How does a turn to the darkside work? The suggestion that Vader killed Anakin (that sure sorted out Obi-Wan's lie to Luke, didn't it? I kinda liked that) makes it sound like a takeover, demon possession....and yet in the midst of his acts of evil Anakin is shown with tears going down his face. Similarly going back to AOTC after he killed all the Sandpeople - he cries. Does the takeover by the darkside dip in and out?
The reason I ask is because I did like that line - I can't remember it exactly offhand - ''I am not your failure Obi-Wan. You didn't kill Anakin, I did'' - my first thought was - well heck, then I can deal with the killing of the younglings - he was possessed. If that is literally how the Dark Side works in Star Wars, then I guess Anakin is at least somewhat absolved - if not for the external influence of the Dark Side Anakin would not have slaughtered younglings. On the other hand if such an act was within his own capability, within his own character - then he's an irredeemable ***k and the redemption story is shot to ***t.
But I dunno.
The concept of "dark side of the Force" has been twisted and perverted to best suit the needs of whatever story was being told at the time. So if you're asking me for an incontrovertible "official" version of what happens to people like Anakin, I don't think there is one. All I can do is give you my take on it, with the OT and its reference material being my main guide.
In Star Wars, the light and dark sides of the Force never needed to be much more complicated than the real-world inspiration of yin and yang. The light and the dark are both equally needed to maintain a proper balance of life. You can't have new life without death; love has no meaning without understanding hate; cold has no meaning without hot, etc.
When the Sith use the dark side to extinguish the light (such as with exterminating the Jedi Order), balance is lost and darkness tips the scales to tragic outcomes. As such, an individual's fall to the dark side should be a rejection of the light and a microcosm of that by throwing the *personal* balance out of whack.
A Sith should be one huge step beyond that and essentially become a slave to dark impulses. Embracing the dark side so much that the light side has no influence. In AOTC, Anakin wasn't nearly there yet. And because of his ultimate redemption, there's enough doubt that he was even fully there in ROTS.
The whole point of Anakin's redemption in ROTJ is that Luke was right when sensing conflict and asserting that the light had not been fully extinguished. If we accept that, then Anakin was never truly a slave to the dark, but couldn't recognize it until faced with the choice to break free from it to save his son.
I hope there's something in this that is of use to you, but I'm much more enthusiastic about my upcoming response to your subsequent post.
