User:Ressor/Anakin Skywalker

"You were the Chosen One! It was said that you would destroy the Sith, not join them! Bring balance to the Force, not leave it in darkness!"

-, to the fallen Anakin Skywalker

Anakin Skywalker&mdash;called Ani by both his mother and his wife, as well as, , and &mdash;was a legendary  male who served the  as a  and later served the  as the  Darth Vader. Born to Shmi Skywalker, later in life he became the secret husband of  of  and the father of the Jedi Grand Master  and Jedi Knight. He was also the grandfather of, Jaina, Jacen, and.

Although he would later become a crucial figure in, Skywalker came from humble origins. He spent the first years of his life on as a slave along with his mother. In, Skywalker met Qui-Gon Jinn. After obtaining his freedom by having been bet on by Jinn and winning the, Skywalker went with Jinn and departed from Tatooine, though troubled by leaving behind his mother. Skywalker took part in the Battle of Naboo, destroying the Droid Control Station despite his young age. Soon after, he joined the, becoming a to. Skywalker was believed to be (and indeed was) the of Jedi prophecy, one who would bring balance to  by destroying the, which was why the Jedi Council chose to bend the  and permit his training.

Skywalker and Kenobi traveled together on many missions in the ensuing decade. In, Skywalker was reunited with Padmé Amidala, the former of Naboo and new Senator of the. He escorted her to Naboo due to the rising violence of the, and the two fought at the Battle of Geonosis, the beginning of the. In the midst of these events, Skywalker also endured the violent death of his mother. Skywalker and Amidala married soon after the battle, despite the Jedi Order's restrictions of Jedi s, which kept them from making their marriage public.

Skywalker fought in the Clone Wars with his master and became a Jedi Knight in 19.5 BBY. Throughout the conflict, Skywalker became an icon to the public, known as the "Hero With No Fear". Skywalker and Kenobi, despite not being master and apprentice anymore, gained recognition as a formidable pair. Despite this, he carried with him a great sense of loss in addition to great anger. This was shown in during the Battle of Coruscant, when he decapitated an unarmed. He also learned that Amidala would soon have a child and experiences agonizing visions of her death. His inability to control these traits led to his downfall when, soon after, he turned to the dark side, believing that it was the only way to save his wife from death.

Apprenticed to Darth Sidious, better known as his friend Chancellor Dantius Palpatine, he became Darth Vader. The Galactic Empire was founded with Palpatine at the helm as Emperor, and after Vader led an attack on the, the Jedi were exterminated by , with fewer than a hundred surviving. Two of the survivors were Grand Master and Kenobi. Vader dueled his old master on the fiery world of, and despite the Sith Lord's new abilities, he was defeated by his old master, and his body was so damaged by the lava that Sidious encased him in a dark life-sustaining suit that he would wear for the rest of his life. His children, Luke and Leia, were born at this time, though Vader remained unaware of their existence.

As a master of the dark side, Vader became the scourge of the Jedi, continuing the which would last until. An extension of the Emperor's will, the Dark Lord was constantly on the move, traveling throughout the galaxy to defeat rebel uprisings or arrest corrupt Imperials. When Vader began planning to impress his Master before overthrowing him, he found, manipulated, and trained a "secret" Sith apprentice named to not only to help hunt down remaining Jedi, but also to expose the Emperor's enemies and have them destroyed. However, Vader's betrayal led Marek to turn to the light side and sacrifice his life for the leaders of the to escape, thus starting the.

In, the Empire's great , the first Death Star was destroyed by a young Rebel. Vader became obsessed with discovering the identity of this pilot and spent the next several years searching. Vader eventually learned that the pilot's name was Luke Skywalker and deduced that the boy was his son, born before the death of Amidala. Vader fought the Rebel Alliance while concocting a plan to turn his son to the dark side. Soon after the, Vader dueled his son and revealed to him that he was his father, which Luke refused to believe.

Darth Sidious, however, was aware of Vader's plans and initiated his own plot to make young Luke his apprentice. In, the two sides came together at for one great battle to decide the fate of the galaxy. Luke surrendered to Vader and, in the throne room of the second Death Star, Sidious attempted to turn the young Jedi to the dark side by having him duel Vader. Luke defeated Vader, but refused to give himself to the darkness, proclaiming himself a Jedi like his father before him. When Sidious attempted to kill Luke using, Anakin Skywalker emerged from Darth Vader and came to his son's rescue, saving him and killing the Emperor by throwing him down the main reactor core. Mortally wounded by the Force lightning, he died soon afterward, but he died as a Jedi once more, having redeemed himself by saving his son and fulfilling the prophecy of the Chosen One.

Pre-Birth (Before 42 BBY)
"Is this—is this happening now, or in the future?"

- Q'Anilia

Thousands of years before his birth, Anakin Skywalker appeared in a vision to Jedi Master Q'Anilia as Darth Vader, along with his son, Luke Skywalker and his descendant, Cade Skywalker, as well as Zayne Carrick. All four of these individuals would later be affected by the Muur Talisman. The vision also showed Karness Muur, hundreds of Rakghouls, and a burning city.

Nearly a decade before his death, the Sith Lord, Darth Plagueis, and his apprentice, Darth Sidious, committed an act that directly violated the nature of the Force. To advance their plan for galactic domination, the two Sith attempted to will a being of their own design into existence, pouring their abhorrent intent into waves through the Force to the countless midi-chlorians that were spread throughout the galaxy. The experiment failed, however, and the midi-chlorians, not willing to obey, not only frustrated Plagueis' attempts, but countered in reprisal, conceiving a child within the slave Shmi Skywalker.

Skywalker's mother claimed that her son was conceived without a father, but could not explain how that had happened. It was the theory of Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn that the will of the Force caused his birth.

Early life (42–32 BBY)
"I'm a person, and my name is Anakin!"

- Anakin Skywalker to Padmé Amidala

Anakin Skywalker was born in 41.9 BBY. According to the seminal historical work of Voren Na'al, the planet of his birth was Tatooine, but Skywalker himself may have implied that he was only raised on the arid planet from around the age of three.

At that time, Skywalker and his mother became slaves to Gardulla the Hutt. Years later, Gardulla lost the boy and his mother in a podracing bet to a Toydarian junk dealer named Watto.

Even at a young age, Skywalker had a reputation for being able to build or repair anything, evidenced by his creation of a protocol droid named C-3PO as well as a podracer. Both were constructed from salvaged parts and nearly completed by the time he was nine years old.

A child prodigy, Skywalker excelled at mathematics and engineering, but he was also daring and adventurous. He would often risk his own well being to help others, with little forethought or regard for the consequences of his actions. When he was only five years old, Skywalker scaled an immense dune to chase a herd of banthas away from hunters, despite almost collapsing from heat and exhaustion several times. Sometime later, while bartering with Jawas, Skywalker came across a wounded Tusken Raider (unknowing that years later he would hate Tusken Raiders because of the death of his mother) and took care of it until the Tusken was taken away by his own people. A short time before the Boonta Eve Classic podrace, Skywalker, his friend Kitster Banai, and several other youths narrowly avoided a run-in with Gardulla. After hearing of children who had been captured and imprisoned by Sebulba in hopes of selling them to Gardulla, Skywalker and his friends disguised themselves as Jawas and sneaked into Gardulla's estate to free the Ghostling children.

At about eight years of age, Skywalker had his first experience with the Sith. While rummaging through Watto's junk heap, he located an ancient war droid. Hoping to recover a holoprojector for Watto, Skywalker incidentally activated a disturbing hologram, drowned in cries and screams and the strange mention of the word "Sith." Perplexed, Skywalker rushed to the stranded Republic Fighter Corps member who had told him earlier of the angels on the moons of Iego. The spacer, in shock, told him of the 4,000-year-old wrath of the Sith and how they eventually turned inward and fought each other, bringing about their own doom. He spoke of the belief that one Sith Lord had survived and extended the order's existence to this day. Little did Skywalker know that such rumors would play a major part in his life in later years.

Discovery
"Anakin, this path has been placed before you. The choice is yours alone."

- Shmi Skywalker

In 32 BBY, Skywalker's life changed forever. By happenstance, while working in Watto's shop, Skywalker met Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn, Jar Jar Binks, R2-D2 and a young teenage girl named Padmé Amidala. The girl fascinated Skywalker so much that he asked if she was an angel. Amidala was not an angel, but a queen - Her Majesty Queen Amidala of Naboo in disguise as a simple handmaiden.

When a sandstorm started to stir, Skywalker offered his new-found friends shelter in the simple home he shared with his mother. There, Jinn and Amidala recounted their plight of how they became stranded on Tatooine on their way to Coruscant due to a leak in their hyperdrive. Overwhelmed with compassion, Skywalker volunteered to enter a podrace, a daring and extremely dangerous contest, claiming that the prize money for winning would enable his companions to purchase the parts needed to repair their starship. Though Shmi Skywalker initially objected to the plan, her son recalled her words that "the biggest problem in the universe [was that] nobody [helped] each other." Persuaded, Shmi Skywalker reluctantly agreed to let her son race. Skywalker and his friends also aided in the building of his podracer, which was also shown to work after completing it. Qui-Gon also learned during this time from Shmi Skywalker that Skywalker did not have a father, and was just conceived. Later that night, after nursing some wounds Skywalker gained, Qui-Gon had Obi-Wan analyze the blood from Skywalker, to which they learned that his midi-chlorian count was vastly higher than even Yoda, causing them to suspect that he was the Chosen One.

Just before the race, Jinn made a bet with Watto that if Skywalker won, the boy would be freed. However, Watto, unwilling to give up his valuable slave, specified one condition&mdash;that he roll a chance cube to decide which of his slaves could be freed. If the cube rolled blue, Skywalker would be freed; red, Shmi Skywalker would be freed instead. The die was weighted to land on red, but Jinn used the Force to make the cube flip to blue. The Toydarian thought he knew the boy would lose, but accepted the results regardless.

Skywalker won the podrace, and Jinn was able to free him, but since the Jedi Master was unable to free the boy's mother, young Skywalker was forced to choose. He chose to go with Jinn, though he promised his mother that he would come back to free her and all the slaves on Tatooine. Even after the Battle of Naboo, in which Skywalker and his new companions were entangled, ended victoriously, neither the Jedi nor the Republic made any effort to emancipate her. Skywalker's duties as a Jedi prevented him from freeing his mother himself, though she eventually obtained her freedom from Watto after being sold to a moisture farmer named Cliegg Lars who freed and married her. Unfortunately, Qui-Gon discovered a Sith Probe Droid and cut it down, and promptly had Anakin and himself rushing to the ship.

After departing to Mos Espa, Jinn and Skywalker approached exhausted to the Naboo Royal Starship, but were attacked by Sith Lord Darth Maul, who sought to capture Queen Amidala. While Jinn engaged the Sith in battle, Skywalker rushed ahead and warned those already on board. The ship lifted off and, after rescuing Jinn, they left Tatooine to head for Coruscant.

While on the journey to Coruscant, Skywalker further bonded with Amidala, giving her a Japor snippet he had carved for her to remember him. Years later, Amidala would be buried carrying that same snippet.

Upon arriving at Coruscant, Skywalker faced the Jedi High Council and was tested concerning Jinn's belief that Skywalker was the Chosen One and should be trained as a Jedi. Skywalker's gifts cemented Jinn's belief on the matter, but the Council remained skeptical. Jinn requested to train Skywalker after his current apprentice, Obi-Wan Kenobi, completed his trials, but his request was denied. Skywalker was much older than the usual Padawan, and the Council was concerned that his prior experiences would interfere with his training. In particular, he exhibited much fear and anger, emotions that were further compounded by his separation from his mother. The Council believed he simply would not be able to master the level of emotional detachment required by a member of the Jedi Order. Kenobi, while also amazed at Skywalker's unprecedented midi-chlorian count&mdash;over twenty thousand &mdash;and strong potential, initially agreed with the Council's decision. With nowhere to go on Coruscant, and no way to return to Tatooine, Skywalker followed his new friends on their mission to free Naboo from the Trade Federation's invasion.

Ultimately, Skywalker fought in the Battle of Naboo in a vicious starfighter battle above the planet. After accidentally joining the battle in orbit, Skywalker single-handedly destroyed the orbital Droid Control Ship from within the ship, moments after Lt. Gavyn Sykes destroyed the deflector shield generator, thus rendering the Trade Federation's ground forces inactive and saving the Gungan Grand Army from destruction. The following celebration, however, was tainted with the death of Jinn, slain by Darth Maul.

The Master's dying wish was for Kenobi to undertake Skywalker's training, which Kenobi promised to fulfill. The Council reluctantly agreed for Kenobi to begin Skywalker's training, though they were concerned that Skywalker would be too difficult a student for young Kenobi to handle, due to Kenobi's young age.

Meanwhile, Palpatine, the Republic's newly-appointed Supreme Chancellor, promised Skywalker that he would watch the young Jedi's career with great interest, beginning a long friendship between the young Jedi and the new ruler of the Republic.

Continuing to pod race
At this age, Skywalker participated in more podraces. He was the racetrack champion on the Naboo-based Lianorm Raceway.

Adolescence (32 BBY&mdash;22 BBY)
"The boy has exceptional skills.''" "''But he still has much to learn, Master. His abilities have made him&hellip; well, arrogant."

- Mace Windu and Obi-Wan Kenobi

As a young adult, Skywalker developed as an arrogant and somewhat socially awkward young man, doubtless in part because of his rapid transition from a scrapyard slave to rising star of the Jedi Order. His natural abilities placed him leaps and bounds above his peers which fed his ego and caused him to distance himself from other learners his age. He frequently showed off, chafed against authority, and displayed little respect for Kenobi, whom he partially viewed as inferior. Despite this perception, he stated that Kenobi was like a father to him, and claimed that Kenobi had the wisdom of Master Yoda and the power of Master Windu. This praise, however, may have been just another expression of Skywalker's arrogance, as he amended that he himself was "beyond" Kenobi in many ways, and felt Kenobi was holding him back from his true potential. His relationship with his master remained complicated and contradictory, partially due to Kenobi's doubts about whether he had the ability to train Skywalker, something the boy did not need, especially during that critical time in his life. Frustrated, Skywalker would turn to another mentor for advice: Supreme Chancellor Palpatine.

As Skywalker's early friendship with Palpatine continued, the Chancellor lent Skywalker a sympathetic ear, saying things to further fuel his pride. It is likely that Palpatine's reassurances also had the effect of perpetuating Skywalker's lack of control&mdash;whenever he was chided or reprimanded by Kenobi, Palpatine would reassure Skywalker that he had done right, hence Skywalker never quite had the impetus to change his behavior.

Kenobi's apprentice
"Master Yoda, I gave Qui-Gon my word. I will train Anakin&hellip; without the approval of the Council if I must.''" "''Qui-Gon's defiance, I sense in you; need that, you do not. Agree with you, the Council does. Your apprentice, Skywalker will be."

- Obi-Wan Kenobi and Yoda

Skywalker and Kenobi's relationship had an unstable beginning as Kenobi was not the only one to see the potential in the boy, and even considered him dangerous. The only reason he continued to train the boy was because of Jinn's dying wish for him to do so. He felt Skywalker's training was his duty, though he did not believe he had the ability to train him properly. Skywalker, on the other hand, knew that he was different from other Padawans. The differences led Skywalker to keep to himself, who did not branch out and did not desire to do so. He did, however, feel a special attachment to Kenobi, since his Jedi Master was like the father he never had. Slowly, but surely, Master and apprentice formed a special bond throughout Skywalker's adolescence.

While on Coruscant, Skywalker did not give up his love of tinkering with machines, and the halls of the Jedi Temple were said to be littered with his droid creations. Still craving thrills and adventure at the age of twelve, he salvaged a pair of race wings and secretly participated in the highly dangerous and illegal garbage pit races held in the lower levels of Galactic City. During one such race, he was nearly killed by a Blood Carver named Ke Daiv before Kenobi reached him.

About three years into his training, Skywalker and Kenobi had their first mission together to investigate cult leader Kad Chun. Chun, calling himself Uni, was co-leader of disenchanted idealists and refugees who wanted to flee their bureaucracy-flooded worlds. Kad's father, Vox Chun, the leader of the cult, was killed when Kenobi and Skywalker came to investigate. Later, Kad Chun forgave Kenobi and his scheming father for what they had done.

The next mission they took was to the living planet of Zonama Sekot to find Jedi Knight Vergere, who had recently vanished on a mission there. Unbeknownst to them, Wilhuff Tarkin and Raith Sienar had followed them to exploit Zonama Sekot's ability to fuse organic and high technology into starfighters, creating them at an astonishing rate and at an extremely high quality. On the planet, the colonists sold "seed-partners," which bonded with their hosts and allowed the planet to customize a starfighter for the individual. Skywalker attracted many more seed-partners than anyone, and thus, had a bigger and more intricate ship. He named this new biological ship Jabitha. When Tarkin and Sienar arrived, the planet revealed its sentient consciousness to the Jedi, explaining that Vergere had left with the mysterious "Far Outsiders" in order to protect Zonama Sekot. Skywalker and Kenobi could not rescue the Fosh Jedi, but they were able to halt Tarkin's attack.

When Ke Daiv, now Tarkin's bodyguard, attempted to kill Skywalker, the boy, in a fit of uncontrollable rage, telekinetically burned the Blood Carver from the inside out. Unfortunately, Skywalker was captured and brought before Tarkin. Kenobi, however, managed to destroy Tarkin's flagship and rescue his Padawan. During this altercation, Zonama Sekot was able to activate its planetary hyperdrive, causing the planet to vanish, bound for the Unknown Regions. Afterward, Sienar and Tarkin returned to the Republic. Skywalker's organic ship, unfortunately, died while away from her creator. After the conclusion of this mission, Kenobi and Skywalker returned to Coruscant.

Becoming a Jedi
"Remember, Obi-Wan, if the prophecy is true, your apprentice is the only one who can bring the Force back into balance."

- Mace Windu to Obi-Wan Kenobi

In 28 BBY, Skywalker constructed his first lightsaber in the caves of Ilum. While he was constructing it, however, he had a dark vision of Darth Maul, the Sith who had killed Jinn. After Skywalker managed to defeat this specter, he awoke to find he had finished construction on his lightsaber, its blade a shining blue.

On a mission to Nar Shaddaa when Skywalker was 13, he killed the T'surr slave trader Krayn by burning a hole in his chest. This allowed all the slaves of Krayn to be freed, as well as ending Jedi Knight Siri Tachi's undercover mission there.

Not long after, the young Jedi and his Master were called upon, along with Tachi (who was now a Knight), Soara Antana, Ry-Gaul, and their Padawans, Ferus Olin, Darra Thel-Tanis, and Tru Veld, respectively, on a mission to Radnor to help with the evacuation of the planet. The evacuation was due to a deadly toxin that had spread throughout the planet because of a chemical leak. He and the other Jedi and their Padawans later discovered that the toxic leak was connected with the Avoni raiders. The path of guilt led to Galen, a traitorous Radnoran, who was taken into custody for his crimes. However, the Avoni did not pay for their crime and were not forced to make amends. To Skywalker, it almost seemed as if the planet was worse off than when they had found it.

Kenobi and Skywalker were later sent on a mission to find out what had happened to the Consular-class cruiser, the Radiant IX, which was carrying the Jedi Et Rex and Alysun Celz back to Coruscant to be punished for falling to the dark side. They discovered that, while on their flight, a large group of mynocks had fed on energy from the ships electrical couplings, causing the ship to plummet into the gravity well in the Hoth system, and crash landed on an asteroid known as the Poison Moon. The distress signal was sent even as Celz killed everyone on the ship. Rex managed to escape Celz and befriend a group of mynocks. When the Jedi found Celz on the bridge of the ship, he insisted that it was Rex who did it. Kenobi went to find Rex, leaving Skywalker with Celz. When Kenobi found Rex, Rex convinced him that Celz was framing him, and the two hurried back to save Skywalker. In the meantime, Celz tried to convince Skywalker to leave his master, but failed. Celz angrily knocked out Skywalker with her Force lightning, revealing to the Jedi as they entered that she had killed everyone on board. Kenobi engaged her with his lightsaber, only to be knocked back by a dose of force lightning. Rex sent his mynocks after her lightning, feeding on it like they would electricity. The Jedi left the moon on Kenobi and Skywalker's ship, with Celz as their new prisoner, and headed back to Coruscant.

Later on, a simple Jedi training mission to Ragoon VI caused Skywalker and Kenobi to get tangled up with a mysterious man whose mission in life seemed to be to kill them. Further research on him revealed that he was from Nierport VII, collected Sith artifacts, and was extremely wealthy&mdash;though he had no tangible source of income. Skywalker and Kenobi were then dispatched to the Galactic Games in order to ensure the peace. Skywalker found out about an illegal podrace being set up, and, instead of reporting it, he decided to join. Meanwhile, Kenobi, with the help of Siri Tachi and apprentice Ferus Olin, unraveled a huge plan to ruin several senators' careers by framing them in a plot to rig some of the games. The plan was orchestrated by Maxo Vista, and Kenobi learned from him that the podrace was also rigged so that the lead podracer would lose control of his brakes and possibly kill hundreds. Too late, Kenobi set out to warn Skywalker, but his Padawan had already started racing and eventually took the lead. Kenobi could only watch helplessly as Skywalker's brakes malfunctioned. However, using the Force and his piloting skills, Skywalker managed to gain control of his craft and avert a tragedy. After this event, further investigation was done on the man who previously tried to kill them, and it was revealed that the man was trying to take over the marketing of bacta through a mining venture. Skywalker, after being captured by him, found out, with the aid of Kenobi, that the man's name was Granta Omega. He also discovered that he was trying to impress a Sith Lord by killing Skywalker. Master and apprentice were able to escape, halting Omega's mining of titanite in the process. Omega himself, however, escaped their grasp.

Outbound Flight
"Sometimes a Jedi's most important duty is to stand and wait. I presume you've mentioned that to Anakin on occasion?''" "''Not more than twice a day."

- Mace Windu and Obi-Wan Kenobi

Before this, Skywalker and Kenobi were sent to Barlok to monitor the overbearing Jedi Knight Jorus C'baoth and his timid Padawan, Lorana Jinzler, in their negotiation mission between the Corporate Alliance and the Barlok. Unbeknownst to them, Kinman Doriana, on behalf of Darth Sidious, had planned for the negotiation to work splendidly in C’baoth's favor, gaining him enough prestige to go ahead with his pet project, Outbound Flight.

Skywalker and his master were again sent to observe the self-acclaimed Jedi Master C'baoth on this project, at least until its last stop within the known galaxy. Kenobi did not approve of C’baoth's overseeing of the project, butting heads with the Jedi Master on numerous occasions. However, the hardheaded and arrogant C'baoth would not listen, and was glad when they disembarked the venture on Outbound Flight last stop, Roxuli. Despite the problems his master and C’baoth had had, Skywalker greatly admired C'baoth, whom he saw as an example of a great leader. These views would also shift his view of a better galaxy under the harsh rule of Palpatine.

Mission to Andara
"You had a responsibility! Just as I had one to Siri. You betrayed me and the Order by your actions. And your inability to see that troubles me the worst of all."

- Obi-Wan Kenobi, berating Skywalker

Not long after, in 27 BBY, fourteen-year-old Skywalker and his Master were given a mission to investigate a senator's son's disappearance, which they presumed to have much to do with an elite school for senators' children. In order to investigate a band of renegade students and the school itself, the Jedi council gave Skywalker and Ferus Olin the task of penetrating the school, which was located on Andara, by posing to be senators' sons. Soon, Skywalker had located the students and acquired their trust. He decided to join them on a mock attack on a Senator's ship, which in Skywalker's view would be helping those who were unrepresented under the Senator's jurisdiction. Olin did not like the plan and warned Skywalker of its problems; however, Skywalker dismissed his caution due to his rivalry with Olin. Later, Olin suddenly disappeared, but Skywalker neglected to inform his master. Before the "mock" attack could begin, he found out that the attack would actually be real, and it threatened to start a war. Before he could leave and inform Kenobi, the leader of the group, revealed as Gillam Tarturi, the Senator's missing son, informed Skywalker that the Padawan would have to die in order for Gillam's plan to proceed. Left with no choice, Skywalker disarmed Gallam and the rest of the members, shut down the lasers of the starfighter the group was planning to use, and, at the same time, destroyed ten attack droids. At this point, Kenobi, along with Siri Tachi and Ferus Olin, had arrived to Skywalker's aid, but he had finished the fight before they could help him. Skywalker's level of skill, nearly equal to some great Jedi Masters, left Kenobi unnerved. However, Skywalker's master was also furious that Skywalker had not told Kenobi that Olin was missing, and for the first time, Kenobi shouted at his Padawan. This incident widened the gap between Skywalker and Kenobi.

Yaddle's sacrifice
"Know, you do, that Yaddle's death was not your fault." "I had the vision! I should have known!" "And Obi-Wan and myself? Told us of the vision, you did, and yet know, we did not." "Of course not, but the things in the vision sarted to come true when I was with Omega. I should never have asked Yaddle to meet with him. I should have refused. I should have tried to escape." "When you look back, lose your place on the path, you do. Learn, you will, Anakin, that stars move and stars fall, and nothing at all, do they have, to do with you."

- Anakin and Yoda discuss the death of Master Yaddle.

When Skywalker was fifteen, he, Kenobi, Yoda, and Yaddle were sent on a negotiation mission to Mawan to settle a devastating gang war, in which three criminal organizations fought one another. These gangs, led by Decca the Hutt, Feena Shaan, and Striker, caused the remainder of the population to take refuge underground. During the mission, Skywalker was kidnapped by Striker's men. Striker, revealed to be Granta Omega, tried tempting Skywalker to leave the Jedi Order and come with him, offering visions of freeing the slaves and his mother on Tatooine. When he saw that Skywalker would not yield, he made Skywalker arrange a meeting with himself and Yaddle. Unbeknownst to her and the rest of the Jedi, the chaotic planet was a trap set for the Jedi by Omega. He released a fatal chemical weapon that killed Yaddle when she absorbed it through the Force. However, through her sacrifice, she saved the city of Naatan. The weapon was intended by its vengeful maker to kill Skywalker and Kenobi, but it failed because of what Yaddle had done. Kenobi and Skywalker immediately contacted Master Yoda, who knew Yaddle had died, and prepared his transport to Mawan. Skywalker and Kenobi managed to bring peace to Mawan, and even after Yoda's words of comfort, Skywalker still felt responsible for the death of the Jedi High Council member.

Skywalker's guilt about Yaddle's death caused friction between him and Kenobi, who felt that he was less than capable of teaching the mischievous Skywalker properly. When sent on a rescue mission in the Uziel system to a planet called Vanqor, the two were forced to try and reconcile their differences. They were forced through several tribulations, including a run-in with a nest of gundarks. Skywalker was then placed under the influence of a drug called the Zone of Self-Containment, and taken prisoner by the insane and fanatical scientist Jenna Zan Arbor. Siri Tachi, Ferus Olin, Garen Muln, and Clee Rhara, who were also sent on another mission entirely, received the distress signal from Kenobi while en route to their own destination. They picked up Skywalker and Kenobi on Vanqor.

Trailing Jenna Zan Arbor and Roy Teda
Zan Arbor escaped, however, and did not resurface again until Skywalker was seventeen. From information given them by Tyro Caladian, they discovered that she had reappeared on Romin, a focus of corruption and villainy and a shelter for criminals. In order to infiltrate the planet, he, his Master, Tachi, and Olin disguised themselves as a band of thieves looking for refuge on the planet. They discovered that Zan Arbor had allied herself with Roy Teda&mdash;the ruler of Romin&mdash;and Granta Omega, Kenobi and Skywalker's old adversary. The Jedi were about to be captured when civil war erupted. The underworld was trying to overthrow Teda, and, in the midst of it, Teda and Zan Arbor fled. The two criminals contacted the Jedi&mdash;thinking they were actually criminals&mdash;to try to find a way offworld. Unfortunately, Zan Arbor recognized Skywalker from their previous encounter, and Teda ordered his men to seize the Jedi. Before they could do so, Mace Windu and a team of Jedi arrived, arresting Teda and Zan Arbor. In spite of this, since the Jedi were trying to get to Omega, and they knew the two would lead them to him, they set the two captives free.

Only a few weeks later, Kenobi and his apprentice trailed Zan Arbor and Teda to Falleen, where the rogues had managed to set up the Blackwater Systems facility to mass-produce her drug, the Zone of Self-Containment. When they were found, Zan Arbor was forced to destroy the facility and they once more fled.

Skywalker and Olin were again paired when the trail of Zan Arbor and Teda led back to Coruscant. Sano Sauro&mdash;a friend of Granta Omega&mdash;and Bog Divinian started to make anti-Jedi accusations in order to convince the Galactic Senate to lessen or completely dissolve its support of the Order. This vote, which was about whether or not the Jedi should be involved in the Senate's activities, was all a part of Sauro and Omega's plan to leak the Zone of Self-Containment drug into the Senate's vents and assassinate Chancellor Palpatine. Skywalker and Olin, who were learning to forget their rivalry and understand each other, managed to prevent the assassination attempt on the Supreme Chancellor. Omega's plan was uncovered, but not in time to save twenty-one Senators and several other Senate employees from being killed by seeker droids programmed by Teda. Unbeknownst to the renegade, since Zan Arbor and Omega had no more use for the man, a seeker droid killed him, as well. Afterward, Kenobi, Skywalker, and Tachi set off to find Omega, leaving Olin to protect the Senators and Palpatine.

Confronting old adversaries
Tracking Omega and Zan Arbor to Korriban, four Jedi pairs&mdash;Skywalker and Kenobi, Tachi and Olin, Ry-Gaul and Tru Veld, and Soara and Darra&mdash;journeyed there to confront and stop them. During the course of the hunt, the apprentices were split up from the Masters to better accomplish the mission. The investigation of Dreshdae led them to the Valley of the Dark Lords. Because of the dark side power of the planet, the Padawans, instead of working as a team, started fighting amongst themselves. When Skywalker found out about Olin's advanced training, he was extremely jealous of him, and, because of all of the friction, their journey to find Omega was catastrophic. They were caught and halted by numerous traps that they would have been able to avoid were they able to function as a team. Because of this, the confrontation with Omega was a complete and utter disaster.

Previously, during the fighting, Veld's lightsaber was damaged, and Olin decided to repair it. Skywalker, who was more mechanically adept than Olin, noticed that the repair job would not work. Instead of speaking out and properly repairing the saber himself, he kept quiet, hoping to humiliate Olin. During a battle in one of the tombs, Veld's lightsaber began to fail. Olin switched lightsabers with Veld in order to protect him. Darra noticed the faulty lightsaber and leaped to protect Olin. However, she was riddled with blaster fire and killed. This caused friction between Tru Veld and Skywalker, her death being partly Skywalker's fault. Kenobi, who showed up just in time, was forced to kill Granta Omega with a stroke of his blade. Zan Arbor managed to elude capture once more, and was not seen again by the Jedi or the Republic.

Olin, blaming himself for Darra's death, resigned from the Jedi Order.

Growing up
Sometime later, Skywalker and his Master were sent on a diplomatic mission to a planet wishing to join the Galactic Republic. They soon found out, however, that the planet's indigenous population considered thievery an important social asset. During their stay, Skywalker's lightsaber was stolen. The Padawan searched for it, ashamed to tell Kenobi that he lost it, but soon had to admit defeat. Asking Kenobi for help, he found that the Jedi Knight knew the lightsaber had been stolen, and, using a trick of the Force, had "acquired" it from the thief. Kenobi had merely been waiting for Skywalker to admit that he had lost it.

