THE WAY IT STARTS OUT WITH VADER’S CATWALK SASHAY TOWARDS THE SHIP
YOU CAN SEE THE “WALK WALK MURDER BABY” ON FULL DISPLAY
HE IS WORKING IT LOOK AT HIM
BUT THEN!
WHAT REALLY GETS ME ABOUT THIS SCENE IS THE SAME THING THAT RUNS THROUGHOUT THE EPISODE.
I’VE SEEN DARTH VADER DO A LOT OF SHIT YOUR PANTS LEVEL TERRIFYING THINGS, I’VE SEEN HIM MURDER CHILDREN IN THE MOVIES, I’VE SEEN HIM RIP APART A ROOM AND THROW THE WALLS AT PEOPLE IN JEDI: FALLEN ORDER, I’VE SEEN HIM SLICE THROUGH REBELS LIKE THEY’RE MERE SPEEDBUMPS IN ROGUE ONE, I’VE SEEN HIM CUT OFF INQUISITORS’ ARMS IN THE COMICS, I’VE SEEN HIS BITCHY REVENGE FANTASIES FOR OBI-WAN IN THE COMICS, I’VE SEEN DARTH VADER BE A TERRIBLE PERSON A LOT
BUT SOMEHOW THIS SHOW ALWAYS MAKES IT MORE VISCERAL AND TERRIFYING
PART OF IT IS SEEING IT IN 2022 LIVE ACTION
BUT PART OF IT IS THAT THE ACTING IN THIS SERIES HAS REALLY KNOCKED IT OUT OF THE PARK
EVEN WHEN YOU CAN’T SEE HIS FACE YOU CAN HEAR VADER’S STRAINING GROANS YOU CAN SEE HIS HAND TREMBLE
YOU CAN FEEL HOW HE IS SO FULL OF FURY AND RAGE, THIS IS PERSONAL, THIS MATTERS TO HIM
OBI-WAN KENOBI MATTERS SO MUCH TO HIM THAT HE’LL RIP THAT SHIP RIGHT OUT OF THE SKY AND THEN JUST SHRED IT TO PIECES
THIS IS HOW POWERFUL ANAKIN SKYWALKER IS
HE’S A GODDAMNED WALKING NIGHTMARE THAT I AM ALTERNATELY IMPRESSED BY AND TERRIFIED BY
BUT IT’S ALSO HOW WEAK ANAKIN SKYWALKER IS BECAUSE HE’S SO BLINDED BY THAT RAGE HE CAN’T EVEN THINK STRAIGHT
HE SO BADLY NEEDS TO WIN THIS FIGHT AGAINST OBI-WAN THAT IT SCRAMBLES HIS ASSHOLE CAT CHASING A LASER POINTER BRAIN AND HE MISSES WHAT’S RIGHT IN FRONT OF HIM
ALL THE WHILE BEING ABSOLUTELY TERRIFYING
VADER IS TERRIFYING BECAUSE THIS IS THE POWER PUT IN THE HANDS OF SOMEONE WHO OBSESSES OVER THE PEOPLE HE LOVES, WHO GIVES IN TO HIS FEARS, WHO IS STILL QUAKING IN FEAR SOMEWHERE IN THERE BECAUSE HE HASN’T LEARNED A GODDAMNED THING SINCE HE WAS A PADAWAN
BECAUSE ALL THAT POWER IS IN THE HANDS OF SOMEONE WHO HAS NO CONTROL OVER HIMSELF
HE CAN TEAR A STARSHIP RIGHT OUT OF THE SKY
HE CAN RIP IT INTO PIECES WITH JUST A THOUGHT
AND THE REAL NIGHTMARE IS THAT IT’S ALL CENTERED IN SOMEONE WHO CHOSE THIS INSTEAD OF BECOMING THE PERSON HE COULD HAVE BEEN
BUT ALSO GODDAMN LOOK AT HIM JUST PULL THAT MASSIVE SHIP DOWN LIKE THAT’S NOT A SHUTTLE OR A STARFIGHTER THAT’S A FULL ON FUCKING TRANSPORT SHIP AND THEN STILL HAVE THE POWER TO TEAR IT OPEN LIKE IT’S TISSUE PAPER
JESUS CHRIST ANAKIN REALLY IS JUST FUCKOFF POWERFUL
“I wish I could tell you,” Christensen tells EW with a coy smile on his face [if we see him without the mask]. “I’m sworn to secrecy.”
