Darth Vader (2020) #37
CURSE OF THE JEDI,
SCOURGE OF THE DROIDS
After the Fermata Cage caused Darth Vader’s control of the Force to waver, he tracked down Doctor Chelli Aphra to help him retrieve the ancient Zaly Shield: a weapon made of kyberite that can help Force users focus their energies.
Darth Vader utilized the shield to take on the droid uprising that launched an attack on the Sith Lord while his powers were not fully in control.
As Vader slowly regained his command of the Force, he turned the tide in the battle with the droid uprising, directing Ochi and Zed to retrieve the scraps of fallen droids and enlist them to serve his dark purposes….
Writer: Greg Pak
Artist: Raffaele Ienco
Letterer: Joe Caramagna
Colorist: Federico Blee
Cover artist: Leinil Francis Yu
Editor: Mark Paniccia
Release Date: August 16, 2023
We open onboard the Executor and a gaggle of droids as they busy themselves with work when a Mousedroid rolls by, deploying a number of small, spider-like droids that leap onto the Imperial droids and attack them. Moments later, it’s those droids who are leaving their work bay, attacking the Stormtroopers outside and within minutes we see the lights go out on the Executor as the droids take control of the Imperial flagship. The remaining ‘organics’ have secured themselves on the bridge, and the lead droid decides it’s a good idea to allow them to make contact with the outside galaxy, as that could likely bring them their intended target – Darth Vader.
We cut to the Outer Rim and Mustafar as Vader is testing his unstable Force powers, lifting 0-6 into the air for a couple of seconds and hurling him to the ground. The use of his powers are becoming more consistent, and as he snarls at the mention of the Jedi a message from Mas Amedda is brought to him. Amedda informs Vader of the issues aboard the Executor, and asks if he has regained control of his powers, which it appears the dark lord has. With 99% of the crew dead (of a possible 280,784 aboard), we see Vader approach the Executor in a heavily shielded vessel, and watch as astromech controlled TIE Fighters spew out of the Super Star Destroyer and attack.
Vader is unconcerned, and as he makes contact with Admiral Piett on the bridge the Admiral warns Vader that these compromised droids could take control of the droids Vader is leading. That doesn’t appear to be an issue for Vader as he tears through droids with the Zaly Shield in his grasp and gets to a control room where he finds that the systems that will regain control of the droids has been shattered. The only way to fix the problem is to remember his Jedi training, and so we step into a flashback as we hear Qui-Gon tell a young Anakin that his focus determines his reality, see a teenage Anakin and Obi-Wan spar on Coruscant, and Vaders droid tell him to use the Force without force.
However, it seems that the direct approach is more Vaders style and the power and fury of the Zaly Shield erupts as we see the words of Admiral Corleque as he informs Mas Amedda of the current status of the ship. Numerous officers are dead with more dying by the minute, and we roll out of the issue as Amedda orders that the threat be contained, and the only way to do it – destroy the Executor….
Huge stakes and a seemingly impossible task faces not only Vader but if not contained the Empire itself, and once again Darth Vader takes us into the past with well-chosen flashbacks and familiar moments from the Prequel Trilogy. As with the other ongoing titles, Darth Vader is a better title when it’s steering its own ship rather than servicing the plot requirements of a mini series, and for the next few months it’s fair to assume that we’ll be adhering largely to the Dark Droids storyline. Let’s hope it allows for more development of the Palpatine / Vader / Amedda dynamic, which is always interesting and doesn’t simply serve as a home for undeveloped elements not focused on in Dark Droids. That being said, putting the Executor under the gun as this issue does is certainly a huge serve, so bring on issue 38 and the solution to this 19,000 meter-long problem.
- Amazon Kindle Edition
- Pak, Greg (Author)
- English (Publication Language)
- 23 Pages - 09/13/2023 (Publication Date) - Marvel (Publisher)