Kenobi and his apprentice, who was then sixteen, were then assigned to the task of protecting Senator Simon Greyshade from assassination. Greyshade had recently filled the station of Senator of the Commonality; a Senatorial seat left by his assassinated cousin. Simon's cousin, Jheramahd Greyshade, had been thrown off of the roof of 500 Republica in an attempt to stall the passage of the Financial Reform Act, which the Senator had supported. The act was a bill that addressed and was meant to reduce the amount of corruption that was causing the Senate, and, through them, the Republic, to disintegrate.

Senator Greyshade, who had received a death threat for his stand, was now under protection by the Jedi duo. Commander Zalin Bey of the Senate Guard and her unit were assigned to investigate Jheramahd's assassination. Skywalker and Kenobi had their hands full protecting Simon from myriad assassins: droids; Keluda, a Dug; and Princess Tsian, whom they could not seriously investigate because of her diplomatic immunity. Despite these hurdles, Tsian was arrested and Keluda was killed.

Sagoro Autem and Isaru Omin continued the investigation of the Senator's murder, turning up several disturbing facts. Sagoro's brother, Venco, had assassinated Jheramahd, and convinced Reymet Autem, Sagoro's son, to unwittingly help him in another assassination, this time an attempt on Simon's life, but this second attempt failed. Sagoro managed to let his son escape, but, unfortunately, when Omin discovered his obstruction of justice, too late for him to arrest Reymet, he arrested Sagoro. The man took the blame and disgrace for what his son had done, and was removed from the office of Senate Guard. Simon Greyshade was safe once more.

Because it was found that the assassination and attempted assassination was because of the Financial Reform Act, it never got a vote. Some say that this was the cause of a good portion of the seceding planets that would soon make the Confederacy of Independent Systems, and could have prevented the Clone Wars had it been passed.

Adult life (22 BBY–4 ABY)
"Ani&hellip;? My goodness, you've grown."

- Padmé Amidala to Anakin Skywalker, upon their reunion

At the age of nineteen, in 22 BBY, Skywalker and Kenobi, along with Luminara Unduli and her apprentice, Barriss Offee, were sent to Ansion to settle a border dispute that had the potential to cause the extremely strategic planet to secede to the Confederacy. If Ansion fell, so would countless other worlds. The Jedi negotiated a settlement with city dwellers to remain in the Republic, provided they also convinced the nomadic Alwari to allow expansion into the grasslands. Little did they know that Presidente Shu Mai of the Commerce Guild was pulling the strings to cause Ansion to secede. Arriving early, Kenobi and Skywalker were just in time to rescue Unduli and Offee from a mob of killers. Thanks again to Shu Mai and her minion Soergg the Hutt, the Jedi were in constant danger from attack by hired killers, including a successful kidnapping of Offee by two Ansionians, Kyakhta and Bulgan. Offee healed the two killers of injuries though, and they became guides for the Jedi to find the nomadic clans, particularly the Borokii overclan. Traveling on suubatars, the Jedi braved hazards such as flying chawix, kyren hordes, capture by the Yiwa clan and shanhs. On one occasion, the Jedi were required to entertain their hosts, each in their own way. Skywalker chose to sing a song, that impressed the Ansionians. The Jedi eventually made contact with the Borokii overclan, who, after requiring the Jedi to retrieve a tuft of rare albino surepp wool, agreed to the Jedi's settlement—provided they helped wage war against their rivals, the Januul clan. Skywalker was shocked when Kenobi agreed, but he had a plan. When the battle lines were drawn, the Jedi marched out into the middle and refused to fight either side, calling on both clans to negotiate a settlement. Kenobi, Skywalker, Unduli, and Offee were subsequently attacked by both sides, but they deflected the assaults, and amazingly parried only the weapons, defeating both armies with no loss of life. In the wake of the following peace between the tribes, the Jedi journeyed back to the capital of Cuipernam to inform the Unity Council controlling the planet's fate of their success. While they were attacked again by thugs, the two clans sent an honor guard to help the Jedi, and Ansion remained in the Republic thanks to the efforts of Skywalker and his companions. Because of her status as President, Shu Mai was not discovered to be a part of the matter.

Reunited with Amidala
"You're asking me to be rational. That is something that I know I cannot do. Believe me, I wish I could just wish away my feelings, but I can't."

- Skywalker, to Amidala

Just one day after his twentieth birthday, there was an attempt on the life of Padmé Amidala, now the Senator of the Chommell sector, by the bounty hunter Zam Wesell. Skywalker was personally assigned to protect and escort Amidala back to her homeworld. To avoid looking conspicuous, the two traveled as refugees. Skywalker had not seen her in ten years, though he had thought about her daily since their parting at Naboo. His childhood fascination with her had turned into a powerful infatuation. In conversation, Skywalker revealed his affection for her, his frustration with Kenobi's training methods, a distrust of the political process, and his view of the need for one strong leader. Over a short time, his infatuation for her blossomed into something more: love. Eventually Amidala began to return his feelings.

It was at Amidala's lake retreat where the two lost their inhibitions and shared their first kiss. Both seemed entranced with the other despite their different social castes. However, Amidala eventually came to her senses, and while Skywalker was concerned with his feelings and living in the present moment&mdash;even suggesting they could keep their relationship a secret&mdash;Amidala was more concerned with duty and obligation. She had enough foresight to know their current situations would not allow for a relationship between them. Skywalker's pursuit of a relationship with her was in violation of Jedi tradition, which held that although Jedi were not required to be celibate, they were to avoid attachment to all but the Force itself.

Return to Tatooine
"Why'd she have to die? Why couldn't I save her? I know I could have!" "Sometimes there are things no one can fix. You're not all powerful, Ani." "Well I should be! Someday I will be. I will be the most powerful Jedi ever! I promise you. I will even learn to stop people from dying!" "Anakin&hellip;" "It's all Obi-Wan's fault! He's jealous! He's holding me back!"

- Anakin Skywalker and Amidala

Skywalker had been suffering from recurring nightmares about his mother, Shmi, for several months prior to meeting Amidala again; and, because of them, went against the spirit of his orders to protect Amidala by bringing her to Tatooine to find Shmi. Upon landing on Tatooine, Skywalker made his way straight for Watto's shop, where he discovered that a moisture farmer named Cliegg Lars had freed and married his mother.

While speaking with Lars, he learned, to his horror, that Shmi had been abducted by Tusken Raiders. He immediately set out in pursuit of her on Owen Lars' swoop bike. That night, the young Jedi discovered the Tusken camp beyond the B'Thazoshe Bridge, and slipped into the tent that contained his mother, most likely locating her with his Jedi senses. He freed her from her bonds, but it was too late. Battered, sleep-deprived, and dehydrated, Shmi Skywalker died in his arms, but not before seeing him for the last time.

Skywalker allowed the shock of her death to catalyze an explosion of his long-nursed anger and selfishness. He flew into a berserk rage, slaughtering all present in the camp without mercy&mdash;even, as he confessed to Amidala later, "the women and children." A number of Jedi, including Yoda and the deceased Qui-Gon Jinn, sensed the shock of this massacre as well as Skywalker's powerful Force presence, which bordered on closer to the dark side of the Force.

When Skywalker told Amidala that he had killed the tribe, he justified his actions at first. Amidala was clearly troubled by what Skywalker had done, but had invested herself too much in him to be truly repulsed. She tried to soothe him with sympathy and told no one of Skywalker's hideous act. In his anger and sorrow, he rashly claimed that one day he would have the power to stop people from dying, he claimed that Obi-Wan was jealous of his power and was holding him back. He then expressed his hate for the Sand People before remembering that he was a Jedi and broke down in remorse for killing the Sand People. Amidala told him that his emotions made him human, but Skywalker responded that he was a Jedi and he was supposed to be better than this and be above revenge.

Battle of Geonosis
"I was beginning to wonder if you had gotten my message." "I retransmitted it just as you had requested, Master; then we decided to come and rescue you." "Good job."

- Anakin and Obi-Wan in the Geonisian execution arena.

While still on Tatooine, Skywalker discovered that Kenobi had been taken hostage by the Geonosian-engineered Confederacy of Independent Systems's droid forces. He initially decided to honor Master Windu's order to protect Amidala at all costs and to stay on Tatooine, the episode with his mother having caused him to lose confidence in himself. However, Amidala convinced him that rescuing his mentor was the right thing to do and they traveled to Geonosis. Once on the planet, Skywalker and Amidala infiltrated the droid foundries but were soon captured as well and sentenced to die in a gladiatorial execution arena. Faced with their impending fate, they finally confessed their love to one another and kissed for what they thought was the last time. The timely arrival of the Jedi and eventually the clone troopers allowed both of them to escape and fight in the ensuing battle.

Skywalker and Kenobi pursued Count Dooku, the mastermind of the Confederacy and, unbeknownst to them, a Sith Lord. They gave chase across the vast Geonosian sands, where he led them to a CIS-owned hangar. Once they caught up with Dooku, Skywalker, against the better advice of his Master, foolishly charged the Sith with a headstrong attitude. It was the Padawan's undoing: Dooku unleashed a powerful barrage of Force lightning on Skywalker, knocking the youth unconscious and leaving Kenobi to face Dooku alone. Kenobi put up a valiant fight, however, his skills proved no match for the more powerful and experienced Dooku, and he was soon incapacitated. As Skywalker recovered from the Force lightning, he witnessed Dooku raising his lightsaber to deliver the final blow against the fallen Kenobi.

Skywalker, calling upon the Force, leapt into the path of Dooku's lightsaber, blocking it with his own, saving his Master's life in the process. Taking up his fallen master's weapon, Skywalker unleashed a flurry of attacks, which caught Dooku off guard at first. However, despite the tactical advantage the second blade granted, it was short-lived. Without more than basic training in Jar'Kai, Skywalker's use of two blades simply wasn't good enough to pass through Dooku's guard, and the Sith eventually managed to destroy the green blade, leaving Skywalker with only his blue. At that point, Dooku's greater practice and experience with Makashi allowed him to regain the upper hand, and, despite holding his own for much of the duel, Skywalker lost the battle&mdash;and his arm&mdash; to Dooku. After being rescued by Yoda, Skywalker, Amidala, and Kenobi were transported back to the Jedi Temple for healing.

Marriage to Padmé Amidala
"One day they'd get some lovesick Jedi doing something crazy, whatever the training was supposed to knock out of them, and it wouldn't end well."

- RC-1136, speaking of Jedi and love

After Skywalker's forearm was replaced with a mechno-arm crafted by the Chief Healer Vokara Che, he remained in the Halls of Healing as he grew accustomed to the replacement. Meanwhile, Kenobi was sent by Master Yoda to force Amidala to end her relationship with the Chosen One. Lying, she agreed, yet asked to do it herself. She suggested having Skywalker escort her back to Naboo and that is when she would end it.

However, the escort was a ploy, and Skywalker married Amidala, even though that meant breaking the Jedi Code; but he had gone past caring, and set the marriage at Varykino on Naboo in a secret ceremony performed by a Naboo holyman. C-3PO and his counterpart, R2-D2, were the only witnesses. The newly-married couple would later struggle to keep this illicit relationship secret.

The Clone Wars (22–19 BBY)
"You are strong and wise, Anakin, and I am very proud of you. I have trained you since you were a small boy. I have taught you everything I know, and you have become a far greater Jedi than I could ever hope to be."

- Obi-Wan Kenobi

With the onset of the Clone Wars, Anakin Skywalker started on his way to become a legendary hero. He was an unparalleled starfighter pilot, flying missions over several worlds, including Kamino, Balamak, and Virujansi, solidifying his reputation. He even earned the seldom-heard title of Tan in recognition of his exceptional piloting skills. He custom-modified his Delta-7 Aethersprite starfighter&mdash;naming it Azure Angel as a tribute to his wife&mdash;into a unique and deadly vessel that time and time again outperformed any ship on the battlefield. He also proved his worth outside the cockpit, destroying the ancient Sith weapon known as the Dark Reaper and helping to drive back a Separatist invasion of Coruscant that even breached the Jedi Temple itself.

Dubbed the "Hero With No Fear", war molded Skywalker into a man and honed his combat ability, but it continued to nourish his ego. It was also a lie. Skywalker had no fear for his own life, but he was terrified for the lives of his Master, Supreme Chancellor Palpatine, his Padawan Ahsoka Tano, the troops under his authority, and even R2-D2, who accompanied Skywalker whenever he could. It was difficult to rein in Skywalker as he increasingly had trouble following the strict doctrine governed by the Jedi Code, especially when the Order itself was complicit in ambiguous moral acts by waging a full-scale war. But, above all else, Skywalker feared for his beloved Padmé Amidala. He wrote to her whenever he could, and also tried to meet with her on several occasions, but because of their duties they saw each other very rarely. And the few times they did, Amidala was usually in danger, which fueled his protectiveness for her and his fear.

The Dark Reaper
One month after the start of the Clone Wars, Skywalker and Kenobi were involved in an operation to stop Count Dooku from obtaining the Dark Reaper, a powerful superweapon of mass destruction constructed during the Great Sith War and lost after its conclusion. Skywalker and Kenobi helped to evacuate the Republic outpost on Rhen Var and then went to Raxus Prime where Dooku had found the Force Harvester&mdash;a major part of the Dark Reaper. After his encounter with Dooku on Raxus Prime, Skywalker was captured and sent to Alaris Prime, to be executed by the Force Harvester, an ancient Sith weapon that drains the Force from all living things within its range. He escaped and traveled to Rhen Var. On Rhen Var, Skywalker fought his way to the tomb of Ulic Qel-Droma for information on how to withstand the effects of the Dark Reaper and the Harvester. Shortly after the Dark Reaper was revived on Thule, Skywalker led an attack on the capital city of Kessia and destroyed the Reaper using his TX-130S fighter tank. Although Skywalker did manage to destroy the Reaper, the knowledge he gained from Qel-Droma caused him to act more arrogantly toward Kenobi, and indirectly led him to take a step toward the path to the dark side of the Force.

Battle of Ohma-D'un
When the planet Naboo lost contact with a Gungan colony on one of Naboo's moons, Ohma-D'un, Skywalker was sent along with a squad of four Jedi to investigate. They quickly found what had become of the Gungan colony. Every single Gungan had died of a mysterious chemical weapon. The Jedi were infected by the poison, but luckily its effects took longer to work on non-Gungans. They soon encountered Ohma-D'un super battle droids, B2 super battle droids and the bounty hunter Durge, and attacked them. Skywalker defeated many droids during the battle and helped to save the prisoners located in the nearby camp. It was the first time Skywalker encountered Asajj Ventress, who would be his nemesis throughout the whole war.

Battle of Muunilinst and Duel on Yavin 4
"I'm going to make you pay for what you've done.''" "''Come, Padawan. Your fall will be my ascension to the Sith."

- Anakin Skywalker and Asajj Ventress

At the request of the Supreme Chancellor, Anakin was made a commander and was charged with leading the Republic's space forces against the Separatist fleet in oribt above Muunilinst, homeworld of the InterGalactic Banking Clan, a pivotal member of the Confederacy of Independent Systems, during the Republic's attack on the planet. His piloting talents and leadership of a group of clone pilots led to a victory.

A mysterious vessel caught his eye during the fray, and he was drawn from the battle after determining that the Force was with the pilot, despite Obi-Wan Kenobi's admonition and suspicions that the fighter was leading him into a trap. He followed the enigmatic Fanblade starfighter through an intense chase through the streets of Muunilinst's capital city, back to space and through hyperspace to Yavin 4. Beneath the jungle canopy and amongst the remains of ancient Massassi temples, Skywalker came face to face with the fanblade pilot, the Dark Jedi Asajj Ventress, and dueled with her. As they fought, the battle progressed into and onto the temples of Yavin 4.

In the end, Skywalker was disarmed by Asajj, but was able to defeat her by taking one of her curved-hilt lightsabers, and repeatedly striking her, having brief visions of Jinn, Kenobi, and Yoda deeply troubled by what he was doing. His strikes caused the temple stone beneath her to crumble, and she fell through the ledge into a chasm apparently to her death; but she would later escape. As he stood victorious, Skywalker gave a loud yell of rage, knowing that he had won. This had only been accomplished, though, by tapping into his dark side.

Skywalker and Kenobi then participated in Mission to Nivek, where they destroyed an entire droid construction facility, and Battle of Terra Sool which was won thanks to Skywalker's skills.

Battle on Skye
Kenobi temporarily took Halagad Ventor as a Padawan in addition to Skywalker, following the demise of Ventor's former master. He and Skywalker soon became friends and as a sign of their trust, they engaged in the Concordance of Fealty, a Jedi tradition where they temporarily swapped lightsabers as a sign of trust. They traveled to the planet of Skye, where they fought against an Unidentified genetic terrorist. They foiled the terrorist's plot that threatened the planet with total destruction. Following the battle, Skywalker discovered the 13 year old S'kytri Kharys, who proved to be strong in the Force. He wished to take her back with them for training, but Kenobi and Ventor believed she was too old to start on the path of a Jedi and refused to take her. However, Skywalker promised Kharys that he would return one day to train her.

Rise of the Cortosis Battle Droids
Ten months after the Battle of Geonosis, a report reached the Jedi Council that a new type of battle droid was being deployed on Tatooine. Skywalker was sent to investigate and contact the Republic spy Raala Ponchar. However, he was captured by Aurra Sing and one of Dooku's Dark Acolytes, Saato, and imprisoned in Jabba's palace. He managed to escape, rescue Ponchar and kill Saato before learning that Count Dooku had infiltrated Coruscant with a small force on a mission to destroy the Jedi Archives in the Jedi Temple. Skywalker returned to Coruscant, killed another Dark Acolyte Trenox, but was delayed long enough for Dooku to steal at least one Holocron and escape. Skywalker then traveled to Metalorn to stop production of the Cortosis battle droids. There he single-handedly defeated bounty hunter Vandalor, Dark Acolytes Karoc, Vinoc and even a Doppelgänger of Dooku, captured Techno Union Foreman Wat Tambor and destroyed the facility.

Battle of Jabiim
On the rain-drenched world of Jabiim, during the battle that took place there, Skywalker came into his own. As Kenobi was thought to have been killed by a Separatist attack, Skywalker led a cadre of similarly "orphaned" Padawans. The loss of his Master and the horrors on the battlefield of Jabiim would have lasting effect on his life; and because of it he became even more fiercely independent and more frustrated by his failings. However, in the thick of the battle he received an urgent transmission from Palpatine to personally evacuate the planet. This ploy may have been made to save Skywalker from being killed on the battlefront.

Respecting the Chancellor's power and friendship, Skywalker had to comply with his wishes, though it was hard for him to desert his friends on the final front. Before leaving, the thirteen-year old Padawan Aubrie Wyn gave Skywalker her Master's holocron to return to the temple. Sadly, in the following five days as Skywalker left the front, all of the members of the Padawan Pack were killed in action. When the transports arrived, only a few had made it through the storms. Skywalker was faced with a hard and painful decision&mdash;as the last surviving Jedi on Jabiim, he ordered the evacuation of the planet. Enraged, Captain Orliss Gillmunn pulled a blaster on Skywalker, who reacted instinctively with Force choke, strangling the officer. Such horrific acts were becoming far too natural for him; it was the first time he had used the Force in this manner but it would certainly not be the last. Gillmunn, leader of the disenchanted Jabiimi loyalists, swore to never forget this betrayal as the Loyalist Jabiimi was left to their fate. Once again, Skywalker had failed and the battle for Jabiim was lost. His actions during the battle would later spark the Second Battle of Jabiim nearly twenty years later, where his children were captured by rogue rebels.

Two days after the evacuation, the wounded were taken to New Holstice, where Skywalker would first meet A'Sharad Hett, the Tusken Jedi, and his apprentice, Bhat Jul, who practiced as healers.

One of the wounded was Master Sora Mobari, who was injured in an explosion by Ithorian terrorists and who was not responding to treatments. Skywalker, unable to accept even one more Jedi lost, tried a different method&mdash;he used the same Force technique that he used to crushed Gillmunn's windpipe, and used it to massage Mobari's heart. Hett was horrified, so he tried to reason with Skywalker, saying that she was suffering needlessly. Skywalker insisted she would live, but in spite of his efforts she succumbed to her injuries. Skywalker was unable to accept that he could not save people from death; this experience would reinforce his desire to save the people he loved from dying.

Hett later showed Skywalker a memorial created for all the Jedi killed since the birth of the Republic. It was composed of supposedly immortal memory moths that whispered the names of the Jedi over and over again. Skywalker released a few months for all members of the Padawan Pack&mdash;Kass Tod, Mak Lotor, Tae Diath, Elora Sund, Vaabesh, Windo Nend, Zule Xiss, and Aubrie Wyn&mdash;and his own master, Obi-Wan Kenobi. As Hett released one for Sora Morbari, he reassured Skywalker that she was severed from the Living Force days ago and nothing could have stopped her from dying. Because of his Master's apparent death, Skywalker came under the tutelage of Ki-Adi-Mundi as a campaign began on the world of Aargonar.

Battle of Aargonar
On the desert world of Aargonar, an unimportant world, the Republic and Confederacy fought; the lines were drawn. During one of the skirmishes, Skywalker, Hett, and his apprentice, Jhul, were lost behind enemy lines.

Jhul had been seriously injured from a crash, and as he lay dying, Skywalker tried to use the Force to heal him, but it was to no avail; Jhul died from the fatal wounds. Skywalker, frustrated with the Nikto's death, chastised Hett, saying that had they been with him, they might have been able to save him. Hett replied that he had felt Jhul become one with the Force, arguing that Jhul had known that he was there with him in the Force, and that his physical presence would have made no difference.

As Skywalker and Hett began to work their way back to their army, Skywalker's prejudice against the Tuskens for killing his mother was beginning to demonstrate itself against the Tusken Jedi. He was insulted and angered when Hett spoke of the similarities between them: coming to Coruscant later in their lives, being raised on a desert planet, and having known only one parent. Skywalker's fury was intensified when Hett commented that Skywalker would have made a good Tusken.

When they reached a Separatist station, they began working on transport to return to their own base. So they could hijack a transport, Hett gave Skywalker the power cells from his and the Tusken Jedi's father's lightsaber to get the transport moving. That completed, they started the search for weapons to arm themselves. As the hours rolled by, Skywalker began to relive the memories surrounding his mother's death. When Separatist guards located the Padawan, who was slipping toward the dark side, he mistook them for Tuskens, and, in a fit of rage, slaughtered them all. In a blood haze, Skywalker turned on Hett, but the Tusken Jedi managed to disarm him and talk some sense into him.

Hett told Skywalker that, as a Tusken, he understood the vehement desire to take revenge, but because of his training as a Jedi he had learned that vengeance was not theirs to take. The Tusken Jedi also knew the lure of the dark side, knowing it needed to be avoided. After recounting to Hett his painful memories of his mother's death, Skywalker remembered that his mother's death and the slaughter that had followed it was something he had never told his old master, Kenobi.

Seeing the turmoil the boy was in, Hett concluded that if they were to survive and get along together, Skywalker must see him as a Jedi, and not a Tusken Raider. Hett removed his mask, surprising Skywalker, who saw that he was totally Human. He insisted that he was Tusken at heart, but also wholly a Jedi. Skywalker apologized to him, finally seeing Hett as an ally instead of an old foe. The two survived the trip back to the Republic lines.

Hett, contemplating the episode, decided to have people see him first as a Jedi, then as a Tusken. He also never told anyone else of Skywalker's secret, insisting that it was his burden and that Skywalker would have to face the repercussions of what he had done, believing that Skywalker would tell his master about the massacre, himself. Skywalker never did.

Not long afterward, Skywalker discovered that his master was indeed alive and had only been captured by Asajj, and was soon joyfully reunited with Kenobi, who had escaped from captivity.

Battle of Zaadja
The Battle of Zaadja was one of many emotional milestones for Anakin Skywalker, who increasingly encountered difficulties with the sacrifices he witnessed. Acting as a diversion, Kenobi and Skywalker led the Third Systems Army onto the field of battle to draw the Separatist forces away from the droid factory on Zaadja; concurrently, the young Jedi Tohno was tasked to infiltrate the droid factory and destroy it using military-grade explosives. After she planted all explosives, Tohno was ambushed by Geonosians. When Skywalker rushed to help her, Tohno realized that she would not survive her mission. She was able to convince him that if he came after her, it would cause needless casualties among the troopers of the Third System Army. Though he was reluctant to accept it, Skywalker agreed with Tohno's decision to end the Zaadja mission with as little loss of life as possible. Nonetheless, Skywalker would continue to struggle with the need for so many young, even promising, Jedi to sacrifice themselves throughout the course of the war.



Jedi Knight
"Step forward, Padawan. Anakin Skywalker, by the right of the Council, by the will of the Force, dub thee I do&hellip; Jedi&hellip; Knight of the Republic."

- Yoda

After his heroic actions at the Battle of Praesitlyn and upon returning from the Mission to Vjun, Skywalker was endowed with the title of Jedi Knight, despite the fact that he never went through the traditional Jedi Trials before being Knighted. It was a controversial decision; Kit Fisto and Ki-Adi-Mundi openly and zealously supported him, while Oppo Rancisis and Adi Gallia questioned whether Skywalker was mature enough. But in the end, the decision fell to Yoda, who decided to have him Knighted in a secret ceremony. Skywalker later sent his Padawan braid, which had been ritualistically severed by Yoda, to Amidala as a late devotion gift.

Battle of Rendili and aftermath
Shortly after his knighthood, Skywalker participated in the Battle of Rendili. His idea was to use his starfighter to place concussion charges on critical weak points of the Rendili Dreadnaught-class cruisers. Although Jedi Master Saesee Tiin objected to it, Skywalker's pride could not let him pass up any chance for a victory. Without permission, he proceeded to carry out his plan during the battle. It was a success, and helped achieve a Republic victory, fueling his ego and self-importance. After the battle, Skywalker returned to Coruscant, where he testified before the council regarding Quinlan Vos's involvement in the battle, helping the former Jedi regain his position in the order.

Immediately afterward, Skywalker journeyed to the Senate Building to meet Amidala, but as she wasn't there, he gratefully received a holographic message from one of her handmaidens. Traveling to the Galactic City's industrial sector to listen to the recording privately, he was ambushed by the Dooku-trained Asajj Ventress.

Asajj eavesdropped on Skywalker as he listened to the secret holodisc recording, thus discovering his relationship with Amidala. She destroyed the holodisc, and taunted Skywalker with threats to kill Amidala, after which the two engaged in a vicious lightsaber duel. It was during this battle that Skywalker received a vertical scar which ran above and below his right eye, and two small scars on his left cheek, from her lightsaber.



Despite being painfully blemished, Skywalker persevered. Ventress had made the mistake of underestimating the young Jedi Knight's fierce desire to protect the ones he loved from harm, and, during the battle, Skywalker used the Force to entangle her in electrical cables and send her plummeting to the depths of Coruscant. As on Yavin IV, she survived the fall, but was too weak to pursue Skywalker.

Sometime after becoming a Knight, Skywalker and Kenobi were confronted by bounty hunters on an unknown planet. The two managed to escape on a swoop thanks to Skywalker's piloting and ingenuity, as he used the lightsaber's battery to give the swoop more speed.

Skywalker also rescued fellow Jedi Serra Keto from the Separatist droids on a space station somewhere in the Outer Rim, after he received a distress call from her.

On a heavily forested planet, Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker were confronted by a battle droid fleeing from something. Instead of fighting, the droid recommended that the Jedi flee, as well. They soon discovered that the whole planet was full of dangerous monsters, which attacked them. However, Kenobi and Skywalker managed to survive.

Attack on the Separatist shipyards
The Republic decided to attack the shipyards at Gwori, but the droids had developed a machine where only droids could pass through harmlessly, not to mention a whole blockade of Munificent-class star frigates. Skywalker thus proposed that they freeze themselves in carbonite in order to bypass the Separatist blockade. Once there, Skywalker, his Padawan Ahsoka Tano, and Obi-Wan Kenobi delivered the shipyard coordinates to Jedi Masters Plo Koon and Saesee Tiin.

In order to bypass the Separatist blockade, the two Jedi masters and the Republic bombers had to perform a precision hyperspace jump. In the meantime, Skywalker, Kenobi, Tano, and Rex were captured, but escaped with the help of R2-D2. Once the bombers arrived, the Jedi decided to escape on a Separatist frigate. However, the bombs took out their shields. Moments after Skywalker led the stolen frigate away from the shipyards, Tiin was about to blast it, but Kenobi contacted him and stopped him. Plo Koon then ordered the bombers to strike the construction supports, and once they were done, the shipyards collapsed. Out in space, they were almost killed by the separatist's radiation beam, until Plo Koon and Saesee Tiin destroyed the beam.

Podracing battle
The Jedi High Council dispatched Jedi Master Ki-Adi-Mundi to investigate a corrupt senator, who recently smuggled a data disk, which contained Republic strategic battle plans. Unbeknownst to the Jedi, the senator pledged his allegiance to Confederate Head of State Count Dooku. Dooku's Dark Acolyte, Asajj Ventress, landed on Coruscant to collect the disk. However, Mundi and his squad of clone troopers attacked Ventress, but after she killed the senator, Ventress escaped to the planet of Mon Gazza. After discussing the matter with Chancellor Palpatine, Mundi and Grand Master Yoda contacted Skywalker and his Padawan, Tano, on Queel to give them their assignment to Mon Gazza.

On Mon Gazza, Skywalker, Tano and Clone trooper Captain CT-7567, nicknamed Rex, went undercover to find the stolen datadisk. The datadisk was stolen by the deceased senator's aide, Messo, who soon was killed by Skywalker. While the disk was not with the aide, the Jedi Knight concluded that the disk was with another Confederate spy on Mon Gazza. The group noticed a Twi'lek podracer, named Kidd Kareen, won a podrace. Kareen and his closest friend, Maxus, became Skywalker's suspects. Telling Tano to become friends with Kareen, Skywalker soon began to snoop around Kareen's pit inside a podrace hangar. Soon after, the first Mon Gazza podrace began. Skywalker entered Tano into the race, however she crashed her pod. After Kareen gave the Togruta a spare pod, Skywalker and Rex followed Maxus to a cantina, where they found him contacting Dooku.

The following day, Tano was racing in the Mon Gazza Maze with Kareen and Maxus. Skywalker and Rex watched her progress when they noticed Maxus had the data disk. Maxus soon began to bump into Tano's pod, threatening to kill the revealed Jedi. However, Kareen saved Tano by allowing her to jump onto his pod. Confronting the racers, Ventress jumped onto Maxus's pod and engaged Tano in a duel. Skywalker left Rex to save his Padawan on a speeder bike. Ventress soon grabbed the data disk, though it was soon Force crushed by Skywalker. As Ventress escaped the scene; Skywalker, Tano and Kareen met up with Rex near the hangar. After leaving Kareen, the group departed Mon Gazza. Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi contacted Skywalker via hologram and discussed about Skywalker's successful mission.

