What would happen if Anakin survived ROTJ?

[Civil War Man]

Suppose Luke saves Anakin in the way he was hoping to (against his father's expectations, and perhaps even wishes) and Anakin survives. What would happen with a former (emphasize former, since in Obi-wan speak, Vader is dead) Dark Lord of the Sith running around?

I personally think Anakin was better off turning out the way he did, because there's no doubt in my mind that even with Anakin good, there's a lot of people that wouldn't accept him (or, in more extreme cases, wouldn't even tolerate him being alive).

Just imagine this: the Lambda shuttle lands, hatch opens, and Luke comes out helping Anakin along...

Rebel: "HOLY SHIT, IT'S DARTH VADER! AAAAAUUUUGGGHH!"
Other Rebels either run away screaming or pull out blasters and start opening fire.

[Robert Walper]

I assume Luke would've been smart enough to take Vad...Anakin somewhere safe where he could recover fully.

[Vympel]

Well, there's always that silly Infinities comic of Anakin Skywalker in the suit, Vader long gone ... only difference? The suit is white.

I am not joking.

[Darth Fanboy]

Build a different suit/Life Support mechanism and who would know that it was Vader? To the galaxy, Vader was the man in the black armor.

[Darth Wong]

If he made a full recovery and was in the custody of the Rebel (soon to be fledgling New Republic) forces he would probably have been put on trial for multiple counts of murder. If he found his way back to Imperial-controlled territory somehow, he might have been able to take control of Imperial forces due to his rank and it is possible that he might have been able to work out some kind of relatively peaceful transition back to a Republic (thus avoiding the massive bloodshed that erupted in the ensuing power struggles between regional Imperial warlords), assuming his change of heart was permanent.

[Vympel]

Build a different suit/Life Support mechanism and who would know that it was Vader? To the galaxy, Vader was the man in the black armor.

True. But it'd be kind of a coincidence, don't you think? Breathing, anyone?

I've said it more than once, if Vader ever found a Goa'uld sarcophagus ...

[NecronLord]

The Rebel Alliance puts him on trial for murder, genocide, high treason (against the Republic) and so forth. He pleads guilty, and is excecuted.

[Darth Fanboy]

True. But it'd be kind of a coincidence, don't you think? Breathing, anyone?

I've said it more than once, if Vader ever found a Goa'uld sarcophagus ...

Vader's breathing sounds like any other breathing mechanism I would think, anyone who saw him breathing like that and not wearing a Vader helmet would probably not make that connection. You could ty cloning then eventually or you could try letting him concentrate of using the Force to heal also. I think more practically though it would be best to let Anakin retire and avoid people altogether afterwards.

EDIT:

Plus if He didn't have the synthesized "James Earl Jones" voice any longer I don't think anyone would notice either. Even with the breathing.

[NecronLord]

If we take SotE as evidence, Vader was able to heal himself with the force, but regressed whenever his hate slipped. That might not be a problem for Anakin.

[Lusankya]

The name Anakin Skywalker was almost completely dissociated with Darth Vader. Vader did almost nothing in the name of the Emperor while he still looked like Anakin Skywalker (well, nothing that anyone other than Obi-wan survived in any case.

Would it be possible to revert to being called Anakin Skywalker and have noone other than Luke and Leia any the wiser?

If it weren't for him needing the suit...
"So, Anakin... how did you get cut up so bad that you need that suit?"
"Uh... it's Darth Vader's fault." *cough cough*
"Oh, did did you lose a battle against him?"
"Yeah. Something like that."

If they did know it was him, however, I doubt that the Rebellion at that stage would have tried him for murder. They'd probably jump at the propaganda windfall they'd get when the "Emperor's right-hand man" defected and joined them. Vader was in a pretty sweet position, and if they let everyone know that even he thought the Empire was evil, then lots of people might have started having second thoughts.

[Darth Fanboy]

Vader was responsible for too many deaths for people to accept him. going with the name Anakin Skywalker might not be a bad idea, wonder how many people would remember him from the Clone Wars at that point and assume he was killed by Darth Vader during the Purge. Obi Wan's lie becomes the truth?

[Crossroads Inc.]

Interesting ideas...

Build a new life support suit of Armour for Anakin.
Claim to have 'Found' the long lost hero Anakin Skywalker. Perhaps Imprisioned on the Death Star.
Explain how he lost a 'fight' with Darth Vader which forced him to ware the suit.
Celebrate an old Hero returning just as the Emperor bites it.

