We all remember the final moments of Revenge of the Sith. Vader rises, learns Padmé is dead, and lets out that iconic scream. But then… the movie just cuts. What happened after that? Did Vader just calm down and move on? Not even close.
Thanks to Charles Soule’s Darth Vader #1, we actually get to see the immediate aftermath of that moment—and it’s way more brutal and emotional than anything the film showed us. This wasn’t just the birth of Darth Vader. This was Anakin Skywalker’s final breakdown.
From the film, we saw Vader right after the armor was complete. The moment he awakens from surgery, he asks Palpatine the only thing that still matters to him—Padmé. “Is she safe? Is she all right?” And then comes Palpatine’s cold reply: “It seems in your anger… You killed her.” That’s where the movie leaves us—with Vader screaming in agony. However, the comics extend that moment and give us a deeper look into what happened right after that scream.
In Darth Vader #1, we see what really came next. Vader’s pain instantly turns into raw rage. He rips himself from the operating table, still recovering from his injuries, and starts destroying everything around him. Medical droids are torn apart. The walls shake. His scream turns into violence. And then, in the middle of all that chaos, Vader does the unthinkable—he attacks Palpatine.
What really catches us off guard is how much power Vader unleashes the moment he awakens. The entire room is torn apart—everything except Palpatine. The comic shows that Palpatine was affected. Vader actually grabs him in a Force choke, furious, and nearly crushes Palpatine while confronting him for breaking his promise. “You told me you could save her,” Vader growls—referring to the promise Palpatine made back in Revenge of the Sith.
Palpatine, while being held in a Force choke, still manages to reply calmly, “In your rage, you chose… a different path. Padmé is dead, my friend. Even the power of the dark side cannot bring her back. But in her death, she has given you a gift.”
At this point, Vader starts to slow down. He doesn’t keep attacking. He’s still full of pain, but now that pain is turning into something else. Palpatine keeps pushing him, saying, “Now… you must choose. Will you accept that gift? Will you use it… or will you die?”
Vader lets go of the Force choke and answers, “I… will live.”
He then tells Vader it’s time to build his own Sith lightsaber. But he won’t be given one. If he wants it, he’ll have to take it—from a surviving Jedi. And just in case Vader thinks about attacking him again, Palpatine makes a chilling threat:
“I realize this has been a traumatic time for you. But if you touch me with the Force again, I will finish what Kenobi could not.”
After that, Palpatine takes Vader to witness the birth of the Empire. He explains why Sith lightsabers are red, telling him about the process of bleeding a kyber crystal—how the crystal must be filled with pain, anger, and suffering until it submits. From Palpatine’s guidance, Vader finally understands the Sith’s way. He says, “The saber of a Sith is not given. It is taken.”
With that, Vader begins his first mission—to find a Jedi and take their crystal. And that’s where the first issue ends.
If you want to follow what happens next—how Vader nearly gets defeated by Jedi Master Kirak Infil’a during this hunt—you can check out the next part of his journey through the link here.