Warning! This article contains spoilers for Star Wars: Darth Vader #41 It’s no secret that Darth Vader is immensely powerful in the Force, something that was made abundantly clear in the original Star Wars trilogy alone, and only reinforced upon every subsequent appearance. In fact, there’s one instance in the original trilogy that highlights his mastery of the dark side exceptionally well. However, even that exhibition of Darth Vader’s power pales in comparison to his latest in Star Wars canon.
In Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back, Darth Vader is speaking with Admiral Ozzel and Captain Piett through a communications monitor. Admiral Ozzel was updating Darth Vader on the status of their pursuit of Rebel forces. Ozzel tells Vader, “the fleet has moved out of lightspeed, and we’re preparing to–” but before he can finish his sentence, Darth Vader is Force-choking him to death through the monitor.
It’s a quick moment that could easily be overlooked and forgotten, especially with all the other jaw-dropping moments that happened in Episode V – like Han Solo being captured by Boba Fett, the introduction of Jedi Master Yoda, and Darth Vader confessing that he’s Luke’s father. However, that doesn’t mean Darth Vader Force-choking Admiral Ozzel through the monitor was any less impressive, as it proves a strength in the Force few others have exhibited before. Unfortunately, though, that moment just got overshadowed yet again when Darth Vader recently did basically the same thing, but in a much more impressive way.
Darth Vader’s New Sith Science Proves He’d Have Been a More Terrifying Emperor Than Palpatine
Darth Vader is venturing into the realm of Sith sciences, meddling with the natural order, and proving he’d be a scarier Emperor than even Palpatine.
Star Wars Gives Darth Vader’s Episode V Force-Choke A Major Upgrade
In Star Wars: Darth Vader #41 by Greg Pak and Adam Gorham, Darth Vader has been infected by the Scourge – a viral AI hivemind hellbent on assimilating every living thing in the galaxy. However, instead of being overtaken by the Scourge, Vader bends it to his will. Vader isolates the fraction of Scourge-consciousness that physically infected him and uses it to remotely control other nearby Scourge-infected droids.
At this moment, Vader is being attacked by a squadron of Storm Troopers (as a part of a larger conflict between Vader and Palpatine that’s currently raging in the Star Wars comics). So, he uses the droids he just gained control over through the Scourge to attack the Storm Troopers and their commanders – but not in a way many fans might expect. Vader didn’t use the droids’ weapons, he used their eyes to see where his opponents were to then attack them with the Force while he remained at a safe distance, eliminating a whole strike team skilled enough to challenge the likes of Vader himself like it was nothing.
In Darth Vader’s Hands, A Camera Is The Deadliest Weapon In Star Wars
Episode V proved that Darth Vader could use the Force even from a great distance away, so long as he had a visual of the person he wanted to attack. Then, this issue of Star Wars: Darth Vader showed the extent of that logic, as Vader remotely tapped into the eyes of droids surrounding his enemies to see the people he wanted to use the Force against before doing so. In both cases, all Vader needed was a camera pointed at his target, and his immense strength in the Force did the rest, meaning that – in Darth Vader’s hands – a camera might actually be the deadliest weapon in all of Star Wars.
While the fact remains that these two instances were incredibly similar with both scenes effectively proving the same point, it’s fair to say that the one in Star Wars: Darth Vader was a tad more impressive – and unarguably more badass – proving that Darth Vader’s all but forgotten Force power in Star Wars: Episode V is even stronger than the original trilogy showed.
Star Wars: Darth Vader #41 by Marvel Comics is available now.
