When Vader Met C-3PO - Star Wars Canon vs Legends 

Canon Vader is cool with the fact he's this cool, destructive, unwavering powerhouse with little concern for anyone, but I like the Legends version more. It makes sense that after he learns he has a son sparks of light return in him, and things like 3PO to remind him of his humanity and life as Anakin Skywalker with his mother would help further fuel the light within him which eventually comes to fruition when his son faces certain death at the hands of Sidious.

I kinda like the Legends' tortured soul version of Vader more

Honestly I'm glad we have both legends and cannon. Gives us two different almost alternate ways of looking at the universe. I like aspects of both and reading the comments shows a strong love for star wars

I like my Vader with a little of both, a tortured depressed soul who deeply regrets his life choices but due to his own unhappiness and pain does all this dark things and is unwavering evil

I personally like The Legends Vader more.

You have to admit Canon Vader has been very consistent and well written so far. I'm glad they're doing this, Luke should be the only person that can draw Vader back because he doesn't represent his past but a possible future. Making Ahsoka or Threepio part of the reason Vader was turned back kind of cheapens the whole idea of Luke turning his father back to the Light in a small way and I'm glad they understand that.

This still does not explain how Vader never recognize R2.

As a Legends fan, I must say that the way the new canon is ha doing Vader is actually really cool. The new canon is showing us things about Vader that the movie didn't. Granted, Legends did the same, but I kinda prefer the idea of Vader as a ruthless killing machine over him being a tortured soul.

It's the glimpses of humanity underneath the mask that plants the seeds of Vader's redemption. Luke's efforts to turn his father back from the Dark Side was the culmination of his humanity being brought back. Before that all Vader wanted was to turn his son to the Dark Side and the two could rule the galaxy. The old canon did Vader right by making him be a conflicted and three dimensional character; one who has personal struggles and has yet to learn to forgive himself for his mistakes or his failures. This struggle makes him relatable. I don't see that with the new canon. I see a one dimensional character with little to no depth whose efforts to forget his past and embrace his new identity have taken too long. By the time of Lords of the Sith, he should not be getting " 'nam flashbacks" every instance.

I personally preferred the Legend version better, but the cannon version still deserves some credit.

I honestly love both versions of the story and think Vader can be both at the same time

Both make sense but I prefer the legend version better. Having him recognize 3PO & rest his head against it, it does give him a hint of humanity, which makes his eventual redemption via Luke that much more gratifying. While It's true callously ordering 3PO's destruction would show his lack of humanity and apparent coldness, to me it'd make Vader reverting back to the light side a bit unrealistic. But that's just me.

Remember in ep 5 when a damaged C3PO was on Chewbacca's back and when Chewie went into a small rampage when Han was about to get frozen a stormtroopers was ready to shoot him but he was stopped by Vader ? What if Vader stopped him out of fear that he might ended up shooting C3PO by accident? I mean if Vader trooly didnt care about him then why he not only stopped the trooper butt allowed Chewie to rebuild him?

I prefer the tortured soul of the Legends Vader. Having it where he has emotional baggage about what he did and having moments where Anakin reappears briefly makes his redemption a powerful moment. He needed the emperor (or so he thought) to save the ones he loved and agreed to turn for that purpose. After those brief reappearances of Anakin and seeing the emperor killing Luke, he couldn't watch his son die and Anakin returned to protect his son. Without those brief lapses of his and being emotionally tortured by what he did, it makes Vader just a killing machine that probably wouldn't of bat an eye at the idea of Luke dying. That's just my opinion, though.

This is why I like Canon Vader more.

Canon Vader is way better in my opinion. The idea of Vader being a conflicted soul in legends is an interesting idea, but it kind of takes away from the times he's being an awesome killing machine. In canon, I think that it's easier to except that Vader is more like in the first 2 movies (A New Hope and Revenge of the Sith).

I still think the tortured soul makes more sense, mainly because it gives a reason why the remains of 3po end up in the cell with Chewie.

I liked the tortured soul Vader better honestly. It's not that seeing things that reminded him of Anakin could redeem him. It was just seeing small bits of humanity return so he wouldn't just flat out kill Luke when they fought. Luke and Leia are still reminders of what he once was. Both Luke and Leia find out who he is. Small moments like Vader saying his hate for himself and cherishing memories of the people in his life that he hurt make his turn to the light more believable to me. He sees Luke as his final chance because he sees so much of Anakin Skywalker in Luke, but Luke manages to show that he is better than Anakin by not giving into his hate or anger. Vader never fully accepted the dark side because if he did he would just let the Emperor kill Luke in the end. The conflict in Vader is more than just "I can't kill my son. I need to turn him to the dark side" Remember when he says it's too late to turn back to Luke in ROTJ. You can hear the grief and sorrow of a tortured soul. This is more fitting to me in my opinion.

