Comics Darth Vader #14: Vader Down, part 4 (of 6)

It's probably because of the Jedi temple. Remember Luke saw vague force ghosts? I think the idea is that Vader did too, but they would be trying to impede him because he's a Sith. Hopefully they spell that out, but that was certainly the idea.

In other news, I thought that final shot was awesome. Excited to see Karbin in action, as well as those pseudo Imperial Guards in the background.

 

It looks like this beat did not play as well as we hoped. I am sorry for that.

The intention was that Vader is letting her go so she can lead him to Luke, so he fakes being distracted.

 

It would appear that the simplest explanation was completely overlooked! Thanks for the clarification

 

Well, it wouldn't be the first or the last time that he made an error in judgement or critical mistake when one of his children are directly affected... Thanks for the clarification anyway!

 

I got that on my first read. Thanks for clarifying though.

 

Ah, definitely thought it was something to do with the temple. He does immediately make the comment about Leia taking him to Luke, but I thought that was just him taking advantage of a momentary setback.

Still hoping 000 gets blasted apart before this arc is over.

 

The arrival of Grievbar was a nicely unexpected twist because Leia totes seemed like she was going to blow them all to Valhalla at the end there.

 

i have several questions about the vader and leia interactions in this.

1. although it was clear to me that vader was trying to deceive leia to give her the opportunity to "escape" while he's distracted, what i wasn't sure about was if leia knew he was doing this. i suppose it doesn't really matter to the story, as either way i think she expected him to keep heading in that direction. but i think she must know because he could have stopped her if he wanted... and why wouldn't he do that from her perspective? i don't know if she knows he's after luke at this point. and maybe to her it doesn't matter why because he'll be just as dead regardless if her plan works.

2. before he is "distracted" vader mentions the two things that he could frighten/horrify/enrage leia the most with: the destruction of alderaan and that her death will not be quick (which would make her recall how he tortured her). is this in part to provide further motivation for leia to want to run? (out of her options fight, flight and group with others for support, only flight is narrowly open to her.) after all, this follows her declaration that he can kill her but he'll never kill the cause (an attitude of martyrdom).

3. vader misjudges leia. he expects her to call her friends for help or go to them. this is interesting because he must know she's out for vengeance and his deliberate mention of alderaan suggests he knows why. yet he doesn't expect her to do something else out of vengeance if he lets her go. why?

or perhaps he thought she might do something out of vengeance, because he is "distracted" by an attempt to "ambush him" and asks her if she dares do that, if she really thinks such an ambush would be successful. maybe he said that because he knew she might call for her friends, *or* she might actually set up an attack, and he's accounting for both. so by telling her ahead of time the futility of trying to send the rebels after him again, he hopes she'll instead call her friends. but still he's underestimating her desire for vengeance and almost single-minded focus on killing him. and the rebels have already sent hordes of people after him, and even though he continually kills them all, they keep trying it, so why stop now?

although perhaps the other point is that leia has changed. it was "unexpected" that she would actually be with troops on the ground trying to take him out. and i remember from reading 'the princess, the scoundrel, and the farm boy' that vader noted leia used her titles like a shield for protection, and emphasized repeatedly that she had no protection now (no one would help her). this was one of his methods of trying to weaken her resolve by making her feel the situation was hopeless. and so maybe he thought her the sort of person who is unlikely to act without support/protection in general and who will reach out to people to save her when she gets herself into trouble rather than risk herself. except now she is a more hardened person than who he remembers and she's perfectly willing to die if it means he'll die too.