Mission to Tatooine (Kylo Ren)

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For other uses, see Mission to Tatooine and Battle of Tatooine.
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"My name doesn't matter. Neither does his. The past dies. That's all that matters. I will tell my own story. You will not be part of it."
―Kylo Ren, to Gardulla Besadii the Elder[2]

During the First Order-Resistance War, Supreme Leader Kylo Ren went on a mission to the desert planet of Tatooine in hopes of finding more about Darth Vader's past under the guidance of his former assistant Vaneé. Finding out about his grandfather's past as a slave, Ren sought out his original owner, Gardulla Besadii the Elder, in hopes of killing her and erase that part of Vader's history.

However, Gardulla was prepared, as she was being protected by a mysterious Force-sensitive individual that caught the young tyrant off guard, leading him to be imprisoned at a remote location. Despite the torture he endured, Ren managed to free himself, contact the First Order and make his way back to Gardulla's fortress, where he ordered General Hux to bombard the place shortly after killing Gardulla's guards.

Prelude

"You are the past. Darth Vader is the past. This entire place is the past. The past strangles me. Its expectations and legacies and vendettas. I will destroy every last vestige of it. I will free myself."
"You foolish, ignorant child. Vader's power was his past."
―Kylo Ren and Vaneé[1]
Meeting Vader's former servant, Vaneé, Ren wanted to learn how his grandfather turned his past into power.

Meeting Vader's former servant, Vaneé, Ren wanted to learn how his grandfather turned his past into power.

In the aftermath of the Battle of Crait, Kylo Ren became the new Supreme Leader of the First Order. The young tyrant wasn't satisfied with this, believing that he needed to fully destroy every visage of his past to truly be free.[1]

Traveling the the world of Mustafar to visit his grandfather's fortress, Ren encountered a Sith cult known as the Alazmec of Winsit and slaughtered them as he made his way to the entrance. Once inside Vader's castle, the Supreme Leader met Vaneé, his grandfather's old servant, who convinced the young tyrant to follow Vader's example and transform the pain of his past into a source of power.[1]

The mission

History lesson

"From the very beginning, Vader's life was a crucible. Unending toil, an existence in chains. It was what he rose above. The blade in his soul, slicing away all that held him back so he might rise to greatness."
―Vaneé, to Kylo Ren[2]
On his quest to find out about his grandfather's past, Kylo Ren and Vaneé visited Tatooine, where Vader spent most of his childhood.

On his quest to find out about his grandfather's past, Kylo Ren and Vaneé visited Tatooine, where Vader spent most of his childhood.

Traveling to Tatooine, Kylo Ren quickly began to question why Vaneé brought him to what he considered to be a nowhere planet, since both his grandfather and uncle left it as soon as they could. Vaneé told the young tyrant that it was incorrect to suggest that Tatooine didn't matter to Anakin Skywalker, citing how in this planet the young Skywalker met the love of his life, was taken by the Jedi Order and lost his mother, giving into the dark side for the first time.[2]

Going to the Grand Arena of Mos Espa, Vaneé told the Supreme Leader how Anakin won the Boonta Eve Classic as a child, becoming the first and only human to do so. Ren was surprised to learn that his grandfather was a slave, learning that while he was rescued when the Jedi took him with them, they didn't offer the same courtesy to Anakin's mother Shmi. Using all of this information as an example, Vaneé told the Ren how from the very beginning Darth Vader's life was in chains, something that he rose above by slashing everything that held him back, believing that the Supreme Leader could relate to that, completely unaware the Solo's childhood was much nicer than Anakin's.[2]

Ren was threatened by some Tatooinian bandits, whom he quickly dispatched.

Ren was threatened by some Tatooinian bandits, whom he quickly dispatched.

The undercover Supreme Leader was found by a group of Tatooinian bandits that related the name Skywalker to a rumor about Luke Skywalker recently taking down an entire First Order fleet, which enraged Ren. After the bandits threatened to take his credits, Ren used telekinesis to make two out of the three bandits blast each other, leaving one alive so he could spread the word that talking about Luke Skywalker meant death. As he slashed Anakin's carved name on the Mos Espa Arena, Ren demanded to learn who owned his grandfather when he was a child.[2]

Captured by Gardulla

«You came here because you didn't like your grandfather's story. Thought you could kill the past. The truth is your grandfather's story it's now your story too.»
―Gardulla, to Kylo Ren[2]
Wanting to erase his grandfather's history as a slave, Kylo Ren went after Gardulla Besadii the Elder.

