The Chosen One (Part III) - Darth Vader (2017) - 003 - Marvel Comics

Vader sets his sights on a Jedi who's avoided Order 66…a Jedi Master who's long lived in seclusion…a Jedi more powerful than any Vader has faced before…

Review & Summary

Talk about anticipation! After seeing Vader find a Jedi to hunt, I have been wanting to see him battle this monstrous looking Jedi. We left off with the scene of the Jedi meditating while hovering in the air. We also discovered what the Barash vow is and what its significance was to help this Jedi survive Order 66. I also made a comment about how this could be how we find Luke in Episode VIII, and since then I have seen several theories and videos that also agree with this. It is definitely a strong possibility that Luke has discovered this information and is taking this Vow after losing Ben Solo to the Dark Side.

We begin this issue with the Jedi still hovering in meditation on the Mid-Rim river moon of Al'doleem. He is surrounded by what looks like random objects, his Hilt, and a Holocron. Kirak Infil’a says, “good” as a blade approaches him from behind. The next page he says, “very good”, as he is attacked by a droid. The droid appears to be wielding a vibroblade made by something like Phrik or Songsteel. Either way, it is not able to be cut through by Kirak’s lightsaber.

You then see as pieces of the floating objects come together and the droid says, “Fighting while assembling four Padawan’s traps at once, Master Infil’a? It seems ill-advised, even for you.” Kirak responds with some Jedi wisdom, “The easy path rarely leads to a worthwhile destination, Arex.” So, we now understand that Arex is a droid in service to the Jedi on this moon. Arex continued on by telling Kirak that he has chosen a most difficult path that may lead to his death, while the easy path may allow him to live “perhaps not as a Jedi, not openly, but..” Arex is cut short by Kirak’s force push and the words, “ I AM a Jedi. Pretending otherwise would not be easy. It would be impossible” He finishes the Padawan’s traps as Arex lay on the ground.

Suddenly Kirak Infil’a feels something… “something is coming, something…Dark. Prepare the mountain’s defenses.” Which Arax obliges. We then see Vader’s ship as it approaches the top of the mountain Kirak is on. Vader’s droid alerts him to objects approaching rapidly. “Clarify ‘objects.’ Missiles? Ships?” Vader asks. “No. No drive signature. Best analysis suggests they are…Art.” Vader's ship is suddenly impacted by the very things that were floating around Kirak as he meditated.

Vader commands the droid to trace back the outward trajectory and find him a target! The droid informs Lord Vader that both the primary and secondary thrusters are damaged and they need to land immediately. “NO. They would have a chance to flee.” The droid responds as kindly as possible, “Respectfully, Lord Vader, we lose the target or we lose the ship.” The ship crashes to the ground. “I have lost nothing. The Jedi is out there. I can sense him” says Lord Vader. The droid lets Vader know that he will start repairs immediately and they should be fully operational within two standard days at which point Vader can engage the enemy directly, but Vader will have none of that. After Vader climbs out of the wrecked ship, he tells the droid, “No. He is waiting for me. He is expectant. I do not wish to disappoint him.” Vader begins his trek up the mountain, when suddenly a huge wall comes up from behind separating him from his ship. From atop a cliff, Kirak yells down to Vader who stands looking up, “You. You stink of darkness. Was it you?” Kirak reaches for his throat as Vader tries his Force Choke on the Jedi Master. “…NO!” Kirak yells as he uses the Force to push Vader.

“You will not defeat me that way, creature. You will not defeat me at all. Your use of the Dark Side confirms my suspicion's.. But let me ask again. Not long ago, through the Force I felt the death of almost every Jedi. That darkness resonates within you. Did you do it? Did you kill them?” Kirak stands looking down at Vader in defiance. “Yes,” Vader obliges him with the answer. “Are you here to kill me as well?” Kirak questions Vader. Another simple, “Yes.” With a grin on his face, Kirak states, “As I hoped.” Kirak now explains a bit about his Barash Vow. “For my transgressions, I took the Barash Vow, to live alone inside the Force, until my true path as a Jedi became clear. To live outside the order, and take no action on its behalf no matter the circumstances... Even its end. You must know that, or you would not have known to look for me here. It is also why I stayed here... I knew you would come, eventually. I declare my Barash complete, for my brothers and sisters are dead, and their murderer stands before me. I know my path, killer, and its end is also yours.” Kirak says standing atop the cliff pointing his green ignited lightsaber at Vader from above.

 

Kirak then explains that this mountain is called Passvaal and it is a sacred place that is designed to test all the Jedi that come there. The higher you go, the more demanding the challenges become. Now, I couldn't help but start cracking up and laughing uncontrollably at this next line. Kirak says to Vader, “I will await you at the summit, beast. On the highest ground. Come seek me out.” Boy oh boy, Vader getting taunted once more about the high ground! If you haven't yet seen it, watch the Robot Chicken high ground video on YouTube. You must not ignore this request, it's not the high ground way. Anyway, back to the review.

