The Annihilation of Anakin Continues in Darth Vader #4
Writer: Charles Soule
Artist: Giuseppe Camuncoli
- Vader’s first mission isn’t going well.
- The dark side is the way of power.
- But no one said it would be easy.
SPOILERS AHEAD
When we left the Dark Lord of the Sith in the last issue, things didn’t go exactly as he hoped and the readers expected. Vader’s Sith behind was handed to him by one Jedi Master Infil’a. The tough Jedi Master made a critical error though by not making sure that Vader was truly dead.
As this issue opens, we get a clear image of just how powerful Vader’s rage really is. As he gets lectured by an equally broken droid, Vader dismantles him with the Force and uses his parts to rebuild his suit.
As this is happening, Infil’a visits Am’balaran City and Mareena, a mechanic who stored his ship years ago. He learns from her and her daughter that the Jedi were proclaimed traitors throughout the galaxy. He says he would restore light to the galaxy by finding the master of the Sith who attacked him. Mareena is worried that the Sith would follow Infil’a, but the Jedi believes he is dead.
While Mareena is working on his ship, the Jedi amuses her daughter by demonstrating his Force powers. He believes he would be able to come back and rebuild the Jedi order on the planet. But his demonstration is interrupted when he feels the Dark Side. Vader is back.
As we saw in the previous issue, Kirak Infil’a is more than Vader’s match – he manages to strike Vader again in this rematch fight. But, he is not the match for Vader’s ruthlessness and rage. Infil’a is a true Jedi, maybe truer and purer than his comrades the Sith destroyed, because he never participated in the Clone Wars. When Vader threatens the lives of city guards, Infil’a manages to save them, but there is no stopping Vader in a fit of rage.
Vader destroys the dam in an act that will kill the entire city. While Infil’a is trying to stop that, Vader takes his lightsaber away and then starts Force-choking him. The Jedi begs for the lives of the people below, but there is no mercy left in Vader. As hundreds or maybe even thousands of people die, Vader has fulfilled the first part of his mission – he has obtained the lightsaber from the Jedi he defeated.
Up to this point in Star Wars continuity, we have seen Vader do some horrible things – including the murder of younglings in the Jedi temple – but there was still ambiguity and conflict in him. By now though, Vader has had some really bad days in recent memory that have fueled his rage beyond any hope of redemption: he was defeated by his friend and burned to crisp, encased in a mechanical suit that keeps him alive, he lost his family, and he was broken yet again during his first fight with Infil’a. This Vader’s rage burns like a sun and destroys everything in his path. We see his physical agony, but Camuncoli’s expressive art does a pretty good job to show the burning hatred that fuels Vader’s will to live and fight.
And he fights dirty, because physically he is no match for Kirak Infil’a. He is vulnerable and now he has learned his first lesson. He uses Kirak’s concern for innocent lives against him as he falls further and further away from Anakin Skywalker. He is beginning to embrace the monster he became through his own faults and Palpatine’s manipulation.
While this was a pretty straightforward issue, it once again cements that this is a Vader we have never seen before. He is not the wielder of cold, calculated and directed rage we saw in the movies. He cannot be further from the killing machine we saw in Rogue One for example. He is like a wildfire of pain and hatred and it is ironic that his weakness fuels his power. This arc ends in the next issue. While I am hoping that we will get to see the ritual that bleeds the kyber crystal, what I am most eager to see should come after that – Palpatine’s teachings that harness and direct Vader’s power. But, those lessons are for another day as the story of Vader’s first lesson ends in…
THE NEXT ISSUE:
• He began his journey as a Jedi with wonder and hope.
• Now it is time to put away childish things.
• Vader’s first and most vital test as a Sith concludes.
THIS ISSUE GETS 7.5/10 STARS.
Staff member, comic and book reviewer. Cheers for the Light Side, but would drink with Grand Admirals.
As someone who got their ass thoroughly handed to him in Issue 3, Vader sure did make quick work of this guy. Ehhh : /
Well, to be fair, Vader did kind of cheat. He preoccupied Infil’a with protecting innocents while he caught him unaware with a Force choke and a quick death.
This isn’t cheating. This is being Sith.
I mean, it IS Vader. If he can’t win head-on, he’ll win eventually. He’s both ruthless AND patient. Notice how he never runs at anyone, and instead prefers to walk towards you, knowing you’ll eventually be in a corner?
You are completely correct. When he ran towards someone, he got his ass handed to him by Infil’a. This is where he learned that lesson. But, ruthlessness is the key ingredient. He can’t defeat Infil’a in direct combat (Infil’a strikes him after two seconds), he kills thousands. Good bye, Jedi.
I never had any doubt that Vader wouldn’t eventually win but like it wasn’t even a contest between him and the other Jedi in Issue 3 and then all of a sudden he just comes out of nowhere and wrecks house. I was expecting some sort of epic battle.
Why couldn’t TFA look this cool?
You need to get on with your life.
I often ask the same questions of the Prequels.
I ask why does it always has to be something versus something else.
Because TFA was too busy being being way cooler than this, I guess.
So… hours before he easily owned Vader but now Vader killed him so easily because… because of what? What stopped him from breaking force grip like he did previously? It was obvious that Vader is going to somehow kill him, but how it went in that issue is absolutely cheap. I am disappoint.
vader killed him with his anger and hate, he is a sith
Vader distracted him by putting the lives of innocents in peril. Infil’a was stronger, but he was spread too thin trying to keep everyone else alive. In contrast, Vader was able to focus his power against the Jedi. I felt that it made sense and was a very Sith thing for Vader to do.
Remember when in Ep2 Count Dooku managed to escape the fight with Yoda by distracting the Jedi Master by throwing some heavy object at Anakin and Obi-Wan? Not exactly the same, but similar situation. It was enough to divide his attention and get away. In the comic, Vader used the same method to distract his opponent and defeat him.
Did you read it?
This issue was, well, a bit of a disappointment. I thought that Vader would have been drawn into some sort of galactic chase, not only to avenge his first defeat, but to keep the Jedi Master from getting to and killing Palpatine. And Vader using live bait to distract seemed a bit contrived, but you have to remember this is baby Vader, fresh from being a Jedi, with no formal teaching in the ways of the Sith. Overall still a good series.