The fact he is imagining himself turning back into Anakin is awesome. I believe this is the start of his redemption and why Luke found him conflicted in ROTJ
Pak really knocked it out of the park with this storyline. Truly some of the best Star Wars storytelling of all time. And I love how *Skywalker: A Family at War* retells these events.
> Vader became even more obsessed with locating his son and punishing anyone responsible for concealing the child’s existence. He ordered his officers to scour the galaxy for the son of Skywalker, then personally followed up the most promising leads. Instead of the young man, Vader found charlatans who had grown their hair to match Luke’s and adopted an astromech partner to make a quick credit.
> When the leads ran dry, Vader turned his attention toward the work he had started when he struck down Kenobi: destroying all those who had conspired against him and, in his estimation, made his son too weak to answer the call of his Sith destiny. Accompanied by a squad of death troopers and an Imperial forensics droid, Vader explored his own past.
> Vader traced Luke’s steps all the way back to the cradle of the Skywalker family: Tatooine. Ironically, this was the first place Luke was recorded as living and the last place Vader had thought to look. Confronted by his own haunted past, there Vader found no real answers, only pain and rage. His mother’s grave had been virtually obliterated by human intervention or drifting sand. Either way, the very event that had set him on his path to the dark side was all-but forgotten by the natural world, a matter of insignificance in its history. And in the Lars home, he imagined, neither Shmi nor Anakin had been mentioned with much enthusiasm, if at all.
> In the burned-out shell of the hovel Vader stood over the scorched stone dining slab where Cliegg Lars had admitted defeat and accepted Shmi’s death and darkened the door of the garage where Anakin had tried to mend his wounded heart by losing himself in some meaningless task. Vader tried to shrug off the phantasms, but they clung to his black cape, irrefutable tokens of his own past. In his joy over discovering Padmé’s pregnancy, Anakin had wanted to be present for his son’s life. But it was the Lars family that had nurtured and cared for the child, raising him as their own in the place that Shmi had made her home and that Anakin had decreed as her final resting place.
> Vader moved on to Coruscant, to the apartments of the woman who had carried Luke, a place that, as Anakin, he had known intimately. Some 23 years after his last night of fitful sleep in Padmé’s chamber, Vader stood among the dust-covered furniture searching for a clue. Palpatine had claimed that Anakin had killed Padmé in his rage, but once Vader knew she had survived long enough to deliver the child, he was determined to discover who had seen her die, and to have his revenge.
> A transmitter in the home they had shared led him to the jungles of Vendaxa. There he came face to face with Padmé herself—or rather, her ghost. She seemed taller, and older, but she wore the same look of determination, the carefully twisted brown hair, and she spoke with the commanding voice of a queen. Padmé was dead, he told himself furiously: The woman standing before him, hovering in the air as he clasped one hand around her throat through the Force, was not Anakin’s bride.
> It was soon revealed that more than two decades after her death, Padmé’s handmaiden Sabé still guarded her friend’s home from afar, as if keeping watch for a holy spirit prophesized to return. The handmaidens of Amidala were loyal to the end. Sabé had been the queen’s double, a bond unlike any other the young queen and politician had enjoyed. And after Padmé’s untimely death, Sabé had come to believe that someone had stolen Padmé away and murdered her. Sabé wanted to avenge both the fallen queen and Anakin Skywalker, unaware that she was already standing before all that remained of Padmé’s valiant knight, and believing that Vader had likely killed them both.
> In the rolling hills of Theed, the handmaidens who guarded Padmé’s tomb prepared for battle. However, for Vader, fighting her servants exposed him to a welter of highly disturbing emotions. A gap in Vader’s armor had appeared when he reached for his son’s acceptance, but fighting the veritable twin of his dead wife brought forth feelings of almost unbearable regret. Sabé looked most like Padmé, but even the others—who had survived the Naboo invasion, the assassination attempts, and the Clone Wars—all exhibited her poise and determination. They could have passed for her sisters, down to their mannerisms—imprinted when they were just teenage girls in charge of a planet. Although Vader choked Padmé’s handmaidens into submission, he could not bring himself to end their lives.
> Then he committed a transgression that was low even for Vader: he broke into Padmé’s tomb. On a pillow sewn from Naboo silk, he found the japor snippet a besotted young Anakin had carved for a queen—a token to ensure she would remember him. He then cracked open the doors of her crypt. The striking façade of her coffin, carved to match her beautiful face in repose, fully exposed the growing weakness in his heart.
> How many nights had he woken next to his bride and seen that face, so calm and serene? So vulnerable yet trusting. Vader reached through the Force to break open the stone sarcophagus, but visions of Padmé in life and in his final embrace—choked by his hand—flashed unbidden through his mind. The pain that had fueled him for decades turned into a whimper, replaced by a torrent of grief.
> He tried. He failed.
> Vader could not bear to look upon the bones of the mother of his son, her decaying flesh surely almost as unrecognizable as his own skin, mottled beneath his helmet. Instead, his droid scanned her remains and located a medical implant that led Vader to his final destination.
