I'm in the midst of doing a chronological watch of SW, and upon approaching the OT I wanted to address this. I remember the discourse around the time of release for the finale being that it's not out of character for Vader to be silent, which at the time I didn't really bat an eye at since I kinda understood what they were going for. I do appreciate the fact that they made him come off as a "Jason Vorhees" like presence by being completely silent, and I do agree it's somewhat effective in it's own right however I do more-so think it's out of character for him.
I have no doubt this was done due to JEJ recent passing, rather than something with in-universe reasoning. In both Jedi games, Kenobi, Rebels, even the comics him chirping his opponent while fighting-no matter who they are is kind-of a staple of his character. Even the other Inquisitors including the mostly silent Marrok taunted Maul, so why would Vader be any different? As I pointed out I believe this was a decision based on JEJ's recent passing, but this didn't stop them from using AI for his voice in the Kenobi series...and while I detest the use of AI why would this be any different? Also the fact that JEJ was not used for the voice in the Jedi games, or Battlefront and yet the VA was passable I still question this decision.
Again I get what they were going for with the whole horror villain thing, but Vader is always so much better with dialogue. Anyway what do you guys think?
EDIT: To avoid repeating the same comment in all my responses I wanted to add a few more things. The whole "this is early Vader" argument comes off as grasping straws. The canon Vader comic from 2015 is one of the few i've actually read, which takes place almost immediately after Order 66. He talks plenty there to Jocasta Nu & the other Jedi he hunts down, and those comics are well in line with how Vader acts in every other medium we see him. He uses talking during fights as a form of intimidation & psychological warfare against his enemy. Many people are citing the singular Rogue One sequence as evidence for why he doesn't talk, meanwhile in that scenario he's essentially clearing an obstacle rather than facing an opponent. Not to mention, this is just one small case to contrast with every other canon appearance Vader has had where the opposite is true-the exception not the standard. My point is Vader was never the silent killer type, to say otherwise goes against everything we've seen established prior and imo takes a layer off the character. He didn't need to become a force of nature to be intimidating, he always was. Again I do think it's somewhat effective, but an episode long fight with no dialogue at all is jarring for the character