"Lord Vader, ship approaching. X-wing class."

"Good. Monitor Skywalker and allow him to land."

Skywalker. Vader is free to say the name out loud now that Sheev is aware of the identity of the Rebel pilot who blew up his precious Death Star. Sheev even went so far as to make his kid's name public. Darth Vader's secret son is now at the top of the Imperial Most Wanted list and his picture is all over the holonet. Sheev being Sheev, he is turning up the heat on the situation. Amping up the already considerable dragnet that dogs his fugitive son. But soon, none of that will matter. Soon, very soon, Luke Skywalker will be caught and hidden away. Hopefully, his Master will be none the wiser.

Thanks to a tip from a well-paid bounty hunter and maybe a little intervention from the Force, the Millennium Falcon has been found. The ship sought refuge at a small, somewhat shady Tibana gas mine colony. But Vader got there first. It turns out that the spice smuggler Han Solo, his wookiee co-pilot, and that Rebel princess Leia Organa were aboard the rundown freighter. Luke Skywalker will be presenting himself shortly as their rescuer. All Vader had to do was torture his friends a little. It was nothing messy or gratuitous. Just some routine unpleasantness designed to get Skywalker's attention in the Force. Sure enough, as soon as his friends felt pain, the boy came running.

Is it mostly for the girl? Vader remembers the many pictures of his son with the girl at the Rebel base. Has the hero Luke come to save the princess yet again? If so, that attraction pleases Vader. His son might be a farm boy from Tatooine but he aims high, like his slave father who won Naboo's queen. It's too bad the girl's a Rebel, Vader thinks. And so mouthy. But her appeal isn't hard to understand, for Leia Organa certainly is a beauty. Even grim-faced now as she watches the wookiee go wild over his friend Captain Solo being put into carbon freeze.

It's all according to plan. Vader intends to test the local freezing facilities on the pilot with lots of witnesses around to watch. If Solo lives, Vader will give him to Jabba the Hutt. That ought to earn the Empire some covert goodwill with the organized crime families. Those guys can be useful from time to time for off the record stuff.

The carbon freezing stunt is merely a ruse, of course. It's how Vader will pretend to bring Luke to his Master. The risky move will provide a pretext to explain the boy's accidental, untimely death. Then, Vader can hide away his kid without his Master knowing to look for him. Hopefully, the Force will not betray him in the process. Plagueis' words about great power making itself known are a little troublesome. Vader worries that he might not be able to hide his boy for long. But what other option does he have right now? He sure as Hell isn't giving Luke to Plagueis to conceal.

"Put him in!" Vader orders. He's seen enough melodrama leading up to Captain Solo's carbon freeze. He's impatient and annoyed, especially when that trigger-happy bounty hunter wants to start shooting. Vader restrains him. Enough of this sideshow. Luke Skywalker is coming and that's what really matters. Time to get this over with.

Still, the scene is illuminating. Luke and the princess are not together. His boy's admiration would appear to be unrequited. For that annoying young woman has just declared her love for the smuggler. Frankly, it's just another reason to dislike her. It's also an enjoyably ironic moment. Who knew that Alderaan's prissy princess would fall for a two-bit spice runner with a Hutt bounty on his head? Her father would be so proud, Vader smirks to himself. If only sanctimonious Senator Bail Organa had lived to see it.

Time to alter the bargain with that slippery local admin guy. Vader now reverses his order that the princess and the wookiee be left here on Bespin. That magnanimity was intended as a show of goodwill toward his son's girlfriend. But since the princess is not Luke's love, he will arrest her and ship her to Sheev. Vader won't pass up a chance to suck up to his boss if there's nothing to be gained by being merciful.

Are they done here? They're done. Vader commands the carbon freeze machine to be reset and orders everyone out. Then, he lies in wait for Luke Skywalker.

