Board Thread:Naruto Discussions/@comment-12509038-20140730054526/@comment-6794268-20140730182602

I would guess it feels hollow because he hasn't had the time to truly be redeemable. However, that being said, he made the ultimate sacrifice -- literally. He sacrificed his life to save Naruto, and in my hierarchy of things, as it also tends to stand in many cultures and stories, that kind of redemption is the most powerful. He did do many horrible things, but we also cannot irrationally rule out that he was warped and manipulated by Madara. Madara mid-screwed Kakashi and Obito. It was all orchestrated so Obito would help Madara. While we can blame him for his actions, we cannot in good faith forget that it in the beginning and the end (before becoming good again) was that Obito had become corrupted from an external influence, not inherently of his own choosing.

The same cannot be said of Madara who become evil without any external influence. Technically, sure, the constant fighting and dying, etc, warped him. But it is not the same as being corrupted and manipulated, having your brain/mind tampered ("brain washed") with by another person. Does this excuse anyone (even Obito's) behaviour? No, but it isn't something that should, if all individuals involved are rational (As in the reader, not characters), forgotten.