Darth Vader (2020) #36
TARGET APHRA
PART II
After the Fermata Cage caused Darth Vader’s control of the Force to waver, he tracked down Doctor Aphra to help him retrieve the ancient Zaly Shield: a weapon made of kyberite that can help Force users focus their energies.
Meanwhile, a gathering of droids who have been wronged by Darth Vader in the past have gathered and are prepared to take him on….
Writer: Greg Pak
Artist: Raffaele Ienco
Letterer: Joe Caramagna
Colorist: Federico Blee
Cover artist: Leinil Francis Yu
Editor: Mark Paniccia
Release Date: July 12, 2023
You’d need to be a droid to think you could take on Darth Vader, and that’s the army that the dark lord faces in the opening pages of issue 36 of Darth Vader as we join the army 2 weeks before as the droids bemoan their situation, their replacement parts that are less than perfect and their collective dismemberment at the hands of Lord Vader. With a shared objective, the droid leader 0-6 believes they can take on Vader, and we see a number of previously slain droids join the cause including BT, 000 and Vaders droid Z-67 who has switched allegiance and is now prepared to help the droids. They know Vader is ‘malfunctioning’ and at a Separatist site with the Zaly Shield, giving him the capacity to focus his powers like a cannon, and we switch to now as Aphra gets out of the way and the droids attack, led by the globular and powerful G-90 who takes a huge hit from the power of the Zaly Shield.
Back to the past as the droids work up a battle plan. All have been ‘killed’ by Vader, but 0-6 is focusing on those crushed by his Force powers when 000 steps in with information about where to find kyberite, the material that made the Zaly Shield. 000 knows where there are large deposits, and we return to now as G-90 steps back and other droids with kyberite shields step in. The logic is that with every attack Vader will grow weaker, but his power and skills in combat see those droids cut down.
Then, and we meet Arex, a droid not only destroyed by Vader but used for parts to repair the dark lord. The only droid to survive such an attack, he believes if he is close enough he could communicate with his dismembered parts and we return to know as Arex lies on the floor as Vader walks past, activating and making Vader pause as he attacks. Vader swats him away, but the remaining droids use the distraction as a cue to unleash an assault on him. However, the twist. Arex then turns on his fellow droids, as does Z-67 who reveals that was the plan all along, to deliver the droids to Vader. 000 is initially surprised, before joining the ‘winning side’ and ending 0-6 to boot.
We switch to Aphra and Ochi as they watch the battle, pondering on whether they could make an escape in the extra ship that lies waiting. Aphra opts to leave while Ochi stays close to the most powerful man in the galaxy and we end as Vader orders that the battlefield of destroyed droids be repaired and we prepare to enter the storyline of Dark Droids. Another interesting issue, the double-cross coming out of the blue as the ‘loyalty’ of some droids outweighs the ambitions of others. Beautifully drawn by Raffaele Ienco, it’s not an essential read, as its events will almost certainly be summed up in Dark Droids, but it does serve as a timely reminder why Vader has been able to get to where he has and stay there while priming us for Dark Droids.
