Warning: Contains SPOILERS for Star Wars: Darth Vader #44! Darth Vader and Emperor Palpatine are famously master and apprentice in accordance with the Sith Rule of Two in Star Wars canon, but their relationship is – and has always been – a bit more complicated than that. As opposed to Anakin Skywalker’s relationship with Obi-Wan Kenobi, Darth Vader’s master/apprentice relationship with Palpatine is based on deception and manipulation – which is exactly what fans are seeing in the current canon, as Palpatine explains why he encourages Darth Vader to rebel against him.
In Star Wars: Darth Vader #44 by Greg Pak, Adam Gorham, and Paul Fry, Darth Vader has taken the Schism Imperial to the next stage of their plan to overthrow Emperor Palpatine by obtaining a planet-destroying weapon and an entire Battle Droid army. The Schism Imperial is a secret society of Imperials who are plotting a coup against Emperor Palpatine, and they’re using Darth Vader to do it. And the most fascinating part? Palpatine is fully aware of all of it – not only that, he’s actively endorsing this little internal rebellion.
The person who formed the Schism Imperial is Administrator Sly Moore, a Force-sensitive underling of Emperor Palpatine. She seduced these Imperials to treason, she convinced Darth Vader to lead them, and now, it’s revealed that she is secretly reporting the developments of the Schism directly to the Emperor. Instead of stopping this plot in its tracks, however, Palpatine allows it to continue, and this issue reveals that he made this decision to take whatever power/weapons Vader amasses for himself. Indeed, Palpatine makes that clear when he tells Moore to “let him gather his strength and bring it to me”.
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Emperor Palpatine Lets Darth Vader Rebel Because It Makes Him Stronger in the End
Even before Darth Vader was mutilated during his duel with Obi-Wan, he was plotting to overthrow the Emperor and rule the galaxy himself. His desire to do so hadn’t lessened over the years, either, as Vader famously told Luke that they could rule the galaxy as father and son. Clearly, Darth Vader is not loyal to his master, but as a Sith, Palpatine is aware of this, and actually encourages it. The more Vader hates him, the stronger Palpatine becomes. However, Palpatine’s comment to Moore implies more than just strength in the dark side, but in material terms as well.
As the leader of the Schism Imperial, Darth Vader has taken a world-killing device from the Rebellion, and hijacked an entire secret Battle Droid factory. Darth Vader is ready to go to war with Palpatine, and based on the strength of the weapons he’s amassed, there is a chance he’d win. However, Palpatine is confident that Vader will not win, and the Emperor is even more confident that all the strength Vader’s gathered will be his in the end.
Star Wars Teases that Emperor Palpatine had 2 ‘Death Stars’ in Return of the Jedi
The Death Machine Darth Vader took from a Rebel outpost drains a planet, and converts the energy it steals into power cells that can be used for fueling weapons, energy shields, and droids. Therefore, if Palpatine is correct in his assumption that all of Vader’s strength will inevitably be his (which Return of the Jedi implies, since Darth Vader is loyal to Palpatine once again in that film), then it seems as though Star Wars is teasing that the Emperor had two ‘Death Stars’ in Episode VI at once, making him an even greater threat than fans originally thought.
While it’s interesting to consider how much higher the stakes secretly could have been in Return of the Jedi if Palpatine did, in fact, have two planet-killers at his disposal, what’s more interesting is Palpatine’s twisted line of logic in this comic. Palpatine wants Darth Vader to try to kill him, because the Emperor knows that Vader will amass a great deal of strength – both in terms of material and in the dark side – by the time Darth Vader inevitably returns to Emperor Palpatine‘s side, which perfectly explains why he encourages Darth Vader to rebel.
Star Wars: Darth Vader #44 by Marvel Comics is available now.
