Darth Vader’s story has been incorporated into every aspect of the Star Wars saga, from
films to shows, comics, and books.
So now, it's time to chart his entire course from an enslaved boy on Tatooine to the inspiration
for the galaxy's current reigning big bad.
This is Darth Vader's story, explained.
Four decades before he walked onto Princess Leia's ship as the embodiment of the evil
Empire, when audiences got their first glimpse of Darth Vader, Anakin Skywalker was born
on Tatooine as the child of a slave woman named Shmi Skywalker.
When the Jedi master Qui-Gon Jinn asked Shmi about the boy's father years later, she simply
told him that there wasn't one, leading Qui-Gon to deduce that Anakin had been conceived by
the Force entities known as midi-chlorians . Though it hasn't been conclusively stated,
it's heavily implied in both the film and the comics that Anakin's conception was caused
by the manipulations of the Sith Lord Darth Plagueis and his apprentice, Darth Sidious.
Anakin showed tremendous intelligence and skill from a very young age, and was so adept
at mechanics and repairs that he built the protocol droid C-3PO before he'd turned ten.
He was also a skilled podracer, making him a rarity as human reflexes were usually too
slow to allow them to survive in the sport, which drew the attention of a pair of Jedi
knights.
After learning about Anakin's curious parentage and testing his midi-chlorian count, Qui-Gon
became convinced of Anakin's potential as a Jedi.
With Qui-Gon's encouragement, Anakin won his freedom in a podrace and accompanied Qui-Gon
and Obi-Wan to Coruscant, sadly having to leave his mother behind.
Qui-Gon took Anakin before the Jedi High Council, convinced that the boy could be the Chosen
One who would bring balance to the Force.
Masters Yoda and Mace Windu were wary of Anakin's age and his fearful demeanor, but Qui-Gon
pleaded for the opportunity to train him anyway.
In the Battle of Naboo, Anakin piloted a starfighter against the Trade Federation, proving that
his Jedi reflexes and skill as a pilot extended beyond podracing.
After the battle was over, he discovered that Qui-Gon had been killed at the hands of Darth
Maul, and Obi-Wan made a vow to train Anakin himself, in keeping with his lost master's
wishes.
The High Council consented, and Anakin became a Jedi Padawan.
Anakin spent the next decade training as Obi-Wan's apprentice, and proved himself an immensely
skilled Jedi who also had a tendency towards recklessness.
As a young man, he reconnected with then-Senator Padme Amidala on Coruscant, when he and Obi-Wan
were tasked with guarding her life after an assassination attempt.
"We will find out who's trying to kill you Padme. I promise you."
"We will not exceed our mandate, my young padawan learner."
While Obi-Wan sought to track down the people behind the attempt on Padme's life, Anakin
stayed behind as her personal bodyguard and escorted her back to Naboo.
The senator and the Jedi soon fell in love, but Anakin's darker tendencies intruded as
he became tormented by visions of his mother.
With Padme at his side, Anakin traveled to Tatooine, where he learned that a now-married-and-freed
Shmi Skywalker had been abducted by Tusken raiders.
Anakin tracked down the Tusken tribe and his mother, who died in his arms after seeing
him one last time.
In a rage, Skywalker slaughtered the entire tribe, and vowed to Padme that he would become
powerful enough to prevent the people he loved from dying, beginning his descent into darkness.
After the Tusken raider incident, Anakin and Padme left Tatooine to rescue Obi-Wan who'd
been taken prisoner by Separatists.
Unfortunately, they, like Obi-Wan were soon captured by Separatist leader, Sith Lord,
and former Dracula Count Dooku, and sentenced to death in a gladiatorial arena.
As they tried to fight their way out alongside the Jedi, reinforcements arrived in the form
a clone army that had been discovered by Obi-Wan.
Under the leadership of Yoda and Mace Windu, they defeated the Separatists in what would
become the first battle of the Clone Wars.
With the battle still raging, Anakin and Obi-Wan engaged Dooku in a lightsaber duel, but Anakin's
recklessness got the better of him when he tried to fight Dooku alone.
