Darth Vader #21: End Of Games Part 2 Review

The final storyline of Marvel’s Darth Vader series continues as Vader hunts down the traitor Cylo and the droids go after Dr. Aphra.

Star Wars: Darth Vader #21
Written by Kieron Gillen
Art by Salvador Larroca
Colors by Edgar Delgado
Published by Marvel Comics

Last time in Darth Vader: With Vader back in the good graces of the Emperor, he is tasked with finding and eliminating the scientist Cylo. Meanwhile, he has sent Beetee and Triple-Zero to retrieve Dr. Aphra, who is in hiding after her run-in with the Rebels.

So by now everyone knows that Marvel’s excellent Darth Vader title is coming to an end with issue #25, which makes “End of Games” the final arc of the series. Since that is the case, Darth Vader has an awful lot to wrap-up and resolve in just four issues.

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As such, I was expecting a bit more from issue #21. Yes, the hunt is on for the traitor Cylo and Vader eventually finds him with little to no trouble. So why Kieron Gillen and Salvador Larroca decided to spend so much of the Vader portions of the book with a space battle and other nonsense is a bit baffling.

If “End of Games” is simply going to show Vader killing all the members of Cylo’s inner circle one by one, I’m going to be very disappointed.

However, that said, the sequences that showed the droids looking for Dr. Aphra were much more enjoyable. Watching her try to rationalize with Triple-Zero was a blast and seeing that she has obviously reached a crossroads in her life was very telling.

Because when you come right down to it, while the stuff with Cylo and Vader redeeming himself in the eyes of the Emperor are great and all, the end of the Darth Vader series means we will likely learn the answer to one very important question: what happens to Dr. Aphra?

Since the first issue that is what most readers have been wondering. Will Vader kill Aphra at some point or will he allow her to live? Watching Vader battle Sith cyborgs and giant monsters is fun, but it is just a diversion until we get to that final issue and the resolution of that particular plot point.

Personally I’m really hoping she gets to live on past the Darth Vader series. Aphra’s recent appearance in the “Rebel Jail” arc of Star Wars showed she has a ton of potential beyond just being Vader’s lackey and to see that wasted so Vader can just kill her in the last issue would be a real shame.

Of course, Gillen has managed to do the unexpected more than once in this series, so with four more issues to go, anything can happen.

Visually Darth Vader continues to impress. I’m really going to miss the novelty of a regular ongoing title in today’s comic book world that has the same creative team on each and every issue. Larroca hasn’t missed a single one and the result is that Darth Vader really does feel like one continuous story with a beginning, middle and now an end.

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The Bottom Line: As the end begins for Darth Vader, issue #21 seemed like a lot of flash and no substance for a title with so much to wrap up in just five issues. But considering how good the book has been month in and month out, I’ll more than willing to see what happens.

It’s not like I’m going to stop reading now.

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