As for the kind of Dark Lord we’ll see in the series that helps fill in the gap of time between Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope, Christensen is more straightforward: “We’re going to see a very powerful Vader,” promises the actor.
While it sounds like there is a chance we may see Vader unmasked, how much Vader in general will we actually see on the show?
“His shadow is cast across so much of what we do,” series writer Joby Harold teases. “And the degree of his proximity to that shadow is something that we’ll discover. But he is very much a part of the show emotionally for Obi-Wan, and possibly beyond that as well.” (x)
These two quotes fill me with so much excitement and hope, like it seems as if the writer Joby Harold understands the role that Vader will play, and the idea of seeing a powerful Vader is just 🙌
Luke. You can destroy the Emperor. He has foreseen this. It is your destiny. Join me, and together we can rule the galaxy as father and son. Come with me. It is the only way.
Personally, I don’t really see anything wrong with giving Luke to Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru. What else was Obi-Wan gonna do? (He pretty much raised Anakin and look how that turned out, he’s not gonna risk Round 2.) (He could have given both kiddos to Bail and Breha Organa, actually. Luke and Leia Organa is a cool as heck AU.)
I like Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru. As much as people like to say Luke really is Padme’s son, he didn’t get those morals from her. (Keeping in mind I have read no comics or novelizations, and not seen the Clone Wars TV show) It’s pretty clear that Luke’s iron spine and goodness and refusal to abandon his friends come from his upbringing. Owen and Beru Lars are kinda the Ma and Pa Kent of the Star Wars universe.
And they are Luke’s family. Owen is Shmi’s stepson. Owen and Beru probably knew Anakin’s mother for years. It’s a neat circle, and in some ways it has the feelings of an apology, for Obi-Wan to bring Luke back to his family on Tatooine in the same way that Qui-Gon took Anakin. Obi-Wan can’t undo what’s been done, and he can’t start over, but he can give Luke what the Jedi denied Anakin: a loving family and normal upbringing.
Tatooine is Darth Vader’s home planet? Yeah, sure, but did Anakin ever go back to Tatooine? (Probably once or twice, I’m guessing, in the comics at least.) Darth Vader hates that place. Bad memories. Damn sand would fuck up his suit. He’d burn it all down and then the Hutts are gonna be pissed. And how many people actually know that Darth Vader is Anakin Skywalker? Like, about five? (Bail, Obi-Wan, Yoda, R2-D2, and Ahsoka?) Dude is not exactly getting invites to school reunions and the weddings of childhood friends, is all I’m saying.
Even if Darth Vader ever went back to Tatooine, Tatooine is a big place. The Lars Farm is in the middle of nowhere and Obi-Wan is hanging out left of the funky rock five miles past nowhere. Anakin met his stepbrother once in the entire film trilogy and idk if they even exchanged words, much less space e-mail addresses. I kind of doubt that Uncle Owen and Darth Vader are sending each other Life Day e-cards. (That’s really funny, actually.)
Anyway, the point of this rant is that I want you to imagine new parents Owen and Beru Lars caring for toddler Luke, it’s just after Life Day, and someone rings the doorbell. Owen Lars opens up to Darth Vader holding a fruit basket, because he didn’t know what else to do for Life Day and spontaneously decided to visit distant family rather than mope in his Evil Castle again.
(Everything Obi-Wan hoped would never happen, just… happening.)
Owen, after introductions, panicking, “Uh… the suit is… new.”
He has to invite Vader in, because it’s Life Day and how exactly do you tell Darth Vader to fuck off? Then Owen and Beru have a hushed argument in the kitchen while Darth Vader is sitting awkwardly in their living room with a drink that he can’t actually drink but took to be polite. When they come out, they introduce Luke as Luke Whitesun, Beru’s late brother’s kid, which they guess makes Luke… Darth Vader’s… nephew. (They can’t hide him, Vader’s already seen this 2-3 yr old Luke and the house is COVERED in baby and kid stuff.)
And Darth Vader just… fucking falls for it.