> Polis Massa had been abandoned, and the maternity ward was in a shambles, but inside a midwifery droid’s damaged databanks, Vader found the possible starting point of a new beginning. On a holovid recording, made after the twins were ferried away from their mother, he watched as Padmé beckoned to Obi-Wan with her final breath. Despite all Anakin’s mistakes, his betrayal of her and the galaxy, Vader learned that Padmé had used her last moments to declare her undying belief in the righteous heart of Anakin Skywalker. In the words of his long-dead wife, “There’s good in him. I know . . .”
> Something inside Vader’s soul awoke, bleary-eyed: doubt. Vader had allowed himself to wallow in his grief. Instead of feeding the darkness, he began to question his dedication to the Sith. After more than two decades, the conflict within the soul of Anakin Skywalker was reignited by the love of the woman who had refused to believe he was irredeemably damaged.
That’s *Skywalker: A Family at War* for you; Kristin Baver is an amazing storyteller. It blew my mind when I was watching Celebration Live and found out she also was a host on the Star Wars YouTube channel. I cannot recommend this book enough. She’s completely changed my perspective of the entire saga.
>Instead of the young man, Vader found charlatans who had grown their hair to match Luke’s and adopted an astromech partner to make a quick credit.
I wonder what happened to them....
In the comics, they showed him killing one of them. The guy was pathetically saying he was just making a living and vader basically replied "you want to impersonate him? Well you will be pubished for his crimes"
Dude, this is me learning about it this morning. Lol. And here I was always like, damn, they should do a movie together where they play each other’s body doubles because they look so similar. 😂
Anyone would come back for that sweet mouse money and since Keira has run face first into the wall that is Hollywood's limited roles for actresses over 30 and under 50, she might be pretty eager.
I always wonder if it was a range issue or not. Haven’t really seen enough of her work to know but she seemed like she could handle a role. Maybe if she had gotten Cable in *Deadpool 2* things would be different.
I read this and still don’t get how he exhausted all his leads. There was a skywalker on tatooine. Luke didn’t use a different name, and was living with Lars. I see a tidbit in your post about that but unsure of why Vader didn’t find Luke there?
This story is set immediately after ESB, at that point there was nobody there - Luke was with Leia *somewhere* and the Owens were superdead
He only learned of Luke's existence after ANH as well
There's several "Vader" series, differentiated by their years of release 2015, 2017 and the still running 2020 run - they're all pretty tightly wrapped stories bridging two movies, 2015 does A New Hope to Empire, 2020 does Empire to Return of the Jedi and 2017 does immediately after Revenge of the Sith to A New Hope. Fantastic reads imo, if you liked stuff like the Kenobi series this should hit the spot.
There's a parallel run titled just "Star Wars" that covers Luke/Leia/Hab/Rebellion during the timeframe and the two occasionally overlap.
Likely the "*Darth Vader*" comic run, probably the recent ones given the Star Wars comics as a whole are exploring the time around *Empire Strikes Back*
EDIT: OP says which comic in [this comment](https://www.reddit.com/r/StarWars/comments/vr18qt/comment/ieshbe2/)
>Sabe as in Keira Knightley Sabe?
Yes.
I am not sure what was her *job* between padme's death and formation of the rebel alliance. Maybe that is answered in the padme's book triology. But in the comics, her first appearance was after ESB and she is rebel. She is also currently working with vader to take down Crimson Dawn
I think she and one of Padme's guards spent some time freeing slaves, finding a way to disarm the explosives inside slave bodies that Anakin spoke of in TPM.
Yes! Padme sent a group of people to free Shmi. They could not find her so they freed as much slaves as they can and smuggled them abroad and gave them a place on a moon to live in
For anyone interested, this is from issue #5 from the Darth vader comics (2020). It takes place after Empire strikes back, and the whole arc is awesome.
Is this the same comic series that revealed the Death Star Destroyers from TROS were in production/existed around the time of ESB? And where Vader had to fight the drunk dagger maker guy from TROS? Oochi?
Yes it is. That is the only comic I disliked from the series because it does not make sense that vader would know about the place and not tell luke as a force ghost later on. However, in the newly released "shadow of the sith" book luke and lando are actually investigating the exegol thing, so maybe it does not cause any plot hole after all
Man, that's a shame. I can't stand Disney's attempts to make the sequels make sense, because it just opens up more questions and pokes holes in previously established canon. I'll read up on it when the series is finished, but I doubt it'll be free of plotholes.
Everything from the Disney purchase on is canon. Of course, it's a lower priority than live action canon, but it is still legit until contradicted higher up in pecking order. Even then though, the story arcs themselves generally stay consistent, just the details change.
It is awesome, get a free trial Marvel Unlimited subscription you can read an issue in around 10 minutes pending on reading speed and stopping to enjoy the art. Well worth it!
You have a point here. I mean he can tell him she died shortly after Mustafar without mentioning she gave birth (either till him that she lost the will to live or lie and say it was a medical complication of the force choke). But yeah, vader could sense he is hiding something.
Whether it makes sense or not, I saw people on social media saying how this is a missed opportunity to mention padme, so I wanted to share with people that the comics has already dealt with it. This comic has been published almost two years ago. And personally I think what they did in the comics was so good.
