SW Tech: Why is Darth Vader scarred?

Star Wars is supposed to take place in the past, but has highly advanced technology. Luke gets his face messed up by the wampa at the beginning of ESB, but the rebels put him in, what looks like, a liquid rejuvenation chamber. Afterwards he looks healed, with left over bruises, marks, or stitches. Later, he gets his hand cut off, but he gets a flesh-covered, mechanical replacement that, from the outside, is undetectable.

Why is Anakin’s scarring permanent but not Luke’s? I read that at one point, Vader’s origin was going to include him falling into something radioactive, which might explain any attempts to fix his face/body not lasting very long. But wouldn’t burning be reparable in the SW universe?

lovelikewinter said:

He didn’t just get a burn, he was on fucking fire. His clothes seared to his skin. If you look at him in Jedi, he looks really good for a burn victim.

So, we’re supposed to assume that his appearance in ROTJ represents the physical damages he incurred prior to the mask, or that he naturally healed very slowly from those injuries, or that his body/face took a long time to get repaired through medical means.

I think Lucas intended the first, because their was nothing to imply that he was trying to get his face fixed in the previous films, and probably he didn’t want Vader’s countenance to look too gruesome for the younger demographic he was aiming for (see The Ewoks).

Yes, he was on fire, so you’d think that the Emperor would have put him in some kind of therapy/rehabilitative/medical procedure, or something. I think the tech seen in SW would mandate that. Instead, he’s instantly put into the robotic suit. You’d think he’d be put on some kind of respiratory system, while trying to at least repair SOME of his injuries. Which is why I don’t think it makes sense with what we know of Star Wars.
They can recreate the look of Luke’s hand, seamlessly, when it wasn’t on fire, it was completely gone, but Vader’s charred body right away is put into a suit.

Tyrphanax said:

I think one of the old-EU explanations was that the Emperor purposely didn’t allow Vader to be fully healed so that he would always carry the pain and scars of his failure in order to better keep him under his heel.

I could see that. He’s completely servile to the Emperor in the originals. However, it really takes away from the character if he has the ability to regain his old appearance, but his boss is like, “No, pretty much destroyed the Jedi, ensured my domination of the galaxy, but you failed to kill Obi-Wan. I’m withholding plastic surgery from you.” I’d like to think the reason he holds a grudge towards Obi-Wan, is because he suffered irreparable damage from him, turning him into a monster. Even if his wife had still been alive, he’s disfigured and trapped in a walking respiratory device.

To be honest I wish this had been how they portrayed Vader in ROTJ. I personally don’t think it would have distracted the audience from the emotional moments in that scene after the initial shock of seeing Vader’s face as there is enough time for that to take the visual in before he and Luke start talking again. It even would sync up better with how he was injured in ROTS.

EDIT:

Also Vader probably shouldn’t have a nose either.

Tyrphanax said:

I think one of the old-EU explanations was that the Emperor purposely didn’t allow Vader to be fully healed so that he would always carry the pain and scars of his failure in order to better keep him under his heel.

Which would make sense – especially since Palpatine does have access to cloning technology, and could easily replace Anakin’s damaged/lost body parts with cloned replacements if that’s what he really wanted to do.

Medicine in the SW Universe is shit. They can zip around the galaxy at FTL speeds and create planet-blasting superweapons, but they can’t keep women from dying in childbirth of a broken heart or slow down the human aging process.

Voss Caltrez said:

Tyrphanax said:

I think one of the old-EU explanations was that the Emperor purposely didn’t allow Vader to be fully healed so that he would always carry the pain and scars of his failure in order to better keep him under his heel.

I could see that. He’s completely servile to the Emperor in the originals. However, it really takes away from the character if he has the ability to regain his old appearance, but his boss is like, “No, pretty much destroyed the Jedi, ensured my domination of the galaxy, but you failed to kill Obi-Wan. I’m withholding plastic surgery from you.” I’d like to think the reason he holds a grudge towards Obi-Wan, is because he suffered irreparable damage from him, turning him into a monster. Even if his wife had still been alive, he’s disfigured and trapped in a walking respiratory device.

So if that whole suit is a respitory device, why is it so big? Remember in the prequels they stick something the size3 of a pencil in their mouths and they are able to breathe underwater. Did they cheap out and buy Darth a old one or something?

I totally misread the name of this thread the other day and thought it was asking why Darth Vader was scared. Now every time I see it I misread it even though I know what it’s about.