With One Unthinkable Act, Star Wars Ends The Darth Vader Redemption Debate

Published Oct 18, 2026, 11:15 PM EDT Mark has been a comic book journalist for over 15 years and has interviewed comic book creators like Gail Simone and Caspar Wijngaard. And when he's not writing, he's working on beating his record of 1,200 comics read in a year. Sign in to your ScreenRant account For just under 50 years, Darth Vader has been viewed as one of the most evil characters of all time. People look at him as authorizing the destruction of Alderaan as his biggest offense, but that was just one act. He, along with the rest of the Galactic Empire, kept the galaxy under their tyrannical thumb for decades. At the end of Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi, Vader turns on Emperor Palpatine and saves his son, Luke Skywalker. To many Star Wars fans, this was enough to redeem Darth Vader. He overcame years of programming by Palpatine and finally did something heroic. His redemption arc is solidified when he’s seen as a Force ghost at the end of Return of the Jedi. However, becoming a Force ghost and standing with Obi-Wan Kenobi and Yoda isn’t enough to offset the vile things he’s done. Among his atrocities is flooding a village during the Marvel Comics Star Wars: Darth Vader series. Darth Vader Admits That He's A Monster After Darth Vader is repaired from being burned on Mustafar in Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith, Palpatine shows Jedi lightsabers being destroyed. Vader is asked if he understands what's happening. The man formerly known as Anakin Skywalker says, “The saber of the Sith is not given. It is taken.” That leads him on a journey to get his new lightsaber from one of the strongest Jedi in the universe, Kirak Infil'a. Star Wars: Darth Vader - Dark Lord of the Sith Vol. 1's creative team features the following: Writer: Charles Soule Illustrator: Giuseppe Camuncoli Inker: Cam Smith Colors: David Curiel Vader’s first encounter with Kirak Infil'a goes poorly. Whether it was his arrogance or Infil'a being more disciplined and skilled, the Jedi came out of the battle victorious in a big way. He didn’t just beat him. Kirak embarrassed Vader and threw him off a cliff. Darth survives, of course, and finds Kirak Infil'a again. This time, the results are different because Vader fights dirty. Darth Vader immediately starts losing the fight again, so he changes tactics by attacking people defending their town. While Kirak attempts to protect them, Vader destroys a dam. While Kirak is holding the water back, he calls Vader a monster. Darth replies, “Yes. I am.” In the middle of the chaos, Vader steals Kirak’s lightsaber. After that, Darth snaps Kirak's neck and allows the village to be destroyed by the incoming water. The scene ends with the Dark Lord of the Sith standing over the destruction he caused, holding his prize without a care in the world. The Debate About Darth Vader's Redemption Is Over Darth Vader didn’t become evil overnight. It took years of cruelty to turn him into one of the most feared characters in movie history. His fight with Kirak Infil'a was just one of the many horrible things on a long list of savagery. It also happens to be one of the first after becoming Darth Vader. Fans of Star Wars movies and TV shows have no idea the kind of fiend he is. Luckily, there are comics like this. The Marvel Star Wars comic books perfectly fill in the gaps between the movies and the Disney+ shows. It allows fans both new and old to see the things that molded the characters that they love. In this case, they witnessed Anakin Skywalker truly embracing the Dark Side and becoming Darth Vader. It further proves that Vader was a monster long before Episode IV and that he shouldn’t have been allowed to become a Force ghost. In order to become a Force ghost, a person has to completely embrace the light side. That means, in his last moments, Vader rebelled against who he’d been for decades. Does that one act of kindness forgive the millions of lives he ruined? The writers and experts of the Star Wars franchise believe so. Nevertheless, it seems odd that he’d be absolved for sparing one person when he’s murdered more people than can be accounted for. The one debate that can be raised is how much Darth truly believed in what he was doing. It’s easy to forget that Anakin is a victim across Star Wars' Skywalker Saga. He was used by Palpatine at an early age, and, no matter how hard he tried to fight back, he couldn’t escape his master. Maybe he was honored with a better afterlife because, deep down, Anakin really wanted to be a better person. Sadly, until his son was about to be killed, he just couldn’t be more than he was programmed to be. TV Show(s) The Mandalorian, Andor, Obi-Wan Kenobi, The Book of Boba Fett, Ahsoka, The Acolyte, Star Wars: Skeleton Crew, Lando, Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Star Wars Rebels, Star Wars: The Bad Batch, Star Wars: Resistance, Star Wars: Young Jedi Adventures, Star Wars: Visions Video Game(s) Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II - The Sith Lords, Star Wars Battlefront (2015), Star Wars: Battlefront 2 (2005), Star Wars: The Force Unleashed , Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II, Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, Star Wars Jedi: Survivor First Film Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope Cast Mark Hamill, James Earl Jones, David Prowse, Carrie Fisher, Harrison Ford, Daisy Ridley, Adam Driver, Ian McDiarmid, Ewan McGregor, Rosario Dawson, Lars Mikkelsen, Rupert Friend, Moses Ingram, Frank Oz, Pedro Pascal Created by George Lucas Movie(s) Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace, Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones, Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith, Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope, Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back, Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi, Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens, Star Wars: Episode VIII - The Last Jedi, Star Wars: Episode IX- The Rise of Skywalker, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, Solo: A Star Wars Story, Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Star Wars: Dawn of the Jedi, Star Wars: New Jedi Order