– Spoiler Review –
Darth Vader #6 (Vol. 3) kicks off the next arc, “Into the Fire,” and what a fire it is, as Vader learns the price of disobedience for wallowing in grief and teaming up with the remaining handmaidens of his late wife.
With his personal mission to determine who hid Luke from him over, Vader returns to Emperor Palpatine only to face a fury unlike anything we or he has ever quite seen. Palpatine senses Vader’s time away changed him, and not for the Sith-ly better: interacting with Padmé’s handmaidens, diving into what happened to her, and wallowing in the grief of basically losing her again knowing she went through pain of her own to have their child(ren), Vader’s spirit of fear and anger has been broken and replaced by grief. Palpatine can’t have this, as a defiant Vader not only has been secretly planning on bringing in his son to help kill ol’ Sheev, he finally calls out Sheev for lying to him about Padmé’s death all those years ago, so the Emperor knows it’s time to reestablish the Sith pecking order. It’s a rather brutal scene, as first the Emperor forces Vader to battle his Guards without a saber, but as he’s victorious, Palpatine blasts him with his deadly lightning and crushes his metallic limbs…and it only gets more oppressive from there. Palpatine flies Vader out to Mustafar and dumps him on the same shore he found him after his battle with Obi-Wan, where he roasts again thanks to the heat, and then Sheevster tells him he can’t use the Force, at all, to help rebuild himself. But wait…there’s one more thing! Palpatine sends Ochi of Bestoon after Vader, a Sith assassin whose name will likely ring a bell since he took out Rey Skywalker’s parents when trying to track her down (and then died from a big snake-like creature after sinking in quicksand), as seen in The Rise of Skywalker. It’s a lot, like way more than I expected, but it’s rather appropriate for a Sith Master as devious as Sheev, and really highlights the pain and suffering inherit in the dark side of the Force.
The whole sequence also explores how Vader, invigorated in anger by learning he has a son, building his own army and gaining his Master’s praise, and trying to recruit his son to help him overthrow the Emperor could suddenly be so timid about facing his Master once Luke comes to him at Endor. How did Vader, who gained so much momentum since his failure at the Death Star, once again come to fear his Master and no longer be willing to take him down? Well, this issue alone is the answer, as the pure power the Emperor exhibits and the pain he inflicts, with one of Vader’s most difficult tasks ahead of him still, is enough to rewire anyone, even Vader, dampening his defiant impulses and reinstating the ultimate fear of crossing his Master. We’ve seen Vader rebuild himself (literally) in the previous Vader volume, Dark Lord of the Sith, but he had the Force as his ally then…now he has to rely on his pure ingenuity and previous mechanic skills to survive again. It’s obvious by his subservience to Palpatine by Endor that he learns the lesson Palpatine wants him to, that he should continue to wallow in his anger and pain and he’s powerless against his Master, when really the lesson to learn from this is raw strength won’t save the day and he must rise above the pain. This whole arc will likely add a lot more to Vader’s decision to help his son in the Throne Room, as it gives him much to consider when defying his Master: if he (and Luke) fails, what’s the price of that treasonous action if this is the price for emotional treason? But that he will still choose to save his son and kill the Emperor (for now) shows how powerful love is, over even the sheer might of Sheev, if it’s all Vader needed to win in the end. Palpatine talks much about the primacy of power and how Vader must find it to return to former Sith-powered glory
The art team from the first arc returns, Raffele Ienco with Neeraj Menon on colors, and Joe Caramagna as letterer, and this is their issue to really shine. The art always compliments and brings life to the writer’s script, in this case Greg Pak still, but an issue like this, where we need to see and feel Palpatine’s fearsome power, to feel it like Vader does, the art has to do the heavy lifting and the team does so expertly! I cringed often reading Darth Vader #6 (Vol. 3), from the constant lightning crackling over Vader’s body, to how Sheev crushes his metallic limbs, or seeing him light on fire again, the visceral, detailed nature of the art brought the feeling of Vader’s pain alive. In particular, I enjoyed the sparse use of the flashback motif from the first arc, as I was somewhat worried that might go away, and while it’s used less here, each moment is really impactful, from Vader thinking of the others he’s choked while ol’ Palpy chokes him to watching Obi-Wan walk away from him on Mustafar to replace seeing the Emperor, thus echoing the hate he has for Palpatine over his actions with the hate he had for Obi-Wan for his. Caramagna gets some really wicked lettering to convey the lightning or Vader’s pain and it’s the icing on this torture of Vader cake.
Here are a few other things:
- The handmaidens live!! The previous issue left the fate of Sabé and the other handmaidens up in the air, which felt like such a strange decision considering how important they were to the story. Their survival only gets one panel here, adding to the odd decision not to include any direct acknowledgement last issue, but I’m just glad to hear they are alive and well, regardless of how/when it was delivered.
- Ochi’s involvement here, considering his pivotal but ultimately minor and underdeveloped appearance in TROS, should help said appearance, but knowing he’ll die thanks to getting caught in quicksand does make his big reveal here come with a bit of a laugh. I like the outfit, the look of his weapon, and I’m sure he’ll be a formidable foe for a Force-less Vader, but it’ll take a bit to win me over.
- Considering the pain and torture Vader has brought to many others, regardless of his time as Anakin and ultimate redemption, it was somewhat nice to finally see the tables turned on him.
- Chris just posted the full arc review of “Dark Heart of the Sith,” the opening act to this new volume of Vader!
Darth Vader #6 (Vol. 3) might be heavy on the Sith-fueled torture and light on story, but the art team really helps set stakes of what’s ahead for Vader.
+ Emperor’s raw might/truly devious plans
+ Sparse but impactful flashbacks/visions
– Maybe a little too heavy on the torture over plot
Ryan is Mynock Manor’s Head Butler. You can follow him on Twitter @BrushYourTeeth. You can follow the website on Twitter @MynockManor and Instagram @mynockmanor.
DARTH VADER (VOL. 3)
Dark Heart of the Sith: #1 | #2 | #3 | #4 | #5 / Arc Review