Registered: Jan 2020
Location: Chiss Defense Fleet
The strongest Vader....
I'm really curious which incarnation is held in the highest esteem in new canon.
The stipulations- whoever wins each round will fight the next version of Vader listed. So for example, if KF Vader beats Rebels Vader in round 1, then next round would be "KF Vader vs. ANH Vader"...and so on.
Round 1- RotS Vader (Knightfall) vs. Rebels Vader
Round 2- ANH Vader.
Round 3- ESB Vader
Round 4- ROTJ Vader
Round 1: Rebels Vader trounces Knightfall Vader. Knightfall Vader is much less impressive in Canon than he was in Legends. Canon Anakin has far fewer feats, and much less impressive hype. Sure, he still has his victory over Dooku, but that's about it. Beating Cin Drallig while killing two padawans isn't as impressive as it was in Legends, because Canon Cin Drallig doesn't have much to his name beyond being head of temple security. Meanwhile, Rebels Vader benefits from all his insane comic feats by that time, like being struck by a literal tidal wave of lava and coming out of it with just a few damaged servos in his suit.
Round 2: ANH should beat Rebels Vader. This is still Vader at his peak, with just a couple more years of accumulating power and knowledge. The Vader Immortal story has taken place between Vader's last Rebels appearance and his appearance in ANH. By this point, he's been dabbling with Sith sorcery. He's preserved the Grand Inquisitor in something akin to a state of undeath, and keeps an echo of Padme's soul (or something along those lines) in a crystal within his fortress on Mustafar. With all this in mind, I can only picture Vader having grown more powerful between Rebels S2 and ANH.
Round 3: The 2015 Vader run, along with parts of the 2015 Star Wars comic run, show that Vader only grows between ANH and ESB. Learning Luke was his son gave him a newfound determination, and at one point he built a full shadow empire within the Empire to eliminate his rivals. Palpatine was greatly pleased by Vader's performance during this time period. I'm inclined to say ESB Vader outshines ANH Vader by a heavy margin.
Round 4 is honestly the hardest to call, as we still don't have all the information yet. Immediately after ESB, when he was rejected by Luke, Vader was rather unstable and severely weakened. But as the Vader 2020 comic continues, he seems to have found a renewed purpose and determination. I'm not sure if he's back to operating at peak ability, but he does have some really impressive showings. Especially in his hunt to kill Palpatine, ending in him finding Exegol. And while Luke clearly starts getting Vader to crack and reveal Anakin over the course of RotJ, the book Beware the Power of the Dark Side indicates that Vader's combative abilities were still at their height during his final duel against Luke.
Honestly, I think RotJ Vader may very well be Vader at his most powerful, just like in Legends. Pablo may have stated behind the scenes that Rebels Vader was Vader at his strongest, but the story group has also been very clear that their statements are not definitive canon. It's why Pablo and others hate being asked questions of continuity on social media. Canon is determined by actual storytelling, not behind the scenes comments. If a story contradicts something they've said behind the scenes, they're wrong and the story is right.
Some version of suit Vader is probably the strongest, but the ideea that he trounces KFV is outdated(no offence).
In 2021 KFV got 3 or 4 quotes putting him at Yoda/ROTS Sidious level. So he is still about as powerful as he was in legends (relative to his continuity obv).
Also, Hidalgo statement is not about power acording to Hidalgo himself.He clarified that on twitter a few months ago.
Last edited by Darthadi on Jan 31st, 2022 at 10:34 PM
I missed those KFV quotes! Do you know what they're from? I'd love to see them. I've honestly been very disappointed with how little hype Anakin has had in Canon.
Got ya. Yeah, very aware of Gillard's comments and the rots novel, but I was thinking there was new disney-related material that put them on the same level.
I mean you can come to that conclusion just based on other material, but thought there might be something new that directly says it. Thanks anyways!!
Jan 31st, 2022 04:17 PM
