Vader as the Killer War Veteran
—Tommy, Rudyard Kipling
Rouge One was the first movie to really put the "war" in Star Wars.
But the latest offering from Disney+ Lucasfilm does something very different and arguably very important.
In the trailer the quote "The fight is over. We Lost." sets the tone.
These are the broken, ugly times. A post-war time where the cruelest people won.
The coldest people. Won.
In episode 3 of Obi-Wan Kenobi, there is a sequence that embodies everything this show is trying to portray.
After this point, in case it wasn't clear, there will be spoilers, and second, if you don't like the show or wish to complain about the show, as a long-time fan myself I will gladly listen if you kindly leave your bigotry at the door.
The first spoiler is this: In the Empire Strikes Back, Darth Vader reveals he is, in fact, Luke's father after he has disarmed him in every sense of the word.
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| Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, Vol. 4 Manga April 28, 1999 |
Now, Vader knew he was Luke's father at that point. There is an absolutely brutal battle before Vader bests Luke where he hammers away at him and then uses the force to bash and bruise him with whatever isn't bolted down well enough.
This is who Vader is.
As a person, he must take away as much as he can before he can offer the whole galaxy even to his own son.
In Part III of Obi-Wan Kenobi however, this is a Vader who's still "fresh" in his new identity.
And this version of Vader?
He is a monster. He is a story told to children to make sure they obey the Empire.
Kenobi finds himself in trouble, trying to get a very young Princess Leia back to her home on Alderaan.
And night falls on the planet.
There is Vader. Kenobi watches this person that he was told contains Anakin Skywalker moving with a terrible purpose, and yet Kenobi waits.
Vader stops. Vader knows Kenobi is there...somewhere.
And so he uses a grotesque angry version of the force - perhaps well beyond even the Sith doctrine - to drag whoever is closest out of their home and up into the air.
This is a level of power that was promised.
"The Chosen One," and all those prophecies fulfilled in the darkest way possible.
And Vader is using it to torture a complete stranger; he holds this man in the air and looks around. Without words, he says "I KNOW YOU ARE HERE!"
The man's child steps out the door and says "Dad." Vader lets the father go and pushes the boy against the wall of their house. His mother moves toward him.
And Vader breaks his neck with the force. Anyone who saw that? They will tell everyone they know.
Kenobi is watching with growing horror, but he still has a level of hope that would be funny if it weren't in the face of such tragedy.
Vader moves on.
Kenobi is shaken. Maybe he can still reason with... this person. He tells Tala to get Leia back to Alderaan and says he'll lead them away.
He's lying.
He's not only going to lead Vader away.
He knows what Vader wants.
A sacrifice.
As Kenobi gets ready Vader uses the force to just drag a random person who was there in the dirt. He doesn't speak. Not yet.
He needs Kenobi to see just what he's capable of.
He is torturing Kenobi with his cruelty.
He's reminding him of his failure.
Every bone he breaks, every life he ends, he's reminding Kenobi of his failure. He is torturing Kenobi first with other people's pain. The person Vader is dragging in the dirt is screaming so whatever part of their body Vader is using to move them we know it's not their throat.
This is, again, intentional so they can scream.
Vader stops dragging one person and throws away some cover to reveal a woman and child.
Kenobi can't handle it anymore. He must do something. He dips into the force to get Vader's attention and runs.
He has to get this... thing... called Vader away from all these people.
Kenobi is an empty place now; no life here. Good.
At least there is that.
And then suddenly Vader is there. A nightmare in arterial blood-red light.
Kenobi barely remembers how to use his weapon and remembers this wasn't the plan.
He runs.
Vader turns off his saber.
As Kenobi gets to another area of the quarry, Vader says "You cannot Run Obi-Wan"
And when Kenobi ignites his lightsaber? It limits his vision. And then Vader is just there, this nightmare phantom. Is Anakin in there?
"What have you become?" Kenobi asks.
"I am. What. You made me."
Kenobi disengages his saber again and runs again.
He will draw him off.
Vader's personnel are doing everything bad to the local people; and why shouldn't they? He showed them that those people don't matter. You see Vader act like that? Anyone near him is out for blood, too.
They have to be.
Kenobi is lost in a dark maze. He has no idea where he is but is doing what he said. Leading the most dangerous element away. Vader is just there again. The nightmare. The monster. Vader strikes.
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| STAR WARS: DARTH VADER #12 |
Wielding his weapon one-handed Vader hammers on Kenobi. Anakin fought with finesse, a little too flashy in places.
Vader just hits hard over and over and over. If there is anything lacking in force ability is made up for in the brute strength of his armor, his cybernetic limbs that feel no fatigue, and an endless supply of rage.
"The years have made you weak" Vader says. And Vader despises weakness.
Vader is torturing Kenobi again. Making his point. He is disrespecting Kenobi by only using one hand and leaving himself open.
And Kenobi won't take any opening.
Why?
Kenobi, against all odds, against everything he's learned in the past ten minutes that felt like years... still has hope.
This infuriates Vader. He strikes over and over and over. HOW DARE YOU?! Blow after blow.
Vader is furious and finally uses the force to throw Kenobi.
"You should have killed me when you had the chance."
With Vader, this phrase is significant.
He's lording his current power over Kenobi but the tone, and the history, is very different.
This isn't him taunting Kenobi's inability to finish him off.
Vader does not actually want to be alive.
He is in pain. His existence is a reminder of everything he could have had and was denied; a wife. Children. A future without pain. But he joined the Dark Side.
And what he is now is the price he paid.
The reason Vader says "You should have killed me" is because by not killing him Kenobi failed him in the cruelest way imaginable: making him live with the consequences of his actions.
And for that failure, the entire galaxy will be punished. Starting with this Kenobi himself. And for that Vader is going to use fire; because of the one person who needs to know his pain intimately?
It is Kenobi. Vader lifts him up and ignites the fuel.
"Now. You will suffer Obi-Wan."
Vader brings Kenobi to the ground and drags him into the fire. This is not the way of a soldier or a knight or a Jedi. For Kenobi, this is the end of Anakin. This is the moment where Kenobi can be certain his friend and apprentice is dead.
And Vader isn't done. "Your pain has just begun."
Vader uses the force to extinguish the fire and orders his stormtroopers to bring Kenobi to him.
Then Tala shoots him. And then she shoots the ignitable material again.
Kenobi is rescued.
NOW.
This is a Vader is far worse than any incarnation we've ever seen. Yes; he killed his subordinates, tortured Han Solo, cut off his son's hand. But this creature is demonic. This is a broken, wounded, and fearsome war veteran. This is a man transformed into something much worse.
Darth Vader in this narrative is terrifying. Darth Vader wishes he was war itself. Its cruelties and its collateral damage? He is striving for that. He could not be saved. His wife could not be saved. And as long as Vader lives no one can ever truly be safe.
The only thing this man-shaped monster has in common with Skywalker is resolve.
And with this resolve, he will have his revenge against anyone that DARE lives in anything other than misery and pain.
This man will teach the galaxy a lesson: there is no hope.
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