Anakin’s ENTIRE First Year as Darth Vader

Anakin Skywalker was gone. In his place stood Darth Vader, but becoming the Emperor’s enforcer wasn’t as simple as just putting on the suit.

The first year was brutal – physically, emotionally, and mentally. He had to adapt to his new body, endure Palpatine’s control, and carve out his place in the Empire. Let’s go through how he transformed into the Sith Lord we know today.

The Pain of Rebirth

The first thing Vader felt was pain. And then, Palpatine’s cold voice: “Lord Vader, can you hear me?”

He woke up in a mechanical nightmare. The droids had saved his life after Mustafar, but the suit they put him in was heavy, restrictive, and suffocating. Every movement felt wrong, his vision was distorted, and even breathing was a struggle. It wasn’t just armor – it was a prison.

Then the worst news hit him: Padmé was dead. Everything he had done, all the sacrifices, all the betrayals – it was all for nothing. His grief erupted into rage, and he lashed out, destroying everything around him. He even tried to attack Palpatine. It was useless. Sidious was too strong, and he had already won.

Vader understood. He had nothing left. No Jedi. No Republic. No Padmé. Just the Emperor and the Empire.

The Nightmare of His Own Body

The first few weeks in his new body were miserable. The armor was clunky and poorly designed. His boots forced him into an unnatural stance, his arms weren’t as responsive as they should’ve been, and his helmet distorted sounds and limited his vision. Eating was a hassle – most of the time, he was fed through a tube.

Palpatine had done this on purpose. The medical droids could’ve given him something better, but his master wanted him to suffer. Pain fueled the dark side, and as far as Sidious was concerned, Vader needed as much pain as possible.

Learning to Kill Like a Sith

A week after waking, Palpatine gave Vader his first task – construct a new lightsaber. He was given a synthetic red kyber crystal, a direct symbol of his allegiance to the Sith. His new weapon was bulkier than his old one, built for raw power instead of finesse. It was a brutal reminder that Anakin Skywalker was dead.

His first real test came on Murkhana, hunting down Jedi survivors. He executed clones who had refused Order 66 and faced Jedi Bol Chatak in battle. And it didn’t go as smoothly as he had hoped. His movements were slow, his strikes lacked precision, and Chatak even managed to land a hit. That had only ever happened to him a few times before – with Dooku, Obi-Wan, and Ventress.

He still won, but the fight left him shaken. Was he weaker now? Had Palpatine done this to him on purpose?

Letting Go of the Past (Or Trying To)

Back on Coruscant, Palpatine saw through him immediately. Vader’s failure wasn’t about skill – it was about attachment. He was still clinging to the past, still obsessing over what he had lost.

So, Sidious sent him back to the Jedi Temple. The place where he had murdered his friends and the younglings. Surrounded by the ghosts of his past, Vader finally broke. In a fit of rage, he destroyed the temple archives, burning away everything that remained of the Jedi Order. He told himself that was it – he would never return to Tatooine or Naboo. Anakin Skywalker was gone.

But deep down, he knew it wasn’t that simple.

Becoming the Face of Fear

Palpatine wanted Vader to be more than just a killer – he had to be a symbol of terror. So he sent him on mission after mission, crushing rebellion and hunting Jedi across the galaxy.

On Serenno, he forced noble families to prove their loyalty by executing their own kin. On Honoghr, he enslaved the Noghri, tricking them into serving the Empire by poisoning their planet while pretending to help them. Everywhere he went, he left nothing but destruction behind.

But his true obsession was still the Jedi. He finally tracked Roan Shryne to Kashyyyk and slaughtered him, proving that he was getting stronger, adapting to his new body. As Shryne died, he had a vision – Vader at the center of a galactic explosion. A glimpse into the future.

And somewhere across the galaxy, Obi-Wan Kenobi felt it. Anakin Skywalker was still alive.

The Hunt for Kenobi

Vader had one goal now – find Kenobi. His hatred for his former master was all that was left. He started interrogating captured Jedi, demanding to know where Obi-Wan was.

Palpatine wasn’t happy. He warned Vader that his obsession was making him weak. But Vader didn’t care.

That single-minded rage led him into a trap on Kessel, where eight Jedi ambushed him. They nearly killed him, but he used their mercy against them, pretending to surrender before slaughtering them all. Sidious saw this as a sign of Vader’s biggest flaw – he was strong, but reckless. His anger was powerful, but it clouded his judgment.

If he wanted to be a true Sith, he needed to move on from the past.

Searching for More Power

Vader wasn’t convinced that he was at his full potential. He started searching for ways to surpass Palpatine. That’s when he heard about the Myr Talisman, an ancient Sith artifact that could control monstrous creatures called Rakghouls.

But when he tracked it down, he was met by Celeste Morne, a Jedi who had been in stasis for 4,000 years. She resisted the dark side, refused to join him, and ultimately forced him to retreat. Another failure. Another reminder that he still wasn’t strong enough.

Building His Own Army

Vader needed more than just strength – he needed an army of his own. He raided The Prism, a secret Jedi prison where dark side users had been locked away for centuries. Instead of freeing them outright, he forced them to fight each other. The survivors – 33 of them – became his personal enforcers.

Crushing a Coup on Coruscant

Vader returned to Coruscant to find a coup in progress – former Republic officers had attempted to assassinate Palpatine. Vader and his new army crushed them. Afterward, Palpatine praised a young officer named Tom for his bravery.

Vader didn’t like that. He personally killed Tom, making sure that no one else would rise too high in his master’s favor. He also ended up all 33 prisoners (his army) to prevent any future rebellion.

Closing Out the First Year

Vader’s first year was filled with pain, failure, and brutal lessons. He learned that the dark side wasn’t freedom – it was another chain. But he also became something more. Stronger. More feared.

And yet, as much as he wanted to bury the past, as long as Obi-Wan Kenobi was out there, a part of Anakin Skywalker still remained.

This was only the beginning.