When Darth Vader Reunited With His BLUE Lightsaber

Most people remember the big moments between Vader and Luke from the movies, but there’s one fight that happened shortly after A New Hope that not everyone talks about. It’s from Marvel’s Star Wars (2015) comic, and it shows the actual first time Vader met Luke face-to-face—and what’s wild is that he came across his old blue lightsaber again. The one he built as Anakin Skywalker. And for a second… he froze.

Let me walk you through how that whole thing went down.

The Rebels Break Into an Imperial Factory

Right after the Death Star blew up, the Rebels decided to strike hard while the Empire was still off-balance. Han, Leia, Luke, Chewbacca, R2-D2, and C-3PO all went undercover to hit a massive Imperial weapons factory on the moon Cymoon 1. They hijacked a ship and pretended to be emissaries from Jabba the Hutt. Once they landed, they started tearing the place apart from the inside.

Luke wandered off for a bit because he felt something weird through the Force. That’s when he found a bunch of slaves locked up in cages. He tried using a Jedi mind trick to get past a guard, but it didn’t work—so he just straight-up cut the guy’s hand off and freed the prisoners. He was still figuring things out, but that moment showed he wasn’t afraid to act.

Meanwhile, the rest of the team was planting explosives in the power core. Things were going well—until an unexpected shuttle showed up. Not just any shuttle. It was Vader.

Vader Shows Up and Wrecks Everything

When Vader walked in, Chewbacca tried to take him out from a sniper position. But Vader was already on high alert. He used his lightsaber to deflect the shots, then threw stormtroopers into the line of fire to protect himself. After that, he used the Force to tear down the structure Chewie was standing on, forcing him to flee. Vader didn’t stop there—he told his troops to lock down the entire base and started moving through the factory himself.

At that point, Luke, Leia, and Han were trying to escape. They managed to grab hold of an AT-AT and were getting ready to fight their way out. But Luke didn’t leave with them. He had sensed Vader nearby and went looking for him.

Luke Meets Vader for the First Time

Luke reached out to Obi-Wan through the Force, hoping for advice. Obi-Wan told him to run—Luke wasn’t ready yet. But he kept going. He had it in his head that Vader killed his father and Obi-Wan, and he wanted revenge.

When they finally stood face-to-face, Luke didn’t hesitate. He charged in, but Vader knocked him down almost instantly. He didn’t even need to try. Vader mocked him, called him weak, and then said Obi-Wan was a terrible teacher. It was brutal.

Then came the moment that changed everything.

Vader took Luke’s lightsaber. He held it for a second—and you could tell something hit him. That saber… it used to be his. The one he built back when he was still Anakin. He just stood there, frozen, staring at it. For the first time in forever, the past caught up with him.

The Fight Gets Messy

Before anything else could happen, Han and Leia crashed the stolen AT-AT into the battle. Vader went wild. He used the Force to crush parts of the walker and even threw both lightsabers—his red one and the blue one—like deadly darts, killing several stormtroopers and guards.

In the middle of the chaos, Luke managed to grab the blue saber again and took off on a speeder. Vader kept chasing him. He even damaged the walker enough that it collapsed. Luke tried to protect his friends and told them to escape while he led Vader away.

The chase ended with Luke blasting the factory’s power core. He barely escaped, thinking he might die in the process. As he fled, he whispered an apology to his father, believing he had failed as a Jedi. But he made it out, just in time.

Vader Picks Himself Up—And Puts the Mask Back On

After the explosion, Vader was injured and struggling to get up. A stormtrooper caught a glimpse of his face—his helmet had come off. The trooper froze. Without saying a word, Vader snapped his neck and called his helmet back with the Force. That brief moment of weakness? He wasn’t letting anyone see that.

He gave his men one order: kill everyone—except the boy. He wanted Luke alive. Not just to punish him. He wanted to know who he really was.

This story comes from Star Wars (2015) issues #1–3, written by Jason Aaron. If you ever wondered what happened between A New Hope and Empire Strikes Back, this comic fills in that gap in the most intense way possible. Vader’s journey to finding out who Luke really was didn’t start with “I am your father.” It started here—with a blue lightsaber he hadn’t seen in years.