Star Wars' latest Darth Vader comic book series took an intriguing turn in the early issues when the fallen Jedi's revenge-fueled search for the son he never knew he had suddenly changed into a heartfelt investigation to learn of his late wife Padmé Amidala's death. While an exciting way to connect the more established canon with the new, Vader's obsession with Padmé introduced an ostensibly glaring plot hole.

The current Darth Vader (2020) series takes place before Return of the Jedi and picks up where Marvel's prior Darth Vader (2015) series left off when the Sith Lord killed the man who invented his armor, Cylo, after the events of A New Hope. However, the Vader's later actions regarding Padmé don't appear to be consistent with how he changed moments before Cylo's death years earlier in Darth Vader #24 by writer Kieron Gillen, artist Salvador Larroca, colorists Edgar Delgado, and letterer Joe Caramagna. At the beginning of their duel, Cylo triggers Vader's kill switch, deactivating the life-giving cybernetic portion of the armor, apparently ending the Sith Lord's life. To overcome this unfortunate predicament, Vader is forced to "kill" Anakin Skywalker - or, the last remaining vestiges of his humanity - and accomplishes this daring feat in his subconscious by going back to the time he Force choked Padmé and finishing the deed.

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It seemed like that should have been the end of his love for Padmé. But in 2020's Darth Vader, the Sith Lord obviously cares enough about her to go on a vendetta-fueled mission to find out how she died and to enact his vengeance on her killers. It's clear by how much time and energy he puts into his rogue mission that he isn't just driven by curiosity, either. This sudden shift in character could either be a major inconsistency or just prove that he failed in his attempts to rid himself of her. A theory concerning Darth Vader's 2017 series could actually justify the latter. Taking place after Revenge of the Sith, Marvel's second volume ends with Vader constructing his castle on Mustafar. Some fans believe that the Sith Lord did this to resurrect Padmé, but his previous actions suggest that he was actually trying to exorcise her - and failed.

For example, Vader violently reacts toward his Inquisitors when they dare deface Padmé's most prized ship. So, when Vader's castle opens a portal to a strange world where he slaughters everyone from his past, it's assumed that when he confronts Padmé, he intends to do the same. But he obviously fails. Could the Sith Lord's investigation behind the secret of Padmé's death just be the latest of a string of failures to free himself from Padmé? This reading is definitely more appealing than the idea that Marvel's writers dropped the ball.

This interpretation also fits well with Darth Vader's eventual redemption in the movies. Everyone - including those who watched him grow up from a boy into a man - believed that he was too far gone. And yet, witnessing his son Luke Skywalker nearly getting murdered before his eyes is enough to compel the fallen Jedi to betray his master and seek redemption. Although this elicits a stirring idea about the power of a father's love, the comics' inclusion of his past failures to rid himself of Padmé serves as an additional layer that eventually pushes Vader to return to the light. He was undoubtedly more machine than man as Obi-Wan Kenobi famously says in the Star Wars films, but maybe there was actually more man in Darth Vader than Obi-Wan originally surmised, a man who couldn't free himself of the love he shared for his wife Padmé Amidala.

Next: How Star Wars Rebels Perfectly Continues Vader's Clone Wars Story