything that remains. Even with the best care available, surviving the trip to the medical station, much less the hugely traumatic implantation of the cybernetics needed to keep him alive, would be an extremely long shot. As Darth Vader is being "born", we see Padme dying for reasons the medical droids are unable to ascertain. It's not a stretch to imagine that the average medical droid would not be familiar with Force powers and their effects. When the robot claims she is "Losing the will to live", this makes very little sense, as a new mother with twins just born would have everything to live for. When Darth Vader steps off the operating table and asks after Padme, Sidious responds, "It seems, in your anger, you killed her." Sidious couldn't possibly have known about her death- unless he was using the Dark Side to siphon her life force into Darth Vader to sustain him during his operation. It's heavily alluded that Sidious learnt Darth Plagueis' techniques for sustaining life, and it's entirely possible that the method he used for this was to leech the life off of others and divert it into those he cared about. This would also remove Padme as a distraction for Vader, allowing Sidious to take complete control over him as his new apprentice. TL;DR, Sidious stole Padme's life essence to sustain Vader, and that's what really killed her.

They thing that sucks is that if the Jedi council had freed Anakin's mom from Slavery and given her a life...idk somewhere safe and out of anakin's reach he wouldn't have turned.

I'm going to live forever...or die trying

The philosophy of Jar jar Binks plz It'll be a hit...trust me.

I clicked for Vader, stayed for Mars playing in the background.

I think it's DashStar who has a theory about Padme's death and how Palpatine syphoned her life force to keep Anakin/Vader alive during his surgery. More believable than the broken heart.

Yoda says to embrace death, yet knows of a way to become immortal. The Jedi are hypocritical to the very end.

That made more sense than it should have.

Holy shit, I didn't recognize, that background music was in fact 'Mars' by Gustav Holst and not the actual SW soundtrack until the very end ... well played.

“Fear of death...” and the idiocy of the Jedi

This video was awesome. What's even more awesome is that you showed a bit of anakin as an OLD man, not the re-editing crap by George. Good job guys!

As a Star Wars fan, I'm glad you see Anakin's arc. But I have several problems with your presentation. 1. Anakin didn't become a "whiny little shit" until Attack of the Clones. And his status as such directly applies to the topic at hand. If you recall, Luke was also a "whiny little shit" through most of Hope and Empire. He got better in Jedi, which allowed him to reject the Dark in a way Anakin could not. Juxtaposition! 2. Qui-Gon is far more important than you give him credit for. It's clear that the Buddhism of the Jedi Council is what contributed to their downfall, and Obi-Wan's by-the-book attitude not a proper way to train an odd case like Anakin. Qui-Gon followed a more Taoist view of the Living Force that allowed him to transcend and teach Obi and Yoda from beyond (and also why Luke's training has a more Taoist bent). Qui-Gon was seen as a dangerous maverick for keeping his focus on the living rather than the cosmic, but it's exactly that trait that would have allowed him to train Anakin constructively rather than being at odds with him like the rest of the order. While Yoda's speech in Sith regarding fear of loss was absolutely correct, the way he said it further alienated a vulnerable man, allowing Palpatine's honeyed words and feigned empathy gain traction. 3. You showed the wrong Anakin at the end of Jedi. Shame on you. 4. While I understand not getting Padmé's death at first, it isn't "bad writing" as much as Sith having a limited time to wrap up a lot of elements and some not ultimately being able to get the attention they deserve (Jedi had the exact same problem, and handled it worse, but we love it all anyway). On paper, Padmé going into shock because of a combination of depression and residual Force Choke damage that the droids couldn't see makes technical sense, and dying of a broken heart fits the poetic arc perfectly. Really, disrespectfully dismissing this while ignoring the same or worse in other films is the worse kind of hypocrisy.

That ending was actually pretty heartfelt, wasn’t expecting that at all. Thanks for the awesome video!

Amazing. This was so much better than I was expecting. Perhaps the best Wisecrack yet!

After this and the Darth Jarjar theory, I'm beginning to think that Phantom Menace might've been genius writing on a level beyond my comprehension. Shame about the directing.

Didn't Voldemort had exactly the same motivation?

The speaking voice in the Darth Vader video is probably the clearest, most understandable reader I've ever heard, reading at a really fast speed. I think you could be the James Earl Jones of the future--the go-to voice of advertisers, movies, books, etc. I hope your talents are widely shopped around. This is my first foray into this website but I am impressed with your many skills. But they are being under-utilized. It's not just your voice, but your understanding that is communicated in it. Namaste friend.

