Darth Vader: Dark Lord of the Sith #20 Review: Palpatine’s sinister ‘gift’
By Meg Dowell
The latest issue of Darth Vader: Dark Lord of the Sith forces Vader to face a painful element of his past.
Throughout Darth Vader: Dark Lord of the Sith, we have watched Palpatine push Vader further and further into the seemingly unbreakable hold of the dark side. Now, the Sith Lord’s “gift” to his apprentice for a “job well done” will reopen a wound that may never fully heal.
Spoilers ahead! You have been warned.
Having located and dealt with all the known Force-sensitives and Purge survivors, Vader takes on a mission of his own: to hunt down and destroy two inquisitors who have committed treason against him by falling in love.
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In his quest to eliminate the couple, Vader accidentally causes the death of a member of the Galactic Senate, perturbing Palpatine enough to bestow a “reward” upon him.
Whatever he expected to receive as a reward from his master, it’s likely he didn’t expect to stumble upon the “royal vessel” of former Queen of Naboo Padmé Amidala — the very woman Anakin Skywalker supposedly murdered with his own two hands.
Palpatine declares that keeping Vader and the Inquisitorius on Coruscant will continue to interfere with his grand plans. He not only “gifts” his apprentice with a new ship, but offers him any planet of his choosing — even suggesting both lords’ former homeworlds, Naboo and Tatooine.
Photo Credit: Giuseppe Camuncoli, Marvel Comics/Disney.
When asked to choose a planet to call his own, the Dark Lord chooses Mustafar — the very place where Anakin Skywalker ceased to be as darkness fully consumed him. The place Padmé gave up the will to live at the fingers of her lover.
Knowing, at last, that he would never be able to fully escape the pain of his past, Vader chose instead to embrace it in the only way he knew how.
What better way to let darkness rule you than to willingly rule over the darkest kingdom you know?
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This comic dives deeper into Vader’s past, present, and future with each new issue. Will his master continue to drive him even further into darkness and despair? Is that even possible? Only time — and another issue — will tell.