In Star Wars, Anakin Skywalker had transformed into an evil character, but this isn’t a total transformation into evil.

Not total transformation

Unless one is the Devil, one can’t totally be evil.

In the television series Lucifer there’s a shot of what the Devil looks like. There is no compassion, empathy or mercy on his face. There is no love. His face is without a redeemable quality. His face makes us see that the Devil looks inward and to his own agenda. Only the Devil is truly, totally evil. Humans still have good in them and are redeemable. The Devil isn’t good or redeemable at all.

In my post before last I mentioned how characters could transform into agents of evil. This isn’t total transformation. The baddies have gone quite a way to evil, but the good that is buried and left in them means they are not without good. But since they are so deluded by evil, and even think that evil is good, they must be redeemed.

Why is their redemption important?

It matters to claim life above death and destruction.

Evil is destructive and it kills and destroys. If one lived in a world marked always by evil one would self-destruct. A world where evil reigns, implodes.

Redemption for an evil character

If one becomes so deluded that one actually thinks destruction is based in right but still has good within, one has not totally transformed into evil. Before more death and destruction happens, someone who is evil must come back to his senses. An evil character’s goodness can be “reactivated” and put into commission if an evil character is redeemed.

Anakin Skywalker needed redeeming. He should have been redeemed and redemption was always possible for him.

Being lost forever in evil isn’t the end of his story. He was redeemed back to his good side. His goodness that had been buried was “reactivated” so he was not totally lost in evil or was never fully transformed into evil.

When he was redeemed, his goodness came to the fore and his evil put to death.

 

An image of Luke and Darth Vader in "Return of the Jedi"--Luke seeks to redeem Vader. (Image sourced via google images--Flickr)
An image of Luke and Darth Vader in “Return of the Jedi”–Luke seeks to redeem Vader. (Image sourced via google images–Flickr)
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