I’ve always been fascinated by those rare moments when Darth Vader shows even a hint of emotion. Growing up, I thought he was just this cold, unstoppable force, no cracks, no feelings.
But the more I got into his story, the more I realized there were some surprising moments hidden beneath the surface (or his mask). One of them really caught me off guard — and it all started right after the Death Star exploded.
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Vader Always Knew the Death Star Was a Bad Idea
From the beginning, Vader wasn’t a fan of the Death Star. In A New Hope, you can already tell. He straight up told Admiral Motti and the other big shots that the battle station was nothing compared to the power of the Force. And that wasn’t just him flexing. In the Death Star novel, it goes even deeper. Vader had been quietly resenting the whole project for years.
The book describes his thoughts right after the Death Star’s destruction: “Darth Vader had been safely out of danger when the Death Star had blown up. His ship was damaged, but still spaceworthy enough that, with a couple of careful jumps, he could reach a hidden Imperial naval base a few light-years away.
Despite the direness of the situation, he couldn’t help another painful smile. The Death Star, with all its troops and weapons, the superlaser that could by itself destroy entire planets, trillions of credits’ worth of labor and material – all of it was gone to incandescent dust in an instant.”
To him, the Death Star was everything wrong with the Empire. Trillions of credits dumped into a giant metal ball that could blow up planets — and for what? Vader believed that true power came from within, not from some oversized weapon. Officers were obsessed with titles like “Grand Moff” instead of chasing real strength. The Death Star was a symbol of fear, sure, but fear was temporary. The Force was eternal.
And personally, Vader hated what it did to him. Instead of spending time unlocking more power through the dark side, he was stuck babysitting construction sites, scaring bureaucrats into staying on schedule, and dealing with the dumbest delays. The Death Star didn’t make him stronger. It made him a manager. And he despised it.
Why the Death Star’s Destruction Made Him Smile
After the Battle of Yavin, when Vader’s fighter spun away and the Death Star exploded, he could’ve just been angry or frustrated. But while he was floating out there, getting ready to jump to safety, something hit him. He realized that everything he hated about the Death Star — all the wasted ambition, the empty fear, the arrogance of the Empire — was gone in an instant. All the years of work, the mountains of credits, the fleets guarding it, the dream of crushing the Rebellion through terror — reduced to dust.
And the best part? It wasn’t even taken down by a massive army or a complicated plan. It was one rebel pilot. One Force-sensitive person. Vader could feel it during the battle — the pilot who made that shot was strong in the Force, even if he didn’t know exactly who it was yet. That single pilot proved Vader right about everything. No matter how impressive the Death Star seemed, it was nothing compared to the raw power of the Force.
I love that Vader, even while facing disaster, took a second to enjoy the irony. All the people who doubted him, even Sidious, had put their faith in a giant machine. And they were wrong. It hurt him physically to smile, but he still did it because deep down, he knew he’d been right all along.
The Smile That No One Saw
Of course, Vader didn’t show any of this when he finally reported back to the Emperor. Outwardly, he stayed the loyal enforcer. But inside, there was this small, painful moment of satisfaction. He didn’t smile because he loved the Rebellion or because he wanted the Empire to fall. He smiled because, for once, the galaxy showed that the Force — not fear, not weapons, not armies — was the real power.
No matter how much he served the Empire, no matter how much he gave up, there was a part of him that still believed in the Force above everything else. And that part of him couldn’t help but smile when the Death Star — the thing that symbolized everything he hated — finally disappeared.