Wanting to erase his grandfather's history as a slave, Kylo Ren went after Gardulla Besadii the Elder.

Learning of Anakin's final owner, the Toydarian junk dealer Watto, Ren and Vaneé traveled to his abandoned shop. Noting that the building was ruined, the young tyrant initially assumed that his grandfather came back for revenge and killed the toydarian, but Vaneé assured him that Vader didn't kill him and that he wasn't Anakin's only owner. Learning that a female Hutt named Gardulla Besadii the Elder was Anakin and Shmi's original owner before losing them to Watto in a bet, Ren decided to go after the Hutt and kill her in hopes of erasing this part of his grandfather's history.[2]

Kylo attacked Gardulla's guards with his lightsaber.

Kylo attacked Gardulla's guards with his lightsaber.

Angry and determined, the Master of the Knights of Ren went on a Speeder bike to Gardulla Besadii the Elder's fortress, where he was warned by a Weequay guard to leave before he was eaten by their Rancors, but the young tyrant was unfazed and ignited his lightsaber, quickly dispatching the guards and their rancors. Using his lightsaber to carve a hole in the fortress' door, the Supreme Leader came face to face with the hutt, demanding her to pay for owning his grandfather. When Gardulla asked Ren his name, the knight didn't reveal his identity and only told her that the past must die as he ignited his lightsaber to strike her down.[2]

Both inside and out of Gardulla's fortress, the Supreme Leader slashed all of her defenses.

Both inside and out of Gardulla's fortress, the Supreme Leader slashed all of her defenses.

The hutt ordered her guards to attack the tyrant, but Kylo Ren was able to easily deflect their blasts and kill nearly all of them before his lightsaber was pulled away from him by a mysterious individual that also wield The Force, saying that it was weak on the young tyrant, something that angered Ren before the creature pushed him into a wall and knocked him down. Revealing that she had this creature as a countermeasure for those who used the Force, Gardulla had one of her guards knock out Ren while telling him that his grandfather's story would become his own.[2]

Escape and retaliation

"General Hux. I have transmitted you a set of coordinates. Wait twenty minutes, then hit that location with a full spread of weapons. Orbital bombardment torpedoes, turbolasers… use it all."
―Kylo Ren, to Armitage Hux[5]

Gardulla later had the young tyrant imprisoned and chained at prison cell far away from her fortress. About an hour into his imprisonment, Ren demanded to be released and threatened Gardulla with the consequences her actions would bring before being electrocuted by the Hutt, who responded by saying that he was nothing. As the torture continued, the young tyrant revealed his identity as Supreme Leader of the First Order to her in an attempt to make her desist, but the Hutt kept electrocuting Ren, which was starting to mess with the Supreme Leader's perception of time, as he came to believe he had been imprisoned for days.[5]

Building up rage during his torture, Kylo Ren used the force to escape his imprisonment.

Building up rage during his torture, Kylo Ren used the force to escape his imprisonment.

Stopping the torture thanks to her force-sensitive bodyguard, who warned her of the dangers and consequences of outright killing Ren so quickly, Gardulla instead released a gas onto the Supreme Leader's cell, which made Ren hallucinate with his grandfather, Darth Vader, massacring a group of rebels. Asking the vision of his grandfather for help, Vader answered by saying that everything that made him magnificent he did alone. Filled with resolve, Ren ordered Gardulla to force him to obey again, which the Hutt did by electrocuting him many more times, but the Supreme Leader refused to obey time and time again until he gathered enough rage to break free from his chains and destroy his whole cell.[5]

Gardulla's fortress was bombarded by the First Order.

Gardulla's fortress was bombarded by the First Order.

Realizing he was at a remote location of Tatooine, the Supreme Leader walked away from the wreckage and journeyed alone into the sands of the planet, later