I think it would work out pretty well!

[Lusankya]

It would probably also depend on whether or not Senator Organa blabbed about Anakin turning to the Dark Side. I think there's a good chance of him staying silent on the matter, though. He'd hardly want Vader to pay too much attention to him when he's harbouring his daughter.

Leia might be a pain though. She hated Vader, what with all the torture and the destruction of her home planet and all.

[Vympel]

Leia might be a pain though. She hated Vader, what with all the torture and the destruction of her home planet and all.

The torture yes, but the destruction of her home planet was no more his affair than any other crewman on the Death Star. That was Tarkin's insanity. He of course did nothing to stop it, and probably approved.

[18-Till-I-Die]

Are we forgetting what he did? He personally is responsible for billions of deaths (Alderaan) and God only know how many Jedi and children he killed at the Temple. Fuck Anakin Skywalker, i'm glad he's dead, let him stay that way.

And if he did survive, i propose we immediately try him for war cimes, genocide and mass murder. Show the moutains of evidence, and let a jury of his peers send him to the Carbonite freezer for an eternity.

[18-Till-I-Die]

Leia might be a pain though. She hated Vader, what with all the torture and the destruction of her home planet and all.

The torture yes, but the destruction of her home planet was no more his affair than any other crewman on the Death Star. That was Tarkin's insanity. He of course did nothing to stop it, and probably approved.

I have a hard time beleiving Tarkin was solely responsable. We tried guards at Nazi death camps for crimes against humanity, anyone who participated in the deaths of an entire planet of billions of people should be tried as well. That includes, especially, the comamders: Tarkin and Vader.

[Lusankya]

Leia might be a pain though. She hated Vader, what with all the torture and the destruction of her home planet and all.

The torture yes, but the destruction of her home planet was no more his affair than any other crewman on the Death Star. That was Tarkin's insanity. He of course did nothing to stop it, and probably approved.

Vader was there, and could have at least tried to stop it. He had the ability to stop it. Do you think the Janitor in section Y Alpha 9 bears the same burden of guilt as Vader?

Besides, even if he had no way of stopping it at all because Tarkin's authority exceeded his by so much and Force choking doesn't work on Tarkin and Oh Dear! Isn't Vader completely helpless?!?, emotions aren't rational, and seeing as Vader was there and seemingly approving of the wanton destruction, I'd think that Leia would blame him despite whatever the reality of the situation was.

[GrandMasterTerwynn]

True. But it'd be kind of a coincidence, don't you think? Breathing, anyone?

I've said it more than once, if Vader ever found a Goa'uld sarcophagus ...

Vader's breathing sounds like any other breathing mechanism I would think, anyone who saw him breathing like that and not wearing a Vader helmet would probably not make that connection. You could ty cloning then eventually or you could try letting him concentrate of using the Force to heal also. I think more practically though it would be best to let Anakin retire and avoid people altogether afterwards.

EDIT:

Plus if He didn't have the synthesized "James Earl Jones" voice any longer I don't think anyone would notice either. Even with the breathing.

I suspect that Good Vader would only have a couple of choices open to him.

A) In spite of his turning, the Rebels would probably try him and execute him in a very public manner. After all, he was the late Emperor's enforcer and his actions in that role would make him good fodder to stand trial in the Emperor's stead (shooting down/torturing Rebels, hastening the construction of DSII,) who would be rather inconveniently dead. Nobody would know about his slaughter of the Jedi because the records of the Jedi were almost completely purged between RoTS and ANH.

B) After a private reunion of the Skywalker family, he goes off into exile. Maybe off to Dagobah to commune with the Force and atone for his crimes.

C) He takes control of Coruscant as Emperor Skywalker and gets killed in approximately a week due to the scheming of the assorted Grand Moffs and other Imperial big-wigs seeking to replace the Emperor. (Good Vader lacks Palpatine's talent for fine political manipulation. And Palpatine seems to have spent much of his time playing all the factions within the Empire against each other . . . and he was just good enough to keep it from blowing up in his face. Vader would die horribly trying to manage that snake's nest without turning back to the Dark Side and crushing tracheas with his mind.)