And the Lars family has to spend the holidays with Uncle Darth Vader who is super keen to have a step-nephew-in-law. Beru is showing off her cross-stitching to Darth fucking Vader as Luke plays at their feet. Owen is in the kitchen sending a desperate space text to Obi-Wan, who basically has a heart attack on the spot when Owen sends a shitty stealth-pic of Darth Vader on their couch.
Bonus points if the Lars’ don’t even move after this, because Vader left without issue and Uncle Owen afterwards was like, “It turned out fine. I don’t want to move, that’s too much hassle.” So, every major holiday, Luke gets a visit from his Uncle Darth Vader, which works out fine so long as they instigate a “Don’t Talk About Politics” rule when Luke starts getting excited about Rebellions and starts bad-mouthing the Empire (Vader making small talk at a Star Destroyer water cooler to his terrified staff: “Ugh, I’m going to have to debate my liberal 13-yr-old nephew at the dinner table again.”), and Vader even helps with the dishes and stuff, and every time Obi-Wan ages an extra year from stress.
Guys, please, the way this continues is that the general events of the Star Wars universe continue as normal (Leia, having literally just left a space battle: “Darth Vader, the AUDACITY of attacking an innocent diplomatic vessel!”) UNTIL the stormtroopers show up at the Lars Farm. (Luke is desperately chasing down the droids he lost and properly meeting Obi-Wan Kenobi.)
At first, it’s business as usual, y’know? Stormtroopers break down the door and interrogate the occupants and start prepping to burn the place down, and the leader is in the middle of shouting, “TELL US WHERE THE DROIDS A-” when he pauses and just… stares… at the mantlepiece.
Because on the Lars family mantlepiece and walls are, like, a hundred family photos and roughly half of them have Darth Vader in them. There’s Darth Vader wearing a Life Day party hat at a dinner table. There’s Darth Vader holding a toddler and playing with model ships. There’s Darth Vader and a pimply thirteen year old in the stands at the Boonta Eve Classic. There is a cross-stitched pillow on the couch that says OUR FAMILY on it, consisting of a man, a woman, a boy, and Darth fucking Vader.
Stormtrooper Grunt #1: “What… what… what the fuck.”
Aunt Beru, who has HAD it with these guys wrecking her house, already angrily jabbing at their space phone: “I am calling Mr. Vader RIGHT NOW about this.”
Darth Vader, excusing himself from the bridge of his Star Destroyer to take a call from his stepsister-in-law: “Beru. This isn’t a good time-”
Beru: “Well, MAKE TIME, because your stormtroopers broke down our door and tracked SAND all over my nice clean floors and they won’t stop yelling about the droids we just bought! You better have a good explanation for this!”
Darth Vader does not, actually, have a good explanation for this. The stormtroopers can feel his wrath from across the galaxy. It’s a work thing and he’s very sorry and he’ll make the stormtroopers fix their door, but he does really need those droids and could they hand them over, please? He’ll have the Empire compensate them. Yes, he’ll pay them back and send new droids. Yes, kicking doors down is very rude, Beru, you’re absolutely right.
So Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru promise to pick up Luke and the droids, and hop in the spare Landspeeder to go looking for them. Owen is Not Happy to find that Obi-Wan’s given Luke a lightsaber, and Aunt Beru is Not Happy to find out that the Empire’s made some superweapon. Of course they have to get these plans to the Rebellion! Yes, she promised Vader, but he should have told her it was for such a terrible thing! Yes, Owen, they’re all going to Alderaan.
So the Lars family runs away to Mos Eisley and get on the Millennium Falcon to Alderaan, while the stormtroopers are standing around like, “Are they… coming… back???” And Han Solo does not know what the hell is going on or what to do about the Weird Old Wizard talking about “universe-penetrating magic”, or the Grumpy Farmer who keeps trying to fix his “piece of junk” ship that excuse you does not need fixing, or the Sunny Farm Boy waving a light sword around, or the kindly old woman who is currently cross-stitching in his back seat and gossiping with Chewie like he’s not even there.
Later, after the Death Star’s been destroyed, Owen and Beru Lars are now a part of the Rebellion with Luke. Beru sends Darth Vader a piece of fabric in the Space Mail, and it’s the little cross-stitched Vader from her OUR FAMILY pillow who’s been cut out because she’s mad at him. (Except her note says DISAPPOINTED and that’s worse.) Darth Vader is more upset about this than the Emperor being mad at him for the destruction of the Death Star.
ALT
