Darth Vader (2020) #24
OLD FRIENDS
Sabé has revealed to Darth Vader that she knows his secret: Underneath his armor and machinery is the Jedi Knight once known as Anakin Skywalker.
Playing to his sympathies for his homeworld, Sabé leads Vader to Anakin’s old friends Kitster and Wald, whose struggling community is the victim of a corrupt governor working with Crimson Dawn.
Now Sabé, with Vader’s help, is getting ready to take a stand against the governor and Crimson Dawn….
Writer: Greg Pak
Artist: Marco Castiello
Letterer: Vc Joe Caramagna
Colourist: Carlos Lopez
Editor: Mark Paniccia
Release Date: 29 June 2022
After revealing that she knows the true identity of Darth Vader Sabè has enlisted the dark lord in aiding a colony of freed slaves from Tatooine that are under the thumb of a corrupt governor that’s working with Crimson Dawn. After visiting the colony and seeing some old faces Vader has decided to aid Sabè in taking the fight to the oppressors and subsequently eradicating another Crimson Dawn cell.
Welcome aboard Commander Sabè! Seeing Sabè kitted out in imperial garb was quite the trip and just the latest step in Vader’s terrifying and worrying coaching techniques. I know the Empire was an inherently evil governmental body but I supremely hope that Vader didn’t have any input with the training department. His persistence in not only sparing Sabè but developing her in his twisted image is his latest attempt to fill the Padmè and Ahsoka sized holes in his heart and by contorting them to take on his perverse values, justifying his choices and validating the path he has taken. This one has gone a little further than his previous wards because, for one, she looks like Padmè, two, she has no fear and three, this is Vader mere months before he saves his son and turns back to the light. That can’t have been a snap change, it had to have been happening gradually over time internally. Pak is showing that struggle here in these very pages.
This issue ends with a Vader in turmoil as he looks over key moments of destruction in his descent as he struggles with the light and the things he has done in service to the Dark Side. It’s no coincidence that he’s surrounded at this time by Sabè, Kitster and Wald the only living legacy of Anakin Skywalker. Padmè is dead, Kenobi is dead, his mother is dead and while he is aware of his children he never knew them as Anakin. The only other person is Ahsoka and he believes he killed her. Pak is building to something here and I think it’s going to be quite special.
We meet the target of Sabè’s ire in the form of the governor. She wasn’t named in the issue but I think the character is nothing more than a nameless foe for our team to rally against as it fuels their larger arcs. I believe one of the colonists referred to the governor as a he in the previous issue so I think there may be an inconsistency here. An interesting detail in this particular plot is that the governor has created a super weapon that can drain the life energy out of living beings on a planetary scale. Are we going to get a new Death Star in the comics? One that can kill a population but doesn’t destroy the planetary body? I doubt it will go anywhere but it could be the seed for another post-Endor story for Luke and the gang to destroy. Even though the governor was working for the Dawn it doesn’t seem like something Qi’ra would sign off on so I’m interested to see where this one goes. I imagine the Droid Gotra would give their left probe to get their welding arms on this.
We get an appearance by nobody’s favourite Jedi hunter and man of the moment Ochi of Bestoon in all his snivelling glory. Pak’s Ochi is such a joy to read and adds much needed levity to this dark series. He blasts into the issue as the white knight nobody asked for in a misguided rescue attempt that isn’t as well received as he expected and he’s relegated to taking petty swipes at his rival for the position of Vader’s Favoured Pet, Sabè. I hope one day we get to see Ochi’s origins and his early days of hunting Jedi during The Clone Wars. A new Clone Wars ongoing series from Marvel that told this tale would be most welcome.
The issue ends ambiguously with Vader deep in his aforementioned turmoil so it could go anywhere from here. I expect we will see Vader purging the last of his darkness in horrible acts of violence. I can’t wait! Should I be worried about that?
NOTE: The next issue is the 25th which marked the end of both Gillen’s and Soule’s respective Darth Vader runs. That isn’t the case here as we have confirmation of this series running to at least issue 28 in October. I predict it will go until the end of the next crossover from Soule, Hidden Empire.
Star Wars: Darth Vader #24 @ ForbiddenPlanet.com