Mission to Taloraan
The Republic forces traveled to Kothlis to negotiate with the Bothans, but were confronted by a Confederate fleet upon arrival. After a brief battle, however, the Separatist forces retreated. Jedi Grand Master Yoda, Kenobi, Skywalker and Tano then entered negotiations with the Bothans' first secretary Desark Fey'lya, who thanked the Jedi for their efforts in repelling the Separatist attack. Tano, however, sensed that the secretary had probably invited the Separatists himself and expressed her concerns to the rest of the Jedi. Fey'lya felt insulted by Tano's words and declared that the Bothans and their Spynet would be open to both sides of the conflict.

Kenobi, Skywalker and Tano traveled to the planet of Taloraan to secure the shipment of tibanna with the Galactic Republic. They were unaware that the magister of Taloraan City, Orlin Denache secretly signed a treaty with Count Dooku, who was interested in making Taloraan a member of the Confederacy of Independent Systems. A Munificent-class star frigate under the command of Captain Canteval was sent to the planet and local CIS supporters led by Rynert began to smuggle B1 battle droids and Droidekas into the city.

Denache realized that the Jedi would detect his lies with the Force, so he pretended to became ill and his emissary Sech Govlinder was sent to negotiate in his place. After the first round of negotiations Ahsoka Tano went into the city and accidentally discovered battle droids stocked within a guarded warehouse. Canteval ordered the droids to attack her and the other Jedi, revealing the Confederate presence within the city. Kenobi and Skywalker accused Govlinder of treachery and tried to reach their Nu-class shuttle, but were incapacitated when the shuttle was blown up and taken into custody.

Meanwhile, Ahsoka Tano managed to leave the city of Denfrandi and persuade a tribe of Wind Raiders to join combat against Separatist forces. Govlinder himself felt manipulated by Denache and remained loyal to the Republic. Once he had the chance, he immediately freed both Jedi and returned to them their lightsabers. Afterward he led them to the city's central communication tower, where the Jedi were able to patch a message to their Star Destroyer, Resolute. Without the element of surprise Canteval's Munificent was unable to overpower the Venator on its own. With its shield weakening, the Munificent took several direct hits into its engines and, unable to maintain altitude, was sucked into the gas giant's core.

Meanwhile, the Resolute had sent several LAAT/i with clone reinforcements to help the loyalists regain control of the city. Rynert and his followers tried to hold, but against the combined strength of the Jedi, clone troopers, Denfrandi loyalists and the Wind Raiders they were outmatched and soon defeated. Facing a dead-end, magister Denache committed suicide by stepping off the edge of the city and falling into the care of the gas giant. Temporarily taking the rule of the city, Govlinder continued negotiations with the Jedi and acknowledged the support of the Wind Raiders, who also played a small part in the skirmish.

A missing friend
"Hey! We'd like to buy a droid. You sellin'?"

- Skywalker aboard the Vulture's Claw

After Republic forces were bested at Falleen, Grievous' fleet headed to attack the Both system. Skywalker and Tano prepared to defend the strategic system. Grievous headed through the asteroid belt, and Skywalker led a fleet of V-19s in his starfighter with R2-D2. As the Separatist fleet started to attack the cruisers, it seemed that the Republic had been beaten, but Skywalker unveiled his "surprise" for Grievous: pre-dispatched All Terrain Tactical Enforcers in the asteroid field. The AT-TEs attacked the Separatist frigates from behind, and the Venator-class cruisers attacked from the front. Beaten, Grievous boarded his fighter and fled the battle. Skywalker pursued him in his starfighter, but flying debris from the disintegrating frigates caused damage to his ship. Fortunately, Rex was able to rescue him, but after recovering he learned that Artoo had gone missing.

With Artoo missing, Skywalker was given a replacement astromech droid, R3-S6, but was convinced that Artoo could never be replaced. In an attempt to find his friend, Skywalker went with Tano onboard the Twilight to search the battlefield. Finding his damaged ship without Artoo, Skywalker then proceeded to dock to a nearby scavenging ship, unaware of the fact that Trandoshan Gha Nachkt had already promised the droid to Grievous.

After returning to his cruiser, Skywalker reported to Kenobi that he wasn't able to find Artoo. Kenobi then instructed Skywalker to find the Separatist listening post that was apparently listening in on them, explaining the Separatists' intel on their strategies. Skywalker went to scout ahead with R3, but the astromech activated his starfighter's tracking beacon, alerting Grievous to his position. Skywalker managed to evade an attack by Vulture droids, and Tano and Rex came to his rescue aboard the Twilight. After chastising R3 for nearly getting killed, Skywalker held onto the belief that Artoo was still somewhere out there.



Political chaos
Farther into the war, Skywalker trained Tano to fight with a shoto along with her original lightsaber. Despite the Republic's numerous victories, the clone army was suffering higher casualties as the battles escalated. The Galactic Senate called an emergency session in the wake of this issue, which Skywalker and Tano watched from the Grand Concourse. After the session, Padmé pleaded with her husband to convince the High Council to discuss the ending of the war campaign with the Chancellor, but Skywalker denies to be involved with the situation. However, Tano disagreed, which caused Skywalker to request that Amidala teach his Padawan about politics. However, the two women crossed the boundaries by illegally traveling to Raxus, the capital planet of the Separatists. Aft their return to Coruscant, Skywalker briefly spoke with fellow Jedi Eekar Oki before scolding his Padawan for her actions.

Skywalker often entrusted Tano to resolving political intrigue; for example, he encouraged Tano in helping to resolve political intrigue surrounding the kidnapping of Baron N. Papanoida of Orto Plutonia's daughters Chi Eekway and Che Amanwe. Her resourcefulness led the Council to appoint her to an undercover assignment on Mandalore following the uncovering of a net of corrupt politicians, which her master both escorted her to, and then took her away, after she had completed her mission.

Hunting Ventress
Skywalker helped Kenobi during his hunt for Asajj Ventress, on what Skywalker considered to be a wild bantha chase since he believed himself to have killed Ventress. However after following several clues that pointed to her survival, Skywalker became less and less sure of this conviction. After defeating and destroying Durge in the Karthakk system, the two were then found by the Intervention that was on a survey mission. Skywalker, Kenobi, Senator Bail Organa and the other jedi then went to Boz Pity. Skywalker then piloted the ship to make sure it would exit between Separatist blockade and the planet. Unfortunately, the Intervention was brought too close to planet's gravitational pull. After the Intervention crashlanding, Skywalker and Kenobi found Ventress on Boz Pity in a bacta tank. Ventress attacked the two when she came out of her trance but was once again defeated after Skywalker struck her down after she tried to kill Kenobi with a piece of metal. She was then abandoned by Dooku. Finally Ventress let go of her anger and rage and put herself in a trance that made her appear dead. She was taken aboard a medical ship (along with Alpha 17), awoke shortly after, and ordered the pilot to take her far away from the war, Dooku, and the Jedi. Kenobi and Skywalker were left believing that she was truly dead The two later participated in Mission to Ruhe in an effort to lay siege to Dooku's citadel. That mission, however, was a trap. Their LAAT/i gunship was shot down and hundreds of battle droids remained waiting for them. It was only thanks to the clone troopers who repaired the gunship that Skywalker and Kenobi escaped alive.

Cato Neimoidia
During the Outer Rim Sieges, Anakin and Obi-Wan were deployed on Cato Neimoidia to capture Viceroy Gunray from his redoubt. It was the closest Obi-Wan and him had been to Coruscant in almost four standard months. He saved Obi-Wan's life by cutting a battle droid that almost killed Obi-Wan. Obi-Wan would later say that this was not one of the times Anakin had saved his life.

"Ghost Hand"
During the Outer Rim Sieges, Kenobi and Skywalker were only occasionally removed from one another, being dispatched as a team to various battlefronts, commanding the Open Circle Fleet. Shortly before the Battle of Coruscant, Kenobi and Anakin were sent to the icy planet of Nelvaan to seek out Grievous. The Nelvaanians hailed Skywalker as "Ghost Hand", and the shaman of Rokrul village sent him on a quest to save their people from a threat that had vanquished all their champions. Skywalker agreed, and entered a cave where he experienced visions of a great hunter, who lost his arm in battle. However, he fought back, and continued to slay monsters with a new black, spiky arm. As he slew the monsters, his power grew until it was out of control, the spiky black arm turning into a spiky black labyrinth that encompassed and destroyed everything the warrior held dear.

Amidala's voice was screaming as the sinister black labyrinth of evil that had once been the great warrior's arm turned back upon the source and morphed what remained of the great hunter into an eerie face&mdash;the face of Darth Vader, whom Skywalker would soon become.

When Skywalker recovered from this vision, he happened upon a Techno Union laboratory where scientists were experimenting on the Nelvaanian warriors, developing them into brutish drones with cybernetic blaster cannons in their arms. With the help of a Nelvaanian who was not yet completely transformed, he convinced the drones to assist him in destroying the factory, an act that cost him his robotic arm. Many of the scientists tried to escape, but Skywalker caught up with and killed them in rage. In a display of support, the Nelvaanian men tore off their artificial arms as well.

Rescuing the Chancellor
"Soon I will have a new apprentice&hellip; one far younger and more powerful."

- Darth Sidious

Shortly before the war's end, the First Battle of Cato Neimoidia handed Skywalker and Kenobi a valuable clue to the identity of the mysterious Darth Sidious: Nute Gunray's mechno-chair. This device carried a unique holotranceiver that bore intelligence capable of leading the Republic forces to their ultimate quarry, the ever-elusive Sidious. Mace Windu took up the lead on Coruscant, while Skywalker and Kenobi tracked the lead in the Outer Rim Territories. Adventures for both teams waited as the trail in the Outer Rim led back to the Works on Coruscant, just in time for an attack on Coruscant by the Confederacy, causing Skywalker and Kenobi to rush back to Coruscant after their visit to Tythe. Back on Coruscant, just as the identity of Darth Sidious loomed ever closer, the battle overhead delayed and dissolved the investigation. Windu joined the battle, clashing with General Grievous. Grievous escaped, although he was injured, his gut sack crushed by Windu, and captured Chancellor Palpatine, taking him to his flagship, the Invisible Hand. Before the Separatist armada was able to flee Coruscant, however, Skywalker and Kenobi finally returned from the Outer Rim in an attempt to rescue the "captive" Chancellor. Moving into the thick of the battle, they stormed the Confederacy's flagship in their Eta-2 Actis-class interceptors. The two Jedi fought their way through the ship until they reached the General's Quarters atop the command tower, where Palpatine was being held hostage. As the two Jedi attempted to free him, Count Dooku entered the room escorted by two super battle droids to confront the two Jedi.

Unlike their first encounter with Dooku on Geonosis three years prior, Skywalker and Kenobi fought together against him in a coordinated duel, until the Sith Lord used the Force to choke Kenobi. He then simultaneously back-kicked Skywalker and used the Force to throw Kenobi across the room, rendering the Jedi Master unconscious and pinning him with a piece of a walkway dislodged by the Force. Skywalker fought on, eventually losing control of his emotions as Dooku taunted him. He began to unleash all his fear, anger and hatred, beating away at Dooku's Makashi with his own Djem So mastery. The short duel ended abruptly when Skywalker sliced off Dooku's hands, rendering the Sith Lord helpless; an act of vengeance from their first duel when Skywalker lost his right arm to Dooku. Pleased with the outcome, Palpatine urged Skywalker to kill Dooku. After hesitating to give in to the Chancellor's wishes, Skywalker, who had two lightsabers (his own and Dooku's) crossed at the Sith's neck, cut off his head, killing him instantly. Skywalker did not yet know that Palpatine was also Darth Sidious, nor did he know that he was being used to betray Dooku so that Palpatine could train the young Jedi in the ways of the dark side and make him Dooku's replacement. Nonetheless, Skywalker immediately regretted his un-Jedi-like action, citing that the murder of a defenseless foe was not the Jedi way. Palpatine, however, eased Skywalker's conscience by claiming that such an action of violence was "only natural" in such a situation, and that, as Skywalker himself had confided to him, the young Jedi already was familiar with murder from his encounter with the Sand People that killed his mother, Shmi.

Skywalker then freed Palpatine from his bonds and escaped the Quarters, carrying an unconscious Kenobi on his back, ignoring the Chancellor's orders to leave the Jedi Master behind in order to avoid carrying the extra weight. Their escape was short lived, however, as they were soon captured and brought before General Grievous on the bridge of the vessel, where Skywalker and the General met face to face at last, after having clashed indirectly many times during the war. Grievous commented that he found Skywalker to be too young for a man of his reputation, to which the Jedi smugly responded that the General was "shorter than I expected." Then, at Skywalker's command, R2-D2 created a distraction, giving the two Jedi enough time to regain their lightsabers, cut off their binders and attack the general's bodyguards and droids. Grievous eventually managed to escape the Jedi and deploy all the escape pods as his flagship began to plummet to the galactic capital below, drawn by the planet's gravity. Skywalker managed to pilot what was left of the ship to a crash landing on a platform in an abandoned industrial area on Coruscant.

Fall to the dark side
"Skywalker was one of the Jedi Order's most skilled generals." "What happened to him?" "I killed him."

- Darth Vader, and Laurita Tohm

Upon his return to Coruscant, Skywalker was reunited with his wife where she informed him of her pregnancy, which he was overjoyed to hear. However, he was later troubled by visions of Amidala dying in childbirth. To save his wife, Skywalker desired to look upon and research holocrons of learned Masters, holocrons that were restricted by all but the Jedi Masters. When Palpatine made Skywalker his representative on the Jedi Council, he naturally assumed that made him a Master, thus giving him access to the restricted holocrons. However, though the other Jedi reluctantly accepted Skywalker's placement on the Council, they denied him the rank of Jedi Master, infuriating and frustrating him. After the session a tense Skywalker expressed his incensed opinion to Kenobi on the matter, working around the fact he needed to be a Master to save Amidala. Further severing his trust in them, the Council urged Skywalker to keep tabs on Palpatine, although Kenobi was against this decision. This led Skywalker to lose his respect for the members of the governing body, a mistrust and plaguing uncertainty that he revealed to his wife. Skywalker sought Yoda's counsel about his intense, prophetic visions that someone close to him would die, though he did not reveal the identity of the person in question. Yoda, unaware of the intensity of Skywalker's love for Amidala, told him to "train yourself to let go&hellip; of everything you fear to lose." Skywalker was unsatisfied with this response.

As he continued to meet with Palpatine, the Chancellor slowly began to plant the seeds of the dark side in Skywalker. Playing to his fear of Amidala's death, he told Skywalker the story of a Sith Lord, Darth Plagueis, who was powerful enough to stop others from dying, which caught Skywalker's attention. Eventually Palpatine revealed his true self, and offered Skywalker the chance to learn the ways of the dark side and use its power to save Amidala. Skywalker briefly contemplated killing Palpatine as soon as he learned his true identity, but decided against it after Palpatine implied that killing him would result in Skywalker turning to the dark side. Skywalker instead promptly reported Palpatine's identity to Windu, though he regretted his choice as Palpatine's words tortured his mind. Windu, after instructing Skywalker to remain at the Jedi Temple, went, with three other Jedi&mdash;Agen Kolar, Saesee Tiin, and Kit Fisto&mdash;to arrest the Chancellor. Palpatine fought with the Jedi, slaying three of them almost immediately and leaving only Windu. He and Palpatine continued to fight until the Jedi Master gained the advantage. Back at the Jedi Temple, meanwhile, Skywalker brooded over an overwhelming thought: with Palpatine's death, he would lose the chance to save his wife from the fate in his dreams.

A fateful choice
"Twisted by the dark side, young Skywalker has become. The boy you trained, gone he is&hellip; consumed by Darth Vader."

- Yoda to Obi-Wan Kenobi

Tormented by thoughts of Amidala dying without the benefit of Palpatine's knowledge, Skywalker rushed out of the Temple, grabbing an airspeeder and hurrying to Palpatine's location. He was uncertain what he was going to do; all he knew was he had to do something. Coincidentally, Skywalker arrived just in time to see Windu standing over the disarmed Palpatine, with his lightsaber held at the Chancellor's throat.

Palpatine, upon seeing Skywalker, claimed that the Jedi were trying to take over the Republic, and attacked Windu with Force lightning while pleading with Skywalker for help. Barely managing to deflect Palpatine's lightning, Windu shouted at Skywalker not to listen. During the self-inflicted onslaught, Palpatine went through a physical transformation as he struggled to intensify his dark side powers with his own life force, his face becoming hideously deformed and his eyes turning yellow. Windu prevailed and expressed a desire to kill Palpatine and end the Sith; however, Skywalker confronted him, stating that Palpatine must stand trial, and that to execute him was not the way of the Jedi. This was likely out of his regret for killing Dooku before in a similar situation, but clearly also out of his fear for losing the chance to save his wife from death. Windu ignored Skywalker and prepared to kill Palpatine, but in haste and rashness, the panicked Skywalker drew his lightsaber and severed Windu's right hand. Before Windu could respond, Palpatine used Force lightning to send the Jedi Master through the shattered window to his death.

Upon realizing the full significance of what he had just done, Skywalker was stricken with guilt and questioned his actions, but was too emotionally drained and dazed to resist Palpatine, who stated that he was fulfilling his destiny. He further encouraged Skywalker to embrace the dark side and become his apprentice. Skywalker agreed to do anything Palpatine desired; all he wanted was to save Amidala's life and his help to do so. Palpatine promised Skywalker that, together, they could find the secret, tacitly admitting that he did not have the ability to hold back death. Anakin Skywalker then pledged himself to the Sith Order, and Sidious endowed him with a new name: Darth Vader.

The rise of Darth Vader
"A young Jedi named Darth Vader, who was a pupil of mine until he turned to evil, helped the Empire hunt down and destroy the Jedi Knights."

- Obi-Wan Kenobi

Raid on the Jedi Temple
"Do what must be done, Lord Vader. Do not hesitate, show no mercy."

- Sidious to Vader

Palpatine assured Vader that every Jedi was an enemy of the state, including Kenobi, and it would be endless civil war unless the Jedi were destroyed. Vader was ordered by the Sith Master that, if he wanted to gain enough power in the dark side to save Amidala, he was to lead the 501st Legion into the Jedi Temple and kill every Jedi inside. Vader did this without question, slaughtering venerable Jedi and younglings alike. Vader even killed some Jedi Masters such as Cin Drallig. Some of the Jedi children even approached him, unaware that he was to be their destroyer. The atrocities committed by Vader and the 501st Legion resulted in smoke rising from the pillars of the Jedi Temple, easily visible from the Senate building. This would be the start of the Great Jedi Purge.

Mission to Mustafar
"The war is over! Lord Sidious promised us peace! We only want&mdash;"

- Nute Gunray's last words

Soon after the completion of Vader's assault on the Jedi Temple, he returned to his master for further instruction. Sidious then commanded Vader to travel to the nearby planet of Mustafar, where he was to kill the Separatist Council and bring peace to the soon-to-be-founded Empire. Vader obeyed, embracing his hatred and anger. Before he left, he briefly visited Amidala and informed her of his new mission to end the war for good. As he moved to leave, Vader assured her that all would be well and asked her to wait for him.

Vader traveled to Mustafar and used Sidious' codes to pass through the Separatists' security. Vader left R2-D2 with his fighter so that his actions were neither witnessed nor recorded. He entered the room in which the Separatist leaders were and closed all of the doors, preventing any council member from escaping. At first, several of the leaders warmly welcomed him, before they recognized his overly publicized face. In their surprise, the corrupted Vader then began his massacre of the Separatist Council.

After murdering all the members, along with their aides and guards in cold blood, he turned to the last one left&mdash;Nute Gunray, Sidious' former ally who had invaded and occupied Naboo before being defeated by Skywalker thirteen years before, and who had tried to murder his wife on several occasions during the Clone Wars. Before he died, Gunray pleaded with Vader, claiming that Lord Sidious had promised they would be left in peace; however, Vader killed him, replying that the Dark Lord had meant him to be left in pieces. His mission accomplished, the Sith Lord silently exited the room.

Outside, overlooking the turbulent volcanic terrain, Vader contemplated his transformation and convinced himself that all he had done was for the benefit of the Republic, although he was still guilt-ridden for his actions, shedding tears of remorse. Meanwhile, he remembered his Master's order to communicate with him as soon as the enemy was defeated. During this transmission, he thought of how soon he planned for their positions to be changed, and how soon he would kill the Dark Lord&mdash;just as soon as he discovered a way to preserve Amidala's life. Darth Sidious ordered Vader to send a message to the Trade Federation ships that the entire Separatist droid army be shut down immediately before cutting off communication. Seeing his wife's ship arrive, he left the bunker to meet her.

Duel on Mustafar and aftermath
"You turned her against me!''" "You have done that yourself!" "YOU WILL NOT TAKE HER FROM ME!" "Your anger and your lust for power have already done that! You have allowed this Dark Lord to twist your mind until now&hellip; until now, you have become the very thing you swore to destroy!"

- Darth Vader and Obi-Wan Kenobi, preparing to duel, after the former force-choked his wife.

Upon reuniting with Amidala, Vader discovered that Kenobi had revealed Vader's dark deeds in the Jedi Temple to her. Though he did not deny the accusation, Vader maintained that Kenobi was only attempting to turn her against him. Amidala tried to reason with him, convince him to retire from public service with her to raise their child, but Vader countered with his plan to overthrow Palpatine and set the both of them up in his place. Shocked and horrified, Amidala refused, stating that he had changed and was going down a path she could not follow. She pleaded with him to come back, promising she still loved him. However, unknown to Amidala, Kenobi had stowed away on her ship to find Vader, and at that moment he appeared on the ship's ramp.

Upon seeing his former master, Vader incorrectly assumed Amidala had betrayed him and brought Kenobi to kill him. Overwhelmed by his anger and rage, he lashed out with the Force, choking his wife into unconsciousness, ignoring her tearful pleas of innocence. Kenobi also tried to reason with his former pupil, but Vader refused to listen, too consumed by hate. After Kenobi resolved he had no choice but to fight, Vader told him he would try, and leapt to attack his former Master and oldest friend.

Vader and Kenobi fought an intense duel throughout the mining complex and down the river of lava outside. The battle ended on the banks of a lava river, where Kenobi leaped to safety in order to claim the high ground, pleading with Vader to concede defeat and return from the dark path. Goaded on by his overwhelming pride and seething rage, Vader ignored his fatal tactical disadvantage and attempted to make the same jump so to continue the duel, only to be severely maimed and immobilized by Kenobi's blade, which severed both of his legs and his left arm.

With his body disfigured and his ability to use the Force grievously reduced, Vader tried to claw his way up the talus using only his remaining prosthetic limb. As he did this, Kenobi and Vader exchanged their parting words, Vader screaming his undying hatred for Kenobi, while Kenobi, close to tears, expressed his regret and disappointment that Anakin, the man he had loved like a brother, had so spectacularly failed in his destiny to bring balance to the Force.

Shortly after, the heat of the lava ignited Vader's clothing, burning his body severely. He was nearly immolated as he slid down to the edge of the burning lava riverbank. Kenobi retrieved Skywalker's lightsaber from nearby and left Vader for dead. He would keep this lightsaber until 0 BBY. As the flames began to subside, Vader kept himself alive with the Force, his unbreakable will, and sheer hatred; clawing his way back up the bank with his still-intact mechanical arm, struggling against his extreme injuries.

Darth Sidious, now the newly-declared Emperor of the Galactic Empire, soon arrived and found his injured apprentice. He returned Vader to Coruscant via shuttle and repaired the damage to his body through intensive cybernetic enhancements at the Surgical Reconstruction Center. The Emperor ordered the medical droids to keep him awake during the agonizing surgery so the pain would fuel his rage, and therefore his power. His new robotic extremities were updated versions of the same technology that transformed General Grievous into a cyborg. Though he would still remain extremely powerful, Sidious knew that the injuries Vader had sustained had robbed him of much of his potential. Upon his revival as a cyborg, Vader questioned his Master about Amidala. Sidious told him that he had killed his wife in his anger.

Overwhelmed by his despair in the belief he had killed Amidala and their unborn child, which fulfilled his prophetic dreams of her death, Vader destroyed the medical droids and severely damaged the facility through the Force. He broke his bindings on the operating table and struggled to walk under the sheer weight of his new prostheses and armor. The only purpose that remained in Vader's life was his service to the new Emperor.

The personality of Darth Vader became even more distinctive from Anakin Skywalker's due to the great physical and psychological damage that completely changed both his appearance and his character. His armor limited his vision, restrained his movement, and caused extreme frustration for Vader (in the early years, at least), but he would eventually retool his entire fighting style to make up for the lack of mobility that his armor imposed on him. As Darth Vader, Skywalker became a powerful asset to the Empire, serving as an enforcer, Jedi hunter, and Supreme Commander of the Imperial Fleet of Palpatine's New Order.

Serving the Emperor
"You don't know the power of the dark side. I must obey my Master."

- Vader to his son

Now in possession of a great amount of power, Vader began settling into his position as Palpatine's enforcer. Although in possession of great wealth, Vader allowed himself few comforts. Among those were his personal retreat on Coruscant and Bast Castle on Vjun. The 501st Legion, the stormtrooper division he led in the extermination of the Jedi at the Jedi Temple, became his personal guard. The actions they undertook in Vader's name over the course of the Civil War earned them the nickname of "Vader's Fist". Vader piloted a black-hued Eta-2 Actis-class interceptor during some of his early missions for Palpatine as the Great Jedi Purge continued, sometimes flanked by Alpha-3 Nimbus-class V-wing starfighters. His personal command ship during this time was the Imperator-class Star Destroyer Exactor.

One of the most notable missions undertaken by Vader was to the planet Honoghr, which had been devastated by the Separatist toxin Trihexalophine1138 during the Clone Wars. He promised the native Noghri that the Empire would restore Honoghr's ecosystem, in exchange for their service to the Empire as assassins.

Murkhana


One of Vader's earliest missions was to journey to Murkhana to deal with traitorous Clone troopers who had facilitated the escape of their former Jedi commanders, rather than comply with Order 66. Greeted by Clone Commander Salvo, Vader wasted no time, confronting the traitorous Ion Team. Though they attempted to fight back, the commandos were ultimately no match for Vader, and were forced to flee, though Vader managed to kill two of them.

However, immediately afterward, Vader was confronted by the Jedi Bol Chatak, who had disguised herself as a former CIS mercenary and hid in the P.O.W. lines nearby. Chatak wanted to repay the Ion team for saving her life by removing Vader from the hunt, attacking the Sith Lord. Though she managed to inflict a wound on Vader's forearm, he ultimately brought her down, cutting off her sword arm and then decapitating her. However, defeating Chatak was considerably difficult for Vader, as he was still adapting to his life-support armor. The armor's cumbersome weight left his dueling abilities heavily impaired, his previously formidable technique reduced to a stilted and crude shadow, mostly consisting of vertical power-blows and heavy chops. In the end, he only brought down Chatak thanks to his superior height and reach, as well as the increased stamina the suit afforded him. Chatak was the first Jedi Vader killed with his new Sith lightsaber, which had been constructed only a few weeks prior.

However, Chatak's comrades—Roan Shryne and Olee Starstone—were still able to escape. Remaining hidden in the P.O.W. lines while Chatak was killed, they managed to break ranks after Vader departed, fleeing to the capital city of Murkhana and meeting with one of Shryne's criminal contacts—the crime boss Cash Garrulan. Unfortunately for them, Vader hadn't given up the hunt; confronting Garrulan, Vader managed to deduce the location of the Jedi by following the opposite course of action suggested by Garrulan.

Pursuing the Jedi above Murkhana in his starfighter, he unluckily missed them when their ship attached to a hyperspace ring left by Garrulan as he fled. Despite killing one of the Jedi and exposing Garrulan as a traitor, Vader considered the mission a failure.

Kessel


As his tenure as Sidious' apprentice continued, Vader became increasingly obsessed with Obi-Wan Kenobi, seeking revenge for his perceived betrayal and Vader's defeat on Mustafar. Devoting all his efforts to hunting Kenobi down, Vader was essentially taken advantage of by the Jedi conclave on Kessel.

One of the Jedi present at Kessel, Shadday Potkin, had grown disillusioned after Order 66 with the Jedi methods of meditation, reflection, and careful planning, seeing these as forms of inaction that had led to the rise of the Galactic Empire. Seeking to take direct action, she leaked word of the conclave to Imperial sources, including the rumor that Kenobi would be present. Upon hearing this rumor, Vader rushed to Kessel alone, as Potkin had expected. Storming in on the gathering, he demanded Kenobi's whereabouts. Learning that his former master wasn't present, Vader presented the Jedi with an offer; the one who gave him Kenobi's location would live, the rest would die.

He only provoked the Jedi however, who attacked him. He held off the Jedi, thanks to his considerably improved lightsaber technique. Viciously cutting down Sia-Lan Wezz and Ma'kis'shaalas, Vader was suddenly attacked from behind by Jastus Farr, who slashed open Vader's side. Needing a moment to regain his composure, Vader leaped up onto one of the mining cranes in the cavern, only to be confronted by Potkin. Attacking the Jedi, Vader was suddenly left disarmed when Potkin shorted out his lightsaber with a cortosis blade. Before Potkin could take advantage of this, Vader drew her toward him with the Force and then broke her neck with his hands. Taking up her cortosis sword, Vader attacked the Jedi, shorting out the lightsabers of Jastus Farr, Koffi Arana, and Roblio Darté. Before he could attack them further, however, his sword arm was amputated by Tsui Choi and his leg was slashed by Bultar Swan.

Despite Arana's pleas, Choi and Swan decided to adhere to Jedi ideals and refused to execute an unarmed opponent. This only enraged Arana, who killed Swan and took her lightsaber, leaping at Vader. The Sith Lord responded by telekinetically hurling the cortosis sword, still clutched by his amputated arm, at Arana, impaling the hapless Jedi. Taking up Swan's lightsaber, Vader confronted the remaining Jedi, only to be subdued by a telekinetic assault as the survivors launched a barrage of rocks. As Vader refused to surrender, the Jedi resolved that they indeed had to kill him. However, before they could do so, stormtroopers from the 501st burst in, gunning down Farr. Choi attempted to attack the clones, in order to buy a chance for Darté to escape, but was held in mid-air by Vader, and the two remaining Jedi were executed by the clones. Their commanding officer, Bow, told Vader that he was there on orders from the Emperor, who demanded Vader's presence.

Meeting with his master, Vader apologized for his foolhardy disobedience. The Emperor chided Vader for his mistake, but ultimately put it to good use, spreading a rumor that Vader had confronted and cut down over fifty Jedi, by himself, rather than the eight that nearly defeated him.

Meeting on Alderaan
Shortly afterward, the Emperor sent Vader to Alderaan to retrieve dissident senator Fang Zar, who had sought refuge with Bail Organa in the wake of the Empire's formation. Accompanied by Sate Pestage, he confronted Organa before searching the Senator's palace. Using his cybernetically augmented sight and hearing to his advantage, Vader came upon Zar, who was being extracted from Alderaan by a smuggler team, led by Roan Shryne.

Since escaping Murkhana, Shryne and Olee Starstone had joined the smuggler crew captained by Shryne's mother; Jula. Their new crew had since been hired by Fang Zar to extract him before the Imperials did. Pursuing the Jedi and the smugglers through the palace and out onto the grounds, Vader ultimately brought down Zar just as he was boarding the smuggler's ship; the Drunk Dancer; by throwing his lightsaber into the hapless senator.

