Let’s set the scene—it’s a stormy night on Bespin. Lando Calrissian just betrayed his old friend, and Han Solo got frozen in carbonite and stolen by Boba Fett. Everyone is just having a pretty disastrous time. You might argue that the hero of Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back (1980), Luke Skywalker, suffers the worst of all, though—the villain he thought killed his father is actually his father.
Flashback to a few minutes earlier, however, and Darth Vader slices off Luke’s hand, seemingly to disarm the Jedi. However, an entry into the greater Star Wars story suggested that there is a specific reason that Vader dismembers his son.
The world-famous line–“I am your father”–is now cemented firmly in the Star Wars lexicon, with the heavily guarded plot twist also aiding in the Star Wars sequel being regarded as one of the best films of all time. The Empire Strikes Back is perhaps the most universally acclaimed Skywalker saga movie, especially in the original trilogy. Following the success of Star Wars: Episode IV–A New Hope (1977), the film saw Mark Hamill (Luke Skywalker), Han Solo (Harrison Ford), and Princess Leia Organa (Carrie Fisher) continue to battle Darth Vader and the Galactic Empire, alongside the growing Rebel Alliance.
While Star Wars fans may have thought that Darth Vader cutting off his son’s hand was solely to disarm his lightsaber arm, the event was foreshadowed in George Lucas’s prequel trilogy. In Star Wars: Episode II—Attack of the Clones (2002), the fledgling Jedi Padawan, Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader (Hayden Christensen), similarly loses his hand during a duel with Separatist leader Count Dooku (Christoper Lee).
In this instance, Lucas might have wanted an Easter egg to allude to the situation Vader and Luke would find themselves in many years later, but a 2021 entry into the Star Wars universe suggests otherwise.
In the issue of Marvel Comics’ Darth Vader #12 by Greg Pak and Guiu Vilanova, the reason behind Darth Vader cutting off Luke’s hand was made increasingly clear. The pages for the issue alluded to the fact that Vader wanted to give his son an element of pain as the reason behind the attack.
It’s been suggested throughout the Star Wars Saga that hatred and pain are what give Sith their immense power, so it isn’t completely obscure to see where the Marvel Comics series is going with their reasoning. In one of the panels of the comic book pages, the Administrator confirmed this, saying, “He is a Sith, Mas Amedda. His hatred gives him power.”
The comic book series follows Darth Vader’s journey to the Sith hideaway of Exegol. Star Wars fans will remember seeing Palpatine’s lair in the conclusion to the Skywalker Saga, Star Wars: Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker (2019). The film garnered a polarized response from fans and critics due to its lack of direction–something even director J. J. Abrams has spoken about –and the Marvel Comics series seemed to rectify some of the space opera’s plot holes and curveballs.
Upon returning from Exegol in the issue, Darth Vader refused to be shut down while he is healed (repaired?), adding yet another confirmation that the villain needs to feel the pain to gain power with the Dark Side.
It was in the final preview page, though, where things got interesting regarding the cutting off of Luke Skywalker’s hand. When lined up, the first and last panel of the Marvel Comic read: “Pain. Like I gave to you, my son.” It’s pretty obvious to even the less diehard Star Wars fans, that Vader has inflicted a lot of pain on Luke Skywalker–killing Obi-Wan Kenobi, turning to the Dark Side, the list goes on–but the central panel, which is a flashback to the events in The Empire Strikes Back, suggests this particular pain is important to Vader.
The complete disfiguration of Anakin Skywalker on Mustafar in Star Wars: Episode III–Revenge of the Sith (2005) was far more brutal than Luke’s severed hand, but the idea of pain being a stimulant for the Dark Side is akin to both characters.
After dueling with Luke, Darth Vader renounces Emperor Palpatine and utters the words. “It is your destiny, join me and we can rule the galaxy as father and son.” The fact that Vader uses this moment to implore his son to the Dark Side, lines up with the notion that pain is significantly linked to the Dark Side. In severing Luke’s hand, Vader was trying to get the Jedi to follow his own journey to becoming a Sith Lord.
Since this comic book explained the reason for this mystery, Star Wars has added to Anakin Skywalker’s legacy. Hayden Christensen came back to the franchise in 2022, starring alongside Ewan McGregor in Deborah Chow’s Obi-Wan Kenobi series on Disney+. A year later, he would return as his Clone Wars era self in Dave Filoni’s Ahsoka, much to the fans’ celebration.
The Legacy of Vader Explored Once Again
And it is not just on the small screen that Star Wars has continued to explore the legacy of this historic cinematic villain. In utilizing a character from the sequel trilogy, Star Wars has expanded on Vader’s narrative once again. Kylo Ren’s arc in the sequel trilogy left plenty of questions on the table, and once again, Lucasfilm is turning to expanded media to fill in the blanks. That’s where “Star Wars: The Legacy of Vader” comes in.
This comic series, penned by longtime Star Wars storyteller Charles Soule and illustrated by Luke Ross, explores Ren’s fixation on his grandfather, Darth Vader, once Anakin Skywalker. Set between Star Wars: Episode VII–The Last Jedi (2017) and The Rise of Skywalker, the ongoing story unravels how Ben Solo’s obsession with Vader shapes his choices.
At its heart, Star Wars has always been the story of Anakin Skywalker’s fall and redemption, and this new title aims to further explore that legacy through the lens of his grandson, adding another layer to the ever-growing Vader narrative.
“Written by Charles Soule, who previously penned “Star Wars: The Rise of Kylo Ren” and “Star Wars: Darth Vader–Dark Lord of the Sith,” among others, the story begins with a journey to Mustafar, where Ren will descend into Vader’s castle,” StarWars.com wrote at the time of the announcement. “Later issues will take Kylo to the familiar sands of Tatooine as he tries to unlock the secrets of his family’s past.”
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