Spoiler alert for anyone who hasn't read the comic. Don't read this if you haven't read it yet.
So, in the Darth Vader Annual #2, Vader figures out what the Death Star is. He discovers that it is a world-killer, built using kyber crystals. When he confronts Tarkin over this, Tarkin effectively mocks Vader, pointing out Vader's hypocrisy over the Death Star being a technological aberration, while Vader himself is also one. In response, Vader makes a "prediction" that the Death Star will be Tarkin's tomb.
The next page, we see a droid approach Lyra Erso, Galen Erso's wife. Vader learned of Galen and Lyra earlier in the comic. This droid warns Lyra of just what kind of monstrosity her husband is working on, then subsequently self-destructs. Which leads to Galen leaving Project Stardust.
Galen then is forced back into working on Project Stardust by Krennic. Galen engineers a deliberate design flaw into the Death Star. Vader then 'fails' to prevent the Rebels from escaping with the plans over Scariff. Vader then 'fails' to capture the plans on the Tantive IV. When he has the perfect chance to secure the plans on the Death Star, he deliberately allows the rebels to escape, "to lead back to the Rebel base." And ultimately, this chain of coincidences leads to Tarkin, Vader's greatest rival in the Empire, being killed when the Death Star, a piece of technology that would have basically made Vader obsolete, is destroyed by the Rebellion.
The implication, at least from how I see it, is that Vader deliberately engineered all of these events by warning Lyra. This comic set up Vader as a mastermind, orchestrating the downfall of the one man in the Empire who outranked him (not counting the Emperor himself), along with the destruction of a weapon of fear and power so great that Vader's role as the Emperor's enforcer would no longer have been necessary.
To me, this might be the greatest example of weaponized Force precognition I've seen. The domino effect caused by Vader warning Lyra Erso of what her husband was creating effectively wiped out all opposition within the Empire for Vader, opening up an opportunity for him to seize control of the entire Imperial military in the 2015 Vader comic.
Of course, I could be reading too much into this, but I strongly feel that this is what the story was trying to get across. We already know Vader is excellent at long-term scheming, thanks to the 2015 Vader comic run. And it makes sense for his Force precognition skills to be powerful enough for him to predict such a chain of events, given who Vader is. It almost reminds me of how the Shatterpoint ability worked in Legends. Vader just happened to find the perfect shatterpoint to bring down both Tarkin and the Death Star with a few anonymous words to the wife of a random scientist.
That's my speculation on this, anyway. What do you guys think? Was this a grand plan by Vader to wipe out his rival? Or am I reading way too much into this?
Vader is not really that. He is a bit of a schemer, but not so complex.
__________________ RealistRacism: "Sheevites, much like the Banites, were meant to increase in power with each member. From Lightsnake to Gideon to Azronger, this was supposed to be the case. However, knowledge must've been lost in some kind of Gravid-like incident, as Az turned out to be a mid-tier debater with a sub-par track record, sh!itting all over Tempest's legacy. Sad."
I bet he just wants to s**k Vader's Force balls with this post. As if it proves he is one of the strongest Sith Lords.
__________________ RealistRacism: "Sheevites, much like the Banites, were meant to increase in power with each member. From Lightsnake to Gideon to Azronger, this was supposed to be the case. However, knowledge must've been lost in some kind of Gravid-like incident, as Az turned out to be a mid-tier debater with a sub-par track record, sh!itting all over Tempest's legacy. Sad."
That is pretty stupid just to allow all that to happen just to kill Tarkin, I don't see how the DS would make Vader obsolete. Destroying planets all willy nilly wouldn't be beneficial at all and aside from the superlaser, the Death Star is just a giant mobile station so Vader could still be the Emperor's enforcer and his apprentice....yeah Vader just allowing all that to happen just to get rid of the Death Star and Tarkin is dumb.
__________________ RealistRacism: "Sheevites, much like the Banites, were meant to increase in power with each member. From Lightsnake to Gideon to Azronger, this was supposed to be the case. However, knowledge must've been lost in some kind of Gravid-like incident, as Az turned out to be a mid-tier debater with a sub-par track record, sh!itting all over Tempest's legacy. Sad."
Yeah, the comic sucked. Didn't like any of it. All of it was just off, IMO. I liked the idea that Vader and Tarkin had such deep respect for one another that they almost had somewhat of a friendship (despite disagreements) not an enemy-alliance with complete disrespect for one another.
__________________ "The power of the dark side is an illness no true Sith would wish to be cured of" -Darth Plagueis
__________________ RealistRacism: "Sheevites, much like the Banites, were meant to increase in power with each member. From Lightsnake to Gideon to Azronger, this was supposed to be the case. However, knowledge must've been lost in some kind of Gravid-like incident, as Az turned out to be a mid-tier debater with a sub-par track record, sh!itting all over Tempest's legacy. Sad."
this issue definitely makes it look like Vader set Tarkin up; obviously he sent the messenger droid to Erso... and I dig that, Vader has never been seen as a schemer so its nice to see him learning from his master and doing what Sidious did... one thing I dont get though is how does Vader know nothing of the Death Star when he is seen watching its development at the end of ROTS?
__________________ RealistRacism: "Sheevites, much like the Banites, were meant to increase in power with each member. From Lightsnake to Gideon to Azronger, this was supposed to be the case. However, knowledge must've been lost in some kind of Gravid-like incident, as Az turned out to be a mid-tier debater with a sub-par track record, sh!itting all over Tempest's legacy. Sad."
Vader obviously knew that Palpatine was constructing a massive space station, but he didn't know its true purpose(as a planet-killer) until he saw that kyber crystals were being harvested as a power source for its primary weapon.
Well I mean if they wanna go that route, then...ok? Though I necessarily don't agree with it as it seems kinda pointless, other than showing Vader throwing a fit over it. He didn't really seem to give two *** about the DS in ANH, so why he would care it would replace him when it wouldn't is beyond me.
Unless the Emperor would allow the Empire to just destroy every single planet that decided to rebel against them.
__________________ "Commence primary ignition."
Last edited by Zenwolf on Jul 20th, 2018 at 02:01 AM
What I didn't like is how this issue depicted Tarkin and Vader as bitter rivals... Yet in pretty much all other canon prior to this they have a mutual respect toward one another.
__________________
"I am tired of Earth. These people.
I am tired of being caught in the tangle of their lives."
Except there was no hint of respect here from either party. Tarkin treated Vader like a b*tch -- completely belittled and talked down to him. Same coin, Vader seemed to utterly loathe Tarkin.
This doesn't at all mesh with their previously established history wherein they share a great deal of mutual respect with one another, and certainly do not go around verbally berating each other... /shrug
__________________
"I am tired of Earth. These people.
I am tired of being caught in the tangle of their lives."
Last edited by Galan007 on Jul 20th, 2018 at 02:54 AM
ok but this is the first time that Tarkin has had explicit control over Vader, theres bound to be growing pains there for sure; keep in mind theres like 18 years between this and ANH
Jul 19th, 2018 09:49 AM
