“You saved the Skywalker boy, but he will never join you. And you can’t defeat the Emperor alone.” So says Sly Moore in this week’s Star Wars: Darth Vader #50, the series grand finale of writer Greg Pak and artist Raffaele Ienco’s run on the Marvel comic. On sale Sept. 18th, the giant-sized conclusion is titled “Terminus” and will end Marvel’s current era of comics set between the events of The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, where Vader dies saving his son — the Jedi Luke Skywalker — from the Emperor aboard the Death Star II.
But Vader saved Luke long before the return of Anakin Skywalker. Below, read on for a preview of what to expect from the 64-page Darth Vader finale and a recap of recent events.
(Photo: Star Wars #50 and Darth Vader #50 connecting variant covers by Giuseppe Camuncoli. – Marvel Comics)
A FEW ISSUES AGO IN A GALAXY FAR, FAR AWAY…
The Dark Lord of the Sith has been leading Sly Moore’s Schism Imperial, a covert group of Imperials determined to overthrow Emperor Palpatine. After facing the Cult of the Sith Eternal and the psycho-venomous Summa-Verminoth on the Sith Citadel on the planet Exegol, Vader raided the Kyber Temple and claimed a crimson red Kyber crystal. He then fashioned himself a staff and shield with the crystals that powered the cannons of the Galactic Empire’s planet-destroying superweapon: the Death Star.
In a vision about Vader and Skywalker’s futures in Empire, the Emperor taunted his Sith apprentice. “I knew that once you’d seen the power of Exegol, you would eventually try to seize it for yourself. Because you are a Sith,” Palpatine said. “It is in our nature to seize any and all power. But what will you use it for? There are only two Sith. So who are they? You and I? Or your son and I? Or you… and your son?”
Meanwhile, Sabé — the former handmaiden of Naboo’s Queen Amidala, who knew Luke’s parents as Anakin and Padmé — confronted the Jedi on the Outer Rim planet Caranthanax B and attempted to provoke his dark side. As Vader sensed his son’s anger through the Force, the Sith Lord attempted to wield the unstable power of the Kyber of Exegol. “Anger leads to hate,” Vader said, “and hate leads to power.” Sabé planned to kill Luke if she saw even a glimmer of the Sith in him, but the Jedi proved to her: “I am not my father.”
Administrator Moore similarly planned to kill Skywalker because “if we kill the boy, we destroy the Emperor’s dearest plans.” An angered Vader refused, so the Umbaran’s Schism Imperial betrayed Vader and injected his armor with a body-controlling droid brain to steal his Kyber weapons.
(Photo: Darth Vader #50 variant cover by John Giang. – Marvel Comics)
“The Sith say there can only be two. A master and an apprentice. Like the Emperor and Vader. Or the Emperor and Skywalker. Or Vader and Skywalker,” Administrator Moore told the Schism. “But if we remove Vader… and Skywalker… who else remains? I will become the second Sith, ruling at the Emperor’s side. And the Schism Imperial… will become the Empire itself.”
The Schism attacked Vader and abandoned him, as he did the M.A.R. Corps: the cybernetic Rebel warriors Tandorvo, Masakint, Blades, and Chamdaka. While Vader was trapped as a prisoner in his own body, the Schism attacked the Jedi and his allies on Caranthanax B with their Kyber weapon. When Vader warned the M.A.R. Corps that the Schism was going to kill the Rebellion’s hero, he told them of Skywalker: “If you Rebels want to save him… you need my help.”
The droid ZED-6-7 speculated that Darth Vader wished to save Skywalker because the Jedi “could become strong and useful” should he survive the Schism. Vader broke free of the M.A.R. Corps’ implanted droid brain just as the Schism’s Death Machine landed on Caranthanax B, where Administrator Moore proposed an alliance with Skywalker. “I used to think the rule of two meant the Emperor and Vader. Or perhaps one of them and you. But what if it meant… you and me?” she said. “The Schism and the Rebellion. That could topple the Empire.”
With Schism’s Death Machine threatening to drain all life from the planet, including Sabé, Skywalker surrendered himself — just as he felt his father’s presence on Caranthanax B. Administrator Moore fired her Kyber weapon at the Jedi… only to have Vader block it through the Force.
Darth Vader #50 picks up where issue #49 left off when the finale hits stands on Sept. 18th. See the official synopsis below.
(Photo: Darth Vader #50 main cover by Leinil Francis Yu. )
STAR WARS: DARTH VADER #50Written by GREG PAKArt by RAFFAELE IENCO & MORECover by LEINIL FRANCIS YUConnecting Variant Cover by GIUSEPPE CAMUNCOLIOn Sale 9/18
Acclaimed writer Greg Pak closes out the longest-running Darth Vader comic series ever alongside artist Raffaele Ienco and more in STAR WARS: DARTH VADER #50. Pak’s run reaches its stunning conclusion as the Dark Heart of the Sith comes full circle!
Darth Vader finally unleashes the unfathomable power he’s accumulated through the Schism Imperial against the only person in the galaxy he hates more than he hates himself: Emperor Palpatine! Also featuring the final twists in the saga for key characters like Luke, Leia, Sabé, Ochi, the droid ZED-6-7, Sly Moore, the members of the Schism Imperial and more!
Darth Vader #50 ends Marvel’s current era of Star Wars comics. Read More