In a new preview for Marvel Comics' Darth Vader, the deeper reason behind why the Dark Lord of the Sith cut off Luke Skywalker's hand in Empire Strikes Back has been revealed. Recent issues of the series have seen Vader undergoing brutal trials and tests from his master Darth Sidious, seeing as how he failed to turn or kill his son Luke Skywalker on Cloud City. However, Vader has now reentered the Emperor's fold and is in the midst of receiving some much-needed repairs to his life support suit in the preview pages for the new issue. However, the Dark Lord dwells on the recent past with his son, and it's revealed that Vader potentially saw the removal of Luke's hand as a gift.
In previous issues of the current Darth Vader series from writer Greg Pak and artist Rafaele Ienco, Vader was severely punished by the Emperor, having his armor crushed and his lightsaber taken from him before being dumped on the same lava river bank on Mustafar where Sidious found him in Revenge of the Sith. Fueled by nothing but pain, rage, and a desire for revenge, Vader crawled his way to survival until he found discarded battle droid parts to repair himself. After facing many obstacles on the lava world, his revenge-quest then lead him to his master's secret Sith world of Exegol, witnessing the sheer level of power the Emperor had at his disposal. As a result, Vader seemingly gave up his desires for revenge, resuming his place at his master's side.
Now, the preview for Darth Vader #12 from Greg Pak and Guiu Vilanova sees Vader receiving repairs to his suit and armor on the Imperial Core World of Coruscant. While the surgical droid is ready to shut Vader's systems down to put him under, Vader refuses, seemingly wanting to stay awake in order to feel the pain, which makes a certain amount of sense. Since gaining his armor, Vader has felt nothing but pain every hour of every day for years, and it's been confirmed that it's a large source of his hate, anger, and rage; all emotions which he uses to channel his power in the dark side of the Force. As a result, the preview pages seems to indicate why Vader cut off his son Luke's hand. Here are the preview pages and synopsis for the issue:
- STAR WARS DARTH VADER #12
- Returned to the fold after his rebellion against the EMPEROR, DARTH VADER faces the horrors of reconstruction in the secret laboratories of CORUSCANT.
- As he blacks out under the knife, does he still dream of revenge against his master? Or do his thoughts drift towards his son - and the friends who make LUKE SKYWALKER so vulnerable?
- Don't miss this next critical new chapter in Vader's ongoing evolution - featuring the revelation of the first time the Dark Lord learned the name HAN SOLO!
Thanks to the preview pages, it's confirmed that Vader will be very focused on his son Luke as he undergoes his surgery and repairs, and it seems as though Vader cut off Luke's hand as a gift: the gift of pain. Vader presumedly wanted to give Luke the experience of pain during his attempt to get his son to join him, thereby making him more vulnerable to the dark side's power. For Vader, pain is his greatest tool and asset, as it ultimately gives him the power to wield the dark side of the Force.
By giving pain to Luke, it seems as though he wanted him to have that same empowerment, using the new and sudden pain of losing his hand to motivate an embrace of the darkness, encouraging him to join his father so they could conquer the galaxy together. Unfortunately for Vader, this was not the case in Empire Strikes Back, as Luke Skywalker chose to reject his father's offer and escape down the shaft below. In any case, it's interesting to learn the deeper reasoning behind Darth Vader's brutal action against his son, as it apparently came from a twisted desire to make him stronger.