Star Wars: Darth Vader #49: The Last Temptation Of Luke Skywalker

Star Wars: Darth Vader# 49 finds the Schism Imperial story thread and Sabe’s (from The Free Comic Book Day Issue) coming together as the five-year long series reaches its penultimate issue.

The Schism Imperial’s mission to Exegol has been a success as Administrator Sly Moore moves her plan forward to remove and take Vader’s place as the Emperor’s apprentice or convince Luke to join her and overthrow Palpatine, using the Kyber crystal they took.  When Vader refuses to join her she hijacks his cybernetics leaving him at the mercy of the Rebel cyber soldiers they forced to help them on Exegol.

Related: Expanding The Storytelling Potential Of The Star Wars Universe (Part 2) – The Dark Side

At the same moment, Sabe, who has been working for Vader and the grifter false Jedi expert Warba, each pursuing their agendas that involve turning Luke over to Vader. Sabe pushes Luke so that she can determine if he has the potential to follow in his father’s footsteps on the path of the Sith. While Luke does begin to give into his anger and go down the path of the Dark Side, he pulls back and even reminds Sabe that while he may be a Jedi, he is not perfect, which leads Sabe to make the offhand comment that while he had anger like his father, he also displays traits of his mother, which catches Luke off-guard but not followed up on. Pak stages this moment perfectly, giving readers a moment where they know more than Luke.

These two issues are written, plotted, and drawn in a manner that seems to be bringing the series to satisfying conclusion next month in issue 50.