The following contains spoilers for the first three episodes of Obi-Wan Kenobi, now available on Disney+.
In Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, fans loved how Darth Vader was unleashed as a true warlord. In the first trilogy, he wasn't depicted in such a relentless, macabre manner. However, in Rogue One, he tapped into the aggression of the Dark Side to fling people around, crush bones and slice rebels who attempted escaping with the Death Star plans.
This level of writing gave fans the Vader they wanted from the cartoons, making the tyrant more intimidating than ever before. However, the third episode of Obi-Wan Kenobi had a much better Vader for one terrifying reason -- how well he balanced rage with patience.
It began when Vader, voiced again by James Earl Jones, was on Mustafar in this episode, immersed in Bacta tanks where fans saw his scars up close. It was quite graphic, and much more frightening than what Rogue One offered, with the show further illustrating how his robotic parts were screwed on. This created a deeper sense of horror, which turned into a regal show when he sat on his throne in his obsidian castle.
This castle was impressive in Rogue One, but with the lava pits, Vader choking Krennic, and the overall design of the castle, everything felt underplayed. In just a few moments, though, Obi-Wan Kenobi captured the landscape's essence from the comics, giving it that palace aura and depicted Vader as someone with real power. In Rogue One, he felt like muscle, but here, Vader was a king with more than a scintilla of prestige.
This was compounded by his words to Reva, offering agency as his Grand Inquisitor if she could deliver Obi-Wan. He sounded more like Emperor Palpatine, foreshadowing how frightening he'd be in battle. And unlike Rogue One, Vader immediately went on the hunt in Mapuzo.
Here, he wasn't found choking repugnant colleagues; he snapped the necks of innocents in a village to make Obi-Wan come out of hiding. That crafted the most sadistic, unforgiving terrorist Vader's ever been. The moment became even darker when he eventually battled Ben, dragging and flaying him in the fire. The fact he stopped the kill, just to keep Obi-Wan to torture said it all -- Vader was calculated and cerebral.
He simply wanted to savor pain rather than rush punishment, cutting an emotional, personal figure in this revenge scheme. In that sense, given how he hurt he was by Obi-Wan's betrayal, it was the most human Vader ever. Ultimately, this methodical dynamic added more dimensions than a hungry war-hound, painting the TV Vader as a truly domineering force.
The first three episodes of Obi-Wan Kenobi are on Disney+. New episodes air every Wednesday.
