Max Nocerino 
In Star Wars: Legacy of Vader #3, what could have been the most climactic story in years was anticlimactically squashed. Read our review.
Boy, was I wrong about the Star Wars: Legacy of Vader series. I joined the adventure late in the game with Issue #2. I was utterly energized by seeing Kylo Ren retracing his grandfather’s steps and journeying to Tatooine with the creepy disembodied head-in-a-robot Vanee, who was once Vader’s servant of sorts and has now taken it upon himself to be the lapdog of the new “Prince” of the First Order. It seemed so cool. Kylo went to Tatooine and discovered his grandfather’s childhood home, and learning that he was once a slave. As only a psychologically disturbed Ben Solo could, he decided to avenge his grandfather by killing his former owner. NOT Watto though. He is either already dead or moved offworld. No, we are talking about Anakin’s first owner, Gardulla the Hutt.
HUTT HIJINKS
Gardulla is a “female” Hutt who (ironically) made a brief cameo in the movie Episode I: The Phantom Menace. She was standing behind Jabba in the crimelord’s private viewing box, watching the Boonta Eve Podrace and witnessing her former “property” win it all, creating history by becoming the first human to do so.
Back to the present. Due to Hutt’s long lifespans, she is alive and well and also has a residence on Tatooine. Kylo storms her palace, killing guards and rancors, expecting an easy win. But Gardulla surprises the audience with her shrewdness. She has hired a mysterious and VERY powerful Force-user as her bodyguard, and this being easily disarms Kylo with the Force and helps chain him up in Gardulla’s dungeon.
The suspense that the comics built up was astronomical. My head was spinning, and I could not wait for Issue #3. Who was this mysterious creature? – he looked like a mixture of a gumdrop and the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man, and how did Kylo break free of this new imprisonment?
A MEDIOCRE CLIMAX?
Well,…. pretty fast. The most climactic story in Star Wars that I’ve seen in YEARS was so anticlimactically squashed that I almost did not believe what I was reading. Gardulla decides to torture Kylo with electric shocks, commanding him to “obey,” but Kylo’s inner will proves too strong. He destroys the palace with his latent force abilities. And then…..He walks away, kills a Krayt Dragon, wears its hide, jumps some aliens for their communication device, and calls Hux to orbital bombard the rest of Gardulla’s palace.
My god, how disappointed I was. I almost thought Kylo’s escape from the palace was part of the dream sequence that started when Gardulla released a sleep-inducing gas into his cell. While under the influence of this concoction, Kylo hallucinates a vision of his grandfather (as Vader) cutting down a group of Rebel soldiers from Rogue One. He implores his grandfather to help him, but Vader cooly replies that he won’t, as all his success came from doing things with nobody’s help.
VERDICT
This storyline was deep and impactful, and it truly stands out as the only redeeming aspect of this comic. However, the ease with which Kylo escapes feels like a flaw in the storytelling. Additionally, a unique and mysterious new character was introduced (Gardulla’s bodyguard), but they were eliminated even more quickly than Maul. It’s ridiculous! It’s a cruel and disappointing joke!
Yeah, now he’s exploring his grandmother’s roots for Part 3. I’m not going not to read it, but I am so deflated and angry that I’m not expecting anything too exciting. Unless, of course, I’m wrong and he’s still hallucinating…..
Star Wars: Legacy of Vader #3 is published by Marvel Comics and is available to buy now.
Max Nocerino is a regular Staff Writer for The Future of the Force. He is a passionate Star Wars fan and loves the literature of the galaxy far, far away. Follow him on Twitter where he shares his love of the Force frequently!
