'Star Wars' Comic Shows That This Surviving Jedi Could Have Defeated Vader
It has long been believed that Darth Vader, Dark Lord of the Sith, was practically invincible and that he (and the Inquisitors) easily hunted down and killed most of the survivors of the Jedi Order as the Republic was transformed into the Galactic Empire. But what if I told you that there was at least one Jedi survivor who posed such a huge challenge to Vader that he actually initially lost to him? As it so happens, there was one Jedi capable of this and this story was featured in the comic, Darth Vader (2017) #3 and #4 (by Charles Soule, Giuseppe Camuncoli, Cam Smith, David Curiel, and VC's Joe Caramagna). Seeking a new lightsaber crystal, to replace the one he lost on Mustafar during his fateful duel with Obi-Wan (or asked Obi-Wan to give to Luke when he was of age, depending on your point of view), Vader sought out Jedi Master Kirak Infil’a, who was living on the moon of Al'doleem, with the intention of killing him and taking his lightsaber crystal.
However, Vader actually greatly underestimated Master Infil'a during his first encounter with him. Vader wasn't even able to land his ship, as Master Infil'a flung a giant art sculpture into it, forcing Vader to make a crash landing. Vader found his attacks to be ineffective, including his Force choke and he was forced to pursue Master Infil'a up a mountain, while dealing with a variety of obstacles. Upon reaching the top of the mountain, Vader and Infil'a engaged in a fierce duel, Vader with an energy weapon and Infil'a with his lightsaber. Ultimately, one of Vader's cybernetic legs failed and Infil'a threw him off a cliff, seemingly dismissing him as unimportant, refusing to believe that Vader could have single-handedly destroyed the Jedi Order, a belief that was actually grounded in truth.
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Although Master Infil'a's beliefs about Vader not being the only cause behind the destruction of the Jedi Order turned out to be true, he had not been around to know or learn the truth of Emperor Palpatine's machinations in bringing down the Republic and Jedi Order. This is because Master Infil'a had previously sworn a "Barash Vow", which essentially meant that he was a Jedi, but not a participant in the activities of the Jedi Order. This kind of vow was typically sworn in order for Jedi to seek penitence for past misdeeds and refocus on the Force. As a result of his detachment from the Jedi Order, Master Infil'a had not been exposed to Palpatine's corrupting influence on the Order and thus retained a purer connection to the Force, becoming more attuned to it. He also was a well-trained combat specialist, devoting his time to training for a powerful adversary he sensed would eventually come for him.
Unfortunately, despite having defeated Darth Vader once, Master Infil'a did not fare as well during their next encounter. Instead of confronting Master Infil'a directly, Vader managed to distract Master Infil'a with the death of innocents, enabling Vader an opportunity to crush Infil'a's windpipe, killing him. Due to the self-imposed isolation (and later death) of Master Infil'a, he does not appear in any of the movies or series, however, Infil'a is not the only Jedi who has taken on Vader and lived to tell the tale, the most notable ones being Kanan Jarrus, Ezra Bridger, and even Ashoka Tano (Star Wars Rebels), all of whom survived their brush with death. However, of these, only Ashoka was able to inflict any significant damage on Vader, managing to crack open part of his face mask. Vader obviously survived the injury, and nearly killed Tano before she vanished into a mysterious portal.
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Source(s): CBR