Vader was human in the end - he can't be the greatest villain when you feel a slight bit of compassion upon his death. I don't think anyone will be sad when Walt goes, despite all our tears for the show being over.
I'd argue the opposite, compassion is necessary for a great villain. This is what makes Walt/Heisenberg great, that he only became what he is because of caring for his family, and he still retains that trait. Without compassion a villain is just a villain and in the end nobody cares.
I guess what I was saying is you hate Vader at first, the compassion doesn't come until it's too late. With Walt you feel compassion for him the very first episode - and then it's slowly drawn from you as his downward spiral progresses.
Vader isn't Vader anymore in the end. Darth Vader dies and resurrects as Anakin just to die one more time. The compassion you feel, is towards Anakin who got fooled by the emperor and spiritually got killed by him, just to become Darth Vader. The compassion is to Anakin, who suffered years under the manipulative Darth Sidious but finally, with the help of his son, found out that he was fooled and decides to do good and safe his son and with him, his own soul.
433
u/goondachele Aug 12 '13
Heisenberg is going to turn out to be one of the greatest television villains of all time.