The 2nd book of Darth Vader had a lot to live up to . Not only was it descend off the back of therevitalizingand sublimerun by Kieron Gillen and Salvador Larroca , but by set up itself ahead of time on in Vader ’s clock time , it had to balance two very different sides of Star Wars . Its net issue , out this week , is a barbaric trip that nab that balance .
The final arc of Vader ’s 2nd volume — by Charles Soule , Giuseppe Camuncoli , Cam Smith , Daniele Orlandini , David Curiel , Dono Sánchez - Almara , Erick Arciniega , and Travis Lanham — has been dig into some truly fascinating connections between themystical side of Star Warsand the original trilogy esthetic that define that unfixed , 20 - year “ Rise of the Empire ” period , as the wandflower far , far awaytransformsfrom what we see in the prequels to the look and finger of the original movies . Through the frame of Vader himself , constructinghis castle on Mustafaras we see it in Rogue One , we ’ve watch a bold plan from the Sith Lord play out over these last few yield .
lick with an ancient Sith artist name Momin , Vader planned to build the double-dyed monument that could tap into Mustafar ’s dark side energies and do what Palpatine had promised : Open a logic gate to the hereafter andraise his married woman Padméfrom the deadened . The power , as weird and abyssal as it seemed , had some surprising connexion to a exchangeable gate seen inRebels ’ final season , after it opened up what appeared to be a bridge in time to give Momin his old body back .
Because he ’s a Sith , he quickly rat Vader when this materialise , but after a fleet scrap sent Momin back to the hereafter for good , Vader himself launch the gates in Darth Vader # 25 and … well , walked in is a unearthly way of put it . But he goes on a unearthly journeying , and witnesses something that ’s way beyond the prison term - logic gate of Rebels . It ’s sort of a mix of that clip - gate and the cave of evil on Dagobah in Empire Strikes Back ( but amped up to a baffling , awe - inspiring degree)—and the result is one of the wildest , most visually inventive renditions of the absurd power of the force ever put to paper in Star Wars history .
Beyond the logic gate , Vader ( or rather Vader ’s soul , given incredible form as this purl mass of burning hate , with pale silvered limbs to present the organic and automatonlike elements of his physical body ) see the totality of Anakin Skywalker ’s past times , present , and future as he test to make his way toward Padmé .
It ’s render in stunning form , not just within the realism of the textbook , as Vader ’s person witnesses glimpses from his past as Anakin , but metatextually as well . The hand uses line of products ofdialogue from the filmsas whispered windows across Anakin ’s entire timeline — from make out jest like “ Now this is podracing ! ” , to contrasting images of Obi - Wan and Palpatine under the line “ I am your Father ” , to even a glimpse of Vader ’s future beyond his death , as he butchers ghosts of the former Jedi Council to his grandson ’s mastery of “ Let the past give-up the ghost , kill it , if you have to . ”
It ’s not just in writing that Vader # 25 plays with elements from the films , but visually as well — in one moment we see Vader ’s soul twist and reform itself into the shape of his puerility self , himself as a teenage padawan , and then as a surly Jedi Knight in the moments before his fall . In another , one of the issue ’s smart tricks , theoriginal teaser posterfor The Phantom Menace becomes a nightmarish vision for the young Anakin , as his current ego tries to strive out and understand what he ’s witnessing .
finally , this mindbending vision brings Vader ’s psyche to Padmé — or at least , what he thinks is Padmé . Whether it was really her , or only Anakin ’s memories of her , and his touch sensation over how she ’d respond to his current form , is entrust to the proofreader to decide , but either direction , Vader ’s journeying through the force ends in despair . Padmé chuck out herself into limbo , to be change state to ash tree by a bolt of lightning of lightning , after telling Vader that Anakin Skywalker is numb . And as if that was n’t enough , immediately after , Vader ’s soul is forced out of whatever plane of reality he ’s find himself in by a vision from his future tense : a glary light , give forth around a youthful human beings in combat weariness wield a blue-blooded lightsaber . A man that we at least recognize , if not the Dark Lord himself , is Vader ’s eventual redeemer , his Logos :
From there , Vader # 25 concludes with a content from Vader to Palpatine , in which the Dark Lord tells his master that he has plant everything he need on Mustafar . Even if it ’s not of necessity what Vader in secret wanted out of the effort , he now has a stead of his own to tap into and master , out from the prize eye of the Emperor . In the process of discovering that , however , Darth Vader stunningly gave us a view of the Force far beyond anything we could have possibly imagined . It ’s an incredible , inventive style for a series that hasconstantly surprise uswith the way it ’s used Vader to explore the mostintriguing mysteries of the Forcethat Star Wars has to offer .
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