I prefer Vader in Canon. I love seeing the terrifying and relentless monster that Vader has become, while also peeling back each layer of his character as we get a better look into his mental state and those perfect yet brief moments of humanity that still remain.

Why does c3po look like he killed someone in the thumbnail

I prefer Legends versions as it makes Vader seem more human. It doesn't make him any less of bad ass to have more human side. It only makes him better as character.

Canon handled this much better than Legends. I just don't see Vader stopping at the sight of a pile of parts he probably has no way of knowing is actually C-3PO, unless he's the only Gold Painted 3PO Droid in the entire Galaxy, and acting like a baby. Vader would've most certainly tried to hide all memory of his past and bottled up his emotions in order to maintain his imposing presence.

I'm glad Vader is the Power House he deserves to be in the new Canon.

I prefer the Legends version, as you said it is touching.

I prefer the new canon because the Vader of Legends is too much like Anakin. Vader in canon is a different character. It gives the story more continuity.

I thought the whole, "Vader being emotional about C-3P0," in Legends was ridiculously stupid lol it made my eyes roll back worse than his "NOOOOOO!!!" at the end of Revenge of the Sith. I mean, COME ON lol holding 3-P0's head up to his like he's having emotional flashbacks about him or something, Give me a break! lol when Anakin left 3-P0 behind the first time he said, "I'll make sure mom doesn't sell you, BYE!" with no discernable attachments whatsoever and he was still a kid then! But, that's only one of the choices made in Legends that I so fundamentally disagreed with lol I was actually glad they reset the Canon/Legends distinction! It meant I could just forget stuff like that because it no longer has any bearing on the Universe because it never REALLY happened. 😂

Vader needs to be unwavering. If he wavers, then he'd be faced with the ghosts of all those he's killed. My pushing ahead and trying to destroy the past he tries to keep such things as far from his mind as he can.

There is no tactically sound reason for Vader to order 3PO's destruction if it were any old droid with info on the Rebellion that could still be scanned, so I agree, Vader knew what he was looking at. I like the new canon version of Vader. I wouldn't call him without conflict, I'd just say that he got better and better at burying it, to the point where his children are the only thing that can reach him. 3PO is possibly an uncomfortable reminder, but not enough to pull him back. Anakin's turn to the dark side thoroughly destroyed his bonds with Obi-Wan and killed Padme, severing his strongest links to his past life. 3PO can't compete with that, Luke and Leia can. There was this odd limbo in Legends when our picture of the prequels was still incomplete. Revenge of the Sith wasn't out and Obi-Wan was seen as merely a teacher to Anakin and not the caretaker/big brother figure that Ep3 took greater care to establish (compared to Ep2 when Obi-Wan was mostly a nag). Now that we've had time to reflect on the complete saga, the new canon can be more consistent.

I must admit, I much prefer the Legends version. I prefer the idea of him being a damaged soul with a lot of conflict which honestly makes sense given that Luke clearly sensed the good in him. I think it's better to show that.

Vader didn't even show any sort of remorse or conflicting emotions when he killed Obi-wan and that guy was his father, his brother, his best friend. Him getting all emotional over 3CPO is cute, but it's out of character.

I think the scenes of rogue one at the end and the one in the 2016 comic when he says im sarounded by dead man really show that

Great channel with great content. I think I like the Canon-Vader a little more. It makes his turn back to the light side more powerful and also strengthens his relationship with Luke in that Luke is the only one who could have an influence on him and isn't just the drop that makes the barrel scrap over.

That one moment when Vander stops Boba from shooting Chewbacca, when he had C-3PO strapped to his back.

My cousin and I were interested to see what Darth Vader's reaction when he saw C3-OO again. After seeing it my cousins response was "That's a little harsh". I personally prefer the Canon version over Legends.

Great vid Alex. I like the unwavering darkness....though Ashoka had a short moment with him.

If Vader knew that was C3PO he probably wanted him destroyed because he reminded him of his mother, who he originally built him for in the first place. 3PO would most likely bring back bad memories of his mom's death

I like both. I want Vader to be a badass like he is in new canon and most of the EU to. But I want there to be hints of humanity in him. I like how he reacted to C-3po in the old comic more

I think that both legends and canon Vader are both good in there own way. Legends it shows Vader as a complex character filled with emotions. Vader shows that he cares about people around him such as the stormtroopers. This is because the Darkside isn't evil it is a matter how you use it and this gives Vader a clear route to turn to the light side. Canon shows Vader as a complete nihilist and being a walking tank. All of his misfortunes have come together to create him but still has some humility in him such as when he was with asokha in rebels. There is still so much to be created for him.

