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Darth Vader learns the truth
Marvel Star Wars issue 6 and
Star Wars: Darth Vader issue 6
Writers: Jason Aaron & Kieron Gillen
Artists: John Cassady & Salvador Larroca
Colorists: Laura Martin & Edgar Delgado
It was very important that Darth Vader never learn that he had children. Yoda and Obi-Wan concocted a plan with Bail Organa to keep the twins hidden and safe. The Emperor, Kenobi said, knew that if Vader had any offspring, they would be a threat to him. Even Padmé’s death included a ruse to make it look like she was still pregnant at the time of her passing lest anyone get the idea that she and Anakin had children. The reveal that Vader was Luke’s father was a historic moment in its own right in terms of pop culture alone and, in story, it led to the final crack in the relationship between Palpatine and Vader. So, yeah, to both sides of the conflict, it was important to keep Vader in the dark. Which means the moment in which he first found out the truth had to carry a special kind of impact.
We finally got to the see the moment in a sublime comic book double feature in 2015. Vader, obsessed with discovering the true identity of the Force-sensitive Rebel that fired the fatal shot into the first Death Star, hires that famed bounty hunter Boba Fett to track him down and bring him in. He does but loses a fierce fight with Luke Skywalker in Ben Kenobi’s now abandon hut. Fett reports back to Vader. He doesn’t have the kid but does have a name.
Skywalker.
The twisted machine who was once Darth Vader has just learned—or perhaps confirmed what he had felt—that he did, in fact, have a child. The reveal of Leia obviously comes later in a very crucial moment, but, here, now, on the bridge of a Star Destroyer, Darth Vader learns that he has a son, which means he was lied to by Palpatine, his master. Maybe not in the direct sense. Maybe Sheev Palpatine didn’t know a young Skywalker existed, but it did mean he lied when he said Vader had killed Padmé. It means that lie was used to fuel Vader’s rage. An anger at the Jedi that never trusted him, that turned on him. An anger at the belief that he had killed his true love before Palpatine could deliver on his promise of using the dark side to keep those he loved alive. An anger that would never be quenched, even as he ruled the galaxy at his master’s side, as promised. Palpatine had made a lot of promises and now it was all part of a lie.
That’s big for Vader. His worldview had changed. Who was he serving? Why was he serving him? Vader was already taking the fall for the destruction of the Death Star, a weapon he didn’t even believe in, and, as we learned in these comics as well, Palpatine had begun secretly training other possible apprentices for almost all of Vader’s post-Mustafar existence. Everything to this point has just come into question. This is an important moment.
So important that Marvel made the decision to reveal it in this double feature. First is the subtler version found in the last pages of the sixth issue of the Marvel Star Wars main series. Fett reports in, reveals the name, and Vader silently stirs until the very glass of the Star Destroyer in front of him cracks. Fists clenched, the natural scowl of Vader’s face takes on new meaning as the cracks of the glass frame Vader. It’s as if the anger is literally flowing out from him. A new kind of rage. That itself was worth the price of admission and induced many a nerd chill, but they weren’t done.
The sixth issue of the Darth Vader line, written by Kieron Gillen, replays the same scene. Fett reports in, reveals the name, and Vader silently stirs until the very glass of the Star Destroyer in front of him cracks. Except, now, we get inside the mind of the Dark Lord of the Sith. Memories of Padmé telling him she’s pregnant and his reaction to the news. Memories of Palpatine’s lie about her death. This leads him to contact the Emperor right there via hologram, but not to confront him. No, Vader tells his own lie. With images of Padmé, Luke’s X-wing, and even Luke himself from an encounter earlier in the main comic series racing through his brain, Vader lies to his master. The last frame is a reverse look at what we saw in the main series issue. Vader isn’t just staring out of the now broken window. Vader is staring at the Imperial Armada and proclaims the truth. He has a son, and ALL of this will be his. Vader is now working for himself.
This is essential Darth Vader lore. The kind that keeps bringing you back to study and weigh against what you already knew. The ramifications are deep, particularly to The Empire Strikes Back. When Palpatine and Vader communicate there via hologram, Vader is moving chess pieces on his personal battleground with the Emperor. And, later, when he reaches his hand to offer Luke a place at his side, he means it. The decision to kill the Emperor wasn’t finally realized until the Return of the Jedi, but it was first generated here in the pages of these comics.
This is why every avenue of modern Star Wars storytelling is viable and essential. Comics, books, shows, movies. It’s all important. There is a vast galaxy of stories to tell, truths to reveal, pasts to confront, all of it flowing into the overall saga. On these collective pages in one big moment, we didn’t just get to experience the moment as Vader fans, we got to understand him. We got to see beyond his mask.
And that’s the truth.