Darth Vader's Cruelest Jedi Defeat Proves He Is Irredeemable
The cruel manner that Darth Vader uses to defeat a Jedi Purge survivor in a Star Wars Legends comic shows just how far the former Anakin Skywalker has fallen. Darth Vader’s methodical defeat, both in body and spirit, of the Jedi Knight Gira is irredeemably cruel, as well as a demonstration of his skills as a manipulator with markedly different tactics than those of a Jedi. Darth Vader’s utter destruction of everything that Gira holds dear also serves as a metaphor for the dark side itself and the price its victims pay for using it.
In his desperation to prevent his wife Padmé from dying in childbirth, Anakin Skywalker betrayed his ideals and his Jedi Knighthood, making a Faustian bargain with Palpatine and falling to the dark side, becoming the Sith Lord Darth Vader. As Emperor Palpatine’s chief enforcer, Darth Vader facilitated the Great Jedi Purge, a galaxy-wide pogrom of all Jedi, nearly bringing the culture to extinction. Although Darth Vader turned on the Emperor and reverted back to his Anakin Skywalker identity in his final moments (as shown in Return of the Jedi), his actions as a Sith Lord are horrific, making it highly unlikely that he’d have been forgiven by the galaxy writ large if he had survived.
The Legends-era comic Star Wars Tales #12 features one such horrific action in the story “The Duty” by Christian Read and John McCrea. The surviving Jedi Knight Gira cuts down numerous Stormtroopers aboard a starship in defense of a group of surviving Padawans, but he’s unable to defeat Darth Vader. After besting Gira, Darth Vader offers him a chance to save the Padawans, promising their survival if the Jedi Knight gives in to the dark side and joins him. Gira, desperate to protect the Padawans, gives in, only for Darth Vader to kill the Padawans anyway, leaving a broken Gira to commit suicide.
Darth Vader’s actions seem unnecessary, as he could simply kill Gira and the Padawans, but he instead breaks the Jedi's spirit, putting him in a position where he betrays his Jedi Knighthood before destroying the very thing he is protecting. Vader states that he is acting on the Emperor’s orders, and with Gira now a broken man, his next action (whatever it is) will serve the Emperor. Gira impales himself, removing another Jedi Purge survivor, which benefits Palpatine’s sinister vision.
Darth Vader’s horrific defeat of Gira serves as a metaphor for the dark side itself. The dark side promises unlimited power and the deepest desires of Force users, but takes everything from them and putrefies them into the worst versions of themselves. Darth Vader essentially forces Gira into a similar scenario of desperation to save others, letting him succumb to the dark side but then immediately killing the Padawans he swore to protect. Gira, no longer a Jedi, kills himself rather than become a self-loathing monster like Vader. This is perhaps one of Darth Vader’s most horrendous acts in the Star Wars franchise, as he not only murders others but uses their deaths to utterly destroy the spirit of a Jedi Knight.
from ScreenRant - Feed https://ift.tt/3yt6kPB
via Whole story
Post a Comment