The anticipation is killing him. Padme, are you watching in the Force? Vader is well aware that his late wife might be a Rebel in today's current politics. By the end of the Clone Wars, Padme had been talking like a Separatist in private. She would never have approved of the Empire as the successor to the Republic. But still, Vader hopes she is cheering him on in this endeavor at least. For as much as Padme would condemn who he has become and what he has done, surely she would want him to save their son from Sheev. This isn't about politics—he doesn't much care that his kid is a Rebel—and it's more than just the Force—the Jedi are extinct anyway. This is first and foremost about family. Today, at long last, he's bringing his boy home.

And suddenly, here he is. Luke Skywalker is standing below him, blaster in hand. The boy clearly senses danger. He peers through the steamy mist of the carbon freeze chamber, while Vader deliberately suppresses his artificial respiration. It gives him a few seconds to observe the boy unaware.

The first thing he notices is his Force imprint. It's simply enormous. It suggests a deep and intuitive connection to the wellspring of the universe. Vader is taken aback. He knew the boy would have potential, but not this much raw talent. Just being in Luke Skywalker's presence is slightly intimidating. That's a very unwelcome realization.

It brings all of Vader's insecurities about his own diminished Force abilities to the forefront.

Well, whatever, he thinks as he stares out from behind the mask. His kid might one day be the next Yoda, but for now he's just a beginner Padawan. Obi-Wan didn't live long enough to teach him much and he hasn't been training with Yoda more than a few weeks. That's good. It leaves room for Vader to fill the role of mentor. Luke Skywalker needs a teacher and he's still young enough to need a father's guidance, too. Vader himself has no use for meddlesome old Darth Plagueis. But that's not a blood relationship. This is. This boy is flesh of his own flesh, made of himself and Padme, a testament to youthful love now lost. In its place, Vader has maturity, experience, and perspective. He plans to share all that with his son. That way, Luke Skywalker won't need to repeat his father's mistakes on his own path to wisdom.

Vader can't stop staring. He has seen many pictures of his child, but in person Luke Skywalker looks nothing like he imagined. He's shorter than he expected. Not super short, but far from tall. He has Padme's compact build. Does his son have his wife's easy grace and quickness as well? Aside from his unremarkable physique, the rest of the kid is a younger him. The tousled longish hair, the tanned complexion, the blue eyes. And also, Vader suspects, some of Anakin Skywalker's misplaced idealism, ragged focus, and rash decisions as well.

Oh Force, this is happening. This is really happening. Vader can barely contain his excitement and trepidation. How does he start? Not with the whole 'I am your father' lead up. Not yet. It's too soon for that. But what now? Vader sticks to his plan to keep his cool. He won't make the same tone-deaf mistake that Plagueis did by leading off with a diss. Instead, Vader decides to honor his upstart boy with some respect, even as he puts him firmly in his place. So he activates the lights in the chamber, breathes deeply on his respirator, and intones, "The Force is with you, young Skywalker, but you are not a Jedi yet."

It's a good throw down opening line, but the boy does not respond with words. He holsters his pistol and slowly climbs the stairs to meet him. Luke Skywalker walks right up to danger. Behind the mask, Vader can't help but grin at this youthful chutzpah. That's his boy, all right. But what does young Luke know about his past? What does he know about his father? How does he feel about Darth Vader? The kid reveals nothing. He just lights his weapon in silence.

Guess Yoda hasn't yet taught him that whole 'the Force is for defense, never for attack' bullshit yet. Vader smirks harder now.

But for all his boy's unspoken challenge, he looks like he's facing his executioner. He's near petrified. Honestly, Vader feels the same way but for completely different reasons. Because he's not staring down his mortal enemy. He's staring down his long-lost son . . . who thinks he's his mortal enemy. No one's going to die today, of course, but the stakes feel very high. Vader can feel the eddies and flows of the Force swirling around them both. It gives a subtle charge to the air that betrays the meaningful change to come. For today is destiny at work.