Kirak tells Arex to open the gate and suddenly a gate begins to open from a hole in the side of the mountain. Water comes rushing out and sweeps Vader away as it rushes past him. As the water settles, you see it begin to swirl and then Vader pushes all the water away with the Force. As he climbs out from the water and begins to walk the path, he is suddenly attacked by some giant birds resembling Hawks called Raptorans. Keep in mind, Vader has no weapon other than the Force which he is utilizing to throw the birds.

Arex stands watching Vader fight on a portable video screen (think iPad) and asks Kirak if he should blow up the bridge now. “I can feel him down there. Cold, dark. All the pain I felt when the Jedi died... It's like he took it all into him. What is he, do you think? Sith? Or some sort of other monster?” Kirak queries Arex. Arex responds, “My databanks indicate that Sith generally wield lightsabers with Crimson blades—We have seen no evidence that he possesses such a weapon. But his abilities—And the way he chooses to use them— do suggest the Dark Side. I am sorry. I cannot say what he is. But I know he is dangerous. He will defeat the Raptorans shortly. If you wish to bring down the bridge, the time is now.”

Kirak, who appears to have black eyes with a white iris, raises his arms to the sky and says, “No. Thank you for your service, My friends. Let the creature pass.” With that, the Raptorans begin to disperse, but that doesn't stop Vader from killing another as it flies away. Arex informs Kirak that Vader will reach the Spikewind next and he will activate it at the right time, but Kirak tells him no. “No, No more traps. No more obstacles. Turn them off. All of them.” Arex seems confused by this, “But... in that case... he will be here in no time at all!” Which Kirak already knows.

Vader stands at the bottom of a set of stairs with walls on either side containing spikes. I assume that would've been theSpikewind. You see that one of Vader’s robotic legs is showing completely uncovered. From his foot and all the way to his thigh where it connects. Kirak stands at the top taunting Vader. “Almost there, creature. Almost to the top. Keep going. You can do it. I believe in you.” Vader sends a rock flying at Kirak which he easily cuts with his lightsaber, but the second one hits and knocks him back. Vader reaches the top and Arex appears wielding his weapon and says to Kirak, “Do not fear Master Infil'a! I will destroy him!” He is quickly picked up by the Force, courtesy of Vader, and continues talking, “I have served the Jedi in this place for generations, and I will tell you this— the dark side will never—“ and with that, Vader rips off Arex’s right arm, with the blade still in hand, and tosses the rest of him. Now, Vader is ready to square off with Master Kirak Infil'a…finally!

Now Kirak understands what this is about as he sees Vader standing there wielding his Droids weapon. “I know what you want. I know why you're here. It's not just to kill me. You came here to get something. I can sense it. You want my lightsaber.” Kirak says as they cross blades.

Kirak continues to taunt Vader, “How did you end the Jedi? It seems impossible. You are weak.” just then, Vader's exposed leg begins to spark and is damaged. “No. You could not have done it alone. There must be someone else. A Master.”  Vader’s left leg snaps and breaks off right at the knee. He is down on his knees or errr… his knee, while Kirak holds his blade at him. “Once you are dead, I will seek out your master and destroy him as well. And then, I will restore the light of the Jedi to the galaxy,” Kirak says proudly as he then Force blasts Vader from the cliff, “Think on that, Monster. All the way down.” Vader falls down off of the cliff into the darkness. It seems like there is a river below that he will fall into, but boy did he get destroyed by this Jedi. He lost a leg already after what seems like only a matter of days since he got his new prosthetic limbs and suit.

I was really excited about this issue. I wanted to see this showdown so badly and I wanted to see how Vader was planning on battling without a Lightsaber and that was interesting to see. What I really love about this is that we are getting to see The Dark Lord of the Sith in such a vulnerable place that we have never seen before. This is all so entirely new for him and he is learning his new limits while exploring others. It's obvious he is learning how to exploit the Dark Side in certain ways, but he still has such a long way to go and that is why I really love this series. We are seeing Vader before he was the most feared man in the Galaxy.

Now, of course I was disappointed that the fight only lasted a brief amount of time, but I think it is better this way. If he came in and just destroyed Kirak, there would be no point of even creating this series then. I think it is so very important for this series to explore the vulnerabilities that Vader went through in the beginning days in his suit. I have absolutely nothing negative to really say about this series yet except when Kirak sends the Raptorans away. Ever since Ezra had the animal connection in Rebels, it seems to be a running theme now. There may even be some of this in Episode VIII (that is as far as i'll go into that here). I can only hope they continue making this great story even better. I am so anxious to see how this turns out and how he manages to defeat Kirak Infil'a. By the way, WOW! What a monster Master Infil'a is! They weren't kidding when they said he has one purpose...fighting. This next issue is shaping up to be a great one!

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What Worked

• Vader's droid's one humor line again. (...Art)
• Vader's failed Force Choke on Kirak
• Kirak taunting Vader
• The High Ground and the mountain tests
• Vader's vulnerability, destroyed leg, got beaten..bad

What Didn’t Work

• Could've been a bit longer
• The Jedi/Animal connection

Variant Cover Gallery

 

External Links:

• Marvel.com Product Page
• Wookieepedia Episode Summary