That's a good point; it doesn't really spoil anything so I'll get into meta with you here because it's just how I see Vader's loyalty in canon.
Vader doesn't have anyone left. Ahsoka is gone, Obi-Wan is gone, Padme is dead, the entire order is gone, the Clones are gone, he has nobody. Palpatine isolated him, and made it so that Anakin, someone who very much depends on the people around him, has only one person left to turn to; him. I don't think Vader ever really agreed that what he did for Palpatine was *right*, or good. But he made himself believe that if he stuck with it, and stayed with Palpatine, he would be able to reach those ideals he held; that he would be able to unify the galaxy and protect the weak and enslaved like he's always wanted to.
Of course, in the OT it's been 20 years. He's disillusioned, jaded. He's seen that Nothing is actually going to change, and he knows he's too much of a monster to go back now. He's trapped by his abuser and he has no hope for things getting better, so he just does his job because he has nothing else he can do. The only person left in the universe who "cares" about him is Palpatine.
In this, it's only been 3 years. He's still cut off from everyone but Palpatine, but he still has hope, and still believes that he can do good, that he can change things for the better. He still believes that it makes a difference if he helps the struggling Omega and their baby. He probably never visited Shmi's grave in canon, but I think he should have so 😅
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orphan_account on Chapter 1 Fri 13 Nov 2020 09:43PM UTC
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