Darth Vader’s “Then you will die braver than most” from Star Wars Rebels is the Sith Lord’s greatest comeback. Darth Vader is one of the most iconic movie villains of all-time, from his raspy voice to his sleek black armor. He cut a terrifying figure in the original Star Wars despite only appearing for a total of eight minutes. The movie was greatly inspired by Akira Kurosawa’s The Hidden Fortress, with director George Lucas first offering the role of Vader to Toshiro Mifune as an ode to the latter movie.
Since the movie ended with Vader surviving the attack on the Death Star, there was little doubt he’d return for The Empire Strikes Back. The sequel dived into the character’s background a little more, and in one particularly memorable twist, reveals himself to be Anakin Skywalker, Luke’s father. It appears this game-changing reveal wasn’t the original intention, with the first draft of Empire featuring Anakin as a Force ghost instead. Both the original and prequel trilogy would revolve around Anakin’s journey from childhood to his fall to the dark side and eventual redemption, with Lucas labeling the saga “the tragedy of Darth Vader.”
While Return Of The Jedi would redeem Darth Vader after he (seemingly) killed the Emperor, he’s still considered an all-time great villain. Outside of the movies, he’s appeared in numerous video games and animated shows, including the acclaimed Star Wars Rebels. This series is set between the events of Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge Of The Sith and Rogue One and while Darth Vader only appeared in a handful of episodes, he made his screentime count. His most memorable appearance was the season 2 finale “Twilight of the Apprentice,” where the heroes explore a Sith Temple and Darth Vader utters his most cutting comeback “Then you will die braver than most.”
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He says this to one of the show’s main heroes Ezra, a Force-sensitive rebel who tells Darth Vader he’s not afraid of him, leading to Vader’s ice-cold reply. Vader has had some cool one-liners throughout the series, including “I am altering the deal. Pray I don’t alter it any further” from The Empire Strikes Back or “All I am surrounded by is fear. And dead men” from the comic Vader Down. What makes “Then you will die braver than most” stand out as his best is that it not only totally undermines Ezra’s heroic moment, it underlines how just how powerful the Sith Lord is.
This scene also leads to a lightsaber battle between Darth Vader and former apprentice Ahsoka Tano, which was one of the best fight scenes of Star Wars Rebels. Few lines can match the raw shock of “No, I am your father” from The Empire Strikes Back, but “Then you will die braver than most” is Darth Vader’s greatest comeback.