I'm honestly not sure which I prefer. The canon version certainly shows a Vader more dedicated to the dark side and the extinction of everything Anakin Skywalker ever was, giving us a more powerful Vader, which I like; he is supposed to be crazy powerful, after all. But the tortured soul of Legends added a lot of depth to his character.

Canon makes Vader cool, but nevertheless one-dimensional. Legends is better because it fleshes out the character more and just makes sense. Vader has conflict within him in RotJ. But if he didn't have that conflict before, where did it come from?

I prefer Legends Vader. It just makes more sense and makes him relatable in a weird way. Melancholic nostalgia is a feeling we all have, and I like to think even Vader has that same sentiment. Legends Vader just makes more sense as a character, but Canon Vader has a more commanding presence.

Darth Vader is usually the mascot of the Star Wars franchise as well as cinema's greatest villains, but I appreciate him from both Canon and Legends based on his body language and inner thoughts shown throughout Star Wars literature. This indicates he is truly and arguably capable of anything. However, from a humanistic standpoint, Vader will have his bad days. Great video!!!

Legends

Honestly the new direction that Disney is going is making me a little nervous, I can't help but feel that they are removing some of vaders complexity that he had in legends and are making him a two-dimensional villain that, because he is Aniken Skywalker, we are supposed to still be able to sympathize with. The money little sparks of humanity that we saw in legends helped make it a little more believable that he had rejected the dark side on the second Death Star and I'm afraid that unless Disney really takes steps to keep some bits of humanity in Vader in these sorts of moments that his redemption is going to be harder to believe. There is one legends comic where Vader is tricked into thinking that a force illusion he is seeing is his dead wife and he momentarily loses his yellow eyes, I really hope that Disney retains at the very least those sorts of moments.

I think making Canon Vader this destructive force with no remorse and virtually no emotions was needed to make Kylo Ren's character arc more impactful and sensical. We see Kylo losing control again and again as his inner conflict creates obsessions and tantrums, while Vader was always calm and collected in public despite his inner conflict in Legends. If that inner conflict remained, it would make Kylo look that much worse in comparison (which he already does). The fact that a sith lord standing right beside the man that ruined his life (Palpatine) and with almost as much inner conflict as Kylo stood his ground while Kylo can't keep focus for like 15 minutes would terribly undermine Kylo Ren's impact as a villain. That being said, I like both versions of Vader, really. I think Legends Vader was a bit more three-dimensional and relatable, while Canon Vader makes the RotJ scene more impactful and has been better at bridging the emotional Anakin with the way Vader seems emotionless in the original trilogy. Both are great and serve different purposes and are amazing characters to follow in their own rights.

The whole point is that there is no Anakin, until Luke reminded him of the love and compassion he had as Anakin by offering compassion and redemption. There shouldn't be any conflict for Vader beforehand. He is a force of nature, death incarnate, pure evil.

Canon has made Vader more powerful and cruel being more cool

I kinda thought of Vader as that tortured soul, but I also like where the new canon is taking his character.

Unwavering....now that described it in detail

Good job. You earned yourself a subscriber

Canon Vader >>> Legends Vader

The EU version is quite touching for us fans because we would not expect Vader to do so,the canon comic underline what we allready know about Vader and thats no fun.

Dave Filoni talks about how ultimately only Luke could reach the human in Vader and turn him back to the light. I believe he also spoke with George Lucas about how important this point was but I can't remember where. Regardless, this is a point that Dave talks about as being central to writing the duel between Vader and Ahsoka. Dave and the Lucas Film Story Group have really been keeping important details like this together since before the Disney sale. There was a lot of this establishment of the "proper" canon during Clone Wars, when George Lucas was essentially mentoring the current generation of story tellers at Lucasfilm and giving them access to his extensive paper notes going back decades. Like the new canon or not, you have to admit the story group has done a much better job of staying true to the characters and keeping things consistent.

I love watching all the comments slowly come in

That moment on Cloud City will always be canon to me.