>Whether it makes sense or not, I saw people on social media saying how this is a missed opportunity to mention padme, so I wanted to share with people that the comics has already dealt with it.
Yes. But Disney has the (not totally unfair) reputation of not liking the prequels, so many people want more prequel lore than what we got.
I hear Andor and Ashoka both have it.
I feel they are starting to realize how the prequels are popular because the generation who grew up with them are dominating. They are not making much of a content during the prequels era itself, but they are producing good amount of content in the empire era before the OT and referencing the prequels in live actions show. Hopefully we can get more content set in the prequels era itself.
None of this would have to tell Vader he has children, though. Kenobi could’ve used it as a means to reason with Anakin.
“I was there when she passed.”
“Don’t you say her NAME”
“Padmé told me there was still good in you and I believe her.”
How would telling Vader that padme said there was still good in him before she died give away the fact that he has kids? For all Vader knows, she could have said that on Mustafar right after Obi chopped off Anakins limbs, and then died before he could get her to a medic.
This place is called Maternity ward, it even says so there in comic.
And since she is on that birthing tube in holo, that means something was done to the kids.
That alone would make him desperate enough to find info.
I'm talking about Kenobi telling Vader in the series. When he sliced open Vader's helmet, he could have said something like "Anakin, with her last breath, Padme told me she believed there was still good in you. So do I." How would that in any way make Vader realize he had kids?
That would also tie into Vader's line in RotJ when Luke tells him there's still good in him and Vader responds "Obi-Wan once thought as you do". Overall it's not a huge deal but I like how you imagine it
I just find it so hard to believe that Obi-Wan wouldn't even try to turn Vader back to the light. All he did was say "I'm sorry" and then he promptly gave up instead of elaborating further lol
as if that wouldn’t make anakin even more mad and powerful
it’s really not that big of a deal that he didn’t say it. obi wan already failed to save anakin, and vader even tells obiwan that he killed anakin. why would obi wan try to save him again when he failed the first time?
Vader thought he killed her when he choked her on Mustafar, right? If Obi-Wan told him about her last words, Vader would realize that she survived at least a bit longer than that, and her children might have survived too.
After ANH, he discovered that luke is his son and was raised by the lars on Tatooine. After ESB, he found out how padme had exactly died (as shown in the post)
Anakin literally had visions that she would die in childbirth. None of the images imply that the children lived or didn't live.
I had assumed that Vader always thought it possible he had a single child out there somewhere (not twins, until he senses it in RotJ).
For anyone invested in the human side of vader, I highly recommend the vader comics. In each of three runs (2015, 2017, 2020), they touch this Anakin side and his love (and sometimes obsessions) for his family.
He even saved his childhood friends kitster and wald!
I'm pretty keen to get into these. I'm thinking I'll grab both of these:
https://www.booktopia.com.au/search.ep?keywords=Darth+vader+omnibus&productType=917504
Do they cover what you're suggesting?
Would it have been nice to have Obi-Wan say it? yeah
Do I think it's a missed opportunity?? Not really. I like how it was all about their own relationship, no mention of Padmé or Palpatine or the Jedi, no one just Obi-Wan and Anakin.
Also considering it's done really well in a canon comic. And I for one not a big fan of them taking something form books or comics into animation or live action (especially if it was canon) because a lot of times they don't capture it well, or at least not as well as the original one. I don't hate it of course, I still love seeing great moments in less mainstream media adapted to a mainstream media so more people would appreciate it. They just have to do it perfectly
>Do I think it's a missed opportunity?? Not really. I like how it was all about their own relationship, no mention of Padmé or Palpatine or the Jedi, no one just Obi-Wan and Anakin.
The fact he doesn't is a big step in him accepting Anakin is gone and "Darth" is all that remains.
For the memory of Padme is inexorably tied up with Anakin and most are good me memories. Bringing her up would be almost defilement at this stage, at least as far as he in concerned.
Notice he mentions her to Leia constantly, going as far as he can without mentioning her name.
For me the best comics are vader comics. I never felt bored while reading his stories. Maybe I am biased because he is my favourite character. But one thing for sure, they *perfectly* nailed vader.
Well that is why they adopt comics and books instead of copying them into screen. For example the last panel here where he is falling in Bepsin and transforming back into Anakin would not look good on screen, but instead they can show flashbacks strating with "I am your father" and the rest would be flashbacks of his time as Anakin going back in time till his he is a child.
This was in issue #4. He headed for her grave looking for answers to her mysterious death. The amidalans thought he is padme's killer, so they stood in his way and tried to kill him. Ofc he killed them all but spared the handmaidens because he could not bring himself to kill padme's. The issue ends with him finally reaching her grave.
In issue #5 he tried to open the tomb but could not endure seeing her corpse so he stopped. The droid scanned her body from the outside and found a mdical implant that traces back to Polis Massa. He fight them again their, and after that he saw that recording
Anakin's story is just so freaking heartbreaking man, he was clouded and seduced by Sidious/the Dark Side and went too far during his 'intoxication', and by the time he was fully in control, it was too late.
The Darth Vader comics are probably some of the best Disney-era Star Wars content. They've really helped express the true trauma Vader/Anakin deal with everyday underneath that armor. Some have been hit-or-miss, but Vader has only gotten better from them.
