Appealing to the hate and conflict within him, Darth Sidious goaded Luke into attacking. Vader defended the Emperor and he and Luke were locked in mortal combat. Luke lost control of his anger, viciously attacking Vader, finally beating him down and chopping off his hand with his lightsaber.

Despite slipping close to the dark side, Luke refused to surrender to the Emperor. Palpatine nearly killed Luke with blasts of blue Force-lightning. Suddenly, Vader grabbed the Emperor, lifted him into the air, and threw him down the shaft of the battle station's power core.

Vader knew he was dying and asked his son to remove his helmet so he could look at Luke with his own eyes for the first and last time. His darkness illuminated by the love of his son, Vader died as Anakin Skywalker.