The subtle differences in Vader’s psychology between Legends and canon is so interesting just on the face of it. I love that both versions have been fleshed out and explored, and in the same way that both Operation Cinder and Operation Shadow Hand make sense for Palpatine’s character, I think both of these interpretations are valid for Vader. I’m currently having a lot of fun with the canon version of Vader, and I think it’s ultimately more consistent because some Legends writers did use that same attitude towards him; while I don’t think that’s unrealistic, people are contradictory after all, it does make it more of a guessing game. “Will Vader care about this relic from his past or will he try to destroy it?” In canon I like the fact that we know how brutally he’ll respond to any such reminder, and I do think it emphasizes Luke’s critical importance.

Here's my theory: with having been forced to return to Tatooine, the planet where he'd been a slave and his mother had died, and learning he had a son, which caused conflict in him, my guess is that Vader just couldn't stand yet another relic of his past. That might be why he ordered C-3PO disposed immediately; to save him less conflict.

I would like a bit of both. I understand him being the unwavering Sith lord most of the time but it would be nice to see that tortured soul aspect when anything related to his past in a significant way came up. Just to remind us that there is still a little bit of Anakin in there, it makes him more dynamic and ties intp episode 6 better that way.

I remember Dave Filoni (regarding if Ashoka could have reawakened feelings of compassion in Vader when they met in Rebels) said that nothing could have swayed Vader to the light before Luke, only because it would weaken the impact of Luke bringing him back to the light in Return of the Jedi.

Even as a kid he did not seem so attached to C3PO. When he was leaving he said "I'll try to make sure mom does not sell you" He says it casually without much force. He is a slave who has been bought and sold and to C3PO he only shows mild concern about him being sold.

0:06 I'm subscribed to all three of those RU-vidrs 😂

I dunno, the legend meeting took place quite a bit later in time, after knowing more about his son and he also saw 3PO in person, after he was mostly destroyed. I think both version could exist in the same canon.

I love what they are doing with Vader in canon. I think it fits more with Lucas' original vision of Star Wars. Darkside bad, lightside good. It's pretty cut and dry with Lucas. I really hope they aren't taking the new heroes and villains into this messy moral ambiguity. I've never really been a fan of the gray concept.

I think I prefer vader's darkness. anakin was never a character to fully think things through, so I think this brutal response to the pain of the dark side fits.

I think Vader can be a mix of both "Tortured soul" AND "fully committed to Dark Side" when you think about it. He's still wracked with guilt but is intense denial about it. The thing with Threepio being destroyed to hide who he was could've been just as much out of pragmatism/paranoia as it was in a sense that "Anakin is dead and gone, stop digging up the past." It's true that Luke could've been the only one to save him, but that doesn't mean things like Threepio don't sting a little, even if he denies it.

Do you know that they use your videos on wookiepedia

I think Legends Vader is a better character, but Legends Vader is also unfaithful to the imposing villain that Vader was in the movies. So this canon interpretation makes more sense in the broader scheme of things. And while I don't like villains all that much, (who does?) I do like the consistency and attention to source material.

Judging by what we saw in Rouge one I feel this new cannon Vader is just there to please the masses. "BRO look it's Vader haha he's a total bad ass killing machine." Where as legends it painted Vader more as a conflicted man who pushed people away because he didn't know better, fell into the wrong crowd and by the time he realizes his mistake it's too late.

Both scenes involve Vader in person and Vader at a distance also at different times. Canon Vader is full of rage from the faliure at Yavin but Legends Vader is on Bespin so he already knows about Luke so those Anakin memories are slowly returning possibly allowing such a reaction. I wanna know what Vaders reaction was when Luke jumped. His son would rather die then survive and gain power which is the complete opposite of Vader, if anything finally cracked his mental armor it would be that.

I always loved the idea of seeing Vader still coping with what he has done to become what he is. So I prefer the tortured soul.

Hiding his identity im sure was a big part of it. I never cared for the legends version holding his head against c3po, if you have a point in life where everything changes and your going down a dark path and your goal is to be as dark(powerful) as possible then anything before that point of change only drags on what was and disrupts what you are now reaching for. Its one thing to have an occasional thought of the past come across your mind but its another to have it pysically in front of you and that feeling is unwanted and can cause conflict inside which again disrupts focus and drive for the darkness(power) you seek. (There is no light inside me, i am darkness, i will crush all that stands before me🕵). Cant be this with the past of good times(relative) and love infiltrating your path. Just my opion.

A happy marriage of both Vaders would he nice. Only reason being is small glimpses of Vader's humanity were my favorite parts of legends because while Vader could never be swayed fully to the light side by the past it was nice to see him waver and have regrets because it makes the moment where he chooses Luke over Sidious that much more powerful because while other things may have reminded him and even momentarily brought Anakin to the surface only his son could ever give him the true strength to forgive himself and love truly again.