The Sith defeated Anakin, cutting off Anakin's right arm before being defeated by Yoda.
In the days that followed, Anakin and Padme were married in secret with the droids C-3PO
and R2-D2 serving as witnesses because the Jedi Order forbade such romantic attachments.
As the Clone Wars gained intensity, Anakin was promoted to Jedi Knight and became a key
general for the Republic.
His abilities and confidence grew, but so too did his recklessness and, by extension,
his fear of losing those he loved.
In an effort to help, Yoda suggested Anakin could learn how to let go of people by taking
on an apprentice of his own who would one day ascend beyond his training.
He was paired with a young Padawan named Ahsoka Tano, and while the two initially had friction
due to Ahsoka's feisty nature, they ultimately became friends.
"Master, if you've taught me one thing it's that nothing is easy when you're around."
Ahsoka rose in prominence alongside her master as the wars went on, until she was framed
and arrested for a bombing at the Jedi Temple that was actually carried out by one of her
friends.
Ahsoka was expelled from the Jedi Order, but Anakin and Padme believed in her innocence,
and were ultimately able to gain evidence that led to her acquittal at trial.
Though she was offered re-admission to the ranks of the Jedi, Ahsoka was disillusioned
after her trial, and she chose to leave the Jedi behind.
Witnessing the treatment of his former apprentice only served to further frustrate Anakin, who
was beginning to lose faith in the Jedi High Council.
By the end of the Clone Wars, Anakin's growing abilities and his purported status as the
Chosen One caught the attention of the Sith Lord Darth Sidious.
Sidious was manipulating the entire war from behind the scenes via his dual roles as a
Sith and as Sheev Palpatine yes, that's his first name the chancellor of the Republic.
Palpatine finally made his move on Skywalker in the waning days of the war, urging him
to kill Dooku in cold blood in the midst of space battle above Coruscant.
Anakin complied, decapitating Dooku, and Palpatine continued grooming Anakin as his agent by
appointing him as his emissary to the Jedi Council.
The council submitted to the chancellor's wishes, but they refused to grant Anakin the
rank of Master, further inflaming his frustrations, though Obi-Wan continued to champion him.
"I have trained you since you were a small boy. I've taugh you everything I know
And you have become a far greater Jedi than I could ever hope to be."
Unfortunately, the denial of Anakin's knighthood, coupled with his frequent visions of Padme
who was then pregnant dying in despair, led Palpatine to finally reveal himself to Anakin,
convincing him that he could stop the death of his loved ones by using the Dark Side of
the Force.
Conflicted, Anakin first revealed that Palpatine was a Sith Lord ... and then helped Palpatine
kill Mace Windu in the hopes of learning how to save Padme.
Though distressed by his betrayal of the Jedi, Anakin submitted himself to his new master,
who in turn dubbed him Darth Vader.
Palpatine dispatched Vader to the Jedi Temple as part of his Great Jedi Purge, where Vader
brutally slaughtered any Force user in his path, including the children.
Vader then journeyed to the fiery planet Mustafar, with Obi-Wan and Padme, having learned of
his betrayal, following to stop him.
Enraged by the idea that his old master and his wife were working together to betray him,
he used the Force to choke Padme into unconsciousness, then engaged Obi-Wan in a duel.
Ultimately, Obi-Wan gained the high ground in the fight, severed both of Vader's legs,
and left him near a lava ditch to die.
Palpatine saved his apprentice, then outfitted him in a life-preserving suit of armor, transforming
him into the half-machine Vader we all know and love.
Palpatine also told Vader that he'd accidentally killed Padme and their unborn children back
on Mustafar.
In truth, Padme had died of a broken heart, but not before secretly giving birth to Anakin's
twin children, Luke and Leia, who were hidden away from him as they grew up.
Vader then took his place at Palpatine's side as the Republic became the Galactic Empire,
although he still harbored a desire to bring Padme back at all costs.
Two decades passed as the Empire continued to rise, and Vader continued his efforts to
eradicate the remaining Jedi.
