Riddle vs Anakin, or how Lucas should have written the Star Wars Prequels.

[Tanbarkie]

@Inigo_Montoya

Riddle: “There is no good or evil, only ‘power’ and those too weak to seek it.”
Dumbledore: “It is our choices far more than our ability that makes us who we are.”

IIRC, Dumbledore saw in Riddle an undirected, powerful wizard. He attempted to foster and guide the kid to make better choices, a sentiment he echoes when helping Draco think through his murder attempt. At the orphanage Riddle is already identified as a thief and a bully by Dumbledore, but D. is confident that some structure can help the kid to make better choices. He’s wrong of course and end up setting the wolf loose amongst the sheep.

Yes, that’s how Rowling wrote Riddle in the books. It is almost entirely unlike how Riddle is depicted in the movie version of “Half Blood Prince.” Movie-Riddle appears about as undirected as Grand Moff Tarkin.

[Inigo_Montoya]

@Tanbarkie

Yes, that’s how Rowling wrote Riddle in the books. It is almost entirely unlike how Riddle is depicted in the movie version of “Half Blood Prince.” Movie-Riddle appears about as undirected as Grand Moff Tarkin.

True. Rowling’s Riddle makes a good showing in Chamber, but in Prince I kept thinking, “Samara!” I guess Columbus was more focused on making Riddle appear as written: Very adept at masking his evil intent, and Yates was more focused on the peril of making eye contact with a legilimens. It bugs, I preferred Columbus’ version. Macaulay Culkin in “The Good Son” would have been a better model.

[silenus]

@AK84

1. Voldemort never gets redeemed. Vader does.

2. Vader never does anything inherently evil; at least in the original trilogy, he is vicious, ruthless true, but not evil. He did not order the Death Star destroyed.

3. Prequel was hemmed in by the sequel, they had to keep “the good in him.”

1. Mistake
2. Banthashit
3. Even bigger mistake

Evil he was, and evil he should have remained.

[Voyager]

@Grumman

In theory, sure. But only if the cyborg right-hand man of the Emperor, who is effectively immune to blasters and can kill you with his brain, decides to play along.

But the Emperor assigned him to be there. Stopping the attack would have been an act of rebellion against the Emperor - Vader was no doubt planning one eventually, but it was too early.

[Voyager]

@silenus

1. Mistake
2. Banthashit
3. Even bigger mistake

Evil he was, and evil he should have remained.

That would have destroyed the most important part of the original trilogy. The reason Luke was the true hero, and a far better Jedi than either Yoda or Obi-wan, was that he truly lived up to what I take as the Jedi code of avoiding hatred and revenge. Only Luke’s mind was so free from this that he could see the good in Vader, which turned out to be the reason he defeated the Emperor. Say he had killed Vader when he got the chance. I suspect the Emperor would have confronted him with the fact that he had just killed his father, and if this didn’t turn him to the dark side it would have made him ineffective.

Lucas actually gave a hint. The name leaked for the movie was “Revenge of the Jedi” I suppose to see if anyone was leaking it. I believe Lucas said that it was called return because Jedis don’t do revenge. Unlike the Sith.