Darth Vader’s Battle Against Death Continues in a New Book

There was one big reason Anakin Skywalker became Darth Vader. He hoped that by turning to the Dark Side, he’d be able to tap into powers that would bring back his wife, Padmé Amidala. It, of course, quickly went beyond that as his mentor Emperor Palpatine kept seeding him with doubt and hatred toward the Jedi and the galaxy—but, brass tacks, it was for Padmé.

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That quest will continue in a new book called Star Wars: Master of Evil by Adam Christopher. The Shadow of the Sith author has written a book that “chronicles Vader’s haunting pursuit for the power to conquer death” and it was one of several new books announced ahead of next week’s Star Wars Celebration; you can read more about those at this link. Here’s the full cover by artist Simon Goinard too.

Darth Vader: Master of Evil by Adam Christopher. Cover by Simon Goinard – Lucasfilm

Vader’s quest to cheat death is something that we never got to see in the movies. However, it’s something other Star Wars authors have explored across other media. For example, the Darth Vader comic series that ended its run in 2018 dove into it, telling a tale of Vader building his castle on Mustafar (which we saw in Rogue One) and how the whole point of that was to use it and the power of the planet to open a gate to the afterlife.

It’ll be interesting to see then if Christopher’s tale incorporates any of that and, if so, when his story will take place. Was the Mustafar temple an earlier attempt? A later one? Will Vader ever go to Palpatine and be like “Hey asshole, were you messing with me when you told me all that Darth Plagueis stuff?” Maybe Vader too, like us, would like to see a second season of The Acolyte.

Anyway, Master of Evil is coming to bookstores on November 11, and if there’s any more news about it out of Celebration, we’ll have it for you.

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