He also had to deal with Palpatine's schemes to encourage his competitive nature by drafting
other warriors who could serve as Vader's replacement at the Emperor's side.
It was during this era that Palpatine gifted Vader a mask belonging to Momin, an ancient
Sith Lord and artist, whose spirit still possessed the mask.
Vader used the gateway opened by Momin to search for Padme's spirit and bring her back,
but instead, he found darkness as her form disintegrated before his eyes.
Vader came out of the experience convinced that both Padme and Anakin Skywalker were
dead, and that his past no longer mattered.
While Vader pursued his own interests, a revolutionary movement formed, blossoming into the Rebel
Alliance, a group which sought to wage all-out war against the Empire.
In those early days, Ahsoka Tano joined the Alliance, dueling Vader to what he believed
to be her death.
The Rebellion gained an unexpected advantage 19 years after the fall of the Republic, when
it managed to seize the plans to a planet-destroying battle station called the Death Star.
Vader led the pursuit of the Rebels and managed to capture one of their leaders, Princess
Leia Organa, who, unbeknownst to him, was his long-lost daughter.
After destroying Leia's adopted planet of Alderaan, Vader then had an unexpected encounter
with an old friend.
When a small group that included Obi-Wan Kenobi infiltrated the Death Star to rescue Leia,
the master and the apprentice decided it was time for a rematch.
This time, there was no high ground, and Vader killed his old teacher, but the rescue was
successful, and the Rebels were clear to use the Death Star plans to attack.
In the ensuing battle, Vader almost killed Rebel pilot Luke Skywalker, his still-unknown,
long-lost son, who would go on to destroy the Death Star and give the Alliance their
first big victory..
After learning of Luke's true identity through his agents, Vader finally tracked down his
son at a hidden base on the ice planet Hoth.
While the Rebels escaped, Palpatine revealed his knowledge of Luke to Vader, and the two
began working to bring the younger Skywalker over to the Dark Side.
Vader captured Luke's friends, Han and Leia, using them as bait to lure Luke away from
his training with Yoda, who had been living in hiding for the past two decades.
The plan worked, and Luke arrived on Bespin to battle Vader and save his friends.
Vader defeated the young Jedi in a lightsaber duel, severing Luke's right hand in the process,
and revealed that he was Luke's father.
Instead of joining the Dark Side, he decided to fall to his death instead, but was rescued
by Leia in the Falcon.
Vader returned from Bespin to help oversee construction of a second Death Star, planning
with the Emperor to use the new superweapon as bait to ensnare and defeat the Rebellion
by making it look more vulnerable than it was.
Luke re-emerged on the forest moon of Endor, allowing himself to be captured and taken
to the Death Star.
He was determined to redeem Vader, just as Vader was determined to convert his son by
bringing him before the Emperor.
During the duel that followed, Vader sensed in his son's mind that he had a sister, Vader's
second child and used this knowledge to draw out Luke's anger.
Rather than giving into the Dark Side, though, Luke tossed his weapon aside.
This didn't sit well with Palpatine, who responded by using Force lightning to electrocute Luke.
Watching his son die, something suddenly switched inside Vader.
Weak and wounded, Vader managed to throw his master into the core of the Death Star.
With his dying breath, Anakin Skywalker returned from the Dark Side and told his son that he
was right about him all along.
The Rebels' victory at the second Death Star marked the beginning of the end for the Galactic
Empire.
Vader's legacy as a Dark Side legend lived on, however, and took root again in the form
of his grandson Leia and Han's kid, Ben Solo.
Ben caught the eye of Snoke, a powerful Dark Side user and scholar who sensed the Dark
Side potential in the Skywalker bloodline, and he sought to cultivate it within Ben.
He succeeded, and Ben Solo rose up against his uncle, Jedi Master Luke Skywalker, ending
Luke's attempt to rebuild the Jedi Order.
When he fully turned to the Dark Side, Ben Solo changed his name to Kylo Ren and vowed
to finish Vader's mission to eradicate the Jedi.
He even acquired Vader's old helmet, which had been partially burned in his funeral pyre.
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