[Darth Wong]

The best thing for the trillions of people in the galaxy would have been for Vader to assume control of the Empire and manage a peaceful transition back to a Republic. Putting him on trial for murder would be nothing more than an irrational, theatrical, and stupid display; the Empire's forces at this point are still vastly more powerful than those of the Rebellion, and it is only the massive fratricide (and associated horrible civilian collateral damage) that weakens the Empire to the point that the New Republic can take over.

[Iceberg]

The best thing for the trillions of people in the galaxy would have been for Vader to assume control of the Empire and manage a peaceful transition back to a Republic. Putting him on trial for murder would be nothing more than an irrational, theatrical, and stupid display; the Empire's forces at this point are still vastly more powerful than those of the Rebellion, and it is only the massive fratricide (and associated horrible civilian collateral damage) that weakens the Empire to the point that the New Republic can take over.

Additionally, executing Vader makes him a martyr fpr the Imperial cause, something the Alliance can ill afford.

[Tsyroc]

Well, there's always that silly Infinities comic of Anakin Skywalker in the suit, Vader long gone ... only difference? The suit is white.

I am not joking.

I still hate that.

At the very least you would think he'd change the mask and helmet so they didn't look like his Vader suit. Plus, I don't see him wearing white. He never wears white as Anakin. What's he doing, wearing white in rememberance of Alderan since that culture seemed to have a thing for white?

In that book the only reason they might tolerate him is because the Emperor got away and Anakin would still be a powerful asset. After the Rebels win (assuming) he better hope he's done a shit load of redeaming otherwise you can bet someone will want a piece of his ass. Personally, I'm assuming that Anakin still probably goes down fighting the Emperor except that this time he's on Luke's side from the begining of the fight.

[The Duchess of Zeon]

The best thing for the trillions of people in the galaxy would have been for Vader to assume control of the Empire and manage a peaceful transition back to a Republic. Putting him on trial for murder would be nothing more than an irrational, theatrical, and stupid display; the Empire's forces at this point are still vastly more powerful than those of the Rebellion, and it is only the massive fratricide (and associated horrible civilian collateral damage) that weakens the Empire to the point that the New Republic can take over.

I second that. The situation of the rebels after ROTJ is sort of like the situation of the Republican Chinese after Yuan Shikai is deposed in 1917. There are innumerable warlords, and almost all of them are more powerful than Sun Yat-Sen's followers (which at the time included the communists). In fact, we can sort of build up a rough comparison, with the degraded Qing Dynasty as the failing Old Republic, the initial Chinese Republic--the effective dictatorship of Yuan Shikai--as the Empire--and then the period of warlordism that follows as being analogous to the period of warlordism Endor. Once Sun Yat-Sen's followers split we can place Chiang as being analogous to the primary body of the old Empire and Mao as the Republic; Chiang's Great Northern Offensive is comparable to the Imperial resurgence of the Thrawn/DE era, especially in the later stages where it was conducted almost exclusively against the other warlords, as was the Imperial Civil War after the recapture of Coruscant. The Japanese invasion is analogous to the Vong invasion and only after thirty-five years of constant bloodshed is there finally a unified central government again.

It's not a good example--especially since the Communists never really have the primary position that the Republic holds a couple of times during the pre-Vong period (though consistantly loses soon after), but it does roughly lay out things in terms of history and how such wars can develop and progress in our own history. Therefore, we could take the scenario of Vader living through ROTJ as being somewhat like the occasionally postulated alt-histories in which Yuan Shikai compromises on a constitutionalist Imperial regime instead of trying to enforce autocracy as "China's Napoleon", thereby preserving the governing consensus and sparing China the era of Warlordism.

[Shroom Man 777]

You know what'd be nice to imagine? Vader in the SW equivalent of the Caymans, with a confidential bank account full of cash he stole from the Emperor, sipping iced tea while watching at hot nekkid latinas frolicing at the beach

[Lusankya]

You know what'd be nice to imagine? Vader in the SW equivalent of the Caymans, with a confidential bank account full of cash he stole from the Emperor, sipping iced tea while watching at hot nekkid latinas frolicing at the beach

He could retire to Naboo! See if he could pick up Padme's sister or something.

I don't think Vader would be interested in the hot nekkid latinas. He's a bit of a one-woman guy, methinks.

[Macross]

Luke would probably say that Darth Vader was dead (which would be true). Then he would hide Anakin Skywalker somewhere out of the way, perhaps Ben's old place on Tatooine, where he could live out the remainder of his natural life.