Ricocheted away from the Death Star and spun out of control, Vader was unable to stop Luke. Streaming through the Death Star trench and about to finish off the last of the Rebels - Luke Skywalker in his X-wing - Vader and his wingmen were attacked from behind by the Millennium Falcon. As the Death Star closed in, the Rebels mounted an attack, with Vader himself entering the fray in his TIE Advanced starfighter. Luke, Leia, and the heroes were able to escape, but only because the Empire allowed it: Vader had placed a tracking device on their ship, which led the Empire to the Rebel’s secret base. Vader and Obi-Wan clashed one last time, with the Sith Lord striking down his former Master. Leia proved able to resist a mind probe, and Obi-Wan Kenobi, having received Artoo’s message, soon arrived with the astromech, Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, Chewbacca, and C-3PO. Vader and his stormtroopers killed all aboard with the exception of the Princess, opting to take her to the Death Star for interrogation. Meanwhile, Rebel leader Princess Leia hid the data tapes - and a distress message - inside the droid R2-D2, sending him to Tatooine in search of Obi-Wan Kenobi. Upon the Rebel Alliance’s theft of schematics for the Empire’s ultimate weapon, the planet-sized Death Star, Vader led an attack on a suspected Rebel vessel, seeking to recover the stolen plans and find the location of the Rebel base.
Nineteen years after his battle with Obi-Wan Kenobi, Darth Vader remained the Empire’s tyrannical hand. Following the duel, Vader limped back to his ship. Tano Force pushed her Jedi friends clear of the Temple, and clashed with Vader once more as the ancient building collapsed around them. Upon seeing her former Master, Ahsoka called him "Anakin," saying she would not leave him. She held her own and struck Vader in the mask, severing the face plate. Tano now saw that her Master was truly dead, and the two dueled. Vader offered mercy if she would lead him to any survivng Jedi, but Tano refused in return, the Sith Lord threatened to torture Bridger for the information. But he was interrupted by the former pupil of Anakin Skywalker, Ahsoka Tano. He quickly defeated the young Padawan, destroying his lightsaber and ready to deliver a killing blow. Vader later tracked Tano and the rebels to the Sith Temple on Malachor, and found Bridger there, alone. Vader also single-handedly wiped out most of Phoenix Squadron, but it was during this battle that he made a startling discovery: Ahsoka Tano lived. He set a trap for the freedom fighters and easily bested Kanan Jarrus and Ezra Bridger in lightsaber combat, though the Jedi survived the encounter. Anakin Skywalker was no more.Īfter the Grand Inquisitor's death, Vader became a more active participant in the hunt for the Lothal rebels and their Jedi. He was found by the Emperor and encased in frightening black armor that kept him alive, and given mechanical lungs that emitted an ominous breathing sound with his every step. Vader was left severely injured and burned on the banks of a lava river, filled with anger and hate. Ultimately, the Jedi Master bested the new Sith. Anakin fought with an aggressive ferocity, ignoring Obi-Wan's pleas to come to his senses. On the lava planet Mustafar, where he had been sent to assassinate Separatist leaders, Vader battled his former Master and friend, Obi-Wan Kenobi. Sidious assumed the mantle of Emperor, and Vader helped the Empire destroy the Jedi Order without mercy, Anakin led a legion of clones into the Jedi Temple, and personally killed both fully trained Jedi and novice younglings alike. Rechristened as Darth Vader, he became an agent of evil.
Confused and conflicted, Anakin ultimately succumbed to Sidious’ temptations. At the same time, the Chancellor revealed that he himself was a Sith Lord, Darth Sidious, and would train Anakin. Supreme Chancellor Palpatine, a mentor to the young Jedi, claimed that the dark side was a pathway to this ability: he could stop people from dying with Sith power. When he began to suffer visions that Padmé would die in childbirth, Anakin sought a way to prevent this fate.
While he was considered one of the most powerful Jedi in the galaxy, Anakin had broken the Order’s code by secretly marrying Senator Padmé Amidala. Before he became a disciple of the dark side, Darth Vader was Anakin Skywalker, a goodhearted Jedi and hero of the Clone Wars.