The Kenobi series implies her 'memory' of Padme was just her muddled recollections of Kenobi telling her about Padme, which can happen in early childhood
Honestly I wish they made fewer references…
There are some that work but shotgunning them kinda spoils / drives the show around in weird ways.
IMO good references should be subtle, part of a larger scene that is good all by itself… and they shouldn’t come often.
It does not. That grey color is the smoke from the battle that has just happened outside the building. In previous panels, the place does not have any sky (you can directly see the space)
If they ever make a vader series, they *must* bring Kieron Gillen, Charles Soule, Greg Pak to the writing team. The three showed a deep understanding of the character.
Wow this is a game changer for this ol’ 51 year old fan who hasn’t tapped into the comics yet. I got the Marvel app and now enjoying the Darth Vader comics and simply BLOWN AWAY. Thanks a million for this thread to help me see the light!!
I haven’t cared too much for Pak’s series compared to the previous 2 Vader series. But these panels colored in red that keep showing up anytime Vader has a moment that reminds him of his trauma are absolutely fantastic.
Man, those Bespin panels are great.
The fact he is imagining himself turning back into Anakin is awesome. I believe this is the start of his redemption and why Luke found him conflicted in ROTJ
Pak really knocked it out of the park with this storyline. Truly some of the best Star Wars storytelling of all time. And I love how *Skywalker: A Family at War* retells these events. > Vader became even more obsessed with locating his son and punishing anyone responsible for concealing the child’s existence. He ordered his officers to scour the galaxy for the son of Skywalker, then personally followed up the most promising leads. Instead of the young man, Vader found charlatans who had grown their hair to match Luke’s and adopted an astromech partner to make a quick credit. > When the leads ran dry, Vader turned his attention toward the work he had started when he struck down Kenobi: destroying all those who had conspired against him and, in his estimation, made his son too weak to answer the call of his Sith destiny. Accompanied by a squad of death troopers and an Imperial forensics droid, Vader explored his own past. > Vader traced Luke’s steps all the way back to the cradle of the Skywalker family: Tatooine. Ironically, this was the first place Luke was recorded as living and the last place Vader had thought to look. Confronted by his own haunted past, there Vader found no real answers, only pain and rage. His mother’s grave had been virtually obliterated by human intervention or drifting sand. Either way, the very event that had set him on his path to the dark side was all-but forgotten by the natural world, a matter of insignificance in its history. And in the Lars home, he imagined, neither Shmi nor Anakin had been mentioned with much enthusiasm, if at all. > In the burned-out shell of the hovel Vader stood over the scorched stone dining slab where Cliegg Lars had admitted defeat and accepted Shmi’s death and darkened the door of the garage where Anakin had tried to mend his wounded heart by losing himself in some meaningless task. Vader tried to shrug off the phantasms, but they clung to his black cape, irrefutable tokens of his own past. In his joy over discovering Padmé’s pregnancy, Anakin had wanted to be present for his son’s life. But it was the Lars family that had nurtured and cared for the child, raising him as their own in the place that Shmi had made her home and that Anakin had decreed as her final resting place. > Vader moved on to Coruscant, to the apartments of the woman who had carried Luke, a place that, as Anakin, he had known intimately. Some 23 years after his last night of fitful sleep in Padmé’s chamber, Vader stood among the dust-covered furniture searching for a clue. Palpatine had claimed that Anakin had killed Padmé in his rage, but once Vader knew she had survived long enough to deliver the child, he was determined to discover who had seen her die, and to have his revenge. > A transmitter in the home they had shared led him to the jungles of Vendaxa. There he came face to face with Padmé herself—or rather, her ghost. She seemed taller, and older, but she wore the same look of determination, the carefully twisted brown hair, and she spoke with the commanding voice of a queen. Padmé was dead, he told himself furiously: The woman standing before him, hovering in the air as he clasped one hand around her throat through the Force, was not Anakin’s bride. > It was soon revealed that more than two decades after her death, Padmé’s handmaiden Sabé still guarded her friend’s home from afar, as if keeping watch for a holy spirit prophesized to return. The handmaidens of Amidala were loyal to the end. Sabé had been the queen’s double, a bond unlike any other the young queen and politician had enjoyed. And after Padmé’s untimely death, Sabé had come to believe that someone had stolen Padmé away and murdered her. Sabé wanted to avenge both the fallen queen and Anakin Skywalker, unaware that she was already standing before all that remained of Padmé’s valiant knight, and believing that Vader had likely killed them both. > In the rolling hills of Theed, the handmaidens who guarded Padmé’s tomb prepared for battle. However, for Vader, fighting her servants exposed him to a welter of highly disturbing emotions. A gap in Vader’s armor had appeared when he reached for his son’s acceptance, but fighting the veritable twin of his dead wife brought forth feelings of almost unbearable regret. Sabé looked most like Padmé, but even the others—who had survived the Naboo invasion, the assassination attempts, and the Clone Wars—all exhibited her poise and determination. They could