When I came across this scene in Darth Vader #5, I had to stop and process what I was seeing. Vader — the terrifying Sith Lord — imagining himself asking Obi-Wan Kenobi for forgiveness. I had chills reading it, and I think you will too. Here’s what happened.
This story comes from the Darth Vader (2017) comic series, written by Charles Soule. You can follow it from issue #1, which picks up right after Revenge of the Sith. In that moment, Vader is newly reborn inside his armor after his defeat on Mustafar. The Emperor gives him one order: go make your Sith lightsaber.
So in issue #2, Vader sets out on his mission to find a Jedi and take their lightsaber by force. That’s where he ends up fighting Jedi Master Kirak Infil’a. After a brutal duel, Vader defeats him and claims the green lightsaber.
Then we reach issue #5—the one we’re focusing on.
Vader returns to Mustafar with Kirak’s lightsaber, following Sidious’s instructions. Deep beneath the surface of the fiery world, he finds a Sith locus—a place of intense dark side energy. There, Vader is supposed to bleed the kyber crystal, corrupting it with his pain and hatred to turn it red.
But when he tries… something unexpected happens.
The crystal fights back.
Vader is blasted by the Force, and for a split second, we see something we haven’t seen in a long time—Anakin Skywalker. His Sith eyes disappear. His voice softens. He stares at the kyber crystal in his hand and quietly asks, “What have I done?”
This isn’t just a flashback. It’s a full-blown vision. Anakin imagines himself putting the crystal back into the lightsaber and returning to Coruscant. He walks into Palpatine’s office with the green blade, the blade of a Jedi. Palpatine smiles at first, but once he sees the color of the saber, he understands what it means.
They fight—and Anakin wins. With one powerful strike, he cuts the Emperor down. 
And then… we see the most haunting moment of all.
Anakin approaches Obi-Wan, who’s sitting alone under the stars. Anakin removes his helmet. No longer Vader—just Anakin. He kneels before his old master and says a single word:
“Please.”
Obi-Wan, lightsaber drawn and ready, hesitates. Then he deactivates it. “Anakin,” he says softly.
That’s when the vision ends. Vader awakens, his Sith eyes blazing with fury. He rejects what the crystal showed him. No remorse. No forgiveness. Just rage.
And this time, he forces the crystal to bleed.
We see Vader pouring all his pain into the process—reliving the death of his mother, the fall of Padmé, the betrayal on Mustafar. He channels it all until the crystal turns blood-red.
He returns to Coruscant and presents the completed Sith lightsaber to Palpatine, his path set in darkness once again.