Zar succumbed to his injuries shortly afterward. However, Vader viewed the mission as a failure, as he had been tasked to retrieve Zar alive.

Devastation of Kashyyyk
Returning to Coruscant to hone his skills, Vader was given a dressing down by the Emperor before being dispatched off-planet again. Devoting himself to hunting the escaped Jedi, Vader began dealings with Wilhuff Tarkin, who had discovered a suspicious vessel traveling toward Kashyyyk. The two deduced that the vessel was carrying the Jedi, but Tarkin convinced Vader to allow it to reach Kashyyyk, so they could use its presence on the planet as an excuse to attack and occupy the world. Tarkin's motivation was the enslavement of the Wookiee race for use as manual laborers in the construction of the Death Star.

Meeting with the various Imperial admirals who would command the invasion, Vader overruled their wishes to bombard the planet from orbit, as the goal was the capture of the Wookiees, not their destruction. However, his true motivation was to allow himself to hunt the Jedi planetside. As the attack began, the Imperial forces were initially crushed, due to the Wookiee's ingenious use of retrofitted civilian vehicles and captured Separatist war material left over from the Clone Wars. As Vader approached the city of Kachirho aboard his shuttle to attack the Jedi holed up there, he was contacted by the admirals and informed of the situation. On the advice of his Clone Commander Appo, he begrudgingly ordered an orbital bombardment of all Wookiee cities, but with orders to save Kachirho for last, as he would be on the ground there. Landing on a platform high up in Kachirho, Vader and his cadre of Stormtroopers disembarked and began fighting their way through the Wookiee warriors.

In order to prevent further Wookiee casualties, the Jedi revealed themselves. Olee Starstone had since broken off from Roan Shryne, who had since joined the Drunk Dancer, now leading a group of surviving Jedi they had located. Vader ordered the Stormtroopers to stay on the Wookiees, leaving the Jedi to him. Siadem Forte and Iwo Kulka quickly attacked Vader, attempting to unbalance him by using radically different lightsaber forms. However, Vader easily held them off, utilizing precision bladework and swift power attacks to put an end to their fancy twirling, disrupting their momentum and sending them reeling. Vader decapitated the two Jedi, and quickly disabled Jambe Lu, Nam Poorf and Klossi Anno.

Olee Starstone was suddenly alone against the Sith Lord. Starstone attempted to bring down Vader with a sudden offensive flurry, but realized that Vader was only allowing her to vent. Breaking off to reassess her strategy, she unwittingly allowed Vader to seize the offensive. However, before he could finish Starstone, Vader's Stormtroopers were suddenly gunned down by a smuggler vessel that just appeared. Roan Shryne leapt off the Drunk Dancer, summoning Siadem Forte's lightsaber to his hand and killing Appo. Confronting Vader, Shryne provided Starstone and the other surviving Jedi with a chance to escape. As the two fought, Shryne managed to hold his own against Vader's relentless assault, actually scoring several hits. However, their battle was interrupted by the Imperial orbital bombardment. Though they both survived, Vader's shuttle was destroyed by the flak. As they resumed their combat, Shryne deduced the weakness of Vader's suit to be the chest-mounted control-panel. His attempts to attack the panel forced Vader to adopt a defensive fighting method that left his limbs open, ultimately prompting him to resort to a telekinetic assault. Tearing apart the wooden ramps and platforms within Kachirho, Vader flung the debris at the hapless Jedi, battering him and knocking him off the platform on which they fought.

Fallen to a floor below, Shryne lay critically injured. Knowing Shryne was going to die anyway, Vader chose not to strike down the Jedi, instead revealing his identity as Anakin Skywalker. As Shryne died, the Empire won the battle of Kashyyyk. In the aftermath of the battle, Darth Vader's existence and position as Palpatine's enforcer received public announcement.

Hunting Olin
A year later, while recovering from his wounds, Vader was forced to return to the Jedi Temple on Coruscant. He arrived to find Inquisitor Malorum having difficulties with intruders. Vader ridiculed Malorum for having difficulty in capturing the reported intruders, much to the chagrin of the Inquisitor, who had plans of replacing Vader as the Emperor's crony. Vader even went as far as to suggest that Malorum blow up the Temple to ensure the intruders' deaths, though he knew very well that the Inquisitor would not even attempt to. The two also quarreled about Malorum's lack of dealing with the secret resistance group, the Erased. When Malorum mentioned to Vader his findings on Polis Massa, the Sith Lord held him in a Force choke and his anger started to cave-in the walls of the room, exposing Ferus Olin, a former rival of his, and his companion Trever Flume. As a result of Malorum's failure to capture the intruders, Vader let the pair escape.

A short time afterward, Vader was ordered by the Emperor to go to the planet Samaria, where sabotage of the computer systems had caused the planet to go into chaos. While searching for the saboteur, he again ran into Ferus Olin. This time, however, Olin had the protection of the Emperor and could not be arrested. After this meeting, though, Vader had much to ponder about Olin's apparent change of sides. Some time later, Vader was assigned to the Imperial garrison on Bellassa. However, after cutting down Roan Lands&mdash;one of The Eleven resistance members&mdash;and once more exposing Olin's treachery, the Emperor intervened on Olin's behalf and reassigned Vader to a troublesome garrison under construction in the Bellassan mountains. However, Vader confronted Olin one more time in the Jedi Temple, and engaged him in a Lightsaber duel. Olin eventually revealed that he knew of Vader's marriage to Amidala, it had little effect on Vader, and the two dueled on, both using the Dark Side regularly. Eventually, Olin retreated to the Reactor room of the Temple, and threw a Sith Holocron he had received from Palpitine into the reactor. While Olin was distracted Vader caught up with him and used the Force to throw him against the wall. Vader then used the Force to almost strangle him and left him to die. Afterwards he used the prototype Death Star to destroy the secret asteroid base used by Olin to shelter survivors of Order 66, the coordinates of which had been given to him by spy Eve Yarrow.

Other survivors of Order 66 eliminated by Vader include Empatojayos Brand, who was forced to live out the remainder of his life inside a pressure suit, and Halagad Ventor, whom Vader interrogated for information on other Jedi survivors. Other survivors found by Vader include Qu Rahn and Kento Marek.

Muur Talisman


Aware that he could not bring down Palpatine and become the new Sith Master on his own, Vader began a covert search for an apprentice, or something that could increase his own power. Eventually, he started trailing an ancient Sith artifact known as the Muur Talisman. After interrogating a sentient named Janks, he learned of a mysterious crate that Janks' ship, the Uhumele, was carrying. Vader contacted Fane Peturri, a well known historian, and set a trap for the Uhumele crew. Vader ambushed the group on a remote moon and discovered the crate in their possession was none other than Dreypa's Oubliette, an artifact believed to contain the Muur Talisman and the Jedi who wore it.

Vader opened the oubliette, releasing Jedi Shadow Celeste Morne from her 4,000 year sleep. When Morne learned the Sith were in control of the galaxy, she immediately attacked Vader. The Sith Lord easily held her off, and taunted her with an offer of apprenticeship under him. She vehemently refused, and Vader began considering the idea of taking the talisman to increase his own power. However, he remained wary of the idea, concerned that even if he used it to destroy Sidious, he would become enslaved to the artifact, ultimately just trading one master for another. However, before Vader could make a decision, Morne took action. Unwilling to let the Sith Lord be possessed by the spirit of Karness Muur, Morne used the talisman to turn all humans within the vicinity into rakghouls. Taken by surprise by the turn of events, Vader fled back to his ship and departed. While he considered this expedition a failure, he refused to give up his search for an apprentice.

Returning to Coruscant, Vader concealed the incident from Sidious, a reasonably simple task, as there were almost no witnesses save Morne, who was stranded on the moon, and the Uhumele crew, who were on the run. However, to his shock, he learned that a Jedi named Dass Jennir was once part of the Uhumele crew. Vader's master assured him that he need not be concerned with the Jedi, who were scattered and divided, for Sidious had a plan for them. The elder Sith Lord then sent Vader to Bandomeer, where the mining crews were refusing to honor their contracts with the Empire. Vader could only ponder why his master would not involve him in his plan or if he was aware of Peturri's death.

After successfully subjugating the miners, Vader met with Commander Vill as the clone gave a full report. Vader then asked Vill if all clones follow Order 66, would they attack him if the Emperor commands it. Vill stated that if such an order existed, he does not have the authority to divulge it. Seeing that as good as confirmation, Vader Force-choked him and threw him off a cliff so he could not report back to Sidious. He told an approaching clone that Vill slipped and fell.

The search for Garoche Tarkin
"You and Captain Shale will take two battalions of the 501st Legion. Find Admiral Tarkin and bring him home. Then we shall see&hellip;"

- Emperor Palpatine, tasking Darth Vader with rescuing Admiral Garoche Tarkin

Although Darth Vader had renounced his former identity as Anakin Skywalker in order to fully embrace the dark side of the Force, he did so only in appearance. The sacrifices he made to ascend to a position of power, second only to the Emperor, inflicted deep psychological scars that left Vader in a constant state of depression and emotional turmoil. In secret, he grieved over the consequences of his actions that led to the death of his wife and the near destruction of the Jedi Order. His guilt caused him to dream about a life that he thought might have been his if he had killed Darth Sidious, rather than saving him from Mace Windu. In his dreams of an "alternate life," Anakin Skywalker struck down the last Dark Lord of the Sith. With Sidious dead, Skywalker never became Darth Vader and the Republic was never transformed into the Galactic Empire. Padmé Amidala not only survived the birth of their son Jinn Skywalker, but was also pregnant once again, around the time when Skywalker ascended to the rank of Grand Master of the Jedi Order.

Outside of his dreams, however, Vader tried to strengthen his severely weakened body by focusing entirely on all of his rage and hatred, thereby fueling the dark side within him. Nevertheless, a part of him still held onto the love that he had for Amidala, causing him to think of her while enduring the excruciating pain of having his prosthetic limbs reattached. In late 19 BBY, barely a few months after the end of the Clone Wars, Emperor Palpatine summoned Vader to his throne room with Moff Wilhuff Tarkin and Captain Shale at his side. The Dark Lord informed his apprentice that Moff Tarkin's son, Admiral Garoche Tarkin had recently disappeared while on an expedition to annihilate a group of insurgents in the Atoa system of the Ghost Nebula. But Moff Tarkin lacked faith in Vader's abilities to retrieve his son alive, nor did he hesitate to voice his low opinion of the Emperor's apprentice in Vader's presence. Thus, he requested for Captain Shale, a friend of Garoche since their days at the Imperial Academy, to be assigned to the mission as well. Vader had no desire to have Shale follow him around like a "shadow," but his objection was overruled by the Emperor's final word on the matter. Hence, Vader and Shale departed from Coruscant in an Imperial Star Destroyer; the Emperor personally assigned two battalions of the 501st Legion to serve Vader during the search for Tarkin's missing son.

Skirmish on Atoa
"We must be prepared for a war. Crush any resistance, but leave the officers alive. For interrogation."

- Darth Vader, issuing instructions to stormtroopers of the 501st Legion

After arriving in the Atoan system four days later, Darth Vader began his search for Admiral Tarkin on the planet Atoa. Due to the Empire's lack of information on the Atoan homeworld, Vader brought a company of stormtroopers onto Atoa to prepare for battle against hostile natives. Once they discovered a city populated by the Atoan civilians, Commander Voca reported that the city was also protected by an armed force of Atoans; Vader promptly ordered the clones to kill the Atoan soldiers without mercy.

The stormtroopers obeyed the Sith Lord without question or hesitance. As they unleashed a brutally efficient assault on the Atoans, Vader took to the front and led a charge into the city until he was momentarily surprised by a lone sniper. Captain Shale, escorted by a squad of Storm commandos, assisted Vader by using stealth to sneak up on the sniper in order to render her unconscious. When the last of the resistance fell, Vader ordered Commander Voca to round up the Atoan survivors and to bring them to bank of a freezing river just outside of the city. But his interrogation of the prisoners failed to yield any useful information on Tarkin's whereabouts. Thus, Vader ordered Voca to execute all of the city's inhabitants that were old enough to wield a weapon before burning the entire city to the ground; the prisoners were to be drowned in the river.

However, before Voca could carry out the Sith Lord's command, a trio of Atoan priests approached the Imperials by using a boat to cross the river. Before Voca or Shale could open fire, Vader ordered them to stand down. A priestess then came forward in peace and introduced herself as Lady Saro, the high priestess of Atoa. She promised to help Vader find whatever he was looking for.

The alliance with Lady Saro
"I agree to your terms. Once we find Admiral Tarkin, this system is yours. But you will swear loyalty to the Emperor.''" "Of course. I'll even build temples in your'' honor should you so desire, Lord Vader."

- Darth Vader and Lady Saro

However, Lady Saro's assistance was not for free. In return for her aid in the Imperials' search for Admiral Tarkin, the Lady requested that Darth Vader support her bid to become the sovereign of the Atoan system. Her request only served to infuriate the Sith Lord, who was too used to receiving unconditional cooperation by then. Yet he could not harm her as there were no other leads to Tarkin. Thus, he resorted to his methods of persuasion through fear. After returning to his Star Destroyer with Lady Saro as his "guest," Captain Shale escorted the priestess to the vessel's medical chamber where Vader dissected the body of an Atoan prisoner. But the more he tried to intimidate Lady Saro, the more she stood her ground, even to the point where she risked execution after revealing how she learned to speak Imperial Basic&mdash;by swallowing the tongue of a stormtrooper, thus killing him in the process.

When it became clear that Lady Saro would not speak until Vader agreed to her term, she was sent to Deck Sixteen and placed under guard while Vader returned to dissecting the Atoan prisoner's body. Once Lady Saro was gone, Shale interceded with Vader on the Lady's behalf. The captain reasoned that they were wasting time by refusing her only condition and that the Emperor had made Moffs out of lesser men. Hence, there was no real harm in denying her control of the Atoan system, so long as she swore her allegiance to the Galactic Empire. Vader ignored Shale at first, but then lost his temper and grabbed Shale by the neck through the Force, reminding him that command of the mission rested in Vader's hands alone. Shale rebuffed Vader's threat and countered with a warning of his own&mdash;Moff Tarkin would personally ensure that Vader would never have another command again if he fail to rescue Garoche Tarkin. Although clearly angered and tempted to kill the outspoken Imperial officer, he released Shale from his grip and left to meditate in private on Lady Saro's offer.

Once again, he dreamed about his fantasy life where he was still Anakin Skywalker. In his dream, "Skywalker" and his son Jinn were providing moral support to a nervous Padmé Amidala. She was originally convinced that the galaxy was fed up with politicians; that the Senate needed a Jedi to lead the Galactic Republic after the debacle with Palpatine and his failed attempt to secure unlimited power through the Clone Wars. Most of all, however, Amidala was afraid that she would make the wrong decisions as the new Supreme Chancellor. But Anakin and Jinn both assured Amidala that they not only believed in her, but would also stand at her side as she strove to ensure that her time as Chancellor would usher in a new golden age of peace and prosperity for the Galactic Republic. But his "picture-perfect" dream and the happiness of his "alternate-self" was far too much for Vader to handle emotionally, thus waking him up with the same anguish and regret over his actions that destroyed the life that could have been his.

After recovering from the ordeal of his dreams, Darth Vader approached Lady Saro with answer to her one and only request in exchange for finding Admiral Tarkin. Though he was still disinclined to acquiesce her request, Vader grudgingly agreed to allow Lady Saro to rule over the Atoan system, so long as she acknowledged Emperor Palpatine as her lord and sovereign. With Vader's agreement finally secured, Lady Saro directed the Sith Lord in the direction to where Admiral Tarkin's missing Star Destroyer was located. Upon reaching the vessel's destination, Vader piloted his personal starfighter to gain a closer look at the remains of the immensely damaged warship. He was accompanied by Shale and Voca, as well as a squadron of V-wing starfighters.

But just as Voca noted that the damage to the Star Destroyer indicated that it was destroyed from within by sabotage, the Imperials were suddenly caught in a surprise attack by Atoan starfighters. Yet even with the element of surprise, they were unable to compete against the superior technological assets of the Empire. Before concluding the skirmish in space, Vader captured an Atoan pilot, whom he kept alive long enough for an interrogation. After Vader learned everything that he wanted to know before the pilot's death, he contacted Emperor Palpatine via hologram to provide his Master with an update report on the mission's status. Palpatine confided in Vader that he personally cared nothing about Admiral Tarkin, whom he saw as just another expendable asset that could be replaced at a moment's notice. The only reason that the Emperor authorized a rescue mission was because of Garoche's father, Moff Wilhuff Tarkin, who had proven himself to be a valuable ally in the New Order.

To gain his Master's approval, Vader suggested that he should kill Garoche Tarkin instead of rescuing him. He believed that the younger Tarkin's death would push Moff Tarkin ever further into darkness, thus enabling him to fully commit to the utter destruction of the Empire's enemies. To ensure that the Moff did not suspect any foul play in his son's demise, Vader stated that he would cover up his involvement by placing the blame on the Atoan insurgents. Palpatine was well pleased with Vader's proposal and secretly authorized his apprentice to proceed with the new plan. Upon returning to the bridge, Vader ordered Commander Voca to assemble the 501st Legion and to prepare for a ground assault on the unknown world where Garoche Tarkin was allegedly held prisoner. The assault, however, was merely a diversion for Vader and Shale to launch a stealth attack on the insurgents with the aid of the storm commandos.

A botched "rescue" attempt
"Sink the city. Bring our forces back to the Star Destroyer. And then we will discuss these charges against Admiral Tarkin. Your friend."

- Darth Vader to Captain Shale, just after their failure to find Garoche Tarkin

The efforts of the Imperial assault force were hindered by the fact that the entire planet was virtually covered in tar-pits that were dangerously hot and potentially flammable. Added to their complications was the fact that their target, an Atoan city, was built as a ship that could travel on the tar-pits. This made it difficult for the considerably slow-moving Imperial AT-AT Walkers to get within range of the city to inflict damage. Thus, several Walkers and clone squads were lost due to the pressure of moving through the tar-pits while under enemy fire at the same time. When the Atoans were convinced that they had escaped from the pursuing Imperials, Vader and Shale executed their stealth mission by utilizing an Imperial LAAT gunship to board the city. While Vader and his squad of storm commandos infiltrated the city through one route, Captain Shale and Lady Saro followed a different path to the prison block with their own commando escort unit.

Both groups killed their fair share of Atoan guards without alerting the entire city. Upon reaching what they thought was Tarkin's cell, however, Vader only found the Admiral's protocol droid. The droid was commanded to present a "gift" to any Imperial that came looking for him. But the "gift" turned out to be a bomb and Vader, realizing the trap at the last possible moment, warned his troops and Lady Saro to take cover. Although Vader was caught in the middle of the explosion, he survived with almost no injury to himself, despite sustaining noticeable damage to his armor. Enraged at such an unexpected turn of events, the Sith Lord disregarded stealth for the direct approach&mdash;a swift and open assault on the city's bridge.

Thanks to the skills of Captain Shale and the storm commandos, the capture of the bridge crew was easily achieved with little effort; Vader himself personally apprehended the female Atoan captain. Yet his latest round of interrogation proved to be just as ineffective as the last ones throughout the mission. Despite failing to gain a clear understanding on why Admiral Tarkin had set a trap for his Imperial rescuers or what his exact relationship was with the Atoans, Vader came to suspect that the admiral was a traitor to the Empire. After several prisoners were mercilessly executed at Vader's hand, the Imperials returned to the Star Destroyer. Shortly afterward, Vader had another dream of his alternate life, only this time he hallucinated that Padmé was warning him to "wake up" because of the assassins that were coming for him. At that moment, Vader awakened to find himself surrounded by Shale's storm commandos, all of whom had their weapons trained on him. He activated his lightsaber after suddenly realizing that Shale had betrayed the Empire by somehow inciting the commandos into staging a mutiny against the Sith Lord.

The mutiny
"It's a mutiny, Lord Vader! They've executed all of the officers and locked down the communications array.''" "''None of that matters now, Commander Voca. Gather your men and follow me."

- Commander Voca and Darth Vader

The treacherous storm commandos wasted little time and opened fire on Darth Vader, intending to kill their former master without hesitation. Vader responded by unleashing his rage on the clones, all of whom were completely outmatched by the vengeful Sith Lord. Their efforts to kill Vader were completely futile against him and the power of the dark side of the Force. Before the last traitor died, he excused his actions and those of his fellow conspirators by revealing that Shale had warned them about his suspicion that Vader was planning on murdering Admiral Tarkin. Vader confirmed that Shale was right before executing the clone for committing high treason.

As Vader searched his warship for Shale and the other traitors, he found Commander Voca and his men pinned down by blaster fire from storm commandos. With Vader's assistance, Voca and the stormtroopers took their opportunity to kill their attackers. But shortly after regrouping with his loyal soldiers, the Star Destroyer was critically damaged by several explosions that took place all over the Star Destroyer, thus mirroring the same form of sabotage that destroyed Admiral Tarkin's vessel. Before heading to the hangar, Vader and Voca tried to retrieve Lady Saro, only to discover that her guards were murdered and that she was likely transported by Shale to the nearby unknown planet. With no other reason to remain aboard the doomed Star Destroyer, Vader and his men hunted down the last storm commandos that were trying to escape the ship; he killed them all by telekinetically throwing a V-wing starfighter at the commandos. With only a little time left to make it off of the Star Destroyer alive, Voca and the remaining stormtroopers boarded a Nu-class attack shuttle while Vader operated as its pilot.

Though they escaped from the final and largest explosion within the Star Destroyer, the shuttle was nearly destroyed after crashing onto the unknown world where Shale and Saro fled. Only Vader, Voca and eight stormtroopers emerged from the shuttle as survivors of the crash. Then they pursued Shale on foot until they found the last of the captain's storm commandos, all of whom had been executed. At that moment, a large group of Atoan insurgents used the high ground to their advantage and opened fire on the unsuspecting Imperials. Trapped in a hopeless position and utterly outnumbered, Vader ordered the clones to retreat before they were all cut down. He then faced the insurgents alone with his lightsaber in hand and introduced himself as "Darth Vader, a Dark Lord of the Sith and 'death' itself."

But while he was distracted by the insurgents' main force, the path to escape was cut off to Commander Voca and his men by a group of armed Atoans, led by the traitor Shale. Exhausted and no longer able to defend themselves, Voca and the stormtroopers were executed by Shale's firing squad. Although many insurgents perished by Vader's blade, he too was overwhelmed and severely injured by the Atoans, who captured him alive in accordance with Lady Saro's orders. When Vader awoke, he found that his helmet was removed and was replaced with a crude breathing device to keep the Sith Lord alive. He was also restrained by energy cables as Garoche Tarkin revealed himself. Tarkin explained that he joined with Lady Saro's Atoan faction shortly after being assigned to wipe out the insurgents in the Ghost Nebula. Vader deduced that Tarkin was clearly in love with Lady Saro, which the former admiral confirmed when he stated his intention to rule the Atoan system at Lady Saro's side. He also revealed how Vader was an unwitting pawn in their scheme by killing all of the other major Atoan factions that posed a threat to Lady Saro's plans. When Tarkin exited the tent, Vader was suddenly struck by a vision of his wife, who bore the pregnant appearance that she had near the time of her death.

Showdown with Lady Saro, Garoche Tarkin and Shale
"Yes. I killed you. I killed you. I killed the child you carried. And I hate myself for all that I have done."

- Darth Vader confesses his self-hatred to the spirit of Padmé Amidala

In Vader's vision of his dead wife, Padmé Amidala was heartbroken to see what her once heroic Jedi husband had been reduced to&mdash;a broken shadow of the man he once was. Vader tried to excuse his fate by blaming his decisions on his Masters, Darth Sidious and Obi-Wan Kenobi respectively. But Amidala was not moved by Vader's feelings of self-pity and referred to him by his birth name. In that moment, Darth Vader angrily rejected his former name and regarded it as something that no longer possessed any meaning for him. He tried to rationalize his frustrations at himself by declaring that Anakin Skywalker died with his wife. But in rejecting who he once was, Vader caused Amidala to turn away since she had come for Anakin, not Vader. The Sith Lord panicked at first, and then flew into a rage. Breaking free of his bonds in desperation, he was all but trapped in a hysterical delusion as he searched for his dead wife.

His desperate search for Amidala turned into a rampage that brought him straight to Lady Saro's Cathedral, where she, Garoche Tarkin and Shale were located. As Vader killed the Atoan guards that stood in his path of destruction, Shale tried to give Tarkin and Lady Saro enough time to escape from the deranged Sith Lord. He tried to strike Vader down with the Sith Lord's own lightsaber, only to be quickly disarmed, thus finding himself at the mercy of an enraged Darth Vader who demanded to know where his wife was. Shale was utterly shocked by Vader's words and honestly retorted that he had no idea what Vader was rambling about. But Vader was far too lost in his anger towards those who betrayed him, as well as himself for causing Amidala's death. At that moment, Shale confessed about how the guilt he carried over the atrocities he had committed led him to deeply resent Emperor Palpatine and the Galactic Empire. He swore to be a good soldier, but instead became just another slave to a tyrant Emperor. Before he could be killed by Vader, however, Shale activated several bombs that were hidden under his jacket, intending to kill himself and Vader in the process. Vader narrowly avoided sharing in Shale's fate by throwing the former officer far enough to avoid the resulting explosion.

As Vader descended deeper into the depths of the Cathedral, he encountered another vision of Amidala, whose beauty was overtaken by the decaying effects of death. She forced Vader to stop lying to himself and finally confront the truth&mdash;Amidala did not just "die," she was murdered in cold blood by her own husband. Overwhelmed by the indescribable pain and sorrow that filled his entire being, Darth Vader fell to his knees with tears of remorse in his eyes. He confessed to everything, from killing his wife to destroying his life as Anakin Skywalker; he confessed his belief that Amidala's unborn child died as a result of his actions as well. Ultimately, what he hated most of all was himself for all of the evil that he committed as Darth Vader. Amidala forgave her husband, whom she referred to by his Sith title, causing Vader to shed a final tear for all that he had lost.

When she vanished into thin air, Vader became hysterical once more. Lady Saro and Garoche Tarkin revealed themselves, causing a shocked Vader to believe that the priestess had somehow induced him with hallucinations. However, Lady Saro explained that she possessed the ability to see in ways that most others could not, an ability that she could share with anyone, thus enabling Vader to see the spirit of his dead wife. Vader grabbed Tarkin by the throat through the Force and threatened to kill the ex-admiral unless Saro brought Amidala's spirit back. But instead, Saro desperately tried to redeem Darth Vader by begging him to put an end to his persona as a murderer. She presented him with the chance of redemption, which he could have by sparing Tarkin and Saro. In her last attempt to reach the side of Vader that was still Anakin Skywalker, Saro revealed that she was carrying Garoche Tarkin's unborn daughter. The revelation caused Vader to hesitate before releasing Tarkin from his grip. Saro looked at the Sith Lord with hope, but Vader simply couldn't go on living any longer. In a moment of clarity and a desire to atone for his sins, he chose to leave his fate up to the will of the Force. Thus, Vader used his power to bring the entire Cathedral down upon himself, Garoche Tarkin and Lady Saro. As Tarkin and Saro embraced each other lovingly for the last time, Vader closed his eyes in a moment of bliss as the entire building collapsed to the ground, burying the three alive.

Days later, Darth Vader awoke to find himself on Coruscant and in the presence of Emperor Palpatine. As his repairs were nearly finished, Palpatine voiced his satisfaction with the results of Vader's mission&mdash;all of the traitors were dead, the entire insurgency was destroyed, the Atoan system was conquered and Vader survived after being buried alive for days. Vader credited the power of the dark side as the source of his remarkable strength and ability to survive near-death scenarios. Palpatine also explained how Moff Tarkin was under the impression that his son was murdered by the Atoa's natives, thus fueling his hatred and making him ever more vicious towards the Empire's many enemies. As such, the Emperor was quite pleased to have a much more powerful servant in Wilhuff Tarkin, and thus he thanked Vader for "failing" to rescue Garoche Tarkin. After Vader's repairs were finished, he was dressed once more in his armor, which had been restored to its previous condition. Falling on one knee before his Sith Master, Darth Vader awaited his next assignment from Darth Sidious.

The Gentis coup
"But when Lord Vader came to our aid in the courtyard, I realized that serving him could earn an officer the only two things that mattered&hellip;''fear and respect."

- Laurita Tohm, recounting his first impression of Darth Vader

In the few months since the formation of the New Order, Darth Vader's reputation had spread through the military ranks. Aside from crushing local insurrections, tracking down missing Star Destroyers and hunting down wanted fugitives who survived the Clone Wars, the Dark Lord of the Sith was also known for summarily executing numerous Imperial officers under his command&mdash;a fact that made him a dreaded figure among many within the chain of command. On Coruscant, Vader stood at Emperor Palpatine's side as the two Sith Lords presided over an Imperial Academy graduation ceremony, composed of cadets trained by Headmaster Gentis at the military institute on Raithal.

Hours after the event, Gentis and his students initiated a secret insurrection against the Emperor's rule. Hundreds of strategically-placed explosives were suddenly detonated across Imperial City, destroying key targets such as the officers' club, a communications tower, the supply depot and several military garrisons. As fire swept through much of the city, Darth Vader and a squadron of stormtroopers defended the Imperial Plaza from a group of rebellious cadets. Frightened by the Dark Lord's Force powers and combat skills, the students pulled back, though not before a few were crushed by a large piece of rubble that Vader telekinetically threw at them. As the troopers secured the Plaza, Cadet Laurita Tohm discovered that one of the dying insurrectionists was Shens, his friend and fellow student from Raithal. Vader watched as Shens was executed for treason by Tohm, whom he recognized to be the valedictorian from the graduation ceremony. After Tohm declared his allegiance to the Emperor and the Dark Lord, Vader ordered the cadet to accompany him to the Imperial Palace.

Rescuing the Emperor
"We will do as you suggest&mdash;and spirit the Emperor away before Gentis can find us. But we will do so under my command."

- Darth Vader, to Moff Trachta

By the time Darth Vader and Laurita Tohm arrived at the Imperial Palace's front entrance, a large explosion erupted in the higher levels of the building, followed by the contamination of the entire residence by poisonous fumes known as Aorth-6. Protected by his armor's respiratory system, Vader entered the palace, accompanied by Tohm who equipped his own breathing device, while many Imperial officers fell victim to the gas's lethal effects. Upon reaching the Emperor's private chambers, the Sith Lord found his Master in a weak condition; Palpatine was infected by the virus and his condition was critical&mdash;only the Force could keep him alive for a while until his condition could be treated. Another survivor that Vader discovered was Moff Trachta, also unaffected by Aroth-6 because of his implanted respiration system. Though initially resistant to the Moff's recommendation of retreat, believing it to be a sign of weakness, Vader grudgingly complied when Palpatine agreed that he needed to be removed to a safe location for the time being.

Together with Trachta and Tohm, Darth Vader brought the transferred Emperor Palpatine to an advanced stealth transport that was hidden in a secret hangar known as the "Crypt." With the Emperor's condition temporarily stabilized by the starship's stasis chamber, Vader and Trachta debated on their next course of action, between remaining on Coruscant or retreating to an off-world location. At the same time, Trachta aimed his sidearm at Tohm, whom he did not trust because of the cadet's former ties to Gentis. Darth Vader immediately disarmed the Moff and agreed to take the Emperor away from the capital. Once Trachta acknowledged Vader's greater authority, Tohm advised that any Imperial location was not safe. Given the scale of Gentis's revolution, Tohm believed that the entire military wing could not be trusted since they could not account for the exact number of those who sided with the Headmaster's cause. Vader concurred with the cadet, but also realized that there were other facilities that were classified by the Jedi High Council&mdash;secret places hidden from both Palpatine and Vader's former self, Anakin Skywalker.