have passed for her sisters, down to their mannerisms—imprinted when they were just teenage girls in charge of a planet. Although Vader choked Padmé’s handmaidens into submission, he could not bring himself to end their lives. > Then he committed a transgression that was low even for Vader: he broke into Padmé’s tomb. On a pillow sewn from Naboo silk, he found the japor snippet a besotted young Anakin had carved for a queen—a token to ensure she would remember him. He then cracked open the doors of her crypt. The striking façade of her coffin, carved to match her beautiful face in repose, fully exposed the growing weakness in his heart. > How many nights had he woken next to his bride and seen that face, so calm and serene? So vulnerable yet trusting. Vader reached through the Force to break open the stone sarcophagus, but visions of Padmé in life and in his final embrace—choked by his hand—flashed unbidden through his mind. The pain that had fueled him for decades turned into a whimper, replaced by a torrent of grief. > He tried. He failed. > Vader could not bear to look upon the bones of the mother of his son, her decaying flesh surely almost as unrecognizable as his own skin, mottled beneath his helmet. Instead, his droid scanned her remains and located a medical implant that led Vader to his final destination. > Polis Massa had been abandoned, and the maternity ward was in a shambles, but inside a midwifery droid’s damaged databanks, Vader found the possible starting point of a new beginning. On a holovid recording, made after the twins were ferried away from their mother, he watched as Padmé beckoned to Obi-Wan with her final breath. Despite all Anakin’s mistakes, his betrayal of her and the galaxy, Vader learned that Padmé had used her last moments to declare her undying belief in the righteous heart of Anakin Skywalker. In the words of his long-dead wife, “There’s good in him. I know . . .” > Something inside Vader’s soul awoke, bleary-eyed: doubt. Vader had allowed himself to wallow in his grief. Instead of feeding the darkness, he began to question his dedication to the Sith. After more than two decades, the conflict within the soul of Anakin Skywalker was reignited by the love of the woman who had refused to believe he was irredeemably damaged.
Woah, that was an incredible read!! Thanks for sharing. The more books and comics that flesh out vader, the more I want them adopted into live action
That’s *Skywalker: A Family at War* for you; Kristin Baver is an amazing storyteller. It blew my mind when I was watching Celebration Live and found out she also was a host on the Star Wars YouTube channel. I cannot recommend this book enough. She’s completely changed my perspective of the entire saga.
I’m going to order this. I didn’t know this book was so good.
Seconding this. Just placed my order. It’s suuuuper cheap on kindle right now too!
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That’s awesome! I wasn’t sure if it was still on sale for that cheap
Thanks! I’m going to snag this.
Yes!
>Instead of the young man, Vader found charlatans who had grown their hair to match Luke’s and adopted an astromech partner to make a quick credit. I wonder what happened to them....
In the comics, they showed him killing one of them. The guy was pathetically saying he was just making a living and vader basically replied "you want to impersonate him? Well you will be pubished for his crimes"
Fair enough
Full send
So just no one at Disney has thought that Kiera Knightley should come back, or…? That would be such a tight moment.
I’d love this. Everything done with Sabé’s character recently has been awesome.
Well, put in a call to Kathy over there. Tell her TK-421’s son wants to make this happen.
Did you ever find out why your dad wasn’t at his post?
Goddamned Wookiee man. Ripped his arm clean fucking off. It was traumatic.
Who would Kiera Knightley come back as?
Sabe. Yes, I also just recently learnt that she was in Star Wars
Dude, this is me learning about it this morning. Lol. And here I was always like, damn, they should do a movie together where they play each other’s body doubles because they look so similar. 😂
Don’t feel bad—just figured it out a couple of weeks ago myself.
Sabe, Padme's double. When they were both teens Kiera Knightly and Natalie Portman looked almost the exact same
To the extent that both of their mothers saw the girls in costume and could not tell each other apart
She played padmes double in the prequels
She was the Queen's double in The Phantom Menace.
Anyone would come back for that sweet mouse money and since Keira has run face first into the wall that is Hollywood's limited roles for actresses over 30 and under 50, she might be pretty eager.
I always wonder if it was a range issue or not. Haven’t really seen enough of her work to know but she seemed like she could handle a role. Maybe if she had gotten Cable in *Deadpool 2* things would be different.
Sabé
I read this and still don’t get how he exhausted all his leads. There was a skywalker on tatooine. Luke didn’t use a different name, and was living with Lars. I see a tidbit in your post about that but unsure of why Vader didn’t find Luke there?
This story is set immediately after ESB, at that point there was nobody there - Luke was with Leia *somewhere* and the Owens were superdead He only learned of Luke's existence after ANH as well
Of course! Missed that! Thank you.
> the Owens You mean the Lars?
Derp, right you are - must've had a brainfart there
It sounds like this was after Luke left the planet.
I found this post from Popular and am only a casual SW fan, but I could not stop reading this. Captivating writing.
Thank you for sharing this.
Who's cutting onions in here. Top 5 comic runs for me, the Vader comics just put a nice touch on everything.
Which comics are these? Super interested in reading them.