That was great. The best breakdown of SW I've seen. AND it was good see all of the classic footage instead of the abominations that are the newer re-edits.

I don't know what is more scary about death, the lost of what you have in life or the mystery beyond death!

the level of thought, research and detail makes this video amazing.

I always felt that the lesson from Vader was: be careful who you trust. Even the most talented person can be brought down by choosing the wrong advisers.

I can't remember ever seeing such an in depth analysis of this major Star Wars theme before. Well done.

How about a philosophy of Avatar: the Last Airbender?

Basically Voldemort entire motives as well. Does this mean that, ultimately, in the hero myth the villain is essentially the manifestation of our fear of dying?

8:34 I always like to imagine Vader mouthing "What the fuck..." under his helmet as he steps on the empty robes in this scene. 🤣😂🤣 Idk why that's just so hilarious to me.

so much thought and research goes into each wisecrack video, WOW!

It's a shame the prequels were handled so sloppily, because this is actually a wonderful and important arc and story, but it gets easily lost in a sea of poor dialogue and mediocre special effects.

Can you do the philosophy of The Cornetto Trilogy?

Nice job playing "Mars Bringer of War" in the background

One could argue that ALL existence stems from death denial. We have destinies to be fulfilled, roles to play. A fear of death is necessary to overcome the burdens of living.

Another way that Anakins wish to conquer death manifests in the prequels is his fascination with droids, building them (C3PO) and his close connection to them (R2D2) Droids are "immortal" and if a part of it breaks down, you can easily replace it. Something he even mentions at one point. His fear of death was bound to grow during the prequels when he kills thousands of Trade Federation droids...

MAKE, THE PHILOSOPHY OF DREDD!!!!!

Gustav Holst's The Planets: Mars ("inspiration" for the Imperial March) sounding in the background is a great little jab and easter egg! nice one

the force is strong with this channel

so anakin became a force ghost because he embraced death in the end something which obiwan and Yoda did.

After watching this I realized that episodes 1-6 are about the story of Anakin's fall and return to the light. So now my question is, what's the point of episode 7-9?

Fantastic video! Thank you so much!

9:24, I'm so grateful that you used the original footage for this 💛

The funny thing is that Anikin did bring balance to The Force. At the time of the prequels, the Sith are all dead, fled or in hiding and The Force was out of balance towards the Light side. Anikin brought down the Jedi and rebalanced, then overbalnced The Force towards the Dark side.

Philosophy of the Punisher.

"George Lucas isn't a good writer" - The Internet, basically forever Looking at this, I'd say he's an excellant writer, just bad at dialogue, just a few tweaks away from being a genius philosopher and a world built on a very positive message about accepting what you can't control.

This video is better than I expected. Well done.

I have been having anxiety attacks at the realization for my own mortality for months now. Since then I've become much more isolated, angry, and hot tempered. I'm going to look deeper into this death denial theory. Thank you so much, you've helped me out so much!

The Philosophy of the Nostalgia Critic

I appreciate the humor you put in here.

"I will not embrace Death, but I will accept Death's embrace."

liked for "this whiny little shit"

The funny thing is that they weren't wrong about him, in the end Vader was the one to kill the Emperor and bring balance to the force. They merely assumed he would bring this balance strictly on the light side of the force.

Good job, you've reached strictly to the cultural core of Star Wars. I'm deeply touched by how you've managed to incorporate the whole entity of Anakin and genesis of Vader in one wideo. And you must know that I really appreciate that you've added here this music masterpiece which is Gustav Holst's "Mars - War bringer" recognized after first tune :)

The use of Holst's "Mars, Bringer of War" was a nice touch. Also, totally loving these "The Philosophy of" videos being a huge philosophy nerd myself.

did you just redeem the prequels?

Did anyone else notice that Mars from Holsts Planets was playing in the background?

