Issues 7-12 of Darth Vader were collected in Star Wars: Darth Vader Volume 2-Shadows and Secrets, written by Kieron Gillen with art by Salvador Larroca. When last we left Vader he was reeling from two revelations: that he had a living son, the very Rebel pilot who blew up the Death Star and that Dr. Cylo, with Palpatine’s knowledge and support, had been conducting a program wherein candidates had been trained and fitted with cybernetic enhancements so that they might replace Vader as the Emperor’s enforcer.
Darth Vader engages in Tatooine's most popular past-time, staring at the suns.
We open with Vader, Aphra, and the droids on Tatooine. They go to the abandoned Lars homestead and Ben Kenobi’s old house, but find nothing of substance. On Son-Tuul, in the Outer Rim, at the hideout of a gang known as the Son-Tuul Pride, their leader menaces a smuggler who lost his cargo (everybody gets boarded sometime); but the smuggler has an Imperial tracer. Vader and his troops arrive and kill everyone; effectively putting the gang out of business. Vader’s troops confiscate a very large cache of credits. Next, Vader meets with Suttha the Hutt, a representative of Jabba. He grants the Hutts control over Son-Tuul’s underworld in exchange for supplies. Elsewhere on Son-Tuul, Aphra meets with a group of bounty hunters comprised of Bossk, Black Krrrsantan, IG-90, and Beebox. They agree to hire on to help her rob the Imperial vessel that will be transporting the Son-Tuul’s Pride’s recently confiscated credits
Introducing Inspector Thanoth--try imagining Morgan Freeman's voice when he talks.
Near Anthan Prime, on the edge of the Outer Rim, Aphra, the bounty hunters, and the droids execute a plan to steal the credits and make it look like an accident as the result of asteroid collisions with the ship. Aphra and Black Krrsantan also make it look as though most of the credits were lost, in order to keep them out of the hands of the other bounty hunters. So, now Vader (on whose orders Aphra has been acting) has a small fortune awaiting him on the moon Anthan-13. Vader gives Aphra another assignment before returning to Grand General Tagge’s star destroyer, where Cylo’s would be usurpers have also gathered. A group of Rebels known as the Plasma Devils have been troubling the Empire in the sector. Tagge assigns the responsibility of crushing them to the Astarte twins. For Karbin (the one with the Mon Calamari head on the Grievous body) he gives the task of finding the Rebel pilot who destroyed the Death Star. Vader insists he should have the pleasure, but Tagge refuses; Vader is too personally invested, he says. Of course, Tagge has no idea just how personally involved Vader really is. To Vader he gives the job of finding those responsible for the theft of the Son-Tuul’s Pride fortune. Despite the attempt to make it look like the credits were lost as the result of an accident, there is evidence to suggest they were stolen. Tagge also introduces Vader to his new adjutant, Inspector Thanoth. Thanoth immediately displays his skills and puts Vader on guard by revealing to Vader that he knows he has been on Anthan-13 in the last 24 hours, as evidenced by a unique kind of dust that clings to his armor.
Aphra and The Ante
Having returned to Anthan-13, Vader lures some Rebels into a cave and kills them. On Anthan Prime, Thanoth begins to piece together what really happened to the transport carrying the credits. Vader uses the dead Rebels as his cover for having recently been on Anthan-13. In their search for an arms dealer who may have supplied explosives to the thieves, Vader and Thanoth encounter the Astarte twins who are in the midst of their search for the Plasma Devils. The twins’ kill first and ask questions later (or never) approach is in sharp contrast to Vader and Thanoth’s more measured and mature methods. Aphra and the droids go to see “The Ante”, a powerful information broker. She wants info on a man named Commodex Tahn. Tahn was a clerk for the Republic, but when his father died he entered the family business. He was a mortician...on Naboo.
Dr. Aphra's assets once again prove to be of use to Vader
Vader and Thanoth track down the person who sold the explosives to the credit thieves; Vader kills him before Thanoth gets in, claiming he was about to detonate the building; but Thanoth is able to crack his safe. On Naboo, Aphra and the droids pay a visit to Commodex Tahn. Years ago Tahn was responsible for preparing the body of Padme Amidala for burial. He was sworn to secrecy for his knowledge of her true condition at the time of her death. After being brutally tortured by Triple Zero, he admits that Padme was only made to look pregnant at her funeral; that she had, in fact, given birth to a baby boy who was then taken by the Jedi (presumably Tahn did not know of Leia’s existence). Aphra delivers this news to Vader, positive confirmation of what he already knew. Vader tells Aphra to go see The Ante again, to try to get info on Luke’s current whereabouts, they must get to him before Karbin, the other Imperial agent who is searching for him.
Be careful not to choke on your aspirations, Doctor Aphra! What? They already used that in a movie. Crap!
Thanoth is now closing in on The Ante, sure that finding him will lead to the thieves and much else. After being paid a sizable sum, The Ante tells Aphra that Luke Skywalker is on Vrogas Vas. Immediately after, Vader, Thanoth, and Stormtroopers breach The Ante’s H.Q. in order to keep them from killing him, The Ante tells them where the Plasma Devils are hiding (he knows the Empire is eager to find them); they tell him they are more interested in finding the thief, and he points out Aphra who is running for the exit. Vader surreptitiously uses the Force to cause a random thug to shoot The Ante just before he can tell Thanoth her name; but the chase is on. Vader slips away, and cuts off Aphra in a tunnel just before she gets to her ship. He is about to kill her to cover his tracks when she tells him she knows where Skywalker is, and she will tell him...later. He lets her go, then pulls the tunnel down on himself to make it look like he had been caught in a trap.
Never trust a half fish, half machine to do a half man, half machine's job.
Thanoth and Vader are on their ship in pursuit of Aphra when Vader suggests that their attention should be turned to the Plasma Devils since they have their location and they represent a publicly known threat. The Plasma Devils are annihilated just as they are trying to evacuate their base. Later, Vader meets with Aphra who tells him that Luke is on Vrogas Vas. Vader chooses not to kill Aphra since she kept her word about meeting him and he says the past few days have given him an appreciation for talent. As Vader departs, we see that he and Aphra are being monitored by Karbin. He intends to set a trap for Vader on Vrogas Vas.
Review
This second volume of the Darth Vader series follows up quite well on the strong start of the first. In fact, I feel the second volume is an improvement. Aphra’s characterization and interactions with Vader continue to be a high point. Aphra displays the healthy fear of Darth Vader that you would expect, but she never lets it overshadow her genuine admiration of him and her zeal to do the work he assigns. But, without a doubt, the best thing to come out of this second volume is the introduction of Inspector Thanoth. From the moment he first appears, you know this man is a serious threat to Darth Vader. Not a physical threat of course, but an adversary whose intelligence and cunning match that of the Dark Lord; and the fact that we see him and Vader working together, and seemingly respecting each other make it all the more appealing. There are several times where Vader redirects or otherwise deceives Thanoth, but you have to wonder, is he really falling for this, or is he just stringing Vader along until he is ready to spring his trap and reveal that he knows everything that Vader has been up to? So, obviously Gillen’s writing is still top notch here; and Larocca’s art continues to do the job, but it does seem a little off in places. For example, whenever he does Stormtroopers they just look off. Like, not proportioned correctly and too static. Other great (albeit temporary) additions to the supporting cast are The Ante (a name that looks cool when you read it, but in conversation would probably make you wonder why they keep talking about their momma’s sister) and Commodex Tahn. The Tahn stuff was a great callback to the PT.