Should he light his sword to answer the challenge? Or should he start to talk? Vader decides to spar a little first. Let's see what this aggressive cub can do. Sure, the kid can fly—Vader saw that in the Death Star dogfight. But can he fight? Time to test Luke a little. Plus, maybe letting this youngling vent his hostility physically will help things when they get down to actually talking. Vader decides to give the boy a little leeway to get his lust for patricide out of his system.

So he activates his weapon and stands in a defensive position. He will let Luke be the aggressor. The kid hesitates a long moment, gathering his courage and his focus. Then, he lunges. Immediately, he's on the attack.

And just look at how he holds that sword. Like it's a cudgel. At least he didn't start with Obi-Wan's signature Form 3 defensive stance. The boy's saber training appears to be all from Master Yoda, who appreciated the role of a good offense. Vader himself has strayed from the rigid combat forms he learned as a youth. Once he got in the suit, he had to adapt his fighting style. It's more about power and economy of motion these days, rather than athleticism. Less rapier and more broadsword. More force and more Force. It's not quite Form 5 and not quite Form 7. He thinks of it as Form Vader.

It's not pretty, but it is effective. By the second exchange of blows, Vader's overpowering swing tosses the lightweight kid to the ground. That's the first opportunity to kill Luke that he will forego today. Instead of issuing the coup de gras, Vader waits patiently for the kid to stand back up. Like this is a training match and not an actual duel.

And now, yet again, Luke Skywalker is on the offensive. Stepping forward as Vader falls back. The boy starts swinging to escalate the fight once more. The static crack and buzz of their clashing sabers fills the air.

Vader's adrenaline kicks in. Combat has always been a rush. He'd be lying if he said he wasn't hoping for this outcome just a little. He just wants to feel the kid out some. To see what he can do.

Young Luke isn't half bad for a newbie. Sure, his footwork is awful and he needs more follow through on his swing. But his reflexes are terrific and his pacing is good. When he gets beyond the basics and into the intricate swings, Luke could be great. Plus, he just picked up a lightsaber a year ago. It's not like he has been swinging one since age five like a traditional Jedi student. In fact, Luke's training history is far more akin to the instruction of a Sith Apprentice than it is a Jedi Knight. He's learning as an adult, not as an impressionable, unquestioning child.

All in all, Vader is pleased with what he sees. "You have learned much, young one," he allows, doing his best Jedi Master impression. And, yeah, it comes out a little condescending. But hey—Luke is the underdog aggressor here.

But not to be outdone, his kid sasses back, "You'll find I'm full of surprises." It's just the sort of sardonic trashtalk Anakin Skywalker would have mouthed at Grievous or Ventress. Hearing it come out of his kid's mouth is a little bizarre . . . and annoying, to be honest. Vader has to bite his tongue from retorting that Luke is the one in for the big surprise today.

Well, enough of that. Vader disarms Luke effortlessly and throws him tumbling back down the steps towards the carbon freezing pit. The boy is unarmed and forced to back up as Vader advances with a showy Force-assisted leap.

"Your destiny lies with me, young Skywalker. Obi-Wan knew this to be true."

Vader is trying to draw out information. To learn what lies his old Jedi Master told his boy. To know what Luke Skywalker knows about Darth Vader.

But the kid doesn't explain, he simply reacts. "No." Luke Skywalker apparently is a man of few words.

Unarmed Luke keeps backing away, unaware that he's about to fall into the carbon freeze pit. When he takes a tumble, Vader will freeze him. Then, he can remove the kid to a far less public location and thaw him out. Sure enough, with a little encouragement from his sword, Luke falls in.

Vader turns to activate the freezing process with the Force. He can't resist a little diss while he's at it since Luke can't hear him anymore. "All too easy. Perhaps you are not as strong as the Emperor thought."

As Vader turns back to watch the steaming liquid metal pour into the chamber, he can't help but be a little disappointed. That was too easy. But it's for the best in the long run. For the less the boy knows, the less he will have to unlearn. His potential is astounding and that's what really matters.

