Review: ‘Darth Vader’ #26 Sees Vader Wrestle With His Personal Demons
After Darth Vader #25, I predicted that riding a podracer would see Vader wrestle with some personal demons, and that #26 would also see Sabé resurface in the storm, and I was right. If anything, this issue spends a little too much time wandering through Vader’s memories and retreading old ground, though it does mark a significant change in Vader’s journey towards his eventual redemption.
The Darth Vader comic series (particularly Charles Soule’s run) has always been at its most fascinating when Vader strolls down memory lane, dealing with some of his awful decisions as Anakin Skywalker and wondering what might have been. Unfortunately, this issue isn’t as effective with its flashbacks.
Instead, we’re shown flashbacks of Anakin’s more emotional scenes with Padmé and Shmi from the prequel trilogy with that familiar reddish hue, but nothing interesting really happens. Instead, we’re reading the exact same scenes from the films word for word with no additional insight given. There is one scene between Anakin and his mother that wasn’t in the films, but even that fails to provide any new information about their relationship.
Thankfully, the present-day storyline is a little more interesting as Vader rides into the storm to rescue Sabé and Kitster. We see a little bit of Anakin start to resurface inside that black armor, as Vader seeks to exorcise some personal demons relating to those memories. It’s a small step, but it’s nice to see his first steps on the journey to becoming the man who sacrifices his life to save his son.
Spoilers ahead…
This is one of the earliest signs that Vader is allowing Anakin Skywalker’s emotions to affect his actions, ahead of his redemption in Return of the Jedi.
In saving Sabé, Vader is clearly trying to make up for Anakin’s failures. That shot of him carrying Sabé out of the wreckage is meant to imply that he’s living out a fantasy of his own making: saving Padmé. This fantasy lets him feel like he’s able to save the most important people in his life, a goal that both haunted and eluded Anakin in equal measure.
On the comic’s final page, we see Palpatine also come to that realization as he senses his padawan’s feelings from afar. It remains to be seen if he’ll act to absolve Vader of the notion that he can save those he cares for, or if he is simply amused that Vader has been reduced to placing such a level of importance on a woman that simply looks like his deceased wife. If it’s the former, then we could be seeing the end of Sabé’s story sooner rather than later.
Ultimately, the look into Vader’s past was disappointing (though I commend the bravery to start off with the “sand” line), but by the end, we did get our first look at Darth Vader’s transition into the man who actually manages to save a loved one in Return of the Jedi, which does offset the underwhelming introspection.
Rating: 5/10
Josh is a huge Star Wars fan, who has spent far too much time wondering if any Star Wars character could defeat Thanos with all the Infinity Stones.
