Theory: Is Darth Vader Taking Over Crimson Dawn?
You can't keep a good Sith down. Greg Pak's ongoing Darth Vader series has taken the iconic villain in many unique directions. Starting immediately after the events of The Empire Strikes Back, Vader's new comic began with a story about him investigating the death of Padmé Amidala alongside her handmaiden Sabé. The arc ended with Vader discovering the base on Polis Massa where Padmé died and watching her speak her final words in a recording, shaking the Dark Lord and foreshadowing his eventual return to the light.
Having gone behind his master's back doing this, Vader was punished by the Emperor by having his body nearly destroyed and leaving him on Mustafar to repair himself. As the Sith rebuilt his body, he was hunted by one of Palpatine's personal assassins, Ochi of Bestoon, and came upon a Sith Holocron, leading to the hidden Sith world of Exegol. Upon arriving on Exegol, Vader challenged the Emperor and was shown his master's true power, forcing Vader to return to Palpatine's service.
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Following this, Vader's next assignment was hunting down the newly reemerged crime syndicate Crimson Dawn. Now under the leadership of Lady Qi'ra, Crimson Dawn had infiltrated the Empire with many spies and double agents. Alongside a team of mercenaries, including Ochi and Beilert Valance, Vader would go on to hunt down and eliminate any and all Crimson Dawn agents within the Empire.
But now, with Darth Vader #21, the Dark Lord has plans of his own. Upon uncovering Ochi's secret loyalty to Crimson Dawn, Vader followed Ochi to Naboo, where he intended to meet with Sabé, who had recently joined Crimson Dawn herself. After commending Ochi for leading him to Sabé, which Ochi quickly went along with, Vader confronted Sabé and informed her that he now was Crimson Dawn. This ending has left many fans speculating what the Dark Lord could mean by this. For me, the answer couldn't be more clear. Darth Vader is taking over Crimson Dawn and using it to go against the Emperor.
At first, this idea may seem contradictory to the ending of the Exegol arc. But I think it makes sense to look at a specific panel in that issue. In Darth Vader #11, Vader becomes quickly overwhelmed by Palpatine's immense power as his master tells him that he would only survive by serving his Emperor. We then see a vision in Vader's mind of Luke Skywalker reaching out to him during their duel on Cloud City. In the vision, Luke repeats his father's own words back to him, telling him that he can destroy the Emperor and that it is his destiny to do so. It is after this vision that Vader hesitantly surrenders to Palpatine's will. I interpret this as Vader not necessarily giving up but rather realizing that he cannot defeat his master alone. Having seen his immense power and resources on Exegol, Vader may have realized that he would need nothing less than an army to destroy the Emperor. Crimson Dawn may very well be that army.
Crimson Dawn has already planned to assassinate Palpatine, having killed off his Royal Guard and distracted him with an all-out war between the various syndicates in the criminal underworld. So with the power of such a vast and influential organization at his side, Vader may finally have a chance to finish off his master forever. The focus of Greg Pak's Darth Vader has been on the Dark Lord's struggle to decide who he wants to be now after failing to turn his son to the dark side. With his hope of returning to the light still yet to be fully rekindled, I believe Vader's primary goal now may be killing Darth Sidious and taking the Empire for himself.
At the end of the day, Vader truly wants the galaxy to be how he wants. A galaxy where the Emperor lives is a galaxy he will not stand for. Crimson Dawn was initially created by Maul as a means to destroy his former master and reshape the galaxy to his own image. Now it seems that history may be repeating itself. As such, I think it's fair to assume that this series will culminate in Vader making a final stand against his master with Crimson Dawn under his command. While we know that Vader will fail in this mission, it will still be exciting to see how this series sets him up for his ultimate downfall and eventual return to the light.
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