It’s no secret that every moment of Palpatine keeps his apprentice weak.

Star Wars: Darth Vader and the Lost Command – written by Haden Blackman, art by Rick Leonardi – contains a brief glimpse into one of Darth Vader’s rare vulnerable moments in between his galactic atrocities. Just as the damage to Vader’s organic body frequently requires him to rest in bacta tanks, his cybernetics require frequent maintenance.

Unfortunately for Vader, this process is not an easy one and requires Vader to stay conscious while robotic attendants repair his detached mechanical limbs. Forced to endure this lengthy and unbearable procedure, Vader is only kept sane by escaping into dreams of a happier life long-lost.

Darth Vader's Cybernetic Maintenance Is Unparalled Agony For The Sith Lord

Star Wars: Darth Vader and the Lost Command #1-5 (2011) – Written By W. Haden Blackman; Art By Rick Leonardi & Daniel Green; Color By Wes Dzioba; Lettering By Michael Heisler; Cover Art By Tsuneo Sanda

During Darth Vader’s routine cybernetic maintenance, he, without his armor or his limbs, is made to hang from mechanical clamps that extend from the ceiling. His wounds are left exposed to the air, burning as unguarded nerves lack their protective cover. Surrounded by nothing but machinery and droids, this is a visually striking representation of how little humanity Vader has left. In this moment, the only scraps of Anakin left alive are his dreams of a better life lived alongside Pe. Without the frail fantasies keeping him sane, even Darth Vader couldn’t endure this brand of torture.

While his body suffers, Vader allows himself some semblance of happy fantasy. In this dream world, Anakin defeated Mace Windu in combat, allowing Palpatine to face trial before the Senate. Pe and Anakin, now a Master, had a son, and the three lived happily together. Obi-Wan Kenobi and Qui-Gon Jinn are both alive and happy, continuing to mentor Anakin and his son. As he buries himself further and further into his dreams, Vader utters to Pe that “it's the only thing that keeps me sane.”

Not Even the Dark Side Can Sustain Vader Through The Pain He Feels When He's Out Of His Armor

Darth Vader's Most Vulnerable Moments Are His Worst

Darth Vader is not afraid of his pain. He embraces his physical suffering as fuel for his power. Completely abandoning the Light Side of the Force, Vader must endure constant agony to ground himself within the Dark Side. However, his visions of an alternative life show that his dreams of a life embracing the Light Side are what provide him comfort, when suffering and the Dark Side fail him. His desperate need for a peaceful escape perfectly expresses how agonizing this process must be for him.

Darth Vader’s few moments of humanity are left as echoes in a tomb of durasteel and circuitry.

For ​​​​​​​Darth Vader, power is pain. However, this pain is so beyond enduring that even the Dark Lord of the Sith crumbles beneath. Vader’s body is more cybernetic than it is organic, depending on his mechanical systems to sustain his life; any maintenance needed becomes a full-body descent into utter suffering. Practically a living corpse, hung like a rack of meat in a room devoid of any organic life, Darth Vader’s few moments of humanity are left as echoes in a tomb of durasteel and circuitry.