On his quest to find and kill Obi-Wan Kenobi for how his former master ‘betrayed’ him, Darth Vader comes across a number of Jedi survivors scattered across the Star Wars galaxy, all of whom fell beneath his blade. Vader killed them to not only secure the power of his new Empire, but also to prove his own skills against some of the strongest Jedi in the galaxy. However, even his most impressive Jedi kill was still twisted into something hollow and shameful, showing how Palpatine dominated Darth Vader psychologically.
In Dark Horse Comics’ Star Wars: Purge #1 by John Ostrander and Doug Wheatley (which is set within Legends continuity), Darth Vader gets a piece of intel from one of his Clone Troopers, who tells the Dark Lord of the Sith that they’ve heard word of a secret meeting of surviving Jedi, and that Obi-Wan was said to be attending. When Vader arrived at this meeting, he learned that it was a trap set by a group of eight Jedi hoping to make a final stand against the Sith – and Vader slaughtered them all.
When Darth Vader returned to the Emperor, he admitted to disobeying him, as Palpatine told Vader not to worry about the Jedi since their Order had fallen with the rise of the Empire. However, rather than being angry, Palpatine tells him that this story of Vader killing a nest of Jedi would spread fear throughout the galaxy, and would only reinforce Palpatine’s view that the Jedi are no longer a threat. The story would say that Vader killed 50 Jedi single-handedly, which is a far cry from the truth, and only served to undercut the significance of Vader’s actual victory.
Darth Vader is an immensely powerful Sith, and those who fear him are wise to do so, as he’s proven his strength many times over. However, this story happened right at the start of the Empire’s rise to unchallenged prominence in the galaxy, meaning the story of Vader ‘killing 50 Jedi’ undoubtedly laid the groundwork for Darth Vader’s terrifying reputation – and Palpatine made sure that he didn’t earn it.
Darth Vader killed eight Jedi, some of them Masters, all with a lightsaber that was deactivated by a cortosis blade halfway through, and after taking some significant damage during the battle itself. However, despite this seemingly impossible victory, Palpatine found a way to make it hollow and shameful by exaggerating the details into something Darth Vader could never accomplish. Palpatine planted the idea in Vader’s head that people only fear him because he killed 50 Jedi, making Vader feel perpetually inferior, especially when it comes to living up to Palpatine’s – and, indeed, the galaxy’s – expectations of him.
Even though Star Wars: Purge is technically Legends while Marvel Comics’ Star Wars: Darth Vader is canon, their stories mesh seamlessly. Palpatine undercutting Darth Vader’s victory during the early days of the Empire to psychologically manipulate him into feeling inferior to an impossible-to-attain idea of himself plays perfectly into their current conflict (which kicked off during Star Wars‘ Dark Droids event). In Star Wars: Darth Vader, Vader is making a stand against Palpatine, as he’s tired of the games the Emperor plays with his mind – ones exactly like what fans saw in Star Wars: Purge.
Palpatine’s methods of manipulating Darth Vader range from pulses in the dark side and constant reminders of his shameful past, to bringing him physical and psychological pain wherever he can. The example shown in this Legends Star Wars story is no exception, as Darth Vader’s most impressive Jedi kill shows how Palpatine dominated him psychologically.