pmmg
Myth Weaver
You know . . . I'll bite.
It's Luke's arc, pushing for Vader's redemption, that is great. Vader's side of the redemption arc was pretty weak. He saw the emperor about to kill his son, and then changed his mind, dying to save his son. It was awesome, but it wasn't Vader's arc that's paying off. It's Luke's. We don't really get to see what Vader's going through leading up to this point. Instead, what we're seeing is Luke's faith in his father's goodness coming to bear fruit.
But if I'm writing a story of a villain, who's trying seek redemption, Vader's a terrible example. It doesn't tell me what to do for a character that doesn't have Luke pushing him - or even one who does, frankly, because we're never in Vader's head. Nor does he put in the work, to atone, either before or after that moment.
Again, in short, what we're seeing is a "having faith in the goodness even of a villain" arc. Not "a villain seeking redemption" arc.
And there in lies the complexity of the whole character, cause Luke's faith means nothing, if its not already inside of Vader to pull at it. The culmination is not just for the sake of Luke, it is also for the sake of himself. He left behind his wickedness, and moved to his better (truer) self. One, in fact, even those who knew him did not believe was there. The Redemption of Darth Vader was a true redemption. He had fully embraced the dark side, and abandoned it for the sake of others. It was a true choice to abandon evil, and embrace good. If he did not do this, the Empire would not have lost.
And because he did it, even though we dont get his inner workings, we do walk away with the type of questions that movies are made for. What was the story of Darth Vader, and what really moved inside of him. Speculation on that has spawned another thousand stories. The depths of it are still elusive and profound. It is not a road map. You cant take it and say here is my template. But it does hit on a something powerful in us all. That even those as evil as Darth Vader can find redemption.
Zoku, in contrast was never fully embracing of the dark side. His story is longer and we see more scenes of him slowly shifting, but his redemption as not as true. He was never completely dark. He was just a kid who did not know any better and grows up.