We NEVER See Palpatine Train Darth Vader, Why Was Vader’s Sith Training So Limited?

Is it because Darth Vader is already so strong that Palpatine believed he didn’t need to train him using traditional Sith methods? 

The real reason might surprise you. 

I’ve discovered why Darth Vader’s Sith training was so limited, and I’m here to share it with you.

Without further ado…

The First and Last of Palpatine’s Actual Training to Darth Vader

Darth Vader’s training as a Sith Lord under Emperor Palpatine was far from traditional. Sith training is extremely dangerous, often leading to the death of the students.

When Anakin became Darth Vader by saving Palpatine from Windu, his first mission as a Sith was the Jedi Purge, which he executed with brutal efficiency alongside the 501st Legion. 

If you want to see how Palpatine first trained Darth Vader, you should check out the comic series “Star Wars: Darth Vader” (2017).

Most of Darth Vader’s training came from real-world experiences on missions assigned by Palpatine. 

These missions included hunting down and eliminating Jedi survivors, crushing rebellions, and enforcing the Emperor’s will across the galaxy. 

Vader’s first mission involved eliminating former Jedi Kirak Infil’a, a task that nearly cost him his life. 

This mission was a test set by Palpatine and resulted in Vader obtaining his first Sith lightsaber. He bled Kirak Infil’a’s kyber crystal to turn it red, marking the beginning of his true Sith training.

After receiving Infil’a’s lightsaber, Vader quickly bled the kyber crystal and built his Sith lightsaber. 

In “Star Wars” (2020) issue #25, we see Palpatine actually train Darth Vader in the Sith lightsaber fighting style. 

From Palpatine’s perspective, it is noted that Vader was still fighting like a Jedi. 

After showing Darth Vader how to fight like a Sith, that was essentially the extent of Palpatine’s direct training.

As we all know, most of Darth Vader’s training came from missions given by Palpatine.

These dangerous tasks showed Vader’s growing strength, as surviving them proved his increasing power. However, we should consider Palpatine’s view, did he see Vader as just a tool to serve his plans? 

What if Palpatine didn’t care about what might happen to Vader in battle? 

The real question is whether these risky missions were meant to train Vader or just to use him as a disposable asset in Palpatine’s grand scheme.

Darth Vader Is Just a Tool for Palpatine

To be fair, in my opinion, Palpatine never truly considered Darth Vader his apprentice; he viewed him more as a tool to help him conquer the galaxy.

 Palpatine manipulated Vader from the start, using false promises to control him. Anakin turned to the dark side believing Palpatine could save Padme, but this was just a lie.

This pattern continued with Palpatine’s plans to replace Vader with another Force-sensitive individual, like Luke Skywalker. 

When Palpatine saw Luke’s potential strength, he aimed to replace Vader with him, hoping to lure Luke with promises of power. 

However, unlike Anakin, Luke resisted these temptations and rejected Palpatine’s manipulations. 

This shows that from the beginning, Palpatine’s interest was never in mentoring a true apprentice but rather in using individuals to further his own ambitions.