But noise from above has Vader suddenly look up. Sure enough, Luke has eluded the trap. He has used Yoda's Form 4 acrobatics training to leap a good fifteen feet in the air to escape the freezing process. He now hangs from some tangled industrial hoses.

Atta-boy. Vader is grinning behind his mask. He himself had been similarly agile in his youth. Before the prosthetics weighed him down and made him clumsy. "Impressive . . . most impressive," he commends. "Obi-Wan has taught you well." Vader refuses to give credit to annoying Yoda for any of his boy's accomplishments. "You have controlled your fear." That might be more impressive than that Force-assisted leap, actually.

Vader hacks at a hose or two for good measure, but he lets the kid climb down without attacking. That's twice now, he could have killed Luke. But who's counting? He hopes Luke is. Is the kid getting this? He isn't trying to kill him.

The kid gets his sword back, Vader takes one of those exhaust hoses he hacked to the face, and now the battle rejoins again in earnest. Damn, this is fun. It feels good to swing his sword against a real opponent, not droids. And just look at Luke's expression. At all that earnest determination. This kid has all the commitment to his Rebel cause that Anakin Skywalker once had for the Republic. It's hauntingly familiar. Padme would have adored Luke, Vader realizes. Not just because he's her son, but because of who he is—the young hero.

And whoops! His mind is wandering. That riposte got way too close. It provokes an insidious, unwelcome thought to form in his mind: could his boy actually beat him? The moment it occurs, Vader banishes it from his consciousness. Because that's utterly ridiculous.

It's time to feel the boy out in the Force. He's got plenty of aggression, but can Luke use those aggressive feelings for power? Time to give the boy a little Dark Side training. Vader begins to goad him. "Now . . . release your anger. Only your hatred can destroy me."

It provokes more fast, furious swordplay. It's all Form 4 classic moves executed well but in predicable sequence. The boy is parroting the patterns he knows, rather than improvising in the moment. It's the mark of an inexperienced duelist, but that's to be expected. With more lightsaber training emphasizing variety and speed, his kid could be great. It will be fun, Vader thinks as he swings. He's glad he's in relatively good shape these days so he can keep up with the boy. In time, he will teach him all he knows, Vader decides.

But for now, he keeps falling back on purpose, letting the boy think he's gaining ground. He will goad the kid to Darkness and stoke his aggression with actions as much as words. Time to give him a win. Vader pretends to be forced backwards off the carbon freezing platform. And is the boy going to take this opportunity to make a run for it? No, he doesn't. Ever the aggressor, Luke starts hunting him.

Vader is really smirking now. This kid's no Jedi. He's got a streak of Darkness in him a sector wide. Sanctimonious old Yoda must have choked when Luke presented himself for training.

The duel becomes a game of hide and seek for a bit until Vader steps forward to reveal himself. Now that he knows the boy is adequate with his weapon, Vader decides to test him further. Time to up the degree of difficulty. Taking a page out of cranky old Dooku's playbook, Vader starts tossing around heavy equipment with the Force. Can Luke handle this level of concentration? Can he do two things at once? Here's a first lesson for the boy: not all contests are confined to swords.

Luke is tiring fast and bloodied a little. He's losing his focus. Is it time to disengage and begin talking? In all the times Vader has imagined this fateful meeting, he never envisioned it unfolding like this. Sure, he knew swords were a distinct possibility. Violence is kind of a given when a Jedi meets a Sith. But Vader always expected a lot more words to accompany this fight. So far, there's only been a bit of snark. And that's not the right lead up to the big 'I am your father' moment. Is Luke always this quiet?

Vader has stopped swinging now. He's merely tossing things at Luke with the Force. The boy is responding all wrong. The defense to these sorts of tactics is to repel the objects with your mind, not to swing at them. But Luke is either intimidated by their size or he's lost too much concentration. The kid is really flailing now. Time to wrap things up.

