Marvel's 'Darth Vader' Series Is Affecting The Plausibility Of 'Return Of The Jedi'
With the release of the new comic, Darth Vader #14, new elements arise that question the traditional logic of what happened between the The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. Star Wars fans have had a set expectation for so long for what has occurred during this time period, but for the first time we are seeing a Star Wars property actually lay out the specifics as to what happened during this timer period. And not all that is being revealed is as one would have anticipated.
Star Wars: Darth Vader is an ongoing comic series developed by Marvel that details Darth Vader’s activities between The Empires Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. To recap, at the end of The Empire Strikes Back, we have Darth Vader putting Han Solo into carbonite to test the carbonite process to see if it will work for Luke Skywalker’s capture. Vader then gave Han Solo in carbonite to Boba Fett, and we next see both characters in Return of the Jedi. But we don’t know what happens between Boba Fett leaving Cloud City with Han Solo in carbonite and next seeing them both in Jabba’s palace at the start of Return of the Jedi.
Star Wars: Darth Vader #14 changes what we know happened between The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. The comic Star Wars: Darth Vader series tracks Vader in this time period and gives us a new, behind the scenes view on how Vader operated during this time period. At this point in the series, the Crimson Dawn (criminal organization you may recall from Solo) steals Han Solo in carbonite with an intent to sell him on the black market. Darth Vader then forces Bokku the Hutt to put a higher price on Han than Jabba the Hutt. Bokku takes possession of Han, with an intent to give him to Darth Vader.
The issue in the Star Wars timeline is that at the start of Return of the Jedi, Han’s carbonite body is in possession of Jabba. This means that Jabba would have to sneak Han out under Darth Vader’s vision or in some way have Jabba or Boba Fett come back in possession of Han’s body at some point. Something like this is not likely to happen very easily.
Logically, the comic series has to come to an end with Han in either Jabba or likely Boba Fett’s control. We do after all see Boba Fett in Jabba’s palace with Han in carbonite, so it makes sense to assume that Boba Fett brought him there. It will be very interesting to see how the comic deals with this. There is a very specific starting and end point for the comic given its location detailing the acts of Darth Vader between The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi.
Looking ahead to Darth Vader’s possible upcoming decisions, it would seem that Emperor Palpatine makes the Second Death Star a priority, given its quick rise and prominence in Return of the Jedi. This would force Vader to shift his priority away from finding Luke during this time. After all, his focus on finding Han Solo and the Millennium Falcon was primarily to capture Luke Skywalker. The beginning of Return of the Jedi does focus on Jabba and does not involve the Empire, even though they would most likely be in hot pursuit of Luke and Lando after the events on Bespin.
The new Star Wars: Darth Vader #14 comic could change how we view Star Wars, specifically the period between The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. While it’s unlikely that Star Wars canon will be affected, the current state of the comic series strongly suggests that our traditional understanding of the period may be changed. We’ll have to wait and see what happens!
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Source(s): Screen Rant