Top 5 Moments Where Vader Was Genuinely Confused And Weirded Out

I’ve always seen Vader as the guy who’s ten steps ahead of everyone else – calm, in control, and impossible to surprise.

But the more I rewatched Star Wars, the more I realized that even he had moments where things didn’t go as planned.

And when Vader gets caught off guard, it’s rare, but it’s always interesting.

1. The One Time Vader Actually Yelled “WHAT?!”

Vader is not the kind of guy who loses his cool. But during the Death Star trench run in A New Hope, that’s exactly what happened.

He had Luke right in his sights. His TIE fighters were covering him. The Death Star was seconds away from wiping out the Rebellion. And then – boom.

Han Solo comes out of nowhere, blasts his wingman, and flips the whole situation upside down.

Vader was so caught off guard that he actually yelled “WHAT?!”, which is hilarious because this is Darth Vader we’re talking about. He’s usually all calm and collected, but here? Nope. Completely blindsided. The chaos made his other wingman panic and crash into him, sending him spinning out into deep space.

Han Solo, a guy flying what’s basically a modified space truck, just ruined Vader’s entire plan. And this wasn’t even the last time Han was a problem for him. First, he blindsides Vader here. Then he keeps escaping him. Then he shoots him in Cloud City. And finally? He marries his daughter. No wonder Vader was pissed every time he saw that guy.

2. Luke’s “I’d Rather Fall to My Death” Move

Vader expected a lot of things when he told Luke the truth in Empire Strikes Back. He expected shock. He expected anger. But what he didn’t expect was for Luke to just let go and fall into the abyss.

There’s something about how Vader just stands there, frozen. No reaction. No anger. Just processing what just happened. He literally told Luke, “Come with me. It is the only way.” And Luke went, “Yeah, no thanks!” and dropped off the platform.

That was not part of Vader’s plan.

It’s easy to see why this shook him. First off, Luke choosing possible death over joining him? That had to sting. Second, it probably reminded him of Padmé, because this was exactly what happened with her. He once begged her to stay with him, and she refused. Now, his own son was making the same choice.

3. Obi-Wan’s Vanishing Act Confused Him So Much He Kicked His Robes

Vader has killed a lot of Jedi. Every time, it’s the same – cut them down, they fall, and that’s it. So when he finally gets his revenge on Obi-Wan Kenobi in A New Hope, he’s expecting the same thing.

Instead? Obi-Wan just disappears.

Vader literally nudges the empty robes with his foot like he’s trying to figure out if Obi-Wan just shrunk or teleported. You can almost hear him thinking, What the hell just happened?

At the time, Vader had no idea about the whole Force ghost thing. Even years later, in Empire Strikes Back, he tells Palpatine, “Obi-Wan can no longer help him,” which proves he still didn’t get it. He really thought Obi-Wan was just gone forever.

This is one of the only times we see Vader genuinely confused about something related to the Force. He spent his whole life mastering its power, but this was something completely outside of his understanding.

4. When the Millennium Falcon’s Hyperdrive Actually Worked

Vader had them. Han, Leia, and Chewie were trapped. They were on Bespin, the Empire had sabotaged the Falcon’s hyperdrive, and there was nowhere to run. It was supposed to be over.

But then, at the very last second, the Falcon jumped to lightspeed and escaped right in front of him.

And Vader? He literally does a double take.

No shouting, no rage – just a full-body pause. Like he couldn’t believe what he just saw.

This is one of the funniest reactions he ever has because it’s so rare for him to be genuinely caught off guard. He had planned for everything. He was sure they weren’t going anywhere. And then – poof. Gone.

For someone who’s used to being the one pulling the strings, this was a moment of pure disbelief.

5. That Time He Saw Someone Who Looked Like Padmé and Just Froze

After the events of Empire Strikes Back, Vader found himself on Vendaxa, where he came across someone who looked exactly like Padmé Amidala. It wasn’t a ghost, but for a brief moment, it might as well have been. The resemblance was so striking that the first word out of Vader’s mouth was “Padmé.”

But this wasn’t Padmé. It was Sabé, one of her former handmaidens, and she wasn’t about to let Vader walk away without an explanation. She pointed a blaster at him and demanded to know who he was. When a forensic droid identified him as Darth Vader, Sabé didn’t hesitate – she opened fire.

Vader, still processing what he was seeing, didn’t even react at first. It took him a moment before he finally deflected the shots and used the Force to disarm her. Sabé, refusing to back down, mocked him, calling herself “Padmé Amidala, back from the dead to haunt you to your grave.”

And for the first time in a long time, Vader hesitated.

In Darth Vader (2020) #1, this moment is more than just an unexpected encounter. Padmé’s death was the very thing that broke Anakin Skywalker and led him down the path to becoming Darth Vader. He had seen it in his nightmares, fought desperately to prevent it, and in the end, it happened just as he feared. Seeing Sabé – someone who looked, moved, and spoke like Padmé – shook him in a way few things ever had.

He lifted her off the ground with a Force choke, but something stopped him from killing her. Maybe it was the memories flashing through his mind, maybe it was the way she looked at him – but whatever it was, he let go.

From that point on, things got even stranger. Instead of killing her, Vader ended up working with Sabé to uncover the truth about Padmé’s final moments. They traveled to Naboo, fought side by side against the Amidalans, and even stormed Padmé’s tomb.