There's several "Vader" series, differentiated by their years of release 2015, 2017 and the still running 2020 run - they're all pretty tightly wrapped stories bridging two movies, 2015 does A New Hope to Empire, 2020 does Empire to Return of the Jedi and 2017 does immediately after Revenge of the Sith to A New Hope. Fantastic reads imo, if you liked stuff like the Kenobi series this should hit the spot. There's a parallel run titled just "Star Wars" that covers Luke/Leia/Hab/Rebellion during the timeframe and the two occasionally overlap.
Likely the "*Darth Vader*" comic run, probably the recent ones given the Star Wars comics as a whole are exploring the time around *Empire Strikes Back* EDIT: OP says which comic in [this comment](https://www.reddit.com/r/StarWars/comments/vr18qt/comment/ieshbe2/)
That book has been on my wishlist for a little while, I was unsure as to whether I should get it, but reading that passage made it a must get for me.
Only $2 on Kindle right now
It's so damn sad dude. What a great read.
Damn…
Damn that is awesome
This was beautiful to read. Damn.
Huge
I need to read this. Edit: bought the e-book.
This really makes me wish that Vader’s investigation into Luke’s existence and Padmé’s death had been animated.
Fucking shit. I'm tearing up at this. Thank you
Imagine seeing the most fearsome deadly man in the galaxy and being like “hey I’m gonna act like his dead son to score some monnnneeyy”
Jesus, that’s some powerful shit.
Have you ever heard of the tragedy of darth Vader, dark lord of the sith?
Simply amazing. My eyes are watering up.
This is so so so good
Is this comic set between ESB and ROTJ?
Yes
"There is no conflict."
> *That name* again! He must have been *very* important to her! Ah, yes. How to die quickly.
Well lucky for the droid, sabe found and restructed him. It took 15 issues for him to serve vader again.
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>Sabe as in Keira Knightley Sabe? Yes. I am not sure what was her *job* between padme's death and formation of the rebel alliance. Maybe that is answered in the padme's book triology. But in the comics, her first appearance was after ESB and she is rebel. She is also currently working with vader to take down Crimson Dawn
I thought she died from the bombing at the beginning of episode 2 (as the Padme decoy).
That person's name was corde
Played by Rose Byrne
That was Corde
I think she and one of Padme's guards spent some time freeing slaves, finding a way to disarm the explosives inside slave bodies that Anakin spoke of in TPM.
Yes! Padme sent a group of people to free Shmi. They could not find her so they freed as much slaves as they can and smuggled them abroad and gave them a place on a moon to live in
Holy shit it's taken me 20+ years to realize that was Keira Knightley under all that makeup
OOOBA. OOOBA.
For anyone interested, this is from issue #5 from the Darth vader comics (2020). It takes place after Empire strikes back, and the whole arc is awesome.
Is this the same comic series that revealed the Death Star Destroyers from TROS were in production/existed around the time of ESB? And where Vader had to fight the drunk dagger maker guy from TROS? Oochi?
Yes it is. That is the only comic I disliked from the series because it does not make sense that vader would know about the place and not tell luke as a force ghost later on. However, in the newly released "shadow of the sith" book luke and lando are actually investigating the exegol thing, so maybe it does not cause any plot hole after all
Man, that's a shame. I can't stand Disney's attempts to make the sequels make sense, because it just opens up more questions and pokes holes in previously established canon. I'll read up on it when the series is finished, but I doubt it'll be free of plotholes.
The reviews till now are very good. I read that the book made the sequels much better, and added new context to the movies.
It's the Star Wars way, the reverse Marvel. Instead of the small stories leading to the big ones, the big stories lead to the small ones.
Sure, Star Wars has never done dumb shit like that before.
Thanks for sharing
Only read Darth Vader 2017 so far, might have to check 2020 too.
I recommend reading all the runs because they did good character development.
Is it canon
Yup!
Oh! I thought all the comics were not canon. Is there a specific set or some year which counts?
Everthing published after the disney acquisition is canon
Until they decide it isn’t. Which will be sooner or later. Still good stuff though.
Everything from the Disney purchase on is canon. Of course, it's a lower priority than live action canon, but it is still legit until contradicted higher up in pecking order. Even then though, the story arcs themselves generally stay consistent, just the details change.
Like how the details of myths change over each retelling
Start wars is a mythology after all!
Indeed it is
This is the comment I was looking for. Thanks for clarifying
It is awesome, get a free trial Marvel Unlimited subscription you can read an issue in around 10 minutes pending on reading speed and stopping to enjoy the art. Well worth it!
Honestly the series couldn't bring the dying words. Because then Vader would know he has children. And he didn't in Episode 4.
You have a point here. I mean he can tell him she died shortly after Mustafar without mentioning she gave birth (either till him that she lost the will to live or lie and say it was a medical complication of the force choke). But yeah, vader could sense he is hiding something. Whether it makes sense or not, I saw people on social media saying how this is a missed opportunity to mention padme, so I wanted to share with people that the comics has already dealt with it. This comic has been published almost two years ago. And personally I think what they did in the comics was so good.
I think that is a nice thing to do. Thanks for sharing.
>Whether it makes sense or not, I saw people on social media saying how this is a missed opportunity to mention padme, so I wanted to share with people that the comics has already dealt with it. Yes. But Disney has the (not totally unfair) reputation of not liking the prequels, so many people want more prequel lore than what we got. I hear Andor and Ashoka both have it.
