Years before the debut of Kylo Ren, a Sith Lord of Star Wars Legends have demonstrated the futility of idolizing Darth Vader. In the original Star Wars In the timeline of legends, Darth Bane’s line of Sith Lords died out with Emperor Palpatine, but they were succeeded by new iterations of the Sith Order – specifically the Sith of Lumiya and the One Sith. Following the Star Wars Following the franchise’s 2014 reboot, the history of the Sith Order was reimagined, though both timelines include at least one dark side user with an unhealthy obsession with the late Darth Vader.
In the modern Star Wars canon, Kylo Ren – an original character with similarities to Jacen Solo – idolizes Darth Vader, fearing he will never be as powerful as his fallen grandfather and wishing “finish what (he) started.” This obsession turns out to be largely instigated by Palpatine’s manipulations (including through his proxy, Snoke), and Kylo Ren ultimately finishes what his grandfather started – albeit Anakin Skywalker, not Darth Vader – by contributing to Palpatine’s ultimate defeat. One Legends character, however, paved the way for Kylo Ren – and showed the flaw in his perspective.
Darth Azard practically adored Darth Vader
Thie Sith Lord shared Kylo Ren’s obsession
The old man Star Wars The Expanded Universe spanned a much wider time period than canon, with some stories set a century after the main Skywalker saga. Introduced by John Ostrander and Jan Duursema, the Star Wars: Legacy the comics revealed a rising Sith Empire that had abandoned the Rule of Two. The Sith once again drove the Jedi to the brink of extinction, conquering the galaxy once again – for a while.
The Quarren Sith Lord Darth Azard is a prominent naval commander in the Empire of Darth Krayt and the so-called One Sith. Azard is a powerful and skilled combatant, as well as a feared military leader. As revealed in Legacy Era Campaign Guide, Darth Azard also held the late Darth Vader in high regard, closely studying his history in the Imperial era and emulating his command style.. In fact, Azard was prone to executing his subordinates for failure and his reputation inspired terror among the Empire’s naval officers.
The only people who want to be Darth Vader… don’t understand what it means to be Vader
You don’t want to be in Darth Vader’s shoes
Darth Azard and Kylo Ren’s idolization of Darth Vader is fundamentally flawed, as Those who want to be Darth Vader don’t understand what it means to be Darth Vader. Anakin Skywalker joined the Sith for several reasons, the main one being to gain the power to prevent Padmé Amidala’s death. After sacrificing his humanity by ransacking the Jedi Temple – which saw him murder young men – Vader would become so intoxicated by the corrupting power of the dark side that it caused Padmé’s death, leaving him with nothing but his new power and servitude to Palpatine.
The problem with wanting to be Darth Vader is that Darth Vader himself didn’t want to be Darth Vader – he was resigned to his Sith overlordshipbelieving he had lost everything he loved. Darth Azard’s rise to Sith lordship is never shown, but even so he shows no such resignation. Kylo Ren forced himself to commit reprehensible acts to gain strength in the dark side, apparently due to feelings of abandonment. Of course, the true story of how Anakin became Vader wasn’t common knowledge in either country. Star Wars timeline, explaining why none of the villains really understood him.
Upcoming Star Wars movies |
Release date |
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The Mandalorian and Grogu |
May 22, 2026 |