The conflict between Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker throughout the original Star Wars trilogy fortunately ended with the Sith lord redeemed and the Jedi victorious, but recent revelations about the former Anakin Skywalker give a disturbing new meaning behind Vader’s violent attacks on his son.
In the events that take place after The Empire Strikes Back and before Return of the Jedi, Vader explores the Sith Eternal cult on the planet Exogol. There he discovers Palpatine’s hidden army and fleet of hundreds of planet-killing Star Destroyers, all powered by a constantly bleeding red Kyber crystal mountain. Palpatine claims that he is willing to share a small part of his unlimited power with Vader should he pledge his loyalty to him. Vader accepts, and his way of holding onto this newfound power he has a stake in, fuels his pursuit of Luke.
Vader Will Kill His Children For His Own Survival
In Star Wars: Hidden Empire #3 by Charles Soule and Steven Cummings, the Crimson Dawn operative and Force academic Madelin Sun aka the Archivist, recounts a story in which she survived an encounter with Darth Vader. As an expert in the Force and a lightly Force sensitive being herself, she describes Vader as a being whose motivations aren’t experienced by other living beings. Her analysis of Vader culminates in her comparing his presence to that of an animal eating its own young, a disturbing yet accurate metaphor for Vader’s mission.
The Archivist’s insight into Darth Vader’s mindset during this time aptly summarizes why Vader seeks to kill his own son. After Vader’s fight with Luke on Bespin and his journey to Exogol, he desires to preserve his role in Palpatine’s plans for the galaxy by killing Luke, whose existence threatens to usurp Vader’s place as Palpatine’s apprentice. Vader’s plans to go about finding and drawing Luke into a confrontation are calculated and complex, but the end goal is a deeply instinctual, primal desire that makes Vader uniquely deranged compared to other Star Wars villains. The fact that his animalistic nature can be physically felt when in his presence also proves just how far he’s fallen.
It’s not unreasonable to believe that Vader at this point in his life should have little to no chance at being redeemed, but of course Luke Skywalker proves otherwise. Arguably, none of Palpatine’s apprentices have fallen so far into inhumanity as Vader has, even compared to Star Wars villains like Darth Maul and Count Dooku who still cared for the members of their family. If not for Luke Skywalker’s display of mercy and prolonged torture at the hands of the Emperor in Return of the Jedi, Darth Vader perhaps would have accomplished his filicide goal.
Star Wars: Hidden Empire #3 is on sale now from Marvel Comics.