Ruins of the Jedi Temple
"You fools! The Emperor was right about you all! You plotted and schemed against us from the beginning! Traitors! This is a temple to betrayal. We will raze it when we return to Coruscant."

- Darth Vader, outraged by the Jedi Council's lack of trust in him

While Gentis and his revolutionaries secured Coruscant under their control, Darth Vader and Laurita Tohm journeyed to the fallen Jedi Temple. After a brief skirmish with several automated training droids, the two reached the High Council Tower where Vader activated a holographic recording of a discussion between Anakin Skywalker and the members of the Jedi Council. Throughout the Clone Wars, Skywalker had apprehended a number of Force-sensitive war criminals that mysteriously disappeared once transferred to the Council's authority. He demanded to know their location, only to be reprimanded for his behavior by Jedi Master Mace Windu, who also dismissed the young Jedi Knight's accusations of conspiracy and secrecy.

The recording also displayed the conference that took place after Skywalker left the Chamber, in which the Council revealed the existence and location of the Prism, a secret detention center that contained dangerous Force-wielders, all of whom were overseen by a single Jedi warden. Darth Vader lost control of his anger upon discovering that the Jedi Order had its own penitentiary facility&mdash;a secret that they did not entrust to Anakin Skywalker. Enraged and bitter toward the holographic representation of his former comrades, the Dark Lord used the Force to hurl the Council seats out of the tower's window.

The Ghost Prison
"How many?''" "''Two hundred and eight, Lord Vader. But this can't be correct&hellip; According to these records, this man&mdash;Anakin Skywalker&mdash;arrested more than half of these prisoners."

- Darth Vader, and Laurita Tohm

Afterward, Vader, Trachta and Tohm followed the Prism's coordinates to the Diab system on the edge of the galaxy. Due to security precautions, the Prism was cut off from all communications with the outside world. A female Jedi warden, unaware of the Jedi Order's destruction per Order 66, sought to greet her visitor, believing Darth Vader to be her replacement. When she was caught by surprise by the Dark Lord's appearance, Vader used the distraction to impale her through the abdomen while Trachta and Tohm destroyed the Jedi's security droids.

The ailing Emperor Palpatine was immediately taken to the Prism's infirmary. Its advanced medical technology stabilized the Emperor's condition, although he required more time to regain his full health. During Palpatine's recovery, the prison's inmate files were analyzed by Vader and Tohm, the latter of whom found it unlikely that one Jedi&mdash;Anakin Skywalker&mdash;was responsible for the arrests of more than half of the facility's prisoners. Vader confirmed the records' accuracy, and referred to his former self as one of the Jedi Order's best generals during the Clone Wars. When Tohm inquired about Skywalker's fate, the Dark Lord vaguely stated stated that he killed him. Not long after, Tohm approached Vader with a plan that revolved around utilizing the Prism's prisoners as an army to recapture Coruscant from Gentis's insurgents.

Prison riot
Vader, however, came up with another plan: He arranged to have all 207 prisoners fight amongst themselves in the Prison yard to find out which of them were worthy enough to fight alongside Vader. Of the prisoners, only 33 of them survived in good enough condition to join.

Final battle
Afterwards, Darth Vader, alongside Tohm, Trachta, a newly recovered Palpatine, and the 33 prisoners, returned to Coruscant and managed to wipe out the majority of the Gentis Coup. Afterwards, he wanted the prisoners killed to prevent them from later rebelling, until Tohm seemingly gave a compromise between Trachta and Vader regarding having them exiled in honor. In actuality, Vader and Tohm had planned for them to be killed in the planned destruction of a transport ship. Afterwards, shortly after Tohm's promotion to Admiral by Palpatine, Vader pushed Tohm off the cityscape of Coruscant, in order to "not suffer from rivals."

The discovery of Galen Marek
"Come with me. More will be here soon."

- Darth Vader, to Galen Marek

During the early years of the Galactic Empire, Darth Vader participated in another invasion of Kashyyyk following a resurgent Wookiee uprising after the first attack. Aside from a stormtrooper escort, Vader did not personally lead the campaign as he pursued an objective of his own&mdash;the hunt for a fugitive Jedi who had taken refuge on the Wookiee homeworld. Despite his disappointment in the overall strategy of his subordinate officer, whom he judged to be incompetent, Vader allowed the Commander to live while he executed his own mission. The Dark Lord of the Sith encountered numerous Wookiee warriors, all of whom fought with fierce determination, though none were able to prevent Vader's path into their village. Soon after reaching a large hut, decorated with banners bearing his target's family crest, the Jedi Kento Marek confronted Darth Vader.

The Sith Lord dueled with the former Jedi Knight in lightsaber combat, but found his opponent's skills to be significantly inferior to his own. Aside from a basic knowledge of Shii-Cho, Marek barely had an understanding of the more advanced Makashi, and soon found himself outmatched against Vader's refined form of Djem So. The duel came to an end when Marek was disarmed of his lightsaber and Force pushed by Vader through the front entrance of his hut. As Vader entered the hut, he sensed the presence of a being who was far more powerful in the Force than the Jedi he had just defeated. Believing the source of the power to be Marek's Jedi Master, Vader seized him in the grip of a Force choke and demanded to know where the other Jedi was hiding. When Marek retorted that his mentor had already perished during the early stages of the Great Jedi Purge, Vader prepared to kill his adversary. At the last moment, however, his lightsaber had been pulled out of his grap, an action that caused the Dark Lord to turn around in shock. He was further surprised to see his lightsaber in the hands of a small boy named Galen Marek, whom he deduced to be the Jedi Knight's son, as well as the other presence he felt upon entering the hut. When the elder Marek urged his son to run away, Vader swiftly strangled him to death. Horrified and in shock, the younger Marek stood still and pointed his stolen lightsaber at its owner, who cautiously approached the child.

Before Darth Vader could communicate with the now orphaned Marek, the Imperial Commander and a squad of stormtroopers entered the hut. As they approached the two, the Commander signaled his soldiers to execute the boy under the assumption that his Sith leader would approve. Instead, the Dark Lord telekinetically summoned his lightsaber back to him, and promptly killed the Commander and his troopers in front of Marek, thus ensuring that there would be no witnesses to his next move. He then commanded the boy to come with him, warning that more soldiers would soon arrive at their location. Unknown to Galen Marek at the time, he had been chosen as Darth Vader's secret Sith apprentice, although Vader never verbally acknowledged him as such until several years later.

The secret apprentice
"You were weak when I found you. You should never have survived my training. But now your anger has become your strength. At last, the dark side is your ally. Rise, my apprentice."

- Darth Vader acknowledges Starkiller as his Sith apprentice for the first time

In the aftermath of Kashyyyk's fall and subjugation, Darth Vader spirited the young Galen Marek to a hidden location on the Executor, a Super Star Destroyer that would serve as the Dark Lord's flagship upon the completion of its construction. In the years that followed his abduction of Marek, Vader trained the boy in the ways of the Sith. At first, he controlled his student through fear, but then taught him to embrace emotions such as anger and hatred. In time, Marek forgot about his past; the memories of his childhood became repressed and he came to assume that he was merely one of his Master's many experiments. In addition, the boy had forgotten his birth name, but soon came to know himself as "Starkiller," a codename provided to him by Darth Vader.

Though Vader was prohibited by the Rule of Two from training an apprentice while still apprenticed to a Master of his own, the Dark Lord discarded the ancient tradition and became the mentor of a child whose potential in the Force rivaled Darth Sidious. An outwardly loyal servant of the Emperor, Vader secretly harbored much anger and resentment for his Master, the Sith Lord who had orchestrated Anakin Skywalker's fall to the dark side of the Force. Vader devoted years to personally molding Starkiller into a highly trained Sith assassin with an array of Force powers&mdash;including Force lightning, which Vader was unable to harness due to his mostly machine condition&mdash;that made the young apprentice a formidable opponent and Sith in all but name. As time passed, Starkiller grew increasingly immersed in the dark side to his Master's approval, but also developed a strong sense of loyalty to the Sith Lord, whom he came to view as the closest example he had to a father figure. Starkiller's loyalty to Vader was rivaled only by his desire to fulfill the purpose of his existence, as stated by his Master: the assassination of Vader's own Master, Darth Sidious. The apprentice longed for years to be a true Sith Lord, providing him with the motivation and desire to become a greater Force-wielder in preparation for the day when he and his Master confronted the Emperor.

As a Sith Master, Darth Vader's training regimen was both physically and psychologically agonizing to Starkiller. Despite Vader's emphasis on an equation, obey and succeed versus fail and die, the apprentice detected no hint of malicious cruelty in his Master's instructions. The Dark Lord only wanted his disciple to learn as a Sith apprentice, or die as a failure. His callous treatment of the apprentice was motivated by the goal of creating the ultimate Sith warrior, rather than a sadist's desire to inflict pain on another for personal amusement.

Among the few items that Vader gave to Starkiller was a prototype holodroid named PROXY. Although Vader intended the droid to be a tool for helping the apprentice to refine his lightsaber skills, the Sith Lord unwittingly provided Starkiller with the only source of friendship he ever had throughout most of his short life. When Vader decided that his apprentice was ready to be sent on assassination missions in the galaxy, Starkiller was given the Rogue Shadow, an advanced starship equipped with state-of-the-art stealth technology, which served as his personal transport. Despite Starkiller's skills as a pilot, his Master preferred that he concentrate on his training while in-between missions. Vader therefore assigned several hand-picked individuals to serve as the pilot of his apprentice's ship. By 3 BBY, Vader had chosen a total of seven pilots; some had died during one of the apprentice's more chaotic assignments, while others were executed by Vader due to the failure he perceived in their performance.

Genocide on Callos
"Strike the planetary reactor at the following coordinates, and strike it hard. Once that is out of action, I will consider the mission complete.''" "Thank you, Lord Vader." "''Your gratitude is wasted on me. Give me success, Captain. That is all."

- Darth Vader, and Juno Eclipse

Aside from teaching Starkiller the ways of the dark side, Darth Vader continued to perform his duties as the Emperor's chief enforcer&mdash;responsibilities that included the military enforcement of the New Order on rebellious worlds in the Galactic Empire. As a commander, he demanded loyalty and competence from all of his subordinates; the failure to achieve the latter resulted in the deaths of numerous officers at the Dark Lord's hand. However, those who could pass his high expectations were rewarded with elevation in rank. One such officer was Captain Juno Eclipse, a young female Human who graduated at the top of her class as the youngest cadet from the Imperial Academy on Corulag. Impressed by her record as a highly-skilled TIE pilot, Vader promoted Eclipse as the leader of his Black Eight Squadron.

Darth Vader judged Captain Eclipse to be a capable officer and pilot, but her concern for life convinced him that she lacked ruthlessness, a trait that Vader expected in everyone who served under him. During the Bombing of Callos, he sensed Eclipse's hesitation when he ordered her to conduct a full-scale bombing run that would have resulted in the genocide of the planet's defeated inhabitants. Unconcerned with the Captain's disapproval, Vader redirected her to target the planetary reactor. Eclipse complied with the order under the belief that single precision strike was preferable to blanket bombing. However, she had been unaware at the time that the damaged reactor would contaminate the world's atmosphere with pollutants, which then resulted in the complete sterilization of all lifeforms on Callos, as Vader intended when he altered his order.

In the months that followed after the destruction of Callos, Vader removed Eclipse as commander of the Black Eight Squadron and reassigned her to a top secret mission. Having recently executed Starkiller's last pilot, Vader chose Eclipse as the eighth pilot of the Rogue Shadow. The details of her new assignments were left unclear; Vader only informed her of the ship's advanced design in stealth technology, as well as its enigmatic owner who operated under the call sign "Starkiller." After providing her with the coordinates to the stealth vessel's location in a secret hangar on the Executor, Vader sternly warned Eclipse to keep her mission a secret and that the consequence of betraying his trust was execution.

The apprentice's final tests
"Your training is almost complete. It is time now to face your first true test."

- Darth Vader, to Starkiller

Juno Eclipse's reassignment coincided with Starkiller's progression through his trials to the point where Darth Vader acknowledged him as a Sith apprentice for the first time. In recognition of his apprentice's increasing power in the dark side of the Force, Vader ordered Starkiller to kill his first Jedi target&mdash;Master Rahm Kota, a Jedi General who served in the Clone Wars, as well as a survivor of Order 66. According to his informants, Kota and his private army were in the process of conducting a raid on an important construction facility for TIE starfighters located above Nar Shaddaa. He also commanded the apprentice to use the utmost discretion while in the field in order to avoid detection by the Emperor's spies. Hence, the apprentice was instructed to kill everyone he encountered in the facility, both Imperials and Kota's insurgents alike. Shortly after his briefing, the apprentice met Juno Eclipse in the hangar that contained the Rogue Shadow. Given that none of his previous pilots were female, Starkiller believed that Vader selected a woman as the ship's latest pilot in order to test the apprentice, although Starkiller feared his Master too much to voice his suspicion.

Despite the destruction of the construction facility, Starkiller returned to the Executor and reported to his Master. With Kota blind and left for dead since their last encounter, the apprentice assumed that the Jedi Master would no longer be a threat to the Empire. He was also disinclined to admit that he had not actually killed his target, and merely confirmed what Vader wanted to hear&mdash;that Rahm Kota was dead. Afterward, Vader dispatched Starkiller to hunt down Kazdan Paratus, a Jedi outcast who lived in self-exile on Raxus Prime; and Jedi Master Shaak Ti, one of the last members of the Jedi High Council whom Vader discovered to be hiding on Felucia.

At the same time, Vader believed that his apprentice required further training, and thus sent him to the Jedi Temple on Coruscant with orders to participate in the Jedi Trials, particularly the lessons regarding skill and insight. In addition to the apprentice's completion of the tests on Coruscant, Vader was also satisfied by the deaths of Paratus and Ti, both of whom had been slain by Starkiller in single combat.

Crafting a new plot
"Save for PROXY, you must sever all ties to your past. No one must know that you still serve me.''" "Yes, my Master." "''Now go. And remember that the dark side is always with you."

- Darth Vader and Starkiller, shortly before dispatching the apprentice to create the Rebel Alliance



With Shaak Ti's death, the last of Starkiller's trials had been completed. Darth Vader recalled his apprentice back to Executor, where Vader assured Starkiller that they would finally kill Emperor Palpatine and rule the galaxy together as Master and Apprentice. But unknown to Starkiller, the Emperor's spies had been following him since Raxus Prime, tracing him back to Vader's flagship. Vader, faced with certain death for his "betrayal," in turn betrayed his shocked apprentice by impaling him through the chest with his lightsaber. After a moment of pause, Vader threw Starkiller into the vacuum of space by hurling him through the bridge window, at his master's command. However, Vader made sure that Starkiller's body was retrieved and brought to his science vessel, the Empirical. Upon the apprentice's full recovery, Vader excused his betrayal as a necessary course of action, both to save their lives and to fool Palpatine into believing that the secret apprentice was dead. Starkiller, although clearly bitter over the betrayal and denied a chance to finally become a true Sith Lord, nevertheless resigned himself to his fate and obediently submitted once more to his master's will.

With his every move under close observation, Darth Vader charged his apprentice to create a distraction that would divert the Emperor's attention away from him. To that end, Starkiller was ordered to create an alliance of rebels and dissidents so that with the Emperor distracted by a direct threat to his authoritarian rule, Vader and his apprentice would finally be able to assassinate the Emperor while his guard was down. Thus, he ordered the apprentice to take great care in maintaining the secrecy of his mission, so as to not alert the Emperor of his survival, nor reveal his Sith identity to his imminent rebel allies. Before cutting off his transmission through PROXY, Darth Vader left the apprentice with one last reminder&mdash;the dark side would always be with Starkiller.

When Starkiller found a valuable ally in Bail Organa, Starkiller was told that he needed a target to show that the Empire was vulnerable to those that silently opposed it. Seeking his master's council, Vader suggested that the Star Destroyer shipyard over Raxus Prime would be a sufficient target as the clearest sign of the Empire's reign through fear was symbolized by the awesome might of the Star Destroyers. Although his apprentice remained loyal, Vader could sense that Starkiller was developing feelings for his supposed allies. He sternly reminded the apprentice of where his allegiance truly belonged, a fact which Starkiller solemnly accepted.



Afterward, Vader informed the apprentice of the extent of his successful mission, claiming that Palpatine was greatly displeased at the events on Raxus Prime. Starkiller advised that he could not maintain communications with Vader for the time being, mainly so that the Rebels would not suspect his identity or his past under Vader, which could potentially undo all that he had accomplished in forming the Rebellion. However, Darth Vader had other plans and swiftly captured the Rebel senators when they met and signed the Corellian Treaty on Corellia. After revealing to the leaders of the seemingly short-lived Alliance to Restore the Republic that Starkiller was the Sith Lord's secret apprentice, Vader once again assaulted his pupil, only this time with true lethal intent. Unable to bear a second betrayal, Starkiller bitterly lamented that he had been played a fool once again, to which Vader informed him that he never intended to destroy the Emperor&mdash;at least not with Starkiller at his side. It was then that the apprentice realized the truth&mdash;that he was just as expendable as absolutely everything, and was meaningless to Darth Vader. Credits, starships, Imperial lives&mdash;they were all meant to further the goals of his master, and by drawing out the Rebel leaders into one place just so they could be revealed and arrested, Starkiller had fulfilled his purpose and outlived his usefulness. Just as he was on the verge of killing his apprentice, PROXY, under the holographic guise of Vader's former master Obi-Wan Kenobi, distracted him in a short duel. Although Vader easily defeated the holodroid, Starkiller was gone, having fallen off the cliff outside the rebel site.

The master defeated by the apprentice
"I've trained you well, but you still have much to learn.''" "''You have nothing left to teach me!"

- Darth Vader confronts his former apprentice on-board the Death Star.

Vader brought the Rebel senators to the Death Star I, where they would be interrogated through torture in order to reveal the location of their friends and allies, only to be publicly executed by the Emperor in order to silence further opposition to Sith domination. To everyone's surprise, Starkiller was still alive and had infiltrated the incomplete battle station with the intention of rescuing the Alliance leaders, as well as to seek revenge against his former master. As a sign of his bitterness toward Vader's repeated betrayals, the apprentice dropped the code name and persona of Starkiller, thus accepting his birth name Galen Marek as his new identity. At the Emperor's order, Vader reluctantly went to confront his former apprentice. As they came face to face, Vader taunted Marek that he still had much to learn. Much to Vader's surprise and frustration, the Sith Lord was utterly caught off guard by Marek's considerable skill and feral-like ferocity. Unable to overcome Marek in close combat, Vader disengaged from his blade-to-blade tactic and retreated to the throne room antechamber, attempting to overwhelm Marek with a relentless telekinetic assault.



However, the sheer weight of Vader's heavy armor and prostheses left him unable to physically compete with the agile Marek. Furthermore, the numerous cybernetic additions to his body considerably diminished his potential in the Force. Ultimately, the apprentice had surpassed the master&mdash;the irony being that this was the Sith way, yet Marek was never "officially" a Sith apprentice. With the Force on his side, Marek crushed Vader under a pile of heavy pipes and unleashed a furry of swift attacks that brought Vader to his knees. After pummeling away a few times at the last of Vader's defenses, Marek viciously sliced off the upper part of Vader's mask, then used the Force to brutally fling his former master through a glass pane and into the throne room. Darth Vader, damaged and no longer capable of defending himself, had finally been defeated.

Emperor Palpatine was greatly pleased by the outcome of the duel. Shortly after his reign began, Palpatine gradually became as bitter and spiteful of his apprentice as Vader was with him. He had spent more than a decade engineering Anakin Skywalker's fall to the dark side, only to see his perfect apprentice's Force potential greatly reduced by his near-death injuries on Mustafar. After seeing Vader humbled and beaten by a superior opponent, Palpatine wasted no time in encouraging the young apprentice to kill his weak and broken master, thus finally becoming a true Sith Lord and taking his rightful place at the Emperor's side. After a few moments of hesitation, Marek chose to follow the light side of the Force by confronting the Emperor. Catching him by surprise, Marek quickly overpowered the Emperor. Far from accepting defeat and, much less, death, the Emperor goaded the apprentice one last time to give into the dark side&mdash;by slaying the Emperor himself in anger and hatred. With General Kota's help, the apprentice resisted the dark side one last time. Outraged, the Emperor struck Kota with Force lightning, refusing to let the Jedi and Rebels have someone as powerful as Marek on their side. However, Marek thrust himself in the way to protect the Jedi and the former senators.

The death of the secret apprentice
"He is dead.''" "''Then he is now more powerful than ever. He was meant to rout out the Rebels. His sacrifice will only inspire them."

- Darth Vader and Sidious, after confirming the death of Galen Marek



By this time Vader had recovered enough to muster a squadron of stormtroopers in order to kill the Rebels and his former disciple. As the stormtroopers pursued Kota and the senators, Vader could do nothing more but watch as his master and apprentice locked with each other in a chain of Force lightning. Marek, fully aware that he would not survive against the full fury of the Emperor, sacrificed his life and with one last defiant yell, he caused a massive Force explosion that killed all of the stormtroopers in the room and temporarily incapacitated the Sith Lords long enough for the Rebels to escape. After regaining his senses, a severely injured Darth Vader slowly approached the body of Galen Marek, just as the Emperor also recovered and looked down at Marek's corpse with utter shock and disappointment. Darth Vader, his voice solemn, noted that the secret apprentice was truly dead this time.

Darth Sidious was displeased and frustrated at having suffered such an unusual setback. Not only had he failed to kill the leaders of the newborn Rebel Alliance when he had the chance, he also realized that Marek's selfless act of sacrifice would inspire the Rebels and bolster their morale to the point where silent opposition would be replaced by an all-out rebellion through force of arms. Vader swore that he would hunt down and put an end to this new threat, while also feigning ignorance at his master's betrayal. Having failed to replace Darth Vader with Galen Marek, the Emperor had no choice except to tolerate Vader's existence for a while longer, at least until he could find a new apprentice of the same caliber as Starkiller.

Another failure
"They are the memories of a dead man. A side effect of the cloning process and the memory flashes used to train you. They will fade."

- Darth Vader



As Vader's secret project continued to suffer through trial and error, one clone in particular showed a great deal of promise. The clone progressed far in his training, to the point where Vader considered dispatching him to Cato Neimoidia to execute Rahm Kota. Although he was impressed with the clone's progress, he noticed how this version was just as troubled by Marek's memories as all of the other clones had been. In order to see if the clone was truly strong enough to overcome his template's emotions, Vader provided the clone with a challenge to destroy Sith Training Droids that had taken on the holographic appearance of Rebel troopers. Although the clone easily destroyed the troopers, sparing no feelings for the organization that his progenitor helped to create, he was suddenly dumbfounded by the droid that had taken on the image of a woman he recognized as Juno Eclipse. When Vader commanded the clone to strike her down, demanding him to hate that which Marek loved, the clone struggled to obey, but ultimately refused.

His fears confirmed, Vader destroyed the training droid, causing the image of Juno Eclipse to disappear. Disappointed with yet another failure, the Sith Lord revealed to the dumbfounded clone the fact that he had tried many times before to create a perfect version of his original apprentice, only to fail when it came to purging them of the emotional imprints. Despite the successful growth and progress of a different clone of Marek, Vader lied to the clone by telling him that the accelerated cloning process was still imperfect. Before Vader could rectify his mistake by killing his latest failed experiment, however, the clone unleashed a blast of Force lightning at his master after receiving a vision of Vader's first betrayal of the original Starkiller. While Vader was momentarily dazed by the attack, the clone blasted a hole through a wall and jumped outside in order to escape. In response, Vader alerted the cloning facility's Imperial garrison and commanded them to kill the clone; none of the troopers succeeded. With his troops having no success in killing or stalling the clone, Vader moved to intercept him before he could escape, only to see the clone steal his TIE fighter and escape from Kamino. During the clone's travels, he became known by Marek's codename Starkiller after refusing to go by his progenitor's birth name.

Hiring a bounty hunter
Shortly after the clone's escape, Darth Vader contacted Boba Fett, the bounty hunter who's skills made him a reliable asset to the Sith Lord. When Fett arrived on Kamino, he surveyed the damage to Timira City and concluded that it would take some time to discover Starkiller's whereabouts. Knowing that the bounty hunter would never be able to capture Starkiller directly, much less survive an encounter with him, Vader commanded Fett to abduct Juno Eclipse, the former Imperial captain who had joined the Alliance as commanding officer of the Salvation. Since the clone had inherited his template's emotional attachment to Eclipse, Vader anticipated that the clone would never be able to resist returning to Kamino to save Eclipse.

Despite his own talents, Boba Fett knew that he was not capable of single-handedly assaulting a Rebel cruiser and capturing it's captain all on his own. To that end, he requested Vader for enough stormtroopers to aid him in completing his mission, though he lacked confidence in the troopers' ability to survive. Vader's only concern was bringing the clone back to Kamino, regardless of how many resources he had to use to achieve this goal. Thus, Vader provided Fett with far more than what he requested, such as Terror Troopers, Terror Droids, Terror Biodroids, and a Terror Walker.

The "perfect" clone of Starkiller


Around this time, Darth Vader was training another clone that showed a great deal of potential. Unsurprisingly, this clone inherited the same disturbing memories and emotions of his genetic template just like his brothers before him. Upon being released from his cloning tank, the clone was confronted by Marek's memories of Juno Eclipse, thus causing the clone to ask about her whereabouts. Vader simply stated that Eclipse was irrelevant, and all that mattered was the training that lay ahead for the clone.

In the early phase of his training, the clone revealed to Vader that he possessed memories, but could not tell if they actually belonged to him. Having dealt with enough of Marek's clones suffering from an identity crisis, Vader knew all too well what the clone was talking about. He simply explained that the clone was copied from the cells of Marek's corpse, thus allowing him to inherit the original Starkiller's strengths and weaknesses. Although the clone continued to survive in his trials, Vader was not yet fully convinced that this was the one he sought to create, recalling all of the other clones that made it far in their training&mdash;only to fail in the end. Even though the clone was determined to not fail his Master, it didn't stop him from becoming curious about the exact number of clones that came before him, or from wondering about what his progenitor was like as a person before he died. Vader dismissed the clone's questions as pointless curiosity. All that mattered to him was if any more clones would be created if this one failed. With Marek dead and his power surpassed by the clone, Vader felt that delving into the details of his original apprentice's identity was irrelevant.

To the amazement of both the lead cloning technician and Darth Vader, the clone was gradually able to compartmentalize his template's memories while forming new ones of his own. Thus, he succeeded in achieving what none of his brothers were capable of doing&mdash;holding Marek's memories as separate from his own experience. By doing so, the clone had come to know for certain that he was a copy and that the original Starkiller was truly dead. Vader greatly approved, and promised to prove what the clone already knew to be true. That proof was revealed by Vader to be the body of the late Galen Marek, stored within a cold chamber in Timira City. By seeing Marek's corpse with his own eyes, the clone understood that he had succeeded where all of the clones failed before him, and that he was well on his way to fulfilling the purpose of his creation&mdash;much to Vader's delight.

Near the end of his training, the clone had apparently severed the last remnants of the emotional imprints left behind by Galen Marek. After striking down a Sith Training Droid disguised in the holographic image of Juno Eclipse, Vader asked the clone how he felt. The clone replied that the emotions he felt were hate for his template's failings, disgust for his weaknesses, and pride for rising above them. Hence, Vader's goal had finally been accomplished. After a long line of failures, a single successful clone had risen to become his Dark Apprentice. When the Rebel Alliance launched an assault on Kamino's Imperial defenses, Vader ordered the Dark Apprentice to not interfere unless he was needed, and only then would his training finally be completed. Shortly before the battle, Starkiller, the renegade clone who escaped from Kamino, received a vision of the imminent future. In this vision, he saw how the Dark Apprentice would kill him if he tried to destroy Darth Vader, who had been disarmed and defeated in the vision.

The Battle of Kamino
When Boba Fett returned to Timira City with Juno Eclipse as his prisoner, Darth Vader greeted both of them in person. Although he was slightly tempted to summarily execute Eclipse for treason, as well as the inconvenience that the Alliance caused for him, the Sith Lord maintained his focus on using Eclipse as bait to lure Marek's wayward clone back to Kamino. Although Fett wanted to leave the planet before the battle commenced, acknowledging the fact that his limitations would most likely get him killed in a direct confrontation with Starkiller, Vader commanded the bounty hunter to remain planet-side until Starkiller arrived, thus withholding Fett's payment. Accompanied by a squad of stormtroopers, Darth Vader and Juno Eclipse proceeded to a tower located at the top of the cloning facility.

When the battle began, Starkiller directed the Salvation on a collision course with Timira City. While Eclipse and the stormtroopers became increasingly nervous, Vader maintained a calm stance and awaited the clone's return. While the first half of the ship crashed into the cloning facility, Starkiller destroyed the second solid fragment so as to not inadvertently harm Eclipse. While the clone made his way to the top of the facility, killing all Imperials in his way, Vader secured Eclipse in the tower and moved to confront his former apprentice.

The duel between master and apprentice


Within the cloning facility, Darth Vader and Starkiller engaged in a lightsaber duel. While Starkiller pressed his attack and demanded to know where Eclipse was, Vader stood his ground against the clone. Having learned his lesson after nearly being killed by Marek, Vader did all he could to put a sufficient amount of distance between himself and Marek's clone. Thus, he used his powers several times to throw multiple cloning tanks, and even entire cloning platforms at him. However, this plan backfired as the platforms only gave Starkiller a route to Vader. In order to stall Starkiller, Vader also unleashed various imperfect clones of Marek and commanded them to attack their renegade brother. Starkiller was shocked to see that there were other clones of Marek besides himself, thus learning how he was wrong in believing that Vader had lied about creating other clones before him.

After defeating the aberrant clones, Starkiller pursued Vader all the way to the cloning tower where he found Juno Eclipse at Vader's mercy. The Sith Lord elevated Eclipse off of the ground and began choking her through the Force. Vader gave the clone a final chance to surrender, or watch as he killed Eclipse. Overwhelmed with fear and concern for Eclipse's life, Starkiller dropped his lightsabers and obeyed, promising to serve the Sith Lord once more as long as Eclipse remained unharmed. Satisfied, Vader released Eclipse from his grip and commanded the clone to kill General Kota. With nothing but silent compliance from the clone, Vader told Starkiller that he would go on to become fully immersed in the dark side and that he would execute the Alliance leaders; resistance of failure to meet any of Vader's expectations would cost Juno Eclipse her life.

However, Eclipse refused to be the catalyst for Starkiller's return to the dark side and attempted to assassinate Darth Vader with one of the clone's lightsabers. Vader narrowly avoided her strike, warned by his senses at the last second, only taking damage to his chest panel from the saber attack. In retaliation, Vader blasted Eclipse out of the tower, causing her to fall on a landing platform before losing consciousness. In a rage, Starkiller grabbed both of his sabers and attacked Vader, only to be thrown out of the tower as well. Before he could get to Eclipse, Vader jumped out of the tower and landed on the platform, purposely standing between the clone and Eclipse. Although Starkiller could not understand why Vader would risk his life by damaging or even destroying the one tool he could use to control him, the clone came to believe that it is what Vader wanted all along. By killing Eclipse, Vader intended to remove Starkiller's only reason for resisting his purpose as a Sith, thus causing Starkiller to fall headlong back into the fold of the dark side.

