Colleen’s Book Corner: Darth Vader: Dark Lord of the Sith, Book Three: The Rule of Five

Book Details

Author: Charles Soule

Artist: Giuseppe Camuncoli

Published: February 2018

Set set directly after RotS

Disney Canon

Vader Just Doesn’t Care About Employee Satisfaction

Welcome back avid review readers! This collection was a short release with both issues coming out in one month. It’s both dark and funny, with Vader doing his best “bag of dicks who gives zero fucks” impression. Seriously. If Vader is Anakin’s worst traits personified, his arrogance and temper stand out in these issues. As we learned in the last collection, while he’s agreed to train the Inquisitors, he finds no joy in it, unless he’s laughing on the inside by how easily he defeats them in training. He lobs off arms, takes out eyes, gives the trainees harsh words. Basically, he’s telling them to “shake it off, losing limbs isn’t that bad.” The Grand Inquisitor takes umbrage with Vader’s teaching style, but the Sith Lord brushes him aside. There’s no one who can compete with him, and trying to train fallen Jedi probably reminds him of Ahsoka. Which makes me wonder if Palpy set this up as a test to see if Vader had let his former Padawan go. At this point, Vader believes Ahsoka is dead, but it never hurts to check that all his good emotions have been stamped out.

Inquisitive Inquisitor and Vader Gets Cranky

The Ninth Sister stood out as particularly interesting. She accompanies Vader on the search for a possible Force user in hiding, and she is marvelously glib and nonchalant. Pretty astute for an Inquisitor, she remarked that Vader is aching to battle another Jedi, dying to fight, and dying to DIE. When Vader is attacked by a family of bounty hunters and calls for aid, she ignores him! That’s what you get for cutting off peoples’ appendages, VADER! She stood out the most of the newer characters we meet, though one Imperial officer is the impetus for this arc’s name. Once Vader discovers that the bounty hunters were sent after him by someone at the highest Imperial level, he confronts his master. Palpy laughs it off, saying if he wanted Vader dead he would be dead, blah blah blah. Vader whines that Palpy needs to show everyone that he is the Number Two! He wants some gods damn respect around here! He also creates the titular Rule of Five. Gathering the high-level Imperial officers in one place, Palpy introduces Vader as his right hand, the one who speaks with his voice. Vader warns the officers that he will always survive any attempts on his life…but in response to any anonymous attempt, he will randomly choose five officers and kill them. Great upper management skills, once again, Lord Vader.

Final Ponderings

I enjoyed this arc, mainly to get some more time with the Inquisitors, which helps flesh them out for Rebels. I still want to see more of them and know who they were before Order 66.

Vader continues to be compelling in his downward spiral, and Soule writes him well. I can hear James Earl Jones in the surly dialogue.

Recommendation: 8/10 Lightsabers