“Vader gets mad, but he never flies off the handle. He wields his anger like a blunt weapon. Vader chokes an officer to make a point. Amputating his son was a very calculating move to end the conflict swiftly. Vader’s just a much colder person.”
I just watched the arm scene. It wasn’t primarily calculating IMO. He was going to end the battle before, then Luke gets in a good hit, then Vader has an incoherent yell of rage and cuts his hand off.
And while the choking of an officer might be making a point, it is still quite hotheaded. Imagine if Tarkin choked out that same guy if that guy called him frail or something in a meeting.
“I can think of a couple times, sure, but nothing to the degree of, “Apology accepted, Captain Needa”, or “We would be honored if you would join us”.”
Well I think the thing is, the dry wit that he displays in the PT would only congeal into the nastiness of Vader after he gives himself to the dark. I think of moments like “If you’ll excuse me!” or “I say patience.” as the kind of humor that would become nastier in Vader. Interestingly, Stover gave Anakin some snarky Vader-like lines in the novelization when he was killing the Sep council, but I think the movies are structured in such a way that he wouldn’t joke like that yet. The mature Vader persona of the OT isn’t yet complete in the PT, we are left to fill in the gap from freshly traumatized ex Jedi to comfortable middle aged Sith lord. Which i’m fine with, but I think some fans are not. This is also why I think the volatile, “whiny” nature of his PT character isn’t incongruent, Vader in the OT and the Sith in general are basically what happens when you just let your worst, immature impulses take the wheel. Don’t like this underling? Kill him. Don’t like Obi Wan reminding you of the past? Kill him. Don’t like the Rebels pooping on your party? Kill them all.
“He’s smart until he believes Palpatine about saving people from dying.”
People say this, but I disagree. Going off that scene, Anakin clearly has a pretty clear understanding of the Sith ideology (as taught by the Jedi at least). If the Jedi are about letting go, the Sith are about holding on, so holding onto your life in perpetuity seems like something a Sith would attempt.