gffa:gffa:THIS IS A REALLY GOOD MOMENT AND LET ME YELL ABOUT WHY.This isn’t Darth Vader being all ~b
gffa:gffa:THIS IS A REALLY GOOD MOMENT AND LET ME YELL ABOUT WHY.This isn’t Darth Vader being all ~badass~, this is Anakin Skywalker running from the truth of who he is.Is it terrifying? Yes, of course it is. He murders someone in cold blood just for seeing his face, because he doesn’t want anyone to have witnessed it and does it so easily. So much power for such a small, yet incredible gesture.But it’s not just about seeing him physically scarred or in a moment of weakness, it’s about who he is under the mask, who he is beyond being this murderous terror behind an unreadable mask.In Darth Vader: Darth Lord of the Sith #10, he throws a bunch of clones out of a moving vehicle to their death, because they overheard that he was actually Anakin Skywalker, former Jedi.The entire run of that comic is about Darth Vader denying that he was once Anakin Skywalker and that he had choices he could have made, that he doesn’t want to admit so many truths to himself (he wants to die, but won’t admit it, he betrayed everyone else not them betraying him, but he won’t admit it, the dark side isn’t more powerful and it’s only brought him misery, but he won’t admit it), and this plays right into that.Anakin Skywalker is his true name, Anakin Skywalker’s face is his true face, but he’s going to work damn hard to forget that and he’s going to make damn sure everyone else who remembers him does, too. By murdering them so they can never again remind him of who he really is.FURTHERMORE, in addition to how both Darth Vader comic series and the main Star Wars ongoing are dealing with the central theme of Anakin’s attempts to bury and hide who he is, that he’s putting forth the mask of Darth Vader instead of himself, and that that is deeply important to his relationships with Obi-Wan, Ahsoka, and Luke, it’s an important part of Star Wars: Rebels as well.Dave Filoni and Henry Gilroy both explicitly talk about exactly what I’ve been going on about, in the Siege of Lothal Rebels Recon video:“What’s it like writing an iconic during this point in the timeline?”HENRY GILROY: "It’s exciting, really a dream come true. And also very stressful! Because every line of dialogue, every action Vader takes carries weight. We’re very careful to try to write him as George [Lucas] wrote him.“DAVE FILONI: "Which is what makes Ahsoka so dangerous because if she were to figure out, or if she already knows who Darth Vader is – it’s a big threat to him because it’s like revealing these horrible truths.”HENRY GILROY: "She is a tie to who he was as Anakin Skywalker. And, as Anakin Skywalker, someone he wants to forget ever existed.”DAVE FILONI: "If you had a top 5 list of who Darth Vader wanted to destroy you’d have Obi-Wan Kenobi number one, and then it’s probably really close between Yoda and Ahsoka.“ (x)This is why the above moment isn’t just about Vader being pitied–though, that certainly is something he hates–but about the greater scope of him trying to force himself into this persona. It’s about cutting every tie to who he was as Anakin Skywalker, denying every part of that person.This is why Palpatine punishes him with reminders of Anakin in Darth Vader vol 1 #1, because it’s specifically designed to hurt him as much as possible, by cutting to the core of the thing that hurts him the most.This is why Vader kills the clones in Dark Lords of the Sith for overhearing his true name.This is why Vader kills the Stormtrooper here for seeing his burnt face, because it’s a reminder that Anakin Skywalker was damaged and burned and pitiable, rather than the murderous, fear-inspiring terror that is Darth Vader’s mask.This is why Ahsoka cannot reach Darth Vader, no matter how hard she tries, because he cannot tolerate what she knows of who he used to be, he cannot tolerate that she would always see him as Anakin, rather than the blank slate of Darth Vader. -- source link