A small rebel force has penetrated the shield and landed on Endor.
How much do I love this scene?
Palpatine so incredulous, challenging, of Vaderβs βI have felt himβ. Because he doesnβt actually want Darth Vader to have any sort of influence over or connection to Luke, and thatβs the only thing βI have felt himβ means.
That means there is a BOND. It means that Darth Vader doesnβt just have a connection to someone else, but that someone else has a connection to him and could potentially influence him (has been, for four years, no matter how apathetic Vader became in the year since Bespin).
Palpatine doesnβt actually want Darth Vader to be turning Luke, because while the Sith way means the apprentice eventually killing the master, thatβs only until the master isnβt in control anymore. And Vader having a connection to or turning Luke means Palpatine has less control over Vader. His death, inevitably, is coming.
#the thing about Sidious is that heβs a classic abuser#his method of keeping Anakin/Vader under his control always involved isolating him from his loved ones#the lie he tells Vader after he wakes up in the suit is the epitome of this#he knew that if Anakin had anyone close to him left at ALL#that this would pose at the very least *some* threat to his control over him#but even so he totally underestimated just how incredibly POWERFUL this particular bond would be#so powerful and so intimate that he would not even be able to *sense* it!!#and you can see in this scene how this realization shakes him#Sidious is experiencing the closest thing to fear that heβs probably felt in the entirety of his evil existence#Anakinβs personal attachments have always been his most powerful motivator#and so if βVaderβ has such a strong and IMPENETRABLE bond with βthe son of Skywalkerβ#then it can only mean one thing:#he is still ANAKIN SKYWALKERΒ (x)
And Vader says βmy son is with themβ. Not Skywalkerβs son. *My* son.
There is definitely something of Anakin left in him. Sidious didnβt manage to rob him of that part of himself, in the end.
Moments like these validate that the original and prequel trilogies are the best.