Finishing the duel
"It is our destiny to destroy the Emperor. You and me, together."

- Darth Vader to Starkiller

As the two engaged in combat once more, Vader tried to convince the clone to rise above his concern for Eclipse, stating that her life was meaningless and that her death fueled his strength in the dark side. He reminded the clone that his feelings for the woman were counterfeit, nothing more than the emotional imprints left behind by a man who was no longer even alive. Between trying to kill Vader and get to Eclipse, Starkiller came to suspect that he and his master were more alike than he first believed. He came to wonder how far the Emperor had gone in creating Darth Vader, and how far Vader would go to destroy his master in order to replace him. When he tried to suggest working with the Alliance against the Emperor, Vader continued his attacks with increasing aggression, making it perfectly clear that he wanted nothing to do with the Rebellion.



The battle nearly ended when Vader managed to disarm Starkiller of his lightsabers. Vader taunted the boy, telling him he had one last chance to surrender. Starkiller, seemingly given up, began to unleash an overcharged barrage of lightning once Vader dropped his defenses. No longer in any condition to defend himself, Vader fell to one knee in submission, only to see Starkiller's lightsaber blade pointed at his throat. Before Starkiller could decide to kill the Sith Lord, Kota arrived with his squad and urged the clone to spare Vader's life, but only so that the Alliance could take Vader as its prisoner. Starkiller, torn between Kota's reasons and the desire to take revenge, including the vision of what could happen if he did try to strike Vader down, was confused over what to do at first. While Kota implored Starkiller to think of the valuable information that Vader could provide the Alliance with, Vader goaded the clone to embrace his destiny and strike him down. In the end, Starkiller deactivated his sabers and spared Vader's life, thus taking an alternate path from his vision of the battle's outcome, and thus causing the Dark Apprentice to not reveal himself for unknown reasons. Vader was subsequently arrested by Kota and heavily restrained aboard the Rogue Shadow, while Starkiller tended to Eclipse, who had barely survived the Sith Lord's attack on her.



A prisoner of the Rebel Alliance
"As long as she lives, I will always control you."

- Darth Vader to Starkiller

After being secured in a harness that covered most of his body and completely restricted his ability to move, Vader was placed inside the Rogue Shadow meditation chamber. There, Starkiller visited the captured Sith Lord shortly before the Rebel fleet departed from Kamino. Although he nearly lost his confidence at the sight of his former Master, Starkiller began mocking Vader by gloating on how he chose to spare his life. Although he remained uncertain over his own origins, he dismissed it as irrelevant, stating that he had succeeded in breaking Vader's hold over him. Throughout Starkiller's short display of new-found confidence in himself, Vader remained quiet the entire time and did not indulge the clone with the answers he sought. Seeing the pointlessness in his actions, Starkiller turned to leave.

But at that moment, Vader declared to the clone that he would never be free as long as Juno Eclipse was alive. Refusing to give Vader the satisfaction of seeing the uncertainty in his eyes, Starkiller exited the meditation chamber and left Vader in the darkness of the room where he was confined. After the Rebel fleet left Kamino, Starkiller and Eclipse took control of the Rogue Shadow and departed for Dantooine with Vader onboard as their prisoner&mdash;unaware that they were being followed by Slave I, piloted by Boba Fett.

At some point prior to the Battle of Yavin, Darth Vader escaped from captivity and resumed his place at Emperor Palpatine's side. As Supreme Commander of the Imperial Military, he continued to execute his mandate to destroy the Rebel Alliance he unwittingly created through the original Starkiller's actions.

Pre-Yavin
The Purge had come to an end when Vader killed An'ya Kuro, whom he knew from the Jedi Temple as "the Dark Woman."

Vader and Palpatine were the targets of a group of treacherous Imperial officers led by Grand Moff Trachta. Trachta saw the Sith as foolish and archaic, and believed that the Empire should not be ruled by a two-man cult. They planned to use a batch of altered stormtroopers loyal only to them to destroy the two Sith Lords. While the Emperor was dealing with the conspirators, Vader set out on a mission of his own to the planet Dargulli to locate a mysterious, powerful Jedi. But, instead of a Jedi Knight, he was confronted by a cadre of bounty hunters who had come to the conclusion that ganging up on&mdash;and defeating&mdash;the Sith Lord would bring them fame and fortune. With the help of another bounty hunter, Boba Fett, Vader quickly disposed of his attackers, only to be approached by a female darksider whom Vader eliminated despite her offering to become his apprentice. Afterward, Vader returned to find the conspirators' plot dismantled, in part because of internal fighting between the co-conspirators.

An old enemy
"Palpatine's mailed fist, Dooku's successor, Maul's inheritor."

- Shadday Potkin

With the loss of the stolen Death Star plans during a prison break in 0 BBY, Vader was charged by the Emperor himself with retrieving the missing schematics. When word reached him of a possible Rebel Alliance courier en route to the volcanic Sith moon of Kalakar Six with the plans in tow, the Dark Lord investigated, shadowed by his Master. What greeted Vader was unthinkable: a splinter group of Sith fanatics who had managed through their Sith alchemy to create a dopplegänger of Darth Maul.

It is unknown whether this Maul was created by cloning or through other means. Whatever the case, the Zabrak was no longer a mere specter like the one Vader had encountered as Anakin Skywalker, and thus Vader was pressed into combat with Maul, who sought to supplant him as Palpatine's new apprentice. In the eyes of Maul and the fanatics, Vader's time as a Jedi had "tainted" him, and only a pure Sith should rule by Sidious's side. Both Sith Lords seemed to be equals in combat, until Vader cut Darth Maul's lightsaber in two, followed by Maul switching to the Jar'Kai style&mdash;a style Vader had little defense against. Having the advantage of two lightsabers, Maul held off Vader's lightsaber with one of his blades, and cut into his helmet with the other. Feeling assured of a victory, Maul prepared to deliver the final blow to kill Vader. Maul paid for his overconfidence with his life, as Vader took his lightsaber and stabbed it through his own body and into Maul's.

As Vader met up once more with a suspiciously unsurprised Palpatine, the badly damaged Dark Lord could not help but suspect that the encounter was yet another test. The distrust between mentor and student, fed by years of such trials, grew.

Searching for the Death Star plans
"Several transmissions were beamed to this ship by Rebel spies. I want to know what happened to the plans they sent you.''" "I don't know what you're talking about. I'm a member of the Imperial Senate on a diplomatic mission to Alderaan." "''You are a part of the Rebel Alliance and a traitor! Take her away!!"

- Darth Vader and Leia Organa

With the Kalakar VI mission deemed a wild bantha chase, Vader returned to his twofold priority of both locating the Death Star plans as well as the hidden Rebel base. After the 501st Legion's failed attempt to recover the Death Star plans on Polis Massa, Imperials were able to track where they were sent&mdash;Tantive IV, a corvette belonging to Princess Leia Organa of Alderaan. Vader chased after the corvette personally. Organa was able to load the Death Star plans aboard R2-D2 and send the droid to Tatooine. Vader once more lost the plans, but gained a partial victory in capturing the Princess. Taking the Alderaanian senator to the Death Star, Vader utilized an IT-O interrogation droid to question Organa about the location of the secret Alliance base, not realizing he was torturing his own daughter. At the same time, Vader ordered the execution of Owen and Beru Lars after the couple refused to give any details about the missing droids.

When Organa refused to surrender the Alliance's actual base's location while under torture; even giving them a wild goose chase of Dantooine as a target, Vader and Grand Moff Wilhuff Tarkin forced her to watch as the Death Star obliterated her homeworld.

Showdown on the Death Star
"I've been waiting for you, Obi-Wan. We meet again at last. The circle is now complete. When I left you, I was but the learner - Now I am the Master.''" "''Only a master of evil, Darth."

- Darth Vader and Obi-Wan Kenobi

When the ship carrying Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, Chewbacca and Obi-Wan Kenobi was seized by a tractor beam and brought aboard the Death Star, Vader sensed the presence of his former master for the first time since being left to die on Mustafar. Quietly stalking him through the hallways of the battlestation, he finally confronted Kenobi just outside the hangar. Challenging him to a second lightsaber duel, the two engaged one another. Ignoring Obi-Wan's vague warning that killing him would make him "more powerful than you can possibly imagine", Vader viciously struck him down. However, instead of dying, Kenobi became a spirit in the Force who continued to guide Luke Skywalker.

Despite the curious disappearance of Kenobi's body, Vader felt he had finally killed the man that had been the focus for most of his rage for almost two decades.

Battle of Yavin
"I'll take them myself. Cover me."

- Darth Vader at the Battle of Yavin

To determine the location of the Rebel base, Vader allowed Luke and Han Solo to rescue Princess Leia and escape with the technical readouts of the Death Star. During the Battle of Yavin, he piloted a distinctive TIE Advanced x1 fighter and almost prevented Luke's attack on the Death Star from being successful. Vader sensed that the young pilot in his sights was Force-sensitive, putting into motion a series of future events that culminated in the death of the Empire. When the Millennium Falcon shot down one of his two support craft, the other panicked and veered into Vader's fighter, sending him spinning away from the battle station.

Crash landing on Vaal
Vader limped to Vaal, where he abandoned his wrecked TIE Advanced. During his journey to the Imperial communications outpost there, he was attacked by a pack of hyenax. He killed several of the attacking predators, including their leader, earning their respect and without understanding it at first assuming the fallen leader's position. Along with the pack, he continued his travel to the relay station. There, he boarded a Lambda-class shuttle without a word to the shocked crew, leaving them to be slaughtered by the hyenax. He soon arrived at Coruscant, where he expected to dispatch a team to recover the TIE and to re-staff the outpost. Instead, Sate Pestage ordered Vader to join Captain Sodarra in retrieving the fighter.

Aftermath
Vader's team recovered the fighter, and during this time, the Imperial spy Rogor contacted Vader and informed him that the Rebels on Yavin 4 were more vulnerable than ever. He launched a surprise attack on the moon, but found it deserted, save for the now-outed spy. Rogor received the brunt of Vader's anger for the waste of time. Little did Vader know that the Alliance had only evacuated most of its heavy equipment. The base's command and support staff were trapped by the Imperial blockade overseen from Jovan Station. They returned to the Massassi Temples, but not before Vader and his forces left the Yavin System.

But Vader did not make it out of the Bright Jewel Oversector. The system was ruled by Governor-General Nox Vellam, one of Vader's many rivals in the Empire, and the leader of one of the blockades that impeded the Rebel evacuation. Vellam nearly destroyed the Sith Lord, but Captain Sodarra rescued the remains of the fighter and Vader's comatose body. He fled the system in a corvette, planning to take Vader to an Imperial base on Shador. Their flight was interrupted when Vellam's flagship caught up with them. Sodarra's ship was destroyed, but he and Vader were rescued by a most unlikely person&mdash;Han Solo, who was chasing Alfreda Goot, a bounty hunter who was holding Leia Organa captive on Tatooine. Vader's life was placed in jeopardy once again when Han and Chewbacca decided to place a bomb on the crate, but after Solo discovered that Goot was one of Vader's agents, he had no choice but to travel to Tatooine and exchange Vader's life for Leia's.

Suspicion
After the exchange, Vader decided not to immediately return to Coruscant, instead making reports to Palpatine via hologram. The Emperor would be furious, but Vader wanted to track down the Force-sensitive pilot who had destroyed the Death Star first. Vader had sensed a strong Force ability in the pilot, one unmatched by any living person in the galaxy, save for himself and his Master. If such a being was serving the Rebel Alliance, the balance could tip in their favor, and so this pilot had to be hunted down and destroyed.

And yet, after his duel with Kenobi on the Death Star, Vader had spotted a young man among those who escaped, one who had been distraught at the death of the old Jedi Master. And the ship on which they had arrived had come from Tatooine. All circumstantial evidence, certainly, but it was enough to give Vader an inkling of the pilot's possible heritage.

Uncovering the identity of the Rebel pilot before the Emperor became Vader's top priority. His second would be the ousting of the Imperials who would act against him, as Vellam had done. There were many ambitious men in the Empire who wished to take Vader's place at the Emperor's side, and the recent incident with Vellam may have convinced Vader that these power-hungry beings could be a direct threat to him. The Sith Lord began formulating a plan that would eliminate them, starting with the Fleet Admirals of the Imperial Navy. Eventually, Vader planned to finish dealing with the more powerful Tagge family and the crime lord Prince Xizor.

Construction of the Executor
However, this plan would require time to come to fruition. In the meantime, the Rebels on Yavin could not be ignored. Darth Vader knew now that he would have to deal with the Rebels carefully. He didn't want them to escape or pull a victory out of the void, as they had at the Battle of Yavin. Vader thought that perhaps the key to defeating the Rebels would be Executor, which was under construction at the shipyards of Fondor. With this in mind, he ordered a blockade of the Gordian Reach, the sector containing the Yavin system. This would keep the Rebels in place until Vader could return to deal with them. In the meantime, Vader resumed his search for the pilot.

The fleet was assigned to the command of General Ulric Tagge, who would maintain the blockade, while Vader charged Captain Bzorn with the task of persecuting Rebel worlds. Now free to search for the Rebel pilot, Vader took Devastator to the Ultaar, where the Sith Lord had learned of a Rebel information retrieval outpost. He hoped to interrogate the Rebels there and learn the identity of that elusive X-wing pilot.

En route to Ultaar, Vader detected the passing presence of a Force-sensitive. This new lead was fortunate, for Vader discovered that the retrieval team on Ultaar had been wiped out by a bounty hunter named Beilert Valance, who was seeking information on a boy with two droids&mdash;apparently the pilot Vader was also hunting. Far from being distressed, Vader found the concept of a rival interesting.

On Devastator, Captain Wermis and his crew discovered the Force-sensitive's destination: the Wheel. Devastator raced to the system, where Vader found his prey escaping the station in a yacht. The Sith Lord directed his attention toward capturing the vessel, only to be attacked from behind by a familiar smuggling ship&mdash;the same ship that had ruined his defense of the Death Star. Vader gave orders for the ship to be destroyed at once, but his firing command was interrupted by a flash of pain emanating from the Force user on the yacht. The pain itself passed quickly, but the surprise gave both ships time to escape into hyperspace.

Although his quarry had eluded him for the time being, Vader had gained valuable information. He knew that the Rebel pilot was part of a group aiding Princess Leia Organa, a group that included the smugglers who had attacked him at the Death Star.

The next lead turned up when a Rebel spy was discovered, a spy who knew the name of another Rebel, one who had been at Yavin just before the battle, and who in turn knew the name of the elusive pilot. Vader tortured a name and location out of the Rebel: Tyler Lucian, hiding at Rubyflame Lake, a former resort on the planet Centares. Vader rushed to the location, only to find that his rival Valance had arrived first. The bounty hunter had apparently had a change of heart after wiping out the Rebels at Ultaar. Valance was now convinced that the boy Vader pursued was the galaxy's only hope for a better tomorrow. The bounty hunter perished after a short battle, but not before convincing Tyler Lucian to commit suicide. The pilot's identity remained a mystery.

Later, the forces of General Ulric Tagge's blockade engaged a Rebel fleet in battle in the Feriae system. Tagge's flagship was destroyed during the skirmish, as was a House of Tagge mining explorer containing family members Silas and Baron Orman Tagge. General Tagge escaped the destruction of his ship, and with the apparent death of his older siblings, the title of Baron fell to him. The new Baron claimed that the battle arose as part of a standard blockade action, but Darth Vader's spies informed him that it was something more. The spies also rescued Silas and Orman Tagge from the wreckage around Junction. Both were barely alive, but Darth Vader ordered Devastator medical droids to begin restoring the life functions of the Tagge brothers. The Sith Lord saw this as his opportunity to end the Tagge family's constant scheming against him.

Vader also wished to continue hunting for the Rebel pilot, but after a fruitless month of searching, he had no choice but to return to Coruscant and face the Emperor. Leaving Devastator, the Sith Lord commandeered a Carrack-class cruiser for his voyage to Coruscant, taking with him the salvaged fighter.

Punishment
Vader found the Emperor in a bacta tank, recovering from an adventure on Korriban. Lord Sidious assigned Vader the task of recovering Admiral Termo, who had gone missing in the Yavin system months before. The Admiral, who had sent a distress signal from the planet Malagarr, had in his possession data tapes detailing a final plan of Grand Moff Tarkin's. Vader retrieved the tapes, killed the Admiral, and returned to Coruscant.

Vader presented the data tapes to the Emperor. Palpatine was not pleased with Vader's failure at the Battle of Yavin, however, and Darth Vader was punished by losing his hand, perhaps as a reminder of an earlier failure at Geonosis.

Vader was then instructed to head to Fondor to oversee the construction of Executor while the task of developing Tarkin's project was assigned to others. After a member of that team was imprisoned, Vader had to hire a bounty hunter for a rescue mission, and then a Rebel droid destroyed the project headquarters on Malagarr. En route to Fondor, Vader contacted the Emperor to inform him of these new developments.

The project underway at Fondor was the Empire's largest undertaking since the Death Star. The Imperial military objected to this concentration of resources, claiming that it was little better than the Death Star. They also suspected that the Sith Lord was using his position with the Emperor to increase his own personal power, though few fully grasped the relationship between the two. Vader cared little for the thoughts of Admirals, but he resumed command of Devastator and conducted a fleet test near Fondor to settle the issue in his own mind.

Once the test was completed, Vader moved on to Jovan Station, headquarters of the Imperial blockade. He informed the admirals gathered there that he had decided the course that would be taken against the Rebels, and that the Fondor project would go through. He also staged a confrontation between himself and Admiral Griff, hoping to draw out those who would act against him.

Griff convinced the admirals to allow for a Rebel spy to infiltrate the construction yards of Fondor to sabotage Vader's project.

Vader returned to Fondor, where he was informed by Admiral Griff that the Rebel spy had arrived. Griff escalated the plans of the traitorous Admirals, arranging for them to meet with the Rebel spy in the tunnels below Fondor's surface. The Admirals were unwilling to risk more involvement with the spy with Vader present, but Griff told them that Vader was leaving temporarily. In fact, Vader slipped off Devastator before its departure, and joined Griff in the tunnels to trap the traitors.

But as Vader prepared to strike, he sensed something unexpected&mdash;the Rebel spy was Force-sensitive. Not only that, but Vader could clearly sense that this boy was a disciple of Kenobi. Incidents since the Death Star's destruction had caused Vader to suspect that there was such a man serving the Rebels&mdash;the mind-touch near Ultaar, the flash of pain at the Wheel, and certain comments made by Valance on Centares&mdash;but now he was sure of it. He was getting closer to discovering the pilot's identity.

But the Rebel could sense Vader as well. He warned the Admirals, who scattered. Vader was unconcerned, however. He ordered Griff to forget the traitors and find the spy, but it was too late. The Rebel succeeded in escaping the system.

While Vader failed to capture the Rebel, Griff's men managed to round up the traitorous Imperials. And although the spy could have gained valuable information on the systems of Executor, what Vader learned was far more valuable. He had been unprepared for the Rebel's interference, but no more. The pilot may have been a student of Kenobi's, but Vader was sure that his own power was stronger.

Admiral Griff soon departed Fondor to return to his duties as system blockade commander, while Vader stayed behind to oversee the Fondor project.

Before long, Griff contacted Vader, informing him that the Rebels were gathering allies, such as the Freeholders pirates, to their base at Yavin. The Admiral deemed the Interdictors ineffective; the pirate fleet had managed to slip past their blockade. Griff pleaded with Vader to launch a full scale attack, but Vader wouldn't hear of it. He would not authorize an attack on the Rebel base until Executor was ready, and certain other events put in motion.

Confronting the past
Vader eventually ended up having to return to Jabiim to oversee an invasion of the planet, despite earlier vowing that he'd never return to the planet because of his mistake back during the Clone Wars at that time. Ironically, at the same battle, the Jabiimi people nearly executed the Rebel pilot he was looking for, Luke Skywalker, due to the actions that Anakin committed years ago. Eventually, he ordered for the entire planet to be bombarded. His official reason was to deprive the Rebels of a valuable ally, but in truth, it was because he was unable to bear remembering the mistake he made 21 years prior. He also tortured Jorin Sol, a Rebel mathematician who was left behind during the battle, and proceeded to torture and then reprogram him into a sleeper agent before the Rebels rescued him.

The son of Skywalker
"The son of Skywalker must not become a Jedi&hellip;''" "''If he could be turned, he would become a powerful ally&hellip;"

- Palpatine and Darth Vader

Vader's spies had learned of a Rebel pilot who had returned to his homeworld of Centares bringing with him a firsthand account of the Battle of Yavin. Vader hired a team of bounty hunters and Ban Papeega to bring the man in. On Centares, the Rebel finally revealed the last name of the pilot who had destroyed the Death Star&mdash;Skywalker. This was the same name Vader had found on Anchorhead municipal records for a T-16 skyhopper owned by a nineteen year old human boy who had resided at the Lars farm. It was also, according to a Mos Eisley based Kubaz spy called Garindan, the name found on a Spaceport Speeders sales record for a landspeeder purchased from a young man who had left Tatooine on the freighter Millennium Falcon.

Vader had gone for months without knowing the name of the one he had sought, but he now suspected that Amidala had given birth before she died. Vader did in fact have a son, in contrast to what Palpatine had told him. This knowledge succeeded in touching a side of Vader that had long lain dormant.

The Sith Lord quickly dismissed these emotions, however. Kenobi had gotten to the boy first, and he was serving the enemy now. Skywalker would have to be turned, or he would have to be destroyed. With his son at his side, Vader would have no need of Sidious.

But for his plan to succeed, Vader knew his Master could not discover his true intentions. He quickly set about slaughtering the bounty hunters who had captured the Rebel. While the Sith Lord was busy executing mercenaries and bounty hunters, the Rebel pilot who had betrayed the name to him was killed by Mala Mala, preventing Vader from discovering anything more.

In the Emperor's throne room at Imperial City, Darth Vader came before Palpatine in person for the first time after the destruction of the first Death Star. The Emperor inquired after Vader's apparent loss at Fondor, as well as the destruction of Tarkin's project. Vader made no reference to Skywalker, stating instead that he pursued the pilot who destroyed the Death Star for revenge. After his meeting with the Emperor, Vader received notice that Skywalker had been given a diplomatic assignment on Jazbina, and set out immediately to capture his son.

Vader ordered the ruler of Jazbina, Prepredenko, to hold Skywalker until he arrived. The young man managed to escape custody, but Vader cornered him before he could leave the planet. The Sith Lord came face to face with his son for the first time. Skywalker was protected by the Rebels of Jazbina, but surrendered himself when Vader threatened to have his Interdictor bomb the cities of the planet. It seemed that Vader's quest had come to an end.

But a single Rebel pilot, Jal Te Gniev, managed to destroy the Interdictor in a suicide run, and a crowd of angry Jazbinans neutralized Vader's stormtroopers. Skywalker had managed to sway the entire planet to the Rebel cause. Faced with the prospect of having to battle the massive populace protecting his son on his own, Vader returned to Coruscant without his prize. When he visited Palpatine to inform him of his failure to capture the pilot, he was addressed to by the Emperor, who in fact knew of the Rebel's identity as well, as "Skywalker."

Now that Skywalker was known to his Master, Vader would have to work quickly. He departed Coruscant in the Devastator, searching for Rebel bases. The Sith Lord's forces decimated a Rebel refueling station, where the torture of a Rebel officer revealed Skywalker's full name&mdash;Luke Skywalker.

Subjugation of the Tagge family
Now Vader moved to bring the Tagge family to heel. Vader confronted the new Baron, using the Force to extract a confession: Tagge revealed that he and his brothers had planned to destroy the Rebels at Junction with a new invention, in an attempt to win the favor of the Emperor from Vader. The General also disclosed the fact that the Tagge family had known of Skywalker for weeks. Enraged, Vader revealed to the General the survival of his older siblings, and threatened to bring the entire family before Palpatine if Ulric continued to oppose him.

Monastery
"No more, Luke Skywalker! I've thoroughly tested you&hellip;Made you perform in a hostile environment&hellip;Probed your emotions by placing your friends in jeopardy. I now know your limits&hellip;And your limitations."

- Vader to Luke on Monastery

Now satisfied that the House of Tagge was no longer a threat, Vader traveled to the ringed world of Monastery, home of the Order of the Sacred Circle, to which the youngest Tagge family member, Domina Tagge, belonged. Vader forced the young woman into cooperating with him, promising power and prestige in the Order, as well as revenge on Luke Skywalker, for Domina believed her brother dead. Domina hated Vader, but she also despised Skywalker.

The Order had remained carefully neutral in the Galactic Civil War, but Vader, in hopes of capturing Skywalker, made overtures on behalf of the Empire. The Order wished to hear both sides, and Domina Tagge journeyed to Yavin, where she convinced the Alliance to send Skywalker as their representative.

When Luke Skywalker arrived on Monastery, Vader confronted him once more, insulting the Rebel and using every opportunity to diminish him in the eyes of the Order's elders. Vader succeeded in goading Skywalker into a lightsaber duel, but before their blades could cross, Domina intervened. She took advantage of the situation, and now schemed to eliminate both the Rebel and the Sith Lord. Luke and Vader were forced to take their duel to the deadly Crystal Valley.

Vader did not intend to engage Skywalker in combat just yet. First he wished to test the young man's abilities. He had arranged for Orman Tagge to escape from the Devastator, and when the former baron arrived, Vader took his vengeance upon Tagge. He knew that, above all else, Tagge had valued the innocence of his younger sister. Vader showed him that he had corrupted Domina, and then forced Tagge to battle Luke Skywalker, disguising him with the Force so that Orman appeared to Luke as Vader, until the illusion was shattered by the death of Tagge.

At the Wheel, Fondor, and Jazbina, Luke and his abilities with the Force had been an unknown factor, but now, after this thorough test, Vader knew the limitations of the young Rebel. Vader intended to capture his son, but Luke escaped, and it would be years before they would meet face-to-face again.

Incompetence and pursuit
Vader received word from Sebastian Parnell that his son had been captured on Tol Ado, and was being held for the Sith Lord. Skywalker managed to escape, however, and Vader executed Parnell for his incompetence.

Luke managed to disappear after these events, and Vader's many spies could not locate the boy. Vader chose to travel throughout the galaxy, setting hundreds of traps on planets Skywalker might visit. One of these worlds was Dantooine. Dantooine was once home to a Rebel base, and, centuries before, the Jedi Enclave.

Also on Dantooine, Vader was surprised by an ancient trap in the Jedi ruins. The trap killed his escort of stormtroopers, but Vader survived with only a small wound. Vader chose to investigate further, but the discovery of a Rebel outpost by one of the Devastator scout ships forced him to change his plans. He departed the ruins, leaving only his shed blood behind.

Revision of methods
Vader decided to adopt a hands-off approach to capturing Skywalker. He was sure that the Force would lead Skywalker to his destiny eventually. Moreover, the man he had charged with hunting Rebels, Captain Bzorn, had been killed over Kessel. Vader began to take care of Rebel bases himself, such as the outpost discovered earlier. Vader ordered the Emperor's Hand Blackhole to infiltrate the Rebel headquarters to learn the latest of the Alliance's plans.

When the Sith Lord received word of a new Alliance base operating near the Panna system, he decided to utilize Boba Fett to locate the base. Fett befriended Luke Skywalker on Panna, and nearly got the location of the new Rebel base out of him, but he was forced to retreat, and failed even to capture the young Jedi.

While in battle with an Alliance space fleet, Vader learned from Blackhole that the Alliance's new plan was to fail in all direct confrontations with the Empire, while their main efforts would be in gathering new allies, such as the pirates Griff had spotted near Yavin, to the Rebel cause. Vader instructed Blackhole to capture those Rebels. Blackhole attempted to kidnap Luke and Leia on Vorzyd V, but he and his stormtroopers failed.

Phelarion
Still later, while investigating the disappearance of valuable megonite near Phelarion, Devastator scouts encountered a Rebel shuttle, which they shot down over Phelarion, home to an Imperial labor camp run by Lady Tarkin, the widow of Grand Moff Tarkin. Vader's men managed to back track a message sent from the planet's surface, and pinpointed the location of the Rebel from the shuttle. Darth Vader crashed the Thirteenth Imperial Diplomatic Conclave being held at Port Tarkin, where he found that the Rebel was none other than Leia Organa herself. Vader's stormtroopers trapped her on a landing pad, but she was rescued by the Millennium Falcon. Vader held Lady Tarkin personally responsible for Leia's escape and the missing megonite.

Deception and ambush
Having failed to capture Rebels at Phelarion, Vader prepared a trap for the Alliance. Upon hearing that a school on Harix had been using illegal material for its curriculum, Vader ordered that the teacher and her students be captured. He transmitted his plan to execute them galaxywide, hoping to draw out the Rebels. Skywalker himself led the mission to rescue the children, and beyond all odds, he succeeded. The Star Destroyers waiting at Harix were tricked by a faux fleet, while the real Rebel rescue force whisked the teacher and the students away.

Before the Harix incident, Vader had chosen to allow others to deal with Skywalker. On Harix, as on Panna, Tol Ardo and Vorzyd, Skywalker had continually foiled his plans to deal with the Rebellion at large, while eluding capture from even the most skilled of operatives. Vader now decided that it was time to give his personal attention to Luke Skywalker.

Soon after, Vader learned from one of his spies that six flights of Rebel X-wings were planetside for re-work on Arda-2. Following up this new lead, Vader discovered that Skywalker was among the pilots. When the Devastator arrived, its TIE fighters were attacked by a mere six snubfighters. Before the battle could truly begin, two ships rammed Devastator in a suicide run, leaving the Star Destroyer vulnerable. Vader chose to retreat, promising that he would find Luke Skywalker another day.

Hired bait
And find him he would. Tiring of chasing Skywalker from planet to planet, Vader had already set a plan in motion that would be sure to lure the boy into his grasp. The Sith Lord hired a skilled actor, and had Imperial surgeons alter his appearance to become the spitting image of Obi-Wan Kenobi. Lord Vader himself trained the doppelgänger to imitate his old master, and cutting-edge technology allowed the impersonator to appear to call upon the Force.

The actor traveled to Aridus, where he drew the attention of Luke Skywalker, who soon came to Aridus in search of his trainer. The actor succeeded in fooling the young Jedi, and under Vader's orders, lured Skywalker to the Iron Tower. Vader was already waiting inside the tower when the actor and the youth arrived. But the scheme failed; the Sith Lord never even saw his son at Aridus. The old actor had become so enamored with the role of a Jedi Master that he activated an overload spiral in the upper levels of the Iron Tower, a move designed to kill Vader and save Luke. Skywalker escaped once again, and the actor was killed in the explosion. Vader survived, but he was seriously injured in the explosion. The last thing he saw before passing out was Skywalker fleeing the planet in his ship.

