Warning: If you have not seen "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story" there are massive spoilers ahead.
Now that "Rogue One" is out in theaters, we need to talk about that Darth Vader scene.
"Rogue One" may have introduced fans to a new, colorful cast of characters trying to steal plans for the Death Star, but let's not kid ourselves — it's Darth Vader who was the big scene stealer.
Fans who were worried Vader may not appear much in the film weren't wrong, but when he did appear, boy was it worth it.
The entire final sequence of the movie delightfully takes you back moments before the start of "Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope," showing fans just how close the rebels came to losing the Death Star plans back to Vader. The scene shows Vader mercilessly slaughter his way through rebels with his lightsaber and the Force as he attempts to retrieve the stolen Death Star plans.
How awesome was it?
Here's how my brother — a big "Star Wars" fan — described it shortly after the screening we attended:
Darth Vader finally gets a moment to show what power he has as a Sith lord and, oh my. He takes care of about seven rebel fighters in a matter of seconds using his saber, but mainly his deep power of the force. To watch Vader lunge someone into the air with the force, hold them up there, and force choke another rebel was something I never knew I needed to see. To watch these rebels cower in fear to the most powerful bad guy I knew growing up was simply amazing. I don’t believe I blinked during any part of his rage-filled slaughter.
It's a scene I never knew I needed until I saw it and it honestly might be one of the best things I’ve seen from a Star Wars film.
Other fans are expressing similar sentiments:
Reddit user raliglic said:
"Those last few scenes made Darth Vader far more menacing than I ever thought he could be. The majority of the film was really good but the Vader scenes really made it for me."
User meklovin referred to Vader as "terrifying ... and mighty in his appearance."
Reddit user Mac4491 wasn't too impressed with Vader's first scene, but the second one more than made up for it:
"His second scene where he storms the ship and slaughters the rebels was amazing. I was grinning ear to ear throughout that whole bit. I want a whole film of Vader just being that level of badass mofo."
Yes, please bring us an entire Vader movie Disney and Lucasfilm.
When you think about the scene in context with the other "Star Wars" movies the scene is even more impressive.
This is the first time we're seeing Anakin Skywalker act out after his transformation to Vader. We see him fitted with the iconic costume at the very end of "Episode III - Revenge of the Sith," but that's at the very end of the film. In all of "A New Hope," we see Vader kill about seven people, but most of them are from a TIE fighter when he's trying to stop the rebels from blowing up the Death Star or by using force choke. "Rogue One" is really the first time we see Vader go all out using his lightsaber to kill others in addition to the force.
Because of the film's final sequence paired with a cameo at the end of the movie, we know "Rogue One" takes place around the same time as "A New Hope"— 19 years after "Episode III." This isn't a young, inexperienced Anakin Skywalker. This is Vader at his peak. He's so powerful he barely breaks a sweat taking out multiple rebels.
The perfect thing about Vader's scene-stealing sequence is that it's something fans aren't expecting to see. When he comes on screen, there are only minutes of the film left. It's a great surprise.
After his scene in "Rogue One," we can only hope Disney and Lucasfilm plan to tell more of Vader's rise to power on screen in between Episodes III and "Rogue One" in subsequent stand-alone films. After all, 19 years is a big gap in which you could tell a lot of Vader tales.
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