Me before watching: Eh, just Star Wars, what philosophy can there be?? Me after watching: HOLY SHIT THIS HAS EXPLAINED SO MUCH!! You can explain not just killing but many mean acts that people do to others as stemming from their need to feel control by hurting others 😯

This is one your best Wisecrack

I don't totally agree. While death denial was a big factor in Anakin's turn, I think that disillusionment with the jedi was the primary reason. Throughout the prequels, we see Anakin struggling with the pressure that's placed on him. This can be particularly seen in attack of the clones. He is expected to reject both love and anger--essentially stoicism. This is something he had a hard time doing and ultimately was unable to do. While he struggles with this pressure, he sticks with the jedi because he is convinced that they are good while the dark side is evil. In Revenge of the Sith, Anakin is constantly frustrated that he isn't living up to the jedi standards, and the high expectations that the jedi have for him. And then he begins to see that the jedi aren't living up to the standards that Anakin has always been expected to follow. He becomes more and more angry with the council for not promoting him, and for telling him to spy on Palpatine. He still clings to the notion that the jedi are totally good "The jedi are selfless, they only care about others". All this is ultimately shattered when Mace Windu tries to kill Palpatine--an unarmed prisoner. He says the very same line that Palpatine (whom Anakin now knows to be a sith) had said about Duku earlier. "He's too dangerous to be kept alive". At this moment, Anakin realizes that the jedi aren't living up to the expectations that they had placed on him, and that they are hypocrites. Thus the line "from my point of view the jedi are evil".

THE PHILOSOPHY OF ITS ALWAYS SUNNY IN PHILADELPHIA!

This was the best analysis video of Star Wars I’ve seen

Thank You that was outstanding.

It's hilarious that the Jedi thought for a moment that "bringing balance to the Force" was a good thing when there were hundreds of them and only a few Sith. Balance, in that situation, could only mean fewer Jedi. And that's exactly what Vader brought about.

Probably your best video I've ever seen.

that view of the theme of star wars is helpful in reconciling the lack of depth I usually see when I think about those movies

This was great!!

everyone thought the main character was luke when really it was anakin and vader the whole time

One thing. The 'old' Sith legend of Darth Plagueis the Wise isn't old. Plagueis was Palpatine's master, and Palpatine killed him on the same night that he became the Supreme Chancellor.

@wisecrack, I would argue that both the light side and dark side are death deniers. The light side does it by alternatively pretending that it doesn't exist or becoming force ghosts, and the dark side does it by trying to prolong their literal mortal bodies as long as possible, while also, somehow, becoming force ghosts. Pacifism is usually as much death denial as genocide is. By saying violence isn't necessary to achieve our goals, we can pretend that death isn't necessary, and is ultimately conquerable. I.E. "I could kill you, but I won't, so there will be less death in the world and that provides me with a sense of control over death". Lukes refusal to kill his father was not acceptance of death, but rather death denial. He wanted to pretend like everything was going to turn out a-okay without anyone he cared about, other than himself, getting hurt. Like he could just stand there and toss out platitudes at the emperor and that would fix everything. In that way it was also 'holier than thou' bullshit, but I digress. Because the plot demanded Luke not get his hands dirty, but the emperor die anyway, Darth Vader saves the day... and continues to deny death. Why? Well, he finally got to save someone he cared about, which is literally the whole argument for his death denial in the first place. His ability to save his son was his second to last denial of death, the last being his transcendence into yet another force ghost. In the end, the movie doesn't actually peddle a form of death acceptance, rather it pushes you to accept death as a form of death denial. It's the illusion of control over death (becoming immortal) by accepting it.

Excellent! I think a lot of this philosophy here applies to a number of classic villains. The quote at 7:30 especially. Reminds me deeply of Voldemort, for instance.

I enjoyed this far more than i expected! Thanks a lot!

"Philosophy of Rick Grimes" due to the debates I've been hearing on if he's good or evil

Love this video!!!

I love that Holst's Mars soundtrack in the background... great job!

Thank you for your video. I really enjoyed the way you linked Ernest Beckers' book with Darth Vader very clever and very well articulated.

You've somehow made me love Star Wars even more

The addition of Holst's Planets Suite in the background, which was the basis/inspiration for the Star Wars soundtrack was a nice touch

Oh my god!! That explained my childhood so well. I became super depressed about the concept of death before my 10th birthday! Many crying fits at the idea of growing old and forget the feeling of being young before eventually dying.

You guys should do a video about the philosophy of Stanley Kubrick

This almost makes me want to rewatch the prequels. ALMOST.

Darth Vader is without a doubt the Most Iconic Movie Villain Of All Time. This video explains the Philosophy of Darth Vader.

Excellent analysis. Thank you!!!