Bargain and recovery
When Vader awoke, he found himself in a ship headed for Coruscant. The pilot was Wrenga Jixton, a former Imperial agent who had been involved with Vader's experiments on Falleen years before. Jixton had been sentenced to Kessel after the Falleen debacle, but he had escaped to Aridus, where he had befriended the natives. Jixton struck a deal with the Sith Lord: if the Empire would leave Aridus alone, Jixton would serve Vader.

The Sith Lord spent the next several months recovering on Coruscant. He received word from an informant that Lexhannen Torlock, governor of Corulag, was planning to defect to the Rebel Alliance. Vader sent his new agent Jixton to assassinate the traitorous governor, and to implicate the Alliance in the deed. Jixton uncovered the true traitor on Corulag: Admiral Droon, who had forced Torlock to leave the planet. Jixton dragged Droon back to Coruscant, where the admiral was dispatched by Vader's lightsaber.

Xizor
After leaving Coruscant once more, Vader had to contend with the machinations of Prince Xizor. Although the Sith Lord had eliminated Baron Tagge and the hubris admirals of the fleet, Xizor retained the Emperor's favor, and Vader could not attack him directly. In a conference on Coruscant (which Vader attended via hologram from the Devastator), the Dark Prince proposed a scheme that would shatter the powerful Bounty Hunters' Guild, leaving only the strongest bounty hunters for the Empire to use against the Rebellion. Vader strongly opposed this plan, but Palpatine gave his blessing. The Emperor also assigned Mara Jade to the task of monitoring Vader.

Completion of the Executor
"I am going to destroy their base at Yavin.... and nothing they have can stop me!"

- Vader

At Fondor, the Executor was finally completed, and ready for a shakedown cruise. Darth Vader ordered that the ship be taken to the nearest Rebel installation&mdash;a depot on Laakteen, where Vader officially christened his new ship by obliterating the depot.

Now Vader's long wait had paid off, and the Executor traveled to Yavin to smash the Rebel command, eliminating several small Alliance strike forces on the way. Finally the Rebels seemed to have given up all hope of stopping Executor, but Vader knew better. Sure enough, one last ship, a tiny attack craft, assaulted his Star Dreadnought just outside of the Yavin system.

And this was no ordinary ship. The craft carried a power gem, a rare mineral formation that could shatter any energy shield. Vader also sensed that someone on board the tiny ship was sensitive to the Force. He suspected that Luke Skywalker, hero of the Death Star battle, had been sent to stop Executor. The Imperial battle plan did not account for detours, but Vader was determined to capture Skywalker who had evaded him enough times already, and so the massive ship swung around to pursue the Rebel ship. Vader soon sensed through the Force that, somehow, Skywalker had left the smaller vessel. As the Rebel ship turned around to attack the Executor head on, all shielding on the Star Dreadnought was transferred forward, smashing the small craft and negating the effects of the power gem.

But the Executor was then attacked from behind by Skywalker on board the Millennium Falcon. With no aft shields in place, the Rebel was able to damage Executor gyro-control systems. With the gyro systems disabled, the mammoth Star Dreadnought was unable to maneuver, and Vader was forced to turn command of the Imperial assault over to blockade commander Admiral Griff while repairs were carried.



Thanks to Griff's incompetence, Luke Skywalker, the Millennium Falcon, and the Rebel fleet managed to flee the Yavin system, but Darth Vader chose not to pursue. He had learned that General Jan Dodonna, the Rebel leader who had masterminded the attack on the Death Star, had remained behind at the Rebel base, and was leading a group of stranded Rebels against Imperial forces. Vader decided to take revenge for the Death Star's destruction by capturing Dodonna, a traitor to the Empire, and led a squad of stormtroopers against the Rebels. Vader and his troops took out the anti-air turrets protecting the main Rebel base. This allowed a flight of Griff's TIE bombers to attack the Massassi base directly. But Dodonna had rigged the main base and the surrounding temples with explosives, which he used to wipe out the Imperial ships.

Dodonna's body was recovered from the wreckage by Vader's search teams. A quick mind probe revealed a Rebel operation geared against the planet Reytha, but gave no useful information on the whereabouts of the Rebel fleet.

Griff's final failure
With the general captured, Vader waited for Executor to be repaired, allowing Griff to continue directing the Imperial pursuit of the Rebel fleet, even after an attack by the Mon Calamari on the blockade. Vader's inaction was a clever plot to capture both the fleet and Skywalker. If Griff threatened the Rebels, Skywalker would use the Force to aid them. Vader waited in his meditation pod, searching for any disturbance in the Force. When at last Skywalker opened himself to the Force, Vader was able to locate him, and brought the fleet under the guns of the Executor.

Vader underestimated the ambitious Admiral Griff, however. In a last-ditch attempt to corner the Rebels before Vader, Griff attempted a blind hyperspace jump, smashing his own Star Destroyer and two others into the Executor shields. This allowed the Rebels and Skywalker to escape, bound for parts unknown. Once again, Vader was thwarted, but he knew that his inevitable encounter with Skywalker was only delayed.

Culling the military
Vader, now aboard Admiral Quist's Star Destroyer Conqueror, began monitoring reports from the abandoned Rebel base. When the Falcon returned to Yavin with Skywalker aboard, the incompetent Quist failed to capture her, and soon joined the ranks of late Imperial commanders. Not long after, while revisiting the abandoned base on Dantooine, Luke fell into the trap Vader had set there. Using his agents, the Fairfolk, Vader tempted Luke into using the dark side, and even projected a mental image of himself to Dantooine for Luke to battle. Skywalker was saved when R2-D2 broke the trance, but Vader promised that next time Luke wouldn't be so lucky.

Vader then set about punishing Imperial officials, and locking down on Rebel attempts to gain food and supplies. He followed up on the information stripped from Dodonna's mind and led an Imperial effort to retake Reytha from the Rebellion. He killed Moff Antes Belladar for allowing the Rebels to thrive on the planet and drove the Alliance from Reytha. Vader also executed Overlord Ghorin for dealing with the Alliance, and visited Kiva to put pressure on Borborygmus Gog to complete Project Starscream.

Search for information
Hoping to uncover more information on the whereabouts of the Rebel fleet, Vader visited Void Station, and demanded that Jib Kopatha gain information on Alliance activities. Afterward, Vader was set upon by Falleen assassins seeking vengeance for the devastation Vader had brought upon their world. After defeating them, Vader returned to Coruscant, where he monitored possible Rebel activity in the Shelsha sector and searched the Emperor's databases for more information about Luke Skywalker. There, he again crossed paths with Mara Jade.

Not long after, Vader blockaded the Kashyyyk system in an attempt to capture a Rebel group that included Skywalker and Organa, but they somehow managed to slip in and out of the system while evading capture.

Sometime after that, Vader met the survivor of the Great Jedi Purge, Echuu Shen-Jon, thought to be dead but merely in self-imposed exile following his use of the dark side to defeat Separatist General Sev'rance Tann during the early days of the Clone Wars. Shen-Jon was defending princess Leia while she was escaping to her ship on Geddes. Echuu was also carrying the Vor'Na'Tu, an ancient Jedi artifact. Vader killed him, but Leia managed to escape and Shen-Jon broke the Vor'Na'Tu into pieces.

Mimban
When Governor Bin Essada learned that Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia were on Mimban in 2 ABY searching for a powerful Force relic known as the Kaiburr crystal, he contacted the Dark Lord. Vader traveled to the jungle world hoping both to capture Skywalker and get hold of the powerful crystal. He tracked the Rebels to the abandoned Temple of Pomojema deep in one of Mimban's jungles. Luke, Leia and Halla, a Force-sensitive local Human with whom they had undertaken the search for the crystal, had left C-3PO and R2-D2 outside the temple while they went in to look for the crystal.

Vader coldly deactivated the droid he had created and the droid that had been his faithful companion in the Clone Wars, apparently without even recognizing them. He then entered the temple to face Skywalker and the Princess. Vader immobilized Luke by dropping a ceiling stone at him with the Force, but the Kaiburr crystal's proximity had intensified the Sith Lord's anger, and he was surprised at being overcome with the desire to kill the two rebels. Leia briefly dueled with Vader using Luke's lightsaber, but the Dark Lord quickly subdued her and slashed her body repeatedly with his blade as a form of torture. When Luke emerged from under the stone, Leia threw him his lightsaber, and father and son crossed sabers for the first time. The crystal's presence enhanced Vader's Force powers, rendering him able to blast Luke with lightning, but Luke's actions were guided by Obi-Wan Kenobi. This guidance coupled with the fact that Luke was in possession of the crystal, were enough to deflect the lightning and slice Vader's arm off. However, this act drained Kenobi's spirit to the point that he could no longer aid Luke, and Vader simply shrugged off the injury. As he advanced on the two siblings, he caught sight of the lightsaber Luke was holding, which looked just like his own old one, but toppled into a deep sacrificial well, allowing the Rebels to escape. Vader was unconscious for over an hour at the bottom of the pit, but the battle made him realize that Luke could help him overthrow the Emperor.

Request denied
Vader was also dispatched to quell Rebellion in the Zaloriis system, where the governor boldly approached Vader and declared independence. Vader Force-choked him to death, callously stating, "Request denied, governor." Vader then proceeded to lead Imperial forces to destroy the ill-fated independence movement. He also rescued then-Colonel Maximilian Veers from imprisonment. Veers then put his knowledge to work and deployed the next generation of AT-AT walkers, which would be used to great effect in the Battle of Hoth. It was on Zaloriis that Vader learned of possible Rebel contacts on Elrood.

Hoth and aftermath


Now that the Alliance had escaped Yavin 4, Vader dispatched probe droids to remote regions of the galaxy to locate the location of its new base. One such probe eventually detected Echo Base on Hoth. Admiral Kendal Ozzel incurred Vader's wrath and his death sentence when he ruined Death Squadron's stealth attack by exiting hyperspace too close to the planet, allowing the Rebels to detect the attack and project shields against planetary bombardment. Vader was forced to wage a terrestrial campaign; its deployment giving some of the Rebel forces time to flee. Vader himself entered Echo Base and reached a hangar just in time to see the Millennium Falcon escape. When the Falcon hyperdrive failed, Vader ordered pursuit and followed the Falcon and her apparently unstable pilot into an equally unstable asteroid field. He would not allow that ship to escape him again. Renegade Squadron was tasked to stall Vader in a series of assaults, leading to a skirmish in orbit.

While his fighters searched the asteroids for the Falcon, Vader received a new mission from the Emperor&mdash;to capture Luke Skywalker, his own son and the pilot who had destroyed the Death Star. As far as Vader knew, Sidious was ignorant to his plot, already in motion, to do just that. To deceive the Emperor, and thus allow him to continue making motions toward his own plan, Vader suggested that Luke could be turned to the dark side of the Force. The Emperor agreed, noting that Luke would be a "great asset." Meanwhile, as was the pattern with Sith Lords, Palpatine also began planning to eliminate Vader in order to take Luke as his apprentice.

Vader continued pursuing the Falcon, and resorted to hiring bounty hunters to complete the task. Ultimately, the Falcon appeared and then quickly disappeared by hiding in a blind spot on the back of the bridge tower of Captain Lorth Needa's Star Destroyer Avenger. Captain Needa paid for losing the vehicle with his life. Death Squadron dispersed into hyperspace, each ship dumping its garbage before jumping. The Falcon, released from its perch, floated away amid the debris and then set a sub-light course to Bespin. Boba Fett, one of the bounty hunters hired by Vader, deduced Solo's strategy, alerted Vader to his destination, and followed the Falcon to Cloud City, a mining colony located on the gas giant.

Among the bounty hunters summoned by Vader to hunt the Millenium Falcon was Awarru Tark, a ruthless hunter with a "reputation for results". Tark, however, was late for the bounty hunter meeting on the Executor, instead meeting with Vader aboard the Avenger afterwards. Unimpressed with Tark's politeness upon arrival, which he termed "posturing", Vader demanded that they commence with their business. Tark agreed, and blocked the entrance to the observation suite where they met with a handful of small detonators.



Brandishing two forearm-mounted energy blades, Tark attacked. Vader managed to hold off the mercenary's opening attacks with his lightsaber, but Tark overleapt the Sith Lord in a blink, scoring hits on Vader's back. Vader whirled to parry, blocking the follow up attacks, but opening himself up for a lightning fast kick to the head. Thrown against the wall, Vader narrowly avoided Tarks next volley, only suffering a hit to the head, which was absorbed by his helmet. In desperation, Vader Force pushed Tark against the ceiling of the chamber, telekinetically pinning him. Tark responded by dropping another series of detonators on Vader, breaking the Sith Lord's concentration and allowing Tark to leap down and attack again.

Vader dropped his lightsaber and seized Tark by the wrists, bending the blades back towards the mercenary's own head. Tark suddenly revealed his secret weapon; a massive cybernetic augmentation. Tark's torso and hands split open, revealing a flurry of claw-tipped mechanical tendrils that began chewing their way through Vader's armor. As Vader began to succumb, he telepathically reached into Tark's mind, learning of his identity and history as the soldier Stauz Czycz. The Sith Lord learned of Czycz's loss of his home and family to the Empire, how he now held Vader responsible, and how he devoted himself utterly towards revenge. Czycz fury drove Vader from the soldier-turned-mercenary's mind, leaving them both temporarily paralyzed. Vader recovered first, reclaiming his lightsaber and decapitating Czycz.

Vader's wounds from the battle consisted of little more than superficial damage to his armor, which was easily repaired. However, Vader's encounter with Czycz left the Sith Lord somewhat shaken, as he began reflecting on the similarities between himself and the mercenary, and how he too had sacrificed his humanity in the name of revenge. While recovering from the deadly encounter, Vader received a message from Bespin.

Conflict on Bespin and aftermath
"Obi-Wan never told you what happened to your father.''" "He told me enough! He told me you killed him." "No. I'' am your father."

- Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker

Vader landed on Cloud City and threatened its Baron Administrator, Lando Calrissian, a friend of Han's, into an agreement while waiting for the Falcon arrival. When the Falcon arrived, Vader captured, with Calrissian's cooperation, and tortured Solo. In addition, shortly beforehand, upon seeing the remains of C-3PO after Gamma Squad blasted him, the pain of his reminders of his past self drove him to order them to recycle the droid parts, although his parts were ultimately intercepted by Chewbacca, having witnessed C-3PO's destruction earlier. Vader eventually had a change of heart and allowed Chewbacca, while imprisoned, to repair C-3PO. Luke, training under Yoda on Dagobah, after seeing a vision of his friend's torture, rushed to Cloud City to save his friends, despite the sternest warnings from both Yoda and the dead Kenobi that by doing so, he would risk falling to the dark side. Meanwhile, Vader froze Solo in carbonite as a test subject to see if the method would be viable for the younger Skywalker, much to the chagrin of Boba Fett, who was already seeking Solo for Jabba the Hutt. Luke arrived at Cloud City, just in time to take the bait of the trap set for him by his father.

When Luke found Vader, they fought, the boy not knowing his opponent's true identity. Despite Luke's lack of training, he was able to hold his own for much of the duel, without Kenobi's help as had happened on Mimban the previous year, much to Vader's surprise. Ultimately, however, as Yoda and Kenobi had warned, the inadequately trained Luke was no match for the powerful and experienced Vader, who ultimately defeated him, and hacked off his right hand. It was now time for the Sith Lord to close the lid of this trap.



Vader asked Luke to join him so that they could destroy the Emperor and rule the galaxy as father and son, harkening back to what he'd hoped to have with Luke's mother&mdash;companionship. He never wanted to rule the galaxy alone. Profoundly shaken by the news that he was Vader's son, Luke refused to join his father and plunged into the gas vents of Cloud City. Luke was able to survive long enough to be rescued by Leia and Lando in the Millennium Falcon. Vader, who had insured that the hyperdrive motivator on the Falcon would malfunction, gave orders to the new Admiral, Piett, to capture the freighter. However, they didn't count on R2-D2, Vader's one-time friend and gift to him from his late wife, would reverse the sabotage, allowing the Falcon to jump into hyperspace. While Vader had previously killed two of his subordinates, he let Admiral Piett live even though he failed to capture Luke in the Millennium Falcon.

Afterwards, Vader continued tracking for signs of the Rebellion and, more importantly, Luke Skywalker. He was then chastised for his failure at Bespin, although he informed the Emperor that&mdash;while he may not have captured Luke&mdash;he nonetheless managed to "plant the seeds of ambition" within Luke's mind. He also reminded his master that converting Luke to the Dark Side was his idea when the latter implied suspicions that Vader did not desire to turn Luke. Vader also informed Palpatine that he received a lead on the Rebel's location and was planning to intercept. Palpatine informed him that it would have to wait, as he needed Vader to complete shipping arrangements. In actuality, the shipping arrangements were a fools errand concocted by Palpatine to distract Vader while he had Luke assassinated.

In the following months, Lord Vader found himself in a complex game of strategy against the scheming crime lord of Black Sun, Prince Xizor. The Falleen, who had long hated Vader due to the planetary bombardment ordered by the Dark Lord on his homeworld of Falleen, was attempting to discredit Vader in eyes of the Emperor. Xizor had long been a rival of the Dark Lord. He sought to foil Vader's plan to capture Luke Skywalker for the Emperor by having Luke assassinated before Vader could find the Jedi. Vader discovered Xizor's plot and killed him in an assault high over the Imperial Center.

Redemption
In 4 ABY, Vader was sent to the incomplete Death Star II to await the Emperor, who was coming for an inspection tour. He also warned the person in charge of completing the Death Star II's systems on schedule, Moff Tiaan Jerjerrod, that if he is unable to complete it on schedule by doubling his efforts, he will end up facing Palpatine for the failure upon his arrival, implying that the Emperor is "not nearly as forgiving as I am" regarding failure. After Palpatine's arrival, Vader was sent to command the Imperial Fleet guarding the Death Star, keeping it on the far side of Endor. Vader also supplied Palpatine with reports of a Rebel massing near Sullust, although Palpatine dismissed the reports. It was here that he sensed the arrival of his son along with the Rebel strike team coming to destroy the shield generator that protected the Death Star. When he informed the Emperor of this, although he expressed surprise that Vader could sense Luke, and yet he could not, Palpatine nonetheless advised him to go to Endor and await Luke.

During his departure to Endor, it is said that he looked back on his life and had the first dream he had in many years. This was following visions that he thought were premonitions of the near future.

Arriving on the eve of Luke's capture, Vader once again attempted to persuade Luke to join the dark side, but this time Vader's interests were tinged by a desire to protect his son. When this failed, Vader took him to Emperor Palpatine himself on the incomplete Death Star II. Luke reluctantly fought a lightsaber battle with Vader, matching Vader's mastery of Form V with his own display of Form V blade work, all the while attempting to persuade his father into renouncing the dark side of the Force. In allowing this to happen, Luke Skywalker risked everything in order to assure the victory of the Rebel Alliance and the redemption of his father to the light.

"Give yourself to the dark side. It is the only way you can save your friends. Yes. Your thoughts betray you. Your feelings for them are strong. Especially for&hellip;sister. So you have a twin sister. Your feelings have now betrayed her, too. Obi-Wan was wise to hide her from me. Now his failure is complete. If you will not turn to the dark side, then perhaps she will."

- Darth Vader to Luke Skywalker

During this time, Palpatine relentlessly attempted to lure Luke to the dark side, tormenting him with thoughts of the defeat of the Rebel Alliance and the death of his friends. However, Luke continued to attempt to restrain himself from fighting his father. Vader, who had been probing Luke's thoughts, discovered that besides Luke he also had a daughter: Leia Organa, Luke's twin sister. Vader, happy at this new information he had acquired&mdash; and thus, the final failure of Obi-Wan, decided to use this knowledge against Luke, threatening to corrupt Leia. Luke, enraged, ignited his lightsaber and viciously attacked Vader with anger and hatred. Finally, Luke sliced off Vader's mechanical right hand, defeating the Dark Lord. Palpatine, cackling with triumph, urged Luke to fulfill his destiny, and take his father's place at the Dark Lord's side. Vader then realized that Sidious had betrayed him again, just as Darth Tyranus had been betrayed twenty-three years before, and just as he had been betrayed by Sidious for Galen Marek on the first Death Star.

Luke looked down to see his father's severed right hand, and, seeing that it was mechanical like his, he realized that he was about to become Vader's successor. Horrified at what he was about to do, Luke used a combination of Kenobi's and Yoda's teachings and the light side of the Force to calm himself down. Luke tossed his lightsaber away, refusing the Emperor's offer to join him as his new apprentice, declaring that he was a Jedi like his father before him. Enraged at the failure of his plans, the Emperor unleashed a barrage of Force lightning attacks upon Luke. Defiant to the end, Luke suffered the wrath of Palpatine, and Darth Vader, battered and powerless was in no condition to battle, could do no more than watch as Luke Skywalker lay dying.

However, Anakin Skywalker had never forgotten the pain Count Dooku and Galen Marek had inflicted upon him with the lethal power of Force lightning, nor could he bear to see his son in such agony. He had been unable to save his mother; he did nothing to prevent Mace Windu's death at Palpatine's hand; he betrayed the Jedi Order and murdered thousands of its members; he killed his former Master and best friend; he had lost his beloved wife and true love. But he could still save his son. Anakin Skywalker would not stand by and let his son fall. From that moment on, Darth Vader was no more, and Anakin Skywalker was reborn.

Refusing to watch his son die, Skywalker suddenly grabbed Sidious from behind and hoisted him from his feet. In a final effort of self-sacrifice, Skywalker stubbornly advanced using his regained power of the Light side; ignoring the agony inflicted upon him by his former Master's Force lightning as he walked towards the Death Star's reactor shaft with the struggling Emperor. Staggering to his destination, he threw Darth Sidious down the shaft to his death before collapsing. Mortally weakened by the lightning, and with his life support system shorted out, Anakin Skywalker had paid for his act of defiance with his life. Yet this single act brought him back to the light side.

Luke, attempting to save his father's life, dragged the dying elder Skywalker to the hangar where his shuttle lay. Anakin, knowing that he would die whether or not Luke managed to get him onto a ship, stopped his son.

Nearing death, Skywalker asked Luke to help him remove his mask, so that he could see his son with his own eyes, not through the lens filters of his mask. Luke helped disconnect the helmet and mask and saw his father's face for the first time. Beneath, Anakin Skywalker was bald; his hair follicles having been incinerated in Mustafar's flames, and the wounds from Mustafar's heat had never actually healed. However, his eyes were no longer the burning red-rimmed yellow of a Sith Lord, but the shining blue of his former self. Skywalker told Luke that he was right about him, there was good still in him; and to tell his sister, Leia, the same. With these last words, Anakin Skywalker died and became one with the Force. His last words behind the mask of Vader were especially telling as well—in response to Luke's protest that he would die without the mask, Skywalker responded "Nothing can stop that now. Just for once, let me look on you with my own eyes." These words constituted a final rejection of the lying promises of his master Darth Sidious, and a full embrace of the light side of the Force once again.

Luke narrowly escaped the exploding Death Star in a shuttle along with his father's armor and artificial remains, and reached the forest moon of Endor where Darth Vader's armor was cremated in the manner of a Jedi, since Skywalker's body had passed into the light. During the celebration, Luke saw a vision of a forgiven Skywalker; whole, and without the artificial body of Vader. Obi-Wan Kenobi and Yoda were next to him. His destiny fulfilled, Anakin Skywalker had passed on into the embrace of the light side of the Force.

Post mortem (4 ABY and beyond)
"Maybe Vader had died heroically, but ten minutes of contrition did not make up for years of atrocities."

- Leia Organa to the spirit of her father

When Vader re-embraced the light side of the Force, his organic body dematerialized and became one with the Force; Luke cremated only his father's armor with its prosthetics. Though Skywalker did not know about Qui-Gon Jinn's secret of joining the Force, and was surprised when Kenobi's body vanished right before he killed him, he was still able to retain his personality when joining the Force. Jinn had been outspoken in life about the Living Force, and taught Yoda that the secret to eternal life via the Force, was with love. Thus, according to Jinn, a Sith could never truly attain it. As he passed from life, Skywalker's love for his son consumed him completely, transforming him into a spirit like his Master had before him. Anakin Skywalker's specter would continue to appear throughout the years. Shortly after the Battle of Endor, Skywalker visited his son once more.

During the same period, Skywalker appeared before his daughter, Leia Organa, in, the capital of. There, he begged his daughter to forgive him. However, Leia had only recently learned of her parentage and was unable to ignore that he had committed gross crimes, including the and her own torture aboard the first Death Star, while serving Emperor Palpatine. Skywalker agreed to leave his daughter be but vowed to be there when she needed him and soon disappeared. However, in, upon discovering her grandmother's diary, Leia realized that her father wasn't the evil monster that she thought he was and learned to forgive him. In 10.5 ABY, Leia Organa Solo named her youngest child Anakin in remembrance of her father's redemption.

Twenty-two years later, after the first year of the, Anakin Skywalker would tell his grandson, Jacen Solo to "stand firm," something that helped Jacen defeat the   in combat and turn the tide of the war. Three years after that, near the end of this war, Anakin would give this advice to Jacen again before the latter defeated, the true ruler of the Vong, and ended that conflict by achieving oneness with the Force.

Legacy
"&hellip; A special destiny is not always something joyous, or easy to bear. My father had a special destiny, and see where it took him."

- Luke Skywalker

Anakin Skywalker, being the Chosen One of Jedi prophecy, left behind a great legacy. Since he married and started a family, Skywalker openly defied the Jedi Code to follow his heart. His love for his family turned out to be a double-edged sword: Darth Sidious, by preying upon the young Jedi's fear of losing his beloved wife, managed to seduce him over to the dark side. However, in the end, it was Skywalker's love for his son, Luke, which redeemed his soul. Even though Skywalker was the Chosen One, Luke served indirectly as the catalyst that allowed Skywalker to fulfill the Jedi prophecy, and slay Emperor Palpatine&mdash;an act which fractured the Galactic Empire. During Skywalker's tenure as Darth Vader, he helped Palpatine nearly eradicate the entire Jedi Order. However, this action, in turn, allowed the Jedi Order to be rebuilt by Anakin's son, Luke Skywalker.

Luke was able to take the little training he received from Yoda and Obi-Wan Kenobi and carry on the Jedi legacy. In the years following the Battle of Endor, Luke Skywalker established the. In the following years, it would go on to be a major player in galactic affairs, and would serve the for many years to come. Skywalker's daughter, Leia Organa Solo, would go on to be a key figure in the Rebel Alliance, and ultimately serve as the of the New Republic from –. Leia named one of her sons with Han Solo after her father. After, the Order served to help defend the New Republic and the Galactic Alliance during the

However, after his death, the Empire refused to believe Vader murdered Palpatine. They claimed that Luke killed both Sith Lords, and Vader had died heroically defending his master. However, soon the details became clear, and the Imperials saw Vader as a symbol of ultimate treachery. On the rare occasion that his name was spoken by those loyal to the Emperor, "Darth Vader" was said with disgust. However, Vader's name was still occasionally used by the Galactic Federation of Free Alliances, the, and even by some of the New Republic's New Jedi Order to symbolize power and to strike fear. Notably, the maintained the moniker "Vader's Fist" for its remaining 501st Stormtrooper Legion soldiers. Even Vader's grandchildren, on his daughter's side, sometimes invoked that legacy during the Yuuzhan Vong War.

Personality and traits
"For Anakin, there is nothing more important than friendship. He is the most loyal man I've ever met&mdash;loyal beyond reason; in fact [&hellip;] abstractions like peace don't mean much to him. He's loyal to people, not to principles. And he expects loyalty in return. He will stop at nothing to save me, for example, because he thinks I would do the same for him&hellip; because he knows I would do the same for him."

- Obi-Wan Kenobi As a young boy, Skywalker was thoughtful and intelligent. He was friendly and easily got along with others despite his status as a slave. He also had a special place in his heart for his mother, whom he constantly built inventions to sell or to use to lighten her workload. At the coming of the Jedi, he was both helpful and generous; doing all that he could to help them off-planet, risking his life at the podrace as well as giving them the sizable reward money which he and his mother would have had use for. Though lovable, he also was one to carry grudges and was vengeful, but he commonly held these two traits in check. He also hated being treated unjustly or being wrongly accused. He was fiercely loyal, doing anything to keep those he was close to from harm, at any cost. His only price for this dedication was loyalty in return.

His separation from his mother was the hardest thing he'd ever done, and it still hurt him for years. Because of his fear of losing even more friends in such a manner, he kept to himself, fiddling around with his only friends, the Temple droids. During this, however, he grew especially close to Kenobi, considering him a father and a role model. Due to his sudden escalation from slave to being known as the "Chosen One" and the rising star of the Jedi Order, pride and arrogance set in. He grew cocky, self-appreciating, and he grew to hate being reprimanded or lectured.

He was naturally honest and despised lying and deception, and especially hated politics, correctly considering most politicians to be greedy and self-conceited. Kenobi's continual self-consciousness when it came to Skywalker hurt the boy, who at times wasn't sure whether Kenobi liked him, something his heart craved. Therefore, he turned to a more complimenting, comforting source: Palpatine.

His yearning to be loved, as well as appreciated, came out in his devotion and secret marriage to Amidala, one of the only three people he ever thought appreciated or cared for him. As his fame grew, he became more and more arrogant, and he knew that he was one of the best Jedi of the Order, believing that he could easily best any Jedi blindfolded with his lightsaber tied behind his back. This coupled with his frustration at his perceived injustice at being kept at the rank of Jedi Knight made him more and more bitter and distrustful of the Jedi Council. His belief in them was shattered more and more as Skywalker's closest friend, Palpatine, swayed him from trusting them. Slowly, his bond with everyone except the Chancellor was completely shaken and broken, even that of his wife when he assumed her betrayal of him. Born out of this conflict was the Dark Lord of the Sith, Darth Vader.

"I'm not the Emperor. I don't kill for amusement&mdash;only when it serves my purposes."

- Darth Vader



After becoming Vader, Skywalker's personality changed completely. He was now a rattled man, shaken by the perceived betrayal of his dearest friend, his former comrades-in-arms, and his wife. Upon donning the armor that kept him alive, Vader initially remained uncertain, but regained his self-confidence following his killing of Roan Shryne on Kashyyyk. Vader had an extremely low tolerance of failure, and did not get on well at all with many of the higher-ups in the Imperial military, nearly choking Admiral Conan Antonio Motti to death when he challenged the power of the Force, though Admiral Motti survived due to the intervention of Grand Moff Wilhuff Tarkin. Both Admiral Kendal Ozzel and Captain Lorth Needa were not so fortunate, as Vader telekinetically strangled both men to death following blunders they had committed. For their part, many higher-ranking Imperial officials despised the Dark Lord and his "sorcerer's ways." He also retained his former identity's distaste for dishonesty and deception, having once gone into a massive rage that resulted in the destruction of a large part of the Jedi Counsel chamber upon learning that the Jedi Counsel, including Obi-Wan Kenobi, had hid the location of the Ghost Prison from him as well as Palpatine. However, he did develop some capability of crafting some falsehoods, or at the very least half-truths. This was especially evident when he told Lieutenant Tohm that he actually killed Anakin Skywalker, when he was in fact Anakin Skywalker.

