Until the end of Return of the Jedi, Darth Vader appeared invincible.
He was the top Sith lord next to the Emperor, ruthlessly pursued the Jedi, and closed in on defeating the Rebels.
We may think Vader was too powerful to be harmed or killed, but that would not be accurate.
There were 3 times that Vader nearly died. Read on to find out more.
3 Times Vader Nearly Died
Although he appeared to be unstoppable, Vader had his weaknesses.
Writers and fans have speculated about how Vader could be defeated by several Jedi like Mace Windu and Yoda and Sith, such as Darth Sidious and Plagueis.
Vader was likewise vulnerable to death.
This video captures 3 times that Vader almost died which we can analyze more below. These moments arise from the comics and reflect the closest times Vader nearly perished.
The first time Vader almost died was in a battle with the Free Ryloth Movement.
Led by Twi’lek Cham Syndulla, this movement aimed to rid their planet Ryloth of the Imperials.
By 14 BBY, the movement was a full-fledged resistance army that led raids against Imperial forces.
After Vader killed a few of the Ryloth leaders, Cham moved to take stronger measures against him.
Cham planned to assassinate Vader and Palpatine when they visited Ryloth.
Both nearly died in a space mine and vulture droid attack on their Star Destroyer, Perilous, and their shuttle’s crash landing on the planet.
Both also had to battle lylek insectoid predators in Ryloth’s forest and Free Ryloth rebels at a remote village.
Vader was rescued by Imperials and barely escaped with his life.
The second time Vader nearly died was in a fight with Jedi Jocasta Nu.
Nu was the Chief Librarian of the Jedi Archives and had survived Order 66.
She returned to the Jedi Temple on Coruscant to recover archival materials and the holocron with a list of Force-sensitive children to use in a future school to train Jedi.
However, Vader found her there and chased Nu through the Temple.
Nu fought back against Vader with a lightsaber rifle. This video recounts the action, with Nu blasting the rifle at him and letting Vader know that she knew he was Anakin.
Unfortunately for Nu, her weapon malfunctioned and melted her lightsaber.
Yet, she was still able to throw the exploding remains of it at Vader. Nu then fought bravely against a swarm of clone troopers before she took her own life. Vader escaped death again.
The third moment was when Vader went to Exogol in the Unknown Regions to confront the Emperor.
Soon after his duel with Luke in The Empire Strikes Back, Vader wanted to find out how Luke had survived after Padme’s death.
Vader flew an Eta-2 interceptor guided by a Sith wayfinder through the Red Honeycomb Zone and confronted a gigantic summa-verminoth subspecies.
Vader almost lost his mind under the summa-verminoth’s mental assault but survived.
This video briefly recounts the story and how Vader defeated a fleet of Star Destroyers and the summa-verminoth, taming the latter and attempting to attack Darth Sidious with it.
That plan failed and Vader was placed back under the hands of the Emperor.
When Else Did Vader Come Close to Death?
When Vader dueled Jedi Master An’ya Kuro, he also came close to death. Vader came to the planet Cophrigin V, where Kuro was hiding, to complete the Great Jedi purge.
Yet, he faced a formidable opponent who subdued him at one point and knocked his lightsaber away at another. Vader eventually prevailed but faced a close call.
In the Obi-Wan Kenobi series, Vader came close to dying when he battled Obi-Wan.
At first, Vader appeared to be invincible, but by the end of the scene, he was on the verge of death.
With his helmet smashed, we saw him on the ground struggling to breathe in a weakened condition. If Obi-Wan had moved in with his lightsaber, that could have been the end of Vader.
Vader Nearly Died
From the comics, we know about 3 times that Darth Vader nearly died.
The closest moment may have been against the Free Ryloth Movement, but the other two almost brought about the famed Sith lord’s end.
Vader came close to death at least two other times, revealing that he was not immune to the final curtain call.
Todd Wahlstrom is a creative and analytical freelance writer and life-long Star Wars fan. He has covered such topics as Darth Vader, the Jedi, Boba Fett, and AT-AT Walkers. Todd has published a non-fiction book, holds a Ph.D. in history, and enjoys hiking, running, and reading about science.