But whoops. Luke fails to deflect an incoming piece of equipment and it crashes through the window behind him. They are fighting deep in the industrial underbelly of Bespin's Cloud City, near the main reactor core with its bottomless chasm down to the gas giant planet below. That means the shattering glass is sucked out into the chasm along with the equipment. Vader successfully braces himself against the immediate outflow of air as the pressure equalizes. But Luke Skywalker is unsuccessful. He loses his grip and flies out through the broken window as well.

Fuck! That wasn't supposed to happen. Vader immediately starts to investigate. The kid's alive, wherever he is. He's close enough that Vader can feel him in the Force. It's a bit like a homing beacon, actually. Vader simply follows his mental presence. After that close call, he has a new strategy: he will find the kid, end this fight conclusively, and reveal who he is. The time for swords is over. It's time for words now. Time for truth.

Luke is on a metal outcropping that extends out into the large, central chasm. He's heading back inside to safety when Vader surprises him with a mighty slash. The battle resumes and Vader starts driving him back. He isn't pulling his punches any longer. He is relentless and the boy retreats, as planned. He's easily herded right where Vader wants him—cornered and beaten. Soon, he's got the boy down on his back. Luke is trembling as he inches away from the tip of the menacing red sword.

Luke flashes a look that is pure Padme. And angry Padme at that. For a split second, it's like she's back alive. Staring indignantly at him from behind their son's eyes. It's disconcerting. Vader is rattled now. Truly rattled.

It makes his next words come out less than encouraging. "You are beaten. It is useless to resist. Don't let yourself be destroyed as Obi-Wan did."

But his kid isn't beaten and he does resist. With a look of determination and two wild swipes, Luke is back in the action. With a little pride, Vader notes that it is just what his younger self would have done in that same situation. Again now, they are trading blows with lethal swords in close quarters with nowhere to go but down into the chasm below.

Somehow, half-trained Luke gets lucky and he lands a glancing slash. Searing hot pain shoots up Vader's neck and right shoulder the instant Luke's sword makes contact. Fuck! That hurts. Chagrined, he can't stifle an involuntary groan of pain. Because that really hurts. That really, really hurts. His armor just saved his arm, but beneath it, Vader knows there is real damage.

Enough of this. Playtime is over. It's past time to end this fight and get down to business. Before the unthinkable happens and his prodigy kid bests him and kills him. As it is, his sword arm is not feeling too good.

So, Vader hacks an inconveniently placed antenna out of the way and goes in for a disarming pass. He'll get that lightsaber out of his kid's grasp and then they can have a discussion. That seems to be the only option because Luke Skywalker isn't the type to surrender. The disarming pass is a technique that Vader has done hundreds—maybe thousands—of times before. He used it once already on Luke back in the carbon freezing chamber. Except this time, his injured sword arm isn't as accurate as it usually is for the precision move. And so, when his red saber swipes Luke's blue sword from his grip, it lands too low and takes the boy's hand off at the wrist.

"Aaaaaahhhhh!" Luke cries out at the amputation.

Horrified Vader freezes with his saber held down. Behind the mask, he viscerally recoils from his mistake. He hadn't meant to do that. FUCK! He really wishes he hadn't done that. Things just got a lot more complicated.

The boy begins panting through the pain, tucking his wounded arm to his chest. It's the natural reaction to the shock of the trauma. Watching him, Vader recalls exactly what that feels like. He was about Luke's age when a Sith Lord took his own arm off.

The enormity of what he has done begins to sink in. Too late Vader sees that he never should have lit his sword. For he has played into his boy's worst fears of him. His strategy of letting the kid lead their meeting, of allowing Luke a little violence to get it out of his system, has totally backfired. Fuck! He probably thinks that swipe at his hand is payback for Luke's hit on his shoulder. It's not. It was a mistake, but Vader can't really admit that. Fuck! He's supposed to be the grownup in the situation. To control the flow of events as his desperate, outclassed new Padawan Apprentice flails and struggles. Except the one flailing and struggling is him.

