Funeral of Anakin Skywalker In the aftermath of the Galactic Empire ' s defeat against the Alliance to Restore the Republic during the Battle of Endor , the Jedi Knight Luke Skywalker held a funeral for his father , Anakin Skywalker , on the Forest Moon of Endor . During the battle , Anakin , who had been known as the Sith Lord Darth Vader , was redeemed by Luke and brought balance to the Force . However , the redemption cost Anakin his life , having been mortally wounded by the Emperor , Darth Sidious , while killing his former Master . After his death , Anakin became one with the Force . Luke escaped the Death Star II , where Anakin had died , just before the battle station was destroyed by the Rebel Alliance . Once on Endor , Luke built a funeral pyre and lit his father ' s empty armor on fire . After the funeral ended , Luke joined the Rebels and the native Ewok s for a victory celebration , where he saw the spirit of his father — along with the spirits of Jedi Master s Obi - Wan Kenobi and Yoda — proudly watching the celebration . Prelude . During the Battle of Endor in 4 ABY , a climactic engagement of the Galactic Civil War between the Galactic Empire and the Alliance to Restore the Republic , the Dark Lord of the Sith Darth Vader and his son , Luke Skywalker , faced one another in a final lightsaber duel aboard the second Death Star , a battle station capable of destroying an entire planet . Luke defeated his father and proclaimed himself a Jedi Knight but was attacked by the Emperor , Darth Sidious , who used Force lightning in an attempt to kill Luke . Refusing to watch his son die , Vader — who still had good within him — threw his Master down a reactor shaft . This act redeemed Vader from the dark side of the Force , and he once again became Anakin Skywalker . With Sidious dead , the Sith were defeated . The choice to save Luke was ultimately a sacrifice , as Sidious ' lightning damaged Anakin ' s life - support systems when the redeemed Jedi threw the Emperor down the shaft . Anakin ' s redemption and Sidious ' death brought balance to the Force , and Anakin fulfilled his destiny as the Chosen One . Luke attempted to save Anakin by bringing him to a shuttle , where they could escape the Death Star , but Anakin knew that his death was imminent . At his father ' s request , Luke removed Darth Vader ' s helmet from Anakin ' s head , allowing the former Sith Lord to look upon his son with his own eye s for the first and last time . In his final moments , Anakin comforted Luke , reminding his son that there had always been good in him — just as Luke had believed . Anakin then passed away , and his body disappeared into the light side of the Force . The funeral . Luke escaped the Death Star with his father ' s armor moments before the battle station was destroyed by the Rebel Alliance at the battle ' s end . The death of the Emperor and the destruction of the Death Star led to the defeat of the Empire and the restoration of freedom to the galaxy . Luke brought Anakin ' s armor to nearby Endor , where the Rebel Alliance and the native Ewok s were celebrating the Emperor ' s defeat , and constructed a funeral pyre near the Ewok village . When the pyre was constructed , Luke lit it aflame and burned his father ' s armor , leaving behind the twisted remains of Darth Vader ' s helmet . The funeral held importance for Luke , but he knew that for anyone else , the sight of Vader ' s helmet in flames would be cause for rejoicing . As such , Luke was careful to hold the funeral well away from others . Aftermath . As Vader ' s armor burned , the droid s C - 3PO and R2 - D2 found Luke in the forest . C - 3PO expressed his joy at seeing Luke alive and suggested that the young Jedi join the celebration with his fellow rebels in the Ewok village . Once there , Luke reunited with his friends , including his twin sister , Leia Organa . Luke briefly stepped away from the celebration and saw the spirits of his Jedi Master s , Obi - Wan Kenobi and Yoda , quietly observing the evening ' s festivities . Anakin ' s spirit , which had been preserved by Kenobi and Yoda , materialized beside the two Jedi Masters , appearing as he had before he fell to the dark side of the Force . Together , the three watched as Luke looked on . Luke bid them farewell and rejoined the celebration , his journey to becoming a Jedi Knight complete . Vader ' s helmet was scavenged from his funeral pyre in the aftermath of the Battle of Endor . Thirty years after the funeral , the charred and melted helmet was in the possession of Vader ' s grandson , Kylo Ren . He spoke to the twisted helmet for guidance , and the helmet acted as a symbol of the power of the dark side — as well as its weaknesses , as Ren believed that it was Darth Vader ' s sentiment in saving Luke that brought down the Empire . Behind the scenes . Anakin Skywalker ' s funeral is a scene from the ending of . When the film was first shot , the funeral scene was not part of the movie . Only after the conclusion of principal photography did George Lucas and his creative team decide to add the scene . Anakin ' s death had ended with the character in Luke ' s arms , which created concern that the audience might think Anakin was still alive or , according to editor Duwayne Dunham , that Luke had left his father ' s body aboard the second Death Star . Producer Howard G . Kazanjian was opposed to the scene at first but changed his mind after viewing an animatic version of it . Once the decision was made to include the funeral pyre , the scene was scripted , given a storyboard treatment by Joe Johnston , and filmed at Skywalker Ranch in Marin County , California . The events of the funeral were briefly expanded upon in the " Star Wars " LINE Webtoon , a web comic retelling of the original trilogy from Luke Skywalker ' s point of view . The LINE Webtoon and its storyline are approved by Lucasfilm , though cultural interpretation affords the storyline some leeway in terms of strictly following canon . The comic ' s depiction is similar to that of the 1996 " Return of the Jedi " radio drama , in which C - 3PO finds Luke at Darth Vader ' s funeral pyre . On April 16 , 2015 , Lucasfilm released the second teaser trailer for " " , the seventh live - action installment of the franchise . The teaser included a brief shot of the scorched and twisted mask of Darth Vader , a shot that was present in the final cut of the film .