Marvel's Star Wars: Legacy of Vader series has been busy filling in the yearlong gap between The Last Jedi and The Rise of Skywalker. Past issues have revealed what the Knights of Ren were up to during this period and even chronicled a surprise reunion between Kylo Ren and the ghost of Luke Skywalker. Now, as the series reaches its conclusion, we learn what happens when Ben Solo enters his grandfather's secret vault in Fortress Vader and actually battles Darth Vader himself.
What ultimate prize lies within the vault? How does this issue set up Ben Solo's redemption in Episode IX? Read on to learn more, but beware of full spoilers for Star Wars: Legacy of Vader #12 ahead!
From the start, this series has followed Kylo Ren as he assumes control of the First Order and attempts to kill his past and become the all-powerful ruler he believes he's destined to be. That quest has taken Ben to Mustafar and the abandoned halls of Fortress Vader, where only Vader's former manservant Vaneé remains to carry a torch for the former Dark Lord of the Sith.
Now, even Vaneé is dead, and nothing is stopping Ben from entering the mysterious vault at the heart of Fortress Vader. When he does, he finds not some terrible Sith artifact or ancient power source, but Darth Vader himself. Echoing Luke's journey into the cave in The Empire Strikes Back, Vader tells Ben that the only voices he'll hear in the vault are those he brings with him.
Ben reiterates his desire for power, to which Vader reminds him that power is never willingly given by those who hold it. It can only be taken. Grandfather and grandson begin to duel, though Ben quickly begins to despair at the thought that the Skywalker line is doomed to keep fighting and struggling from generation to generation.
Again, Vader proclaims that there is only power and the will to use it. But then he makes an observation. Vader was always at his most powerful when he was true to himself, whether it was marrying Padmé in defiance of Jedi law or breaking free and killing Emperor Palpatine. When Vader acted for himself - not others - he was at his strongest.
Vader then removes his helmet to reveal his true face as Ben Solo. This is a version of Ben free from the corrutpive influence of the Dark Side. He tells his other self that Kylo Ren has always been weak because he acts without purpose. Everything he does is motivated by fear and a desire to run from a past he can never actually escape. Then he makes the most brutal observation of all:
