Warning: Major Spoilers ahead for Darth Vader #13 by Charles Soule, Daniele Orlandini, Giuseppe Camuncoli, David Curiel and Joe Caramagna, on sale now.
Before the prequel trilogy, the origin story of Darth Vader, one of the most popular imaginary villains in history, was subject to our imagination.Varying from one Star Wars fan to another, the story would be different, and maybe it was better off that way.
Anyway, the prequel trilogy movies, especially Revenge of the Sith, displayed the exact transformation of the young Anakin Skywalker into the Dark Sith Lord after he was manipulated by the Dark Side of the Force. The comic book Darth Vader #13, depicts Anakin’s final battle with his former mentor Obi-Wan Kenobi in a vastly different, yet interesting scenario (from a particular point of view, that is).
At the start of this comic book, we can see the well-known prequel era Obi-Wan, tightly holding on to the hilt of his lightsaber, standing on the surface of the uneven, lava crested planet called Mustafar. “It’s over, Anakin,” he yells. “I have the high ground!”
But, what we see is not the yellowing, sleepless eyes of Anakin which look back at the proud, yet internally defeated Jedi Master. On the contrary, we see Obi-Wan’s own reflection in the visor of the iconic jet black helmet of the Dark Lord, completely different from the way things panned out in Revenge of the Sith. Not just that, but, as the view pans out, we that Vader is not only in his full costume, but, is also wielding his scarlet lightsaber, which he had acquired in Charles Soule’s first story on the title, a narrative which follows the battle on Mustafar.
Taking everything into account, it is not difficult to work out that this is not a real flashback, and as things unravel further, we see some sort of a role reversal compared to the Episode III.Instead of Anakin, Obi-Wan is left dismembered, and he is left slumped barely inches from the edge where the rocky hills merge with the river of lava. And when the flames devour the beaten Jedi’s body, burning him beyond recognition, we could sense a sense of accomplishment in Darth Vader as he stood admiring his sinister actions.
When we flip the page over, we see the burning hot palette of yellows, oranges, and reds from the color artist David Curiel, being replaced with cooler shades of silver, grey, and black. The scene has shifted from Mustafar to the private space of Darth Vader, and we see Emperor Palpatine summoning the Sith Lord who seems to have shaken out of what might have been a demented fantasy.
Even if it was all his imagination, momentarily, Darth Vader might have experienced the feeling of having the high ground.
