Warning! Spoilers for Star Wars: Darth Vader #20 (2017)

It turns out that Darth Vader could have found his son Luke Skywalker if he listened to Emperor Palpatine much earlier in the original trilogy. Fans have said that Vader should have located Luke much sooner than he did, and according to a comic, the Sith had no excuse.

When The Phantom Menace revealed that Darth Vader had grown up as Anakin Skywalker on Tatooine, it made fans wonder why Obi-Wan Kenobi would’ve put Luke in hiding on the desert planet. Tatooine should have been a place that the Empire was likely to monitor, with Vader specifically keeping close tabs on his home world. However, the planet slid under the Empire’s radar, with Vader choosing to neglect his past as Anakin. Regardless, it was once emphasized that the Sith should have located his son much sooner than he did in the original trilogy. In Darth Vader #20 (2017) written by Charles Soule with art by Giuseppe Camuncoli, Darth Vader wreaks havoc on Coruscant and Emperor Palpatine consequently sends him away off-world. However, Palpatine tells his Sith partner that he is satisfied with the chaos he has brought to the planet. In response, Vader requests that he should have his own world to himself.

Related: Darth Vader Reveals What Truly Sets Him Apart From Emperor Palpatine

When the Emperor suggests that Darth Vader should take Tatooine as his own personal planet, he refuses. Palpatine believes that the sand planet would encourage Vader to vent his anger and cut off his past as Anakin by destroying it to the same extent he did with Coruscant. Palpatine tells him,"You could burn its sand to glass — repay your suffering there a thousand times over." 

In contrast, Darth Vader chooses that Mustafar should be his own personal world, as it represents the solidified birth of his Sith persona. If Vader had taken up Palpatine on his offer of Tatooine, it would have been likely he would run into Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru, inevitably meeting young Luke. Obi-Wan Kenobi’s mission to watch over Luke would have concluded in tragedy, preemptively causing the original trilogy to never take place.

As explored in canon, Mustafar becomes Darth Vader’s second home apart from the Empire itself. Building a castle and meditating on the lava planet, the Sith is continually reminded of the reason why he chose the dark side. If Darth Vader had listened to Palpatine, he would have lost his secondary home base, but would have gained knowledge that Padme gave birth to Luke before she died. By learning about his existence, the Sith would know that the Emperor had lied about her demise, possibly leading him to overthrow his master.

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