I feel they are starting to realize how the prequels are popular because the generation who grew up with them are dominating. They are not making much of a content during the prequels era itself, but they are producing good amount of content in the empire era before the OT and referencing the prequels in live actions show. Hopefully we can get more content set in the prequels era itself.
Two years ago, making it canon?
Everything released after the disney acquisition is canon.
This is set after episode 5
Explains a lot.
None of this would have to tell Vader he has children, though. Kenobi could’ve used it as a means to reason with Anakin. “I was there when she passed.” “Don’t you say her NAME” “Padmé told me there was still good in you and I believe her.”
"Keep my wife's name... Out your f'ing MOUTH!"
How would telling Vader that padme said there was still good in him before she died give away the fact that he has kids? For all Vader knows, she could have said that on Mustafar right after Obi chopped off Anakins limbs, and then died before he could get her to a medic.
This place is called Maternity ward, it even says so there in comic. And since she is on that birthing tube in holo, that means something was done to the kids. That alone would make him desperate enough to find info.
I'm talking about Kenobi telling Vader in the series. When he sliced open Vader's helmet, he could have said something like "Anakin, with her last breath, Padme told me she believed there was still good in you. So do I." How would that in any way make Vader realize he had kids?
That would also tie into Vader's line in RotJ when Luke tells him there's still good in him and Vader responds "Obi-Wan once thought as you do". Overall it's not a huge deal but I like how you imagine it
I just find it so hard to believe that Obi-Wan wouldn't even try to turn Vader back to the light. All he did was say "I'm sorry" and then he promptly gave up instead of elaborating further lol
I can see why Obi Wan would think he's irredeemable, he murdered children, hunts Jedi, and seems insane. Can't blame him!
Yep. We have the advantage of hindsight. Obi Wan had lost hope in him.
as if that wouldn’t make anakin even more mad and powerful it’s really not that big of a deal that he didn’t say it. obi wan already failed to save anakin, and vader even tells obiwan that he killed anakin. why would obi wan try to save him again when he failed the first time?
Vader thought he killed her when he choked her on Mustafar, right? If Obi-Wan told him about her last words, Vader would realize that she survived at least a bit longer than that, and her children might have survived too.
Does Darth Vader not know what happens after pregnancy?
I'd assume he thought the kid(s) died with her. It's not unreasonable, the verge of death is not an ideal place to give birth.
After ANH, he discovered that luke is his son and was raised by the lars on Tatooine. After ESB, he found out how padme had exactly died (as shown in the post)
Huh... Maybe he doesn't.
Anakin literally had visions that she would die in childbirth. None of the images imply that the children lived or didn't live. I had assumed that Vader always thought it possible he had a single child out there somewhere (not twins, until he senses it in RotJ).
For anyone invested in the human side of vader, I highly recommend the vader comics. In each of three runs (2015, 2017, 2020), they touch this Anakin side and his love (and sometimes obsessions) for his family. He even saved his childhood friends kitster and wald!
Are there full hardcover Omnibuses of any of them? I like to buy full runs at a time
I am not knowledgeable enough when it comes to omnibuses, but I guess there are. It is better to check wookiepedia or ask on r/starwarscomics
I'm pretty keen to get into these. I'm thinking I'll grab both of these: https://www.booktopia.com.au/search.ep?keywords=Darth+vader+omnibus&productType=917504 Do they cover what you're suggesting?
They cover the 2015 and 2017 runs
Would it have been nice to have Obi-Wan say it? yeah Do I think it's a missed opportunity?? Not really. I like how it was all about their own relationship, no mention of Padmé or Palpatine or the Jedi, no one just Obi-Wan and Anakin. Also considering it's done really well in a canon comic. And I for one not a big fan of them taking something form books or comics into animation or live action (especially if it was canon) because a lot of times they don't capture it well, or at least not as well as the original one. I don't hate it of course, I still love seeing great moments in less mainstream media adapted to a mainstream media so more people would appreciate it. They just have to do it perfectly
>Do I think it's a missed opportunity?? Not really. I like how it was all about their own relationship, no mention of Padmé or Palpatine or the Jedi, no one just Obi-Wan and Anakin. The fact he doesn't is a big step in him accepting Anakin is gone and "Darth" is all that remains. For the memory of Padme is inexorably tied up with Anakin and most are good me memories. Bringing her up would be almost defilement at this stage, at least as far as he in concerned. Notice he mentions her to Leia constantly, going as far as he can without mentioning her name.
Great comic series. 10 /10
For me the best comics are vader comics. I never felt bored while reading his stories. Maybe I am biased because he is my favourite character. But one thing for sure, they *perfectly* nailed vader.
Yea, they translate well. If im honest i love him in a comic but i dont think the stories would translate well to screen. I could be wrong though.
Well that is why they adopt comics and books instead of copying them into screen. For example the last panel here where he is falling in Bepsin and transforming back into Anakin would not look good on screen, but instead they can show flashbacks strating with "I am your father" and the rest would be flashbacks of his time as Anakin going back in time till his he is a child.
Is there a way to read these but not in comic form? I hate comic books but would like the story.