Despite his rather rocky relationship with higher-ranking officers in the military, Vader got along quite well with the clone troopers, once remarking, "I was rather fond of Commander Appo," following the latter's death at the hands of Roan Shryne. One reason Vader was popular with the troops that served under him was his willingness to fight in the front line, and not expect of anyone anything he was not willing to do himself. One officer who looked up to Vader because of this was Erv Lekauf, who often spoke highly of Vader to his grandson Jori Lekauf. Another military officer to be taken under Vader's wing was Firmus Piett, who succeeded Ozzel as Admiral of Death Squadron, and notably survived being under the Sith Lord's command having erred not once, but twice during his tenure under Vader. However, both of these failures were caused by unforeseeable factors, not errors in judgment.

Despite his actions, Vader apparently believed he was doing what was good for the galaxy. He also appeared to have had a high sense of self-loathing as a result of his actions. He expressed the belief that the Empire was the only way the galaxy could attain peace, justifying his actions and those of the Empire as necessary to accomplish this. In addition, he also makes it clear to Dengar at one point that, while he does kill when it is what needs to be done, he does not take amusement at it.

In the end of his life, however, Skywalker broke away from the dark side, becoming whole once again. Redeemed by his son's love, father and son made peace before Skywalker became one with the Force and was reunited with his loved ones.

Shmi Skywalker
Skywalker's life revolved mostly around two women&mdash;Shmi, his mother, and Amidala, his wife. Having a very close relationship with his mother, it broke his heart to leave her on Tatooine while he went to Coruscant to chase his dreams, and he admired her courage she showed throughout her harsh life as a slave, especially the moment he decided to leave Tatooine. Her early death when he was just a young man shook him, and his slaughter of the Tusken Raiders brought him closer to the dark side. He vowed never to let anyone he loved be harmed again&mdash;namely Obi-Wan Kenobi, his master, and Amidala, who became his wife soon after.

Obi-Wan Kenobi
When Skywalker first met his future mentor, he was the second Jedi that he had encountered but Kenobi, like the rest of the Jedi Council, didn't believe that Skywalker should be trained. Despite this, he was willing to defy the Council's decision to respect his dying master's last wish to train Skywalker as a Jedi.

The first stage of their relationship was similar to that between a father and a son and Kenobi was, along with Amidala and Shmi, one of those Skywalker loved the most in the galaxy. Skywalker had great respect for his master and considered him an equal in wisdom only to Master Yoda. However, his arrogant and prideful attitude clashed with his master's more patient and peaceful ways. They would often disagree and engage in verbal jousts about the Jedi Order and the politics of Coruscant. However, their bond was strong enough that Skywalker was willing to disobey the Council's orders and go to Geonosis to rescue him when he was Count Dooku's prisoner.

After the Battle of Geonosis, their relationship changed again from a father-son one to one between two brothers. The antagonism that they would show, sometimes rather violently, turned into playful bickering. During the Clone Wars, Skywalker saved Kenobi's life at least ten times and the latter apparently did the same for him on some occasions. However, their relationship turned darker due to Skywalker's opposition to the Council's decisions and their refusal to trust the Chancellor. Kenobi also secretly suspected of Skywalker and Amidala's relationship.

When Skywalker fell to the dark side and became Darth Vader, Kenobi was heartbroken and even begged Master Yoda to send him to kill Darth Sidious in his stead as he couldn't kill his brother. When it appeared that Padmé had led Kenobi to him, he tried to kill them both. During their duel, Kenobi kept trying to find a trace of his old apprentice in the monster he had become but it was in vain and he finally accepted that Skywalker was gone. However, while the latter expressed eternal hatred towards his old master, Kenobi wasn't able to finish Skywalker off and left him to be consumed by the flames of Mustafar.

After this duel, Vader became bent on revenge and spent months trying to locate Kenobi. He was turned away from this goal by his new Master. Along with Yoda and Bail Organa, Kenobi protected Vader's children by hiding them from their father. When Kenobi and Skywalker met again on the Death Star, Kenobi sacrificed himself to allow Luke to escape. His spirit kept leading him so that he could defeat Vader and Sidious. When Skywalker fulfilled the prophecy and destroyed Sidious, dying himself in the process, Kenobi, Yoda and Qui-Gon Jinn, who had learned how to become one with the Force, led his spirit to join the Force, completing his redemption.

Padmé Amidala
Skywalker had met the disguised Queen Amidala in his home of Mos Espa, where she passed off as a commoner. After parting ways after the Battle of Theed, he continually thought of her, and his fascination grew for his bold and beautiful friend, who was four years his senior. They met again ten years later, and his fascination blossomed into love. After a hair-raising series of adventures together, she began to return his affection, and the two married as the Clone Wars begun. Although they saw each other rarely and had to work hard to keep their marriage a secret, Skywalker was deeply in love and vowed to protect Amidala from the fate he could not save his mother from. In the end, his fear for Amidala, whom he believed would die in childbirth, ultimately turned him to the dark side, and after he incapacitated her on Mustafar, she lost the will to live but still believed that he could be redeemed, which her memory in Luke helped do.

With Amidala, Skywalker had twin children, although he did not know of their existence until at least 20 years after they were born. Both were born at the secret base of Polis Massa, and their mother, Amidala, died shortly after their birth. Luke, the eldest of the two, was raised on the harsh desert planet of Tatooine (which, coincidentally, was also the home of Anakin Skywalker) by his father's stepbrother, Owen Lars, and his wife Beru. He was to follow in his father's footsteps and become a respected Jedi. Leia was raised by the Royal Family of Alderaan in its capital, Aldera. She was given the name Leia Organa, which later changed to Leia Organa Solo when she married. She would follow a similar path to her mother's, becoming a respected young Senator serving the galaxy, but also a leading member of the Rebel Alliance, which her mother helped to create. The two children were hidden from the Empire, the Emperor, their father and each other, not knowing of each other's existence until they were in their early twenties, and finding out they were related much later. In the end, both of them played a key role in defeating the Sith and the Empire, but it was Luke who ultimately defeated Darth Vader and redeemed Anakin Skywalker.

Luke Skywalker
Vader did in fact love his son and after learning of Luke Skywalker's existence, Vader immediately sought him. He originally wished for Skywalker to give into the dark side and join him so they could defeat the Emperor and rule the galaxy together as father and son. When Vader first revealed to Skywalker that he was his father, Skywalker refused to believe him and fled from him. Although Skywalker would eventually come to accept that Vader was his father and tried to redeem him rather than destroy him. When Skywalker was being tortured by Palpatine, in an act of love Vader killed Palpatine to save his son. Through his love for Luke, Vader was redeemed as Anakin Skywalker.

Leia Organa Solo
Before Vader was aware of the fact that Leia Organa was his daughter, he treated her as an enemy to the Empire and severely tortured her aboard the Death Star. Organa saw Vader as an evil person and monster that was willing to destroy the weak. Vader later learned of his relationship with Organa when he probed Skywalker's mind by using the Force. After his death, Vader, now as a redeemed Anakin Skywalker, confronted Organa as a Force ghost and tried to seek forgiveness but was turned away. He promised Organa that he would be there for her when she needed him. Organa eventually forgave her father after she read her grandmother's diary and learned that Vader was not the monster she thought he was. Organa even named her second son Anakin in honor of her father.

Jedi Knight
"If you had spent as much time practicing your saber techniques as you do your wit, you would rival Master Yoda as a swordsman.''" "I thought I already did." "''Only in your mind, my very young apprentice."

- Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker

Anakin Skywalker was trained by the Order's most promising Jedi Knight, Obi-Wan Kenobi. Through him, Skywalker would inherit a rich tradition of lightsaber training. Skywalker's style featured elements of many masters, making him outstandingly talented, even at a very young age.

Both Form V variants became the favored fighting styles of Anakin Skywalker, as their aggressive and strength-oriented fighting methods fit well with his arrogant, confrontational personality type. Due to his natural talent for lightsaber combat, he advanced quickly, an achievement which fed his ego, and he came to consider himself a match for Yoda. His specialty in the Shien form stood him in good stead during heated engagements with blaster-wielding foes, such as the Battle of Geonosis, and he became a formidable lightsaber duelist. Anakin Skywalker, studied Form VI to develop his skills with dual-blades, though he commented that he was working on this mostly as an exercise in control, and was doubtful that he would ever need to apply it. Skywalker's assumption was proven wrong when he wielded dual lightsabers against Dooku during the First Battle of Geonosis, and several other times during the Clone Wars.

However, Skywalker eventually realized how much he still had to learn when he confronted Count Dooku. Initially utilizing a dual-bladed variant of Ataru against the Count, Skywalker was forced to revert to his standard Form V practices when Dooku destroyed the extra blade. His skill was enough for Anakin to stand toe-to-toe with Dooku even longer than his Master did, actually impressing the masterful Count with his skills, but he was forced to draw heavily on his Force-abilities to match Dooku's speed and precision, tiring quickly. Dooku's far more energy efficient Makashi style won the day, and Skywalker lost his arm when he opened himself up.



As the Clone Wars progressed, Skywalker spent the following years of the conflict developing his skills in the many pitched battles. He began studying the Djem So variant of Form V and used brute strength to overwhelm his opponents, and was also known to attack his opponents by lunging at them. Evidence of his prowess included confrontations with the Dooku-trained Asajj Ventress or Grievous' IG-100 MagnaGuards, as well as numerous sparring matches with Obi-Wan Kenobi. Relying on both strength and agility, Skywalker proved able to adequately fend off or evade enemy attacks while immediately offering counters. By the time of the Battle of Teth, Skywalker was able to effectively hold his own against Dooku, as shown by their confrontation on Tatooine. Anakin Skywalker often applied some of the Ataru acrobatic moves, despite his mastery of Djem So.However, as the aggressive Form V encouraged practitioners to actively attempt to dominate their foes, Skywalker drew more and more on his anger and rage, sliding ever closer to the Dark side of the Force. When confronting Dooku for the last time, Skywalker relied heavily on these emotions to fuel his offense, demonstrating both overwhelming strength and bewildering speed as he bashed through Dooku's precision defense and sliced off both of the Count's hands before brutally executing him. Before his death, Dooku acknowledged Skywalker as the finest Djem So stylist that he had ever seen.

It also proved to Sidious that Skywalker was ready to become his apprentice.

Sith Lord
"&hellip;one can do some interesting things with a saber, you know. I'll do my best to show them all to you if you'll cooperate by not passing out."

- Darth Vader



When Anakin Skywalker at long last embraced the dark side and was rechristened Darth Vader, he maintained his Form V mastery, but utilized it in an even more brutal fashion, becoming a frightening opponent. However, his aggression became his fatal flaw, as he would become so controlled by it that it would give way to his rage. Though young, strong, athletic, and a master swordsman gifted with more raw Force power than any other Force adept, he still lacked the experience, calm, and focus that his former master possessed. Though Vader could, and would call on the dark side to overpower his opponents, his mounting emotions distracted him, clouding his judgment and preventing him from executing his form as well as Kenobi executed his. Whereas Vader's strength lay in his offensive barrage, Kenobi's strength resided in his staunch defense. Kenobi was regarded as the greatest master of the passive style Soresu in the Jedi Order, and his absolute dedication to it would prove vital to his victory. Vader, frustrated by his inability to break through this defense, began making mistakes and leaving openings that he otherwise would have avoided had he remained focused and patient. Kenobi, similar to his duel with Grievous, would utilize his "wait them out" philosophy, relying entirely on the defensive and energy-conservative moves until the opponent became frustrated or fatigued, causing them to leave sloppy openings in their offense that Kenobi could then exploit. In both cases, this resulted in the detachment of his opponent's limbs. This became Vader's downfall.

In his mechanical life-support suit, it was extremely difficult to engage in the energetic acrobatics of Ataru, an act that would quickly tire him, defeating the purpose of the aggressive style. Initially after gaining the suit, Vader was forced to rely on brute strength to batter his opponents, utilizing a clumsy method that utilized stiffly executed vertical strikes to wear down his opponent, although he included elements of Soresu and Ataru bladework in this, as witnessed by Jedi Master Roan Shryne when Vader engaged Bol Chatak.



However, Vader was able to overcome this limitation fairly quickly, developing a refined version of Djem So that continued to include Ataru and Soresu elements, but also added Makashi and Juyo to the mix. In fact, by the time of his first visit to Kashyyyk, Vader had incorporated aspects of all combat forms into his fighting style - even the highest and most dangerous ones. Rather than attempting to fight through the bulky and heavy armor, Vader fought with it, utilizing the armor's weight and his powerful prosthetics to provide his blows with incredible force, while relying on the main articulation points at the elbows and wrists for precision. With this new form, Vader regained some of his old agility, and his bladework was brutally effective. He never utilized anything less than a killing blow, and his swordplay demonstrated crispness and unpredictability, notwithstanding the two-handed grip he favored. Even the most simplistic moves contained enough strength to nearly disarm his opponents.

Vader proved able to apply this personalized variant in many ways, sometimes opting to fight one-handed, relying on precision and economy of movement, but thanks to the added strength his prosthetics afforded him, he maintained a great deal of power. He demonstrated this method against the likes of Olee Starstone and Luke Skywalker. However, when forced onto the defensive, Vader would fight with a two-handed grip, elbows pressed tightly to his sides with the blade held straight out in front of him, manipulating it deftly with his wrists only. This method proved effective for protecting his torso, and his vulnerable control panel, but it left his limbs open. Vader applied this defensive style against Roan Shryne during the subjugation of Kashyyyk and Obi-Wan Kenobi during their final duel on board the Death Star I.

While he utilized his customized style to great effect, even against multiple opponents, Vader occasionally fell back on the clumsy and stiff vertical strikes that he used during his first weeks in the suit, unleashing a relentless, offensive barrage, as demonstrated during his duel against Luke Skywalker on Bespin. Vader apparently learned his lesson from his duel with Kenobi, learning how to control his emotions when in combat and finding a way to call upon calculated bursts of the dark side while not being blinded by emotions running amok, fighting with determination and relentlessness rather than rage. Vader also trained frequently with combat droids to keep his skills sharp, using ASP-19s by 3.5 ABY. Based on the ASP-series droid, the ASP-19s were lightsaber combat droids programmed with the knowledge of a hundred swordmasters and a dozen fighting styles, faster and stronger than an ordinary man. Vader defeated them time and again, and thus ordered new, improved batches of them. As his finesse and skill improved, Vader found that they became too easy to defeat, so much so that he took to battling them in two-on-one matches.



However, despite his skill, Vader's method was not perfect. While a strong and relentless fighter, Vader could be outpaced by more agile duelists. This flaw was highlighted during his duel with Galen Marek on the Death Star I. While Vader unleashed a frenzy of bone-crushing blows, Marek blocked and evaded them, dancing around Vader's defenses while suffering only light cuts from the Sith Lord's missed attacks. Ultimately, Vader was quite simply too slow to keep up with Marek, and was brought down, despite the numerous small wounds the Dark Lord inflicted upon his student. In order to compensate for his lack of speed, Vader would unleash vicious telekinetic assaults on opponents capable of outpacing him, with unfortunate victims including Roan Shryne on Kashyyyk and Luke Skywalker on Bespin, though even this tactic could be beaten, as proved when Marek responded in kind.

Another duelist who proved able to stand against Vader was his own son, Luke Skywalker. In their initial engagements, Vader proved superior, though it still took some effort to defeat Skywalker, who displayed a great deal of skill despite his minimal level of training. However, onboard the second Death Star, Luke managed to defeat Vader. Mirroring Darth Vader's own Form V technique, Skywalker responded with his own furious demonstration of the style's raw power. Luke proved able to meet Vader strength-to-strength, his marked increase in skill and sudden display of aggression toward the end of their bout caught Vader off guard, allowing Luke to drive back and overwhelm the experienced Sith Lord.

Jedi Knight
The fact that Skywalker was born with the highest known midi-chlorian count in galactic history and was considered to be the Chosen One leads to various conclusions about his Force potential and power. Although extremely young and having less than perfect training (due to his late age joining the Order), Skywalker was one of the most powerful living Jedi.

Skywalker's unprecedented midi-chlorian count made him one of the most powerful members of the Jedi Order; however, it also made Skywalker arrogant. When he came to the Jedi Temple at the age of nine, he began to develop at a much faster and accelerated pace than his fellow Padawans, further feeding his pride and self-importance.

Skywalker was skilled in the use of telekinesis able to lift heavy objects with minimal effort. During his duel with Asajj Ventress on Yavin 4, he easily deflected a large pillar back at Ventress when she hurled it at him and immediately afterwards he used the Force to block her Force Push without even slowing down. He was also skilled at Force Jump, and was able to leap massive distances. Skywalker was also capable of a powerful Force Push; however it should be noted that despite having a stronger connection to the Force than Obi-Wan Kenobi, his Force Push was unable to overcome Kenobi's during their duel on Mustafar. He was also skilled at Jedi Mind Tricks. However, Skywalker also had a habit of using the Force Choke power, a sign of who and what he would later become. Skywalker was also proficient in the use of Force speed, able to use it to increase the efficiency of his lightsaber skills. Anakin also had an affinity for the use of Force visions, such as when he predicted the deaths of his wife and mother. He also possessed a keen Force sense, such as when he sensed the assassination attempt on his future wife. During the Zillo Beast incident, Anakin was able to conjure a Force barrier with the assistance of Yoda and Aayla Secura. During the Battle of Mon Calmari, Anakin was able to use the Force to rip apart the support bindings of the plannetry scanner, toppling the building over.

During the Battle of Geonosis, Skywalker displayed some skill in Animal friendship, allowing him to ride the reek that was present in the arena.

During the late Clone Wars, Skywalker also developed his own Force abilities, which included Vader's Wrath (where he smashes his lightsaber blade into the ground, causing blue light fissures to erupt and wipe out anyone in the vicinity); Plo Koon's Round (a horizontal spin slash); Tyranus' Uppercut (a vertical jump slash); and Sidious' Hate (gathering enough force energy into the users' hand and then pounding the ground with the force-enhanced fist, sending a red shockwave).

Shortly after becoming Darth Vader, Anakin learnt how to fire Force lightning (probaly from Palpatine) from his hands, and used it to attack at least one Jedi initiate during Operation Knightfall. star wars kotf

Sith Lord
"&hellip;you are so far less now than what you were, you are more than half machine, you are like a painter gone blind, a composer gone deaf, you remember where the power was but the power you can touch is only a memory&hellip;"

- Anakin's thoughts after the revelation of his wife's death



Because his lungs were severely damaged and his body severely burned on Mustafar, Darth Vader lost much of his Force potential but had increased in his power in the Dark side as well as the pain of having his limbs severed causing his hate to increase even further to the point of no recognition of the man he used to be ( despite Padme insisting there was still good in him). As Darth Vader, Skywalker was believed to have had roughly eight-tenths of the strength of the Emperor. But even still, Vader wielded tremendous power and skill - more than even the venerable Master Yoda. Had none of the events on Mustafar, he would have been even more powerful than the Emperor. Knowing this Palpatine did many things to keep Vader from turning for example he cut off Vaders right arm because of the first death star's destruction reminding vader of his faliure on Geonosis hoping this would tell Vader he was no where near as powerful as him although, it did the oppisite increasing Vaders distrust towards Palpitine.

The Emperor, having gone out of his way to keep Vader alive, took an alternative viewpoint. Though it was true to say that he had not bargained for an apprentice that was "more machine than man", Palpatine was initially of the opinion that most of the limitations on Vader's potential power were not physical but psychological. He believed that, were Vader to fully confront his choices and disappointments to completely shake himself out of his despair, he would have been able to reawaken the incredible power of the chosen one within him. To an extent, this was true: Once he got used to his armour, Vader regained the confidence and most of the power and agility he possessed as Skywalker along with his new found powers of the dark side. Yet, while Vader made progress in this regard, he was never fully able to accept who and what he had become, and therefore never fully regained the power of the chosen one he had wielded as Skywalker. Sidious would ultimately come to realize that Vader would never be the apprentice he longed for. He would try to replace him on at least two occasions with more powerful Force-sensitives, Galen Marek and Luke Skywalker.The Prophets of the Dark Side also saw Vader as too much of a Jedi to truly embrace the Dark side.

One of Vader's talents was to be able to block blaster bolts with his hands because his gloves are composed of a unique micronized iron that could deflect anything short of a lightsaber blow.

Darth Vader also seemed to favor the Force choke ability, as he demonstrated it numerous times throughout his life. Upon learning of his wife's death, Darth Vader unleashed a powerful cry that could be heard through the Force. The Dark Lord also possessed skill in the use of Tutaminis, such as when he deflected several blaster bolts from Han Solo's blaster on Bespin. Vader also had proficiency in the use of Kinetite, which he used in an attempt to defeat his son on Mimban. Vader also used a similar power to Force Destruction when facing Galen Marek on the Death Star in Star Wars: The Force Unleashed. He surrounded himself with a red energy field, then would unleash it at Marek.

The Dark Lord could also use Telepathy, such as when he communicated with his son shortly after their duel on Bespin. Vader demonstrated the ability to Drain Knowledge from his victims, such as when he discovered that Luke had a twin sister. Vader was also adept at the saber throw, as demonstrated in his final fight with Luke.

Vader also appeared to have great physical strength, able to lift a grown man by the throat with one hand, and picking up the Emperor and hurling him to his death. Whether these feats result from his use of the Force or from the power of his cybernetic limbs is unknown. However, it seems most likely to be a result of his mechanical appendages, as evidenced by when he choked Kenobi in their battle on Mustafar.

Besides the life support it provided his ravaged body, Vader's Sith armor also offered some protection against the blades of lightsabers. In a climactic duel with his son in the depths of Cloud City, a quick blow from Luke's lightsaber appeared to cut the armor only shallowly, although this was enough to draw a surprised cry from the Dark Lord.

Because of his decreased mobility, he was at a disadvantage when dueling against beings using faster and quicker combat styles like Ataru. To counter fast-moving opponents, he would use the Force to pull out anything from his surroundings that wasn't nailed to the ground and fling the improvised missiles at his opponent or using the Force to hover off the ground or fly short distances. Without moving a muscle, anything from the venue of the battle could be used as a weapon to crash against Vader's opponents from all directions in a never-ending barrage. Darth Vader first used this tactic in the Duel on Mustafar, slicing shards of metal from the walls and shooting them at Obi-Wan Kenobi. Darth Vader also used this tactic to bring down Jedi Knight Roan Shryne, and most famously Luke Skywalker in their first duel on Bespin. During his fight with clone of Galen Marek on Kamino Vader showed enough skills in telekinesis to throw a giant platform. However Starkiller was able to block his attack.

It should be noted that Darth Vader, despite being a powerful Sith Lord, was not keen on  generating Force lightning. This was due to his cybernetic implants on his lungs, and any attempt by Vader to generate it and someone to deflect it would cause it to backfire, electrocuting his life-support systems, causing it to short-circuit and kill him. This is ultimately how he was killed, as his act of redemption in saving his son caused him to be bombarded with the Emperor's lightning. However this did not mean he could not use it he was able to generate force lightning in the jedi temple as well as harnessing the lightning on top of Kamino in his battle with Galen's clone also notebly when his dark side abilities increased thanks to the Kaiburr crystal he was able to generate unusually powerful red lightning despite his mechanical handicaps. Because Vader's Sith powers were limited due to his artificial life support systems and broken mind, Darth Sidious found him less than satisfactory as his heir to the Sith legacy, despite the effort Sidious spent for more than a decade to recruit Skywalker. Upon the discovery of Luke Skywalker, Palpatine concentrated on turning him to the dark side.

Languages known

 * Galactic Basic Standard
 * Huttese
 * Binary (understand verbal)
 * Sith language

Other abilities
Anakin Skywalker was a man of many talents. He was well known for his exceptional piloting skills, skills that earned him a name as a Jedi ace and a Tan; having such a piloting reputation that some would go so far as to argue he was the best star pilot in the galaxy. During Skywalker's tenure as a slave, he made a name for himself by being a podracer. He was one of the few Humans and the youngest one with the reflexes to actually pilot a podracer, thanks to his Force sensitivity. Skywalker even won the Boonta Eve Classic race at the age of nine, an act that won him his freedom. Young Skywalker also attracted the attention of many in the Republic: during the Battle of Naboo, he piloted a Naboo starfighter and destroyed a Droid Control Ship. His efforts no doubt single-handedly helped win the battle, but it was only a foreshadowing of his skills to come. During the Clone Wars, Skywalker was one of the Republic's best and most famous star pilots. He perfected an assortment of strategies; most notable was his skill at opening fire just before passing through enemy formations, leaving little time for evasion. He also displayed relentless tenacity in chasing down his targets as well as shaking off target locks. The latter ability would later be displayed by his son, Luke Skywalker. His abilities garnered the attention of both Chancellor Palpatine and his peers. At the Battle of Coruscant, Skywalker was able to safely land the huge cruiser Invisible Hand, despite the fact that he was only flying half a ship, and it was not even built to be able to land.

"I can fix anything."

- Anakin Skywalker

Skywalker was also known to be an exceptional mechanic. He could fix anything from a damaged droid motivator to a malfunctioning repulsorlift. The young Skywalker quickly understood how things worked, and his strong knowledge of mechanical systems coupled with his closeness to the Force allowed him to pilot most vehicles and starfighters. He used his droid hydrospanner wrench to reassemble his Otoga 222 and built welding goggles with many settings from scratch to use for precise work and to diagnose mechanical problems. At the age of nine he created, even with limited resources, the protocol droid C-3PO to aid his mother.

For the Boonta Eve Classic race, Skywalker entered his custom-built podracer made from parts found in Watto's junk shop. As testament to Anakin Skywalker's engineering brilliance, his Podracer featured a number of amazing innovations built into its compact frame. Skywalker salvaged a pair of Radon-Ulzer 620C racing engines that Watto deemed too burned out to be of any use. Less crafty pilots often invested in larger engines in the hopes of getting greater performance. The trouble with that route is that the larger the engine, the heavier the racer. Skywalker side-stepped that dilemma by developing a new fuel atomizer and distribution system that sent more fuel into the Radon-Ulzer's combustion chambers, radically increasing their thrust and his racer's top speed to almost 950 kilometers per hour. Skywalker capped each Radon-Ulzer with a trio of bright yellow air scoops that provided additional control when braking and cornering. When meeting up with his former slave owner, Skywalker proved his identity to the Toydarian by fixing a machine Watto was tinkering with.

During the Clone Wars, Skywalker extensively modified a Delta-7 Aethersprite starfighter into a fully customized starship known as Azure Angel; modifications that would pave the way for the Eta-2 Actis interceptor. Skywalker also often tinkered with his prosthetic arm as he did his starfighter. The TIE Advanced x1 starfighter was designed to Vader's specifications, having larger angular wings, a considerably longer rear engine, and thicker support struts than the standard TIE. In addition, Skywalker was fluent in understanding the electronic language of Binary, the information-dense, low redundancy electronic language of most pit crew and simple droids, thus, allowing him to interface with them.

Darth Vader was a brilliant strategist and was still, despite his weakened powers, one of the greatest pilots in the galaxy. His armor did not dull the precognition ability he possessed since childhood and he was able to predict the movements of his targets during dogfights with pinpoint precision. He still possessed his former persona's amazing engineering skills, having personally overseen the design of both his TIE Advanced x1 fighter and the second Death Star's construction. In addition, he also possessed his former persona's exceptional piloting skills&mdash;During a TIE training exercise, Vader, after allowing himself into the training exercise, managed to shoot down everyone despite his targeting and navigation computers being disabled prior to launch; saving Colonel Vindoo Barvel, widely considered to be the best pilot in the galaxy, for last. He then proceeded to toy with Barvel; did various maneuvers that TIEs would not have been capable of doing; matched his every move; before shooting him down despite Barvel's best efforts in escaping. A TIE pilot involved in the exercise, Villian Dance, would later recall his abilities during this event and considered suicide by overloading his TIE's engines in the event that he got on Vader's bad side and was pursued by him.

Jedi Knight
"This weapon is your life."

- Obi-Wan Kenobi to Anakin Skywalker

Anakin built and used two lightsabers during his time as a Jedi.

First Lightsaber

In 28 BBY, as a young Padawan, Skywalker traveled to Ilum as a test of skill to construct his first lightsaber. While constructing his lightsaber deep inside one of the caverns, Skywalker encountered a vision of Darth Maul. After a struggle, Skywalker managed to defeat this dark incarnation, and, upon awakening, Skywalker discovered he had constructed a lightsaber that contained one of the sapphire s that grew in Ilum's caverns, giving the blade a distinct blue glow. The design of the hilt suited his practice of Form V. He did not do what many Padawans do and create a lightsaber to resemble his master's—instead creating a personalized make that favored maximum power. This lightsaber would go on to be used by Skywalker up until the onset of the Clone Wars, when it was destroyed just prior to the Battle of Geonosis on a droid factory assembly line.

Second Lightsaber

Skywalker later built a new lightsaber of a slightly different design. This weapon was a powerful creation that portrayed his skill of mechanical engineering; specifically built and designed for a master of Djem So, as Skywalker was soon to become. In 19 BBY, after his duel with Obi-Wan Kenobi on Mustafar, this lightsaber was taken by Skywalker's former Master, which he kept with him on Tatooine.

In 0 BBY, Kenobi passed Skywalker's lightsaber, the one he'd retrieved from the black shores of Mustafar, down to Skywalker's son, Luke, whom Kenobi had been watching over for 19 years during his exile. Kenobi must have modified the saber while he was on Tatooine since the hilt was slightly different at that time, most notably the belt fastener was changed from a clip into a ring. In the hands of Luke Skywalker, Skywalker's blade was wielded against numerous foes, even against Skywalker himself as the Dark Lord of the Sith, Darth Vader. During his duel on Bespin with Luke, Vader sliced off Luke's right hand, sending both Luke's hand and lightsaber into the depths of Cloud City. The lightsaber, along with Luke's hand, would later be recovered.

A few years after Skywalker's death at Endor,, a mad clone of Jedi Master Jorus C'baoth, would use Luke's severed right hand to create a clone of the Jedi,. Wielding the blade of Skywalker, Luuke went on to duel Luke and Mara Jade. After Luuke was killed by the combined effort of the duo, Luke recovered his father's weapon and presented it to Mara as a gift. The lightsaber would remain in Mara's possession for many years and was passed on to his grandson. It would later be displayed in the Skywalkers' home on Ossus.

Sith Lord
After his defeat on Mustafar at the hands of Obi-Wan Kenobi and the subsequent theft of his lightsaber by the Jedi Master, Vader was forced to build a new weapon. His new weapon was constructed in the shadow of the Death Star, with Palpatine providing the synthetic lightsaber crystal for the weapon, as well as his own lightsaber to serve as a model. However, Vader considered his master's weapon an antique, and sought to create a personalized design with more ballast. Attempting to please Palpatine, Vader attempted to create a novel design, but the resulting weapon was little more than a black-alloy version of his first Jedi lightsaber.

This weapon featured a thick, ridged handgrip, a high-output diatium power cell, a dual-phase focusing crystal, forward mounted adjustment knobs, and a beveled emitter shroud. However, due to the size of his mechanical hands, Vader was forced to make the grip considerably thicker and longer than his original lightsaber, resulting in an inelegant weapon, verging on ungainly.

It is known that Vader created more than one lightsaber, but due to the modifications Vader made to his weapons, it is impossible to tell which the original was. Vader also appeared to have experimented with a rounded emitter shroud similar to his second Jedi weapon.

Vader's lightsaber was lost when it fell down the reactor shaft on the Death Star II along with the remains of his mechanical right hand during the final battle with his son. It was then destroyed moments later as the Rebel Alliance destroyed the Death Star II.