Warning! Spoilers ahead for Star Wars: Legacy of Vader #4!
The Death Star was the zenith of Emperor Palpatine’s plan to rule the Star Wars galaxy through fear and destruction, but it was far from the only way he ruined entire planets during and after his reign, and now, the franchise has just revealed the Emperor’s most inadvertent weapon: love.
Star Wars: Legacy of Vader #4, written by Charles Soule, with art by Steffano Raffaele, features Kylo Ren seeking out answers on Naboo, homeworld of both his maternal grandmother, Padmé Amidala, and the former-Senator-turned-galactic-despot, Sheev Palpatine.
As Ren learns in the issue, while most other planets under the Empire’s rule suffered, Naboo actually prospered, protected by its native son; yet later, following the downfall of the Emperor, things rapidly changed, and Naboo reaped years of ruin, which came as a direct fallout from Palpatine’s protection.
Palpatine’s Love For His Home Planet Protected Naboo During His Rule, But Later Led To Its Devastation
Star Wars: Legacy of Vader #4, Written By Charles Soule; Art By Steffano Raffaele; Color By Nolan Woodard; Lettering By Joe Caramagna
Legacy of Vader has been all about living up to its title; set between The Last Jedi and Rise of Skywalker, the series follows Kylo Ren, having claimed the title of Supreme Leader of the First Order, as he tries to learn from the past in order to determine his future. Earlier in the series, this took him on a journey to Anakin Skywalker’s homeworld of Tatooine, and now, it has brought him to Naboo, where he learns another critical lesson about the toxic admixture of love and power.
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As a Sith Lord, Palpatine is known for his embrace of hatred as a core emotion, but contrary to what some might think, this does not cut the Sith off from love. It is clear that Sheev Palpatine loved his home planet, and consequently, at the height of his power, he afforded it a special status that made it thrive, but this came at the expense of all the other planets, galaxy-wide, that Imperial forces brutalized and destroyed, making Naboo, as a whole, complicit in Palpatine’s crimes. In the end, this was just another path to destruction.
Naboo’s Downfall Is A Lesson In The Abuse Of Power, One Kylo Ren Didn’t Have Time For
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By the time of the the Sequel Era Legacy of Vader story, Naboo is far from its glory days, a graveyard of abandoned palaces overgrown by vegetation. Though Palpatine brought this fate about indirectly, as a consequence of his protection of the planet, the end result is effectively no different from those worlds that were razed directly at his order, or on the orders of subordinates acting as direct extension of his will. The suffering of Naboo’s populace is still attributable to Palpatine, though it has the distinction of being the only destruction resulting from his love, rather than hate.
There is something to be said about Naboo’s downfall as an allegory for the deleterious effect that the abuse of power has on everyone and everything around the abuser, whether it is their target or not.
This is a noteworthy moment in Legacy of Vader #4, because there is a lesson to be learned from this, but it is one that Kylo Ren shrugs off completely, brashly declaring that “Palpatine is irrelevant,” as his guide through the past turns instead to focus on Anakin Skywalker’s obsessive love for Padme, something that Ren similarly takes the wrong impression from. However, there is something to be said about Naboo’s downfall as an allegory for the deletirious effect that the abuse of power has on everyone and everything around the abuser, whether it is their target or not.
Palpatine’s Love Was As Corrupt As His Hatred, And Naboo Proves It
A Sith’s Favorites Only Prosper For So Long
Though Sith are certainly capable of love, it is destined to be a malformed kind of love, and that was certainly the case with Palpatine and Naboo, a point amplified by the planet’s own parallel downfall after his death at Endor. While the Death Star was certainly Palpatine’s most terrifying weapon of galactic domination, the plight he ultimately inflicted upon Naboo is no less sinister, and given its condition in the Sequel Era of Star Wars lore, it is clear that the planet’s irrevocable ties to the Emperor were its undoing in the end.
Star Wars: Legacy of Vader #4 is available now from Marvel Comics.
- Cast
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Mark Hamill, James Earl Jones, David Prowse, Carrie Fisher, Harrison Ford, Daisy Ridley, Adam Driver, Ian McDiarmid, Ewan McGregor, Rosario Dawson, Lars Mikkelsen, Rupert Friend, Moses Ingram, Frank Oz, Pedro Pascal
- TV Show(s)
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The Mandalorian, Andor, Obi-Wan Kenobi, The Book of Boba Fett, Ahsoka, The Acolyte, Star Wars: Skeleton Crew, Lando, Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Star Wars Rebels, Star Wars: The Bad Batch, Star Wars: Resistance, Star Wars: Young Jedi Adventures, Star Wars: Visions
- Movie(s)
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Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace, Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones, Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith, Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope, Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back, Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi, Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens, Star Wars: Episode VIII – The Last Jedi, Star Wars: Episode IX- The Rise of Skywalker, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, Solo: A Star Wars Story, Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Star Wars: Dawn of the Jedi, Star Wars: New Jedi Order
- Character(s)
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Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, Rey Skywalker, Emperor Palpatine / Darth Sidious, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Ahsoka Tano, Grand Admiral Thrawn, Grand Inquisitor, Reva (The Third Sister), The Fifth Brother, The Seventh Sister, The Eighth Brother, Yoda, Din Djarin, Grogu, Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader, Leia Organa, Ben Solo/Kylo Ren
