Star Wars #14 Review (Vader Down Part 5)

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Darth Vader takes on all challengers.

Warning: this article contains spoilers for Star Wars #14 (Vader Down, Part 5).

Star Wars #14

Writer: Jason Aaron | Artist: Mike Deodato | Colorist: Frank Martin Jr. | Letterer: Chris Eliopoulos  | Cover: Mark Brooks

Darth Vader isn’t very popular in the galaxy far, far away. He is stranded on a planet full of rebels led by a Princess that is hell bent on destroying him. Just when it appears that Imperial aid has arrived, those Imperials turn on him as well. Commander Karbin, the Mon Calamari cyborg rival to Vader, has arrived to complete his mission: find the Rebel pilot that destroyed the Death Star. In the process, he takes advantage of the opportunity to eliminate a rival for the Emperor’s favor and openly challenges Darth Vader.

Karbin’s appearance interrupts a confrontation between Darth Vader and Princess Leia. Mustering all her courage, the Alderaanian Princess boldly proclaims that Vader and the Emperor’s evil is not long for the galaxy and that the Empire is destined to lose the war. In response, Darth Vader delivers a chilling line: “This is not a war, Princess. Wars are for lesser men than the Emperor and myself. This is a series of executions. And yours is long overdue.” This perspective is hard to dispute. The entire Clone Wars were essentially a large series of executions designed to cripple the Jedi, the Republic, and all resistance towards consolidation of the Empire. Despite the loss of the Death Star, the Emperor and his enforcer have little reason to doubt their ability to crush the Rebellion. The Emperor and Vader, the Rebellion must look more like a final and mostly insignificant obstacle to galactic domination. The real struggle to them is between themselves. This is what drives Vader to find Luke.

Another feature of this issue is the wookiee brawl that was teased in the last installment of is unleashed here. The fight goes both ways between Krssantan and Chewbacca. Krrsantan gets the early upper hand on Chewbacca until R2-D2 injects him with a stimulation anti-toxin. Chewie maintains the advantage in the fight until Krssantan pulls out the Star Wars equivalent of brass knuckles and puts Chewbacca down for the count.

While the fights rage across Vrogas Vas, Luke stumbles back to the Jedi temple he discovered earlier in the series. As he arrives, the voice of Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ben) speaks to Luke. Upon hearing his name spoken by his deceased mentor, Luke anxiously explains that he found Ben’s journal, and he followed it to the Jedi temple on Vrogas Vas hoping to find something he could use. Obi-Wan does not acknowledge Luke’s success and warns Luke he is not ready for what is coming. The question is “what is coming?” Luke needs to know. The journal was left behind for Luke in Ben’s hut on Tatooine. The container protecting it said, “For Luke.” Ben’s admonishment that Luke was not ready for this place is a bit late. Luke made no secret he was heading there to Artoo. Could Ben not have interceded at that time? Did something prevent Ben from doing so? Is there a power inherent in this temple that let’s Ben talk to Luke now?

The heart of this issue is the duel between Commander Karbin and Darth Vader. Karbin’s pride blinds him. Like many of the Imperials in the pages of Darth Vader, he underestimates the Dark Lord. He prides himself on his perceived technological superiority and the fact that he can bring four lightsabers to his fight against Vader’s one. As Vader warned Adminral Motti in A New Hope: “Don’t be too proud of this technological terror you have constructed.” It turns out that Karbin truly was insignificant compared to the power of the Force, which Vader uses to nearly crush him under a statue. Crippled, Karbin flees. Vader pursues the damages cyborg, but experiences ghosts and whispers from his past as Anakin Skywalker in the remains of a Jedi Temple. Karbin takes advantage of Vader’s being distracted to launch a sneak attack.

At this point, things are looking bleak for the band of Rebels. Krrsantan has subdued Chewbacca with brass knuckles. Luke has been apprehended by Storm Troopers (despite BT-1 and Triple Zero interfereing), and with Chewbacca out of the way, Han finds himself in the clutches of Krrsantan. C-3PO senses that all is lost, or doomed as he is fond of saying, and attempts to contact Leia to recommend retreat.

Threepio’s pleas fall on deaf ears. Leia emerges from hiding, prepared to take a shot at Vader, who appears to be completely distracted by his fight with Karbin. This is where the issue concludes, and it is an excellent point to do so. One of the overarching themes of this series is how far will Leia go to destroy Darth Vader? What will she sacrifice in order to defeat the Dark Lord of the Sith – the sole remaining architect of her planet’s doom that she is aware of after Tarkin’s demise? She has been prepared to sacrifice Luke despite Han’s pleas to the contrary. She nearly sacrificed herself in an act of desperation. Now, all of her companions are in great peril. She may be their only hope. While this issue leaves a cliffhanger ending, it puts Leia on the edge of the precipice of her convictions: is she truly willing to sacrifice all in order to destroy Vader? In some ways, this series is a trial for the Princess. This is Leia’s call to the dark side and the story of whether she can resist that call. This is Leia’s version of the cave on Dagobah. Luke failed there. Will Leia resist the temptation?

Favorite Panel:

As great as Darth Vader and Star Wars have been at times, one thing those series have lacked is a truly great looking lightsaber duel featuring Darth Vader. The Dark Lord fought Luke Skywalker in the early issues of Star Wars, but that hardly counts. Vader thoroughly dominated that matchup and it was over before it really started. In later issues of Darth Vader, a free-for-all fight between Vader and Dr. Cylo’s minions was featured. Some interesting things happened during that fight, but there wasn’t a particularly good saber duel to be had. Finally, in the pages of Star Wars 14, Vader gets to put his saber skills to the test against an opponent with skill, which just happens to be one of Cylo’s minions. Furthermore, Karbin doubles as a stand-in for General Grievous in some respects. Anakin Skywalker never got the chance to fight the Separatist General saber-to-saber. That honor went to Obi-Wan Kenobi. Vader finally gets his chance at the cyborg general’s likeness in this book. I have selected one of the panels from their duel as this issue’s favorite panel.