Warning! Spoilers ahead for Darth Vader #6
a punishment and reckoning must be had. As this new arc of Marvel's Darth Vader begins, Vader faces execution by his own signature Force move at the hands of the Emperor.
In Darth Vader #6, written by Greg Pak with art by Raffaele Ienco, Vader faces his master empty handed and is being viewed as treasonous for taking his journey. In the Emperor's eyes, Vader has lost sight of his destiny as a Sith Lord, having allowed himself to become unbalanced by his past as Anakin Skywalker and his love for Pé. The Emperor can sense the immense turmoil occurring within his apprentice, and determines that Vader must relearn the way of the Sith and reignite his connection the dark side. To start, Vader must learn fear and pain once more.
For his actions, the Emperor orders his guards to attack Vader after blasting him with his Force lightning and removing Vader's lightsaber from his grasp. However, it doesn't take long for the enraged Vader to fight back, lifting his attackers and the Emperor's Grand Vizier off the ground, gripping them in a relentless Force choke. The Force choke has long been Vader's signature move, using it to great effect to threaten those under his command, even to the point of execution should they fail him completely. A Force choke by Vader's hand was also what led to Pé's death, something that Vader is most likely keenly aware off. While it seems as though Vader starts to get the upper hand, his master counters by gripping Vader in a Force choke of his own, using Vader's own preferred Force power against him.
To see Vader in a position of desperation that he himself has put so many of his victims in over the years is incredibly striking, especially considering that Pak and Ienco made the choice to show Vader's most notable victims of his Force choke on this epic splash page as well. The comparison to be made between their pain and fear and his own that he's currently experiencing is easy to make as a result.
Vader's punishment and lesson is far from over, however. After nearly being choked to death by his master, the Emperor goes even further, crushing Vader's prosthetic legs and arm and compromising his armor. He then takes Vader and dumps him on the same Revenge of the Sith. Now, Vader must rebuild himself and survive without his master, which will force him to reconnect with the dark side, as his master desires. If the issue's end of Darth Vader is any indication, the trials, pain, and suffering of Darth Vader after Empire has only just begun.