I think it would have been better if there was a pause before telling them to destroy it. Showing him thinking about it.

I like the changes they're making in the canon. They're simply restoring Vader to the "master" status he had before certain Legends authors turned him into a wimp. I find the very thought of Vader portrayed as weak or "never reaching full potential" to be insulting to the original trilogy, where he is obviously portrayed otherwise. The choice he makes in canon is the only one the Dark Lord of the Sith would make. I realize that the character's humanity is important, but you have to do it in a context that is proper for the character. There are much better ways to do that than Legends did, and I'm glad Lucasfilm is trying to restore some respect for my favorite Star Wars character.

I think I remember Vader asking the droid to be scrapped before that "touching" moment in Legends, but I may be wrong.

I prefer tortured soul Vader. Being hardened and emotionless is cool, but Vader has more layers than that. Also it makes a more believable story that his son can return him to normal if his human side is still vulnerable. Showing that vulnerability is called character development which is always a good thing.

Tortured soul adds diversity to him

As usual, I like legends more and I think it sucks that they de-canonized a great character moment.

I like the conjecture.

They still haven't rapped up this story. R2 went off to search for 3PO, Luke went after R2 only to be sidetracked by the stone power guy and the Screaming Citadel. I'm pretty sure they acknowledged that 3PO was still in the hands of the Empire and R2 was still trying to get him back during the Screaming Citadel arch, but they haven't gone back to that. I think the next two issues will be Lando and Sana focused, then after that is something about Han going off to do a smuggling job. It will have been almost a year since the comics have addressed 3PO.

In hologram you can't see the exact colour of character or droid, so maybe Vader didn't know that was C 3PO

I like both the legends and canon versions, and can't decide between the two

hello there

I like legends better it gives vader haunting memories

I love canon Vader way more!

Cop out answer but I like both and I'm glad both exist. In a vacuum, I prefer legends Vader but I like the way canon Vader fits into the overall story more. Incidentally, this is a microcosm of how I feel about legends v. canon in general, with legends generally containing better individual stories considered as individuals and canon being more coherent and thematically consistent.

I admit that I like the legends vader better

I think they could do a blend of both Tortured and Evil Vader. Both versions have merit.

I will always prefer the legends. I feel Vader up to Ep 4 was like this until he learned the name of the pilot who destroyed the Death Star.

Yeah Canon Vader is pretty awesome. Legends it seemed was to conflicted trying to Retcon the OT/early-Legends Vader with the PT Anakin after Revenge of the Sith came out. The new brutal Canon Vader makes his redemption at the end all the more shocking and dramatic.

One thing I would still really like to see in the new canon, though definitely not in one of the films as this is the kind of thing which fits best in the expanded media, is having force ghost Anakin reflect on his time as Vader with Luke. I think that would be a very interesting conversation for them to have, both for Luke's understanding of his father, and Vader's understanding of himself. The device of Force Ghost Anakin allows this story to be told, and I don't believe it ever really has been in Legends or Canon. (I could be wrong about legends though)

I more like canon Darth Vader

Personally a mix between the two would probably be he most realistic version of Vader. For most of his time as Vader have him as an unwavering evil badass but once he finds out who Luke is have him slowly become more and more conflicted as he struggles with the realization that he has children. Leading up to right before Return of the Jedi where he is a tortured soul struggling with his identity as he finally falters near the end of Return of the Jedi on Endor when he tells Luke that it's too late for him and eventually sacrifices himself at the end of the film

My issue with this is it brings back the question of why Chewie was just rebuilding 3P0 with no problem.

Vader should've been tortured soul to powerful/merciless in like a few years in a comic novel, not instant like the recent comic did (still the fight was bad ass and answered some questions).

I like cannon vader more, but i would have liked to see some hints of humanity with stuff like this, like just a moment of hesitation

I think the new canon is trying to make Vader a stronger or more evil person then the original canon made him.

It's probably better that he is fairly heartless towards C3PO. In the movies and the Clone Wars he seemingly shows very little love for the robot. If anyone it's Padme who seems to care more about him. There's even some episodes where C3PO is missing and Anakin couldn't care less (unlike R2D2). He seemed to see C3PO as a droid he built and nothing else, where as R2D2 for example was a friend. So if R2D2 sparked some feeling or memory, I could understand it more, but C3PO? I prefer the canon version (even though I like C3PO haha)

I think nothing of is past cud redeam vader because it remembered him is mistakes but his son was more like a restart

I like the new version, because it shows more that he must not think of himself of still being skywalker. :-) :-)