Star Wars: Legacy of Vader #11
REIGN OF KYLO REN PART 11
Even after killing Snoke and taking the mantle of Supreme Leader, Kylo Ren still struggles with forging his own path in the shadow of his family’s legacy.
Kylo’s quest to kill the past led him to Darth Vader’s former home, where the young tyrant met the erstwhile aide of the Dark Lord, a man by the name of Vaneé.
After harrowing excursions on Tatooine, Naboo and Corellia and coming face-to-face with the new leader of the Knights of Ren, Kylo returned to Vader’s Castle, where he confronted frightening visions of his past. Grievously injured from this encounter, he now is at the mercy of the deranged Vaneé, whose sinister plans are finally coming together….
Writer: Charles Soule
Artist: Luke Ross
Letterer: Joe Caramagna
Colorist: Nolan Woodward
Cover artist: Derrick Chew
Editor: Mark Pannicia
Publication date: December 3rd 2025
There are occasions when a comic book series might be filling out issues, or taking its time in arriving at its destination, and there are times when a comic gets straight to the point and really doesn’t mess around. After ten busy, tense and fascinating issues, Legacy of Vader has done something that many may have doubted at the inception of the series (which on the face of it very much felt like a contrivance just to include the Vader name); it’s earned every beat, every panel, every word uttered, every stroke of the brush, nothing has been wasted. Here, in the eleventh issue it really comes to a head, as Kylo Ren and Vaneé have their final conversation and the reality – and truth – of Vaneé’s plans come to a head (so to speak).
We open with Kylo suspended in the same bacta tank we saw his grandfather Anakin heal himself in, as Vaneé looks on. The elderly former aid of Vader explains how, despite his many titles, Ren is little more than a child, but in him he sees greatness, and we watch as he injects Ren and puts him to sleep, explaining how ‘in your family death is part of the journey‘.
Next, a truly memorable moment that initially feels like a flashback but we quickly realise is happening as Ren is put into the mask of Vader, and we watch as the table he is strapped to is lowered towards the lava of Mustafar. Ren tries to crush Vaneé with the Force, but as he reminds him, who else will raise him out of the pit. We watch as Ren, in Vaders mask, is held over the lava, until Kylo breaks off the table and discards the Vader mask, yelling for Vaneé as he strides away.
Next we’re treated to a fascinating full page of action as Kylo works his way through the castle to find Vaneé while we hear the elder mans words, how during his long life during the Clone Wars, through the era of the Empire and beyond he has realised that the galaxy needs a Vader, especially now in this chaotic era of history. He explains how Vaders underlings knew failure wasn’t an option, so they strove to succeed and carry out his orders, and so Vaneé engineered situations to teach Ren the way of Vader and pick up his mantle in what would be his final gift to the galaxy. He explains to Ren that after everything they’ve been through he would have followed him, how he felt hope for the galaxy but Kylo ruined it, and we see Ren in a huge room faced by huge warrior droids who attack, and watch as he holds them off before running into a dead end and reaching out to pull a green-bladed saber to him which he uses to attack, and in his rage – and quickly – his anger bleeds the crystal, turning it from green to red.
As Vaneé watches on a screen he quickly realises that Kylo has defeated the final foe and is coming for him, and so Vaneé tells Ren to come to him, and for the final time they are face to face outside Vaders vault. Kylo asks if inside hold the key to Vader’s powers, but Vaneé doesn’t know; he never entered. Once again Ren loses his temper, lifting Vaneé through the Force and holding him over the lava by his head, the huge weight of his metallic body unspooling the coil which his glass domed head was attached to. He knows he’s about to die, and claims he’s glad it’s by the hand of someone from Vader’s lineage, and we arrive at the key moment. Vaneé tells him it was all about realising his potential, but Kylo snaps back that he is everything he needs to be, and Vaneé agrees, telling him he is ready to be Vader reborn before Kylo crushes his glass dome, killing him instantly and we watch as he walks towards Vaders vault and the final issue.
Wow, what an issue, and one that layers on meaning and depth to a character we first met a decade ago. Not only is it beautifully drawn as always by Luke Ross, but the storyline and the script fit perfectly into the broader story, and the moment that Kylo wears the vader mask will be – to steal a phrase – long remembered. People will be talking about this issue for a long time, it’s events adding to what we saw onscreen in the sequel trilogy, and in the realms of Star Wars storytelling where everything counts, you can’t give higher praise than that.
