Warning: SPOILERS for Star Wars Adventures: Shadow of Vader's Castle #1.
few connected him with Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker he used to be. Those who did believed him to be irredeemable, except for his son Luke Skywalker, who insisted his father could be drawn back to the light side of the Force. He was eventually proven right.
But it was a long time before the galaxy was ready to learn that tale. Although Luke and Leia told the galaxy they were siblings, they concealed the fact they were the children of Darth Vader, and Luke avoided telling the Alliance leaders what had happened during his showdown on the Second Death Star. And so, as the Empire reeled in shock from the deaths of Palpatine and Darth Vader, the citizens of the cosmos celebrated. On Mustafar, natives heard the news and decided the time had come to destroy Darth Vader's sinister tower.
Star Wars Adventures: Shadow of Vader's Castle #1 reveals they unwittingly set in motion a chain of events that could have a massive impact on the galaxy. They unwittingly freed Darth Vader's servant Vanee, a character introduced in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story who had evidently somehow earned the Sith Lord's displeasure. But Vanee is still loyal to his master, declaring himself, "the servant of the Dark Lord, the one true Acolyte of the Beyond." Spurred on by a mysterious voice in his mind, Vanee swore to resurrect his fallen master in the fires of Mustafar.
Given Anakin Skywalker was redeemed, it's reasonable to assume Vanee was hearing the voice of Palpatine, whose spirit had already inhabited a clone body on the distant planet Exegol, and it's not difficult to deduce the role Vanee would play on the Emperor's behalf. The Acolytes of the Beyond appeared in Chuck Wendig's Aftermath trilogy as a Dark Side cult who venerated the Sith and who collected relics. They had a particular penchant for wearing the ancient masks of fallen Sith Lords, allowing their ambient Dark Side energy to imbue them with power. Since he calls himself an Acolyte of the Beyond, it's safe to assume Vanee will found this order.
The image of Darth Vader's glove is an amusing one, reminiscent of a story in the old Expanded Universe in which Sith cultists sought the glove of Vader as a symbol of power. But it's likely Vanee will instead focus on Darth Vader's mask, meaning this series may well tell how that mask left the funeral pyre on Endor and ultimately found its way to Kylo Ren. No doubt Vanee would be proud, considering Kylo Ren the true embodiment of Darth Vader's legacy - at least until the moment he, too, was redeemed.