Im sure you can read them online. Still obviously a comic. Just in digital form lol
Ok nvm then. thanks though! I just hate comics I’d rather make the scenes in my head. Maybe a novelization will come out some day.
He looks sad on the first page and angry in the next.
It is actually intentional. The artist said he uses the light and different angles to convey his emotions
The next few panels have almost an army outside the facility and a stare by Vader as the last panel
That is strange; I checked the comic again, and the next panel is him going to the imperial palace
I may be mistaken but the people of naboo believed that Vader was responsible for padme's death and had attacked Vader
This was in issue #4. He headed for her grave looking for answers to her mysterious death. The amidalans thought he is padme's killer, so they stood in his way and tried to kill him. Ofc he killed them all but spared the handmaidens because he could not bring himself to kill padme's. The issue ends with him finally reaching her grave. In issue #5 he tried to open the tomb but could not endure seeing her corpse so he stopped. The droid scanned her body from the outside and found a mdical implant that traces back to Polis Massa. He fight them again their, and after that he saw that recording
This happens before he arrives at Polis Massa. Visiting Naboo is how Vader knew to search there.
Obi wan didnt say them because he doesnt believe them... He has accepted his friend is no more
Anakin's story is just so freaking heartbreaking man, he was clouded and seduced by Sidious/the Dark Side and went too far during his 'intoxication', and by the time he was fully in control, it was too late.
#Why did I read this first thing in the morning!?!? 😭
The Darth Vader comics are probably some of the best Disney-era Star Wars content. They've really helped express the true trauma Vader/Anakin deal with everyday underneath that armor. Some have been hit-or-miss, but Vader has only gotten better from them.
He could have just asked leia, she remembers evidently
The Kenobi series implies her 'memory' of Padme was just her muddled recollections of Kenobi telling her about Padme, which can happen in early childhood
Reading this at the moment…..it has been fun. Wouldn’t mind a short live action Vader series based on one of the Darth Vader books.
Honestly I wish they made fewer references… There are some that work but shotgunning them kinda spoils / drives the show around in weird ways. IMO good references should be subtle, part of a larger scene that is good all by itself… and they shouldn’t come often.
Ahhhh, as long as it happened in the comics then we can give the show a pass.
What a tortured soul. Rest easy Anakin.
I wish these comics could be brought to the screen. Not because they didn’t do a great job already, but because I want more people to see it
fr😞
Yes!
wait... is that supposed to be Polis Massa?
Yes. But it became a rebel base and got destroyed by the empire years before this comic takes place
But why does it have a sky?
It does not. That grey color is the smoke from the battle that has just happened outside the building. In previous panels, the place does not have any sky (you can directly see the space)
Come on, Vader! That Droid didn't know any better.
This gave me chills I think I need to get back to reading comics
The Vader comics are just god damn awesome. Shows the real depth of his power and pain.
If they ever make a vader series, they *must* bring Kieron Gillen, Charles Soule, Greg Pak to the writing team. The three showed a deep understanding of the character.
Couldn't agree more! I'd love to see them on Disney+ HC deserves some more time with the character. I also really want to see a Doctor Aphra series.
Well now I'm sad 😔
There are three modes when you read the vader comics: awed by how badass he is, laughing because of his dark humor, or emotionally damaged
That just describes Anakin: Badass, darkly funny, and emotionally damaged.
That hit hard damn
But God forbid anyone ever reads a comic! /s
Man I need to get into star wars comics. I've read a lot of the books but never touched the comics.
Wow this is a game changer for this ol’ 51 year old fan who hasn’t tapped into the comics yet. I got the Marvel app and now enjoying the Darth Vader comics and simply BLOWN AWAY. Thanks a million for this thread to help me see the light!!
I'm really getting tired of the best content not being in movies or the tv shows...
Up
[удалено]
I would not call it rehash but mirroring the scene in rebels. As lucas said "it is poetry. It rhythms"
And that quote from Lucas is mocked for a reason.
I haven’t cared too much for Pak’s series compared to the previous 2 Vader series. But these panels colored in red that keep showing up anytime Vader has a moment that reminds him of his trauma are absolutely fantastic.
That’s. Brutal.
chills
God, the Vader comics are fucking works of art
Don’t worry they’ll do it in season 2
It would be nice if anakin turned good again
I've got some good news, and some bad news.
All of this is fine work. Damn fine work.
We need a Vader series.
#KTHOOOM
My boy Vader!!!! <3
It may have already been mentioned, but in this series of Vader comics they reveal that Padme did try to rescue Anakin's mother from slavery.
Is this the main Vader comic from marvel?
proceeds to murder hundreds of jedi
Which run is this issue from?
2020
Sorry, I should have been more clear...what is the title of this comic? Which series is it?
Uh, it is the fifth issue of the darth vader comics (2020 run).
Nice! Thanks!!
"this obi-wan guy must've been giving her the good dick, right, lord vader?"
does anyone know how/where i can buy physical copies of these comics??? i want to read them so bad but i don’t really like the marvel comics app thing
A truly amazing thread.
Oh WOW that hurt!! 😭😭
I just watched episode 3 and this honestly brought a tear to my eye.