It's humiliating.

The boy probably thinks he will be the latest on the Empire's long list of Jedi martyrs in the Purge. So, Vader needs to let him know he has other plans. That this isn't the usual execution. So, here goes. Looming over his wounded son as the breeze lifts his cape, Vader growls, "There is no escape. Don't make me destroy you." It's a bluff, of course, because the point is that he doesn't plan to kill him. All along, Vader hasn't wanted to kill him. Is Luke getting this? He's telling him to stand down. To underscore the point, Vader turns off his own sword. Time for the boy to capitulate. It's not like Luke has any other option at this point.

And maybe the arm thing isn't so bad, Vader reconsiders. At least, he's got the kid's attention. But is he even listening? Luke keeps falling back, inching farther out onto a swaying gantry. It's putting him in a more and more precarious position. Vader stands his ground, keeping his boy cornered. He's won the battle, he realizes miserably. Now, he needs to make sure he doesn't lose the war when his kid slips and falls to his death.

Time to encourage the lad a bit. "You do not yet realize your importance." Has Yoda told Luke about the Chosen One prophecy? Yet again, Vader wishes he knew what his son has been told about their family. "You have only begun to discover your power. Join me and I will complete your training. With our combined strength, we can end this destructive conflict and bring order to the galaxy."

It's an offer Luke can't refuse. So, naturally, he does. "I'll never join you!" And now again, Vader gets the glare that is pure outraged Padme. He's taken aback by his dead wife's expression on his son's face. It's like she's haunting him for what he has done.

"If you only knew the power of the Dark Side," Vader rumbles gamely. And now, he goes there: "Obi-Wan never told you what happened to your father . . . " It's an educated guess. But it's time to broach the topic. Vader desperately needs a gamechanger to redeem this situation. Maybe if the boy understands their relationship, he will feel more comfortable trusting him.

But Luke now shoots him a look full of hate. Full of Darkness. "He told me enough! He told me you killed him!"

Whaaat? Really? Really? Vader wishes he could kill Obi-Wan all over again now. Because that's a damn lie! But a good one. Because Luke won't know whether he can trust the news Vader is about to deliver. Still, the issue is ripe now. There's no avoiding it. Vader takes a deep, steadying breath and reveals, "No. I am your father."

He holds his breath as he waits for Luke's reaction. Suddenly, Vader has some sympathy for Darth Plagueis' own clunky delivery of his patrimony. Because he's terribly nervous for what comes next.

"No . . . No . . . That's not true. That's impossible!"

Luke is in denial. Dark, Dark denial. Just like Vader himself had been in denial of the news from Darth Plagueis. Ah, fuck, his heart goes out to the boy. Because he's been there—Vader has lived this awful moment himself not long ago. And now, despite all intentions to the contrary, Vader finds himself mouthing the irritating platitudes he himself once heard. "Search your feelings . . . you know it to be true."

"No! No! Noooooo!"

The kid is in pain, physically and emotionally. His intense reaction radiates out through the Force, telling Vader just how deeply wounded his boy is. And there was no way that this moment was going to be easy, but still . . . Vader feels the situation spiraling fast out of control. Maybe a true Sith would think his boy's disillusioned agony a sure path to the Dark Side, but Vader doubts it. Having his kid reeling isn't helping him think rationally about what he's being offered.

How does he salvage this? How does he turn this around? Vader rallies to close the deal. "Luke, you can destroy the Emperor. He has foreseen it." That might be a bit of a stretch, but it's a good hunch. So, Vader goes with it. He throws in, "It is your destiny," for good measure. He himself has always been a sucker for destiny.

His upraised fisted hand is now outstretched in the gesture of an offer. "Join me," he urges, "and together we can rule the galaxy as father and son."

