Darth Vader’s Neck Was Broken! When and How?

As many times as I have watched the original Star Wars movies, this is something that I never noticed. It appears that Darth Vader’s neck had been broken. I can’t believe this detail escaped me. Check out this video breaking down the details of Vader’s injury, which was shown in its mechanically-repaired state during a brief flash on screen in Return of the Jedi.

I have never even heard anyone talk about this before. Maybe some of you know about this already, but it’s news to me. Vader’s neck vertebra has been replaced by what looks like a metal spine. I’m kind of surprised that Lucas didn’t have Anakin’s neck broken in Episode III for continuity’s sake. Then again that whole trilogy, well… not the greatest. Well, we did know that he was more machine than man, so we should have known.