He means this with utmost sincerity. He wants to unite with his son and together find a path out of the Darkness that has eclipsed the galaxy. To find a middle ground and hopefully land on something resembling balance. But even to his own ears, his pitch smacks of a Sith's lust for power. Of the classic 'kill and replace' pattern of Dark Side ascendancy for generations since Lord Bane. Fuck! He keeps getting this wrong. Confirming the kid's worst fears about him. Because that speech sounded like a conspiracy for a coup and not an offer of clemency and safety. Fuck! He keeps blowing this big time.

For his part, his bleeding, maimed son just stares back at him. Luke Skywalker's unblinking expression is bleak. Like this is a nightmare he could never have imagined in his wildest dreams.

He sees the boy's eyes flit downward as he clutches at the rickety gantry he hangs off. As bad as the big reveal has gone, at least Vader still has this leverage going for him. There is no escape. The kid has to agree. Now, if he will just surrender, they can get him to the medics. Levy's on the Executor and he's the best there is for prosthetics.

Trying to sound positive, Vader reoffers his hand. "Come with me. It is the only way."

That's not an exaggeration. This is the only way. Because the Rebellion will inevitably lose. Because Yoda and the Jedi were wrong decades ago and nothing has changed. Because Sheev will kill Luke without hesitation. Because Plagueis is a wildcard who will only use his boy for his own agenda. And because . . . well, because Vader will do more than train and groom Luke as a Padawan Apprentice . . . he will love him as well. He wants to say this—he probably needs to say this—but he cannot. The words stick in his throat as he stares at the stump of his son's severed arm.

FUCK! He did that. He of all people knew not to do that.

He knows he needs to make this moment personal. Less about the Force and politics, and more about family. So Vader sucks up his misgivings and prepares to ask his boy to come home. For them to be a family. Like his dead mother would have wanted. And then maybe together they can find his sister.

He never gets the chance. Luke Skywalker simply—and very intentionally—lets go.

Vader is speechless as he watches his son fall into the enormous chasm.

He didn't see that move coming. He himself has persevered against all odds time and again to survive. Darth Vader, the erstwhile Anakin Skywalker, quite simply refuses to die. But young Luke Skywalker apparently feels otherwise. The boy is falling too far, too fast for Vader to levitate him with the Force. There's no saving him now. Vader drops his outstretched hand in confusion and defeat.

This is the ultimate rejection. His son would rather die than join him.

Vader has seen others kill themselves to escape capture. Usually, it is a way to avoid a painful interrogation that will implicate others. The prisoner is acting rationally in the situation since death their inevitable end. Suicide is a way to exert control over the situation and to contain the damage. But this isn't that scenario. Luke Skywalker had a way out. So why did he do this? Vader is aghast.

He has seen prisoners sacrifice their lives to allow others to escape. Obi-Wan did it on the Death Star. During the Purge, lots of Jedi did it, usually to allow their young Padawans to escape. But Luke Skywalker isn't protecting anyone. His friends have already been captured. His sacrifice benefits no one. So why did he do this? Why? Why?

Vader finally finds his voice and cries out in vain. "NO!" There's no one to hear him, so he gives full vent to his despair. "NOOOOOOOO!" But his howl of indignant frustration dissipates amid the whistling updrafts and downdrafts of the bowels of Cloud City. Like his son, the shout is lost.

And now, hidden behind the mask, Vader's own expression is bleak. Like Luke Skywalker's face earlier, his features betray his enormous sense of shock and disillusionment. The Force was supposed to be with him today. But yet again, it ignores the plight of its Chosen One. Dark met Light and instead of balance and accord, it was the usual conflict. This is what Vader wants to end. But he can't do it. Even with his own son.

Yet again, he has failed. Failed himself, failed his family, failed the Force, failed the galaxy. Darth Vader is devastated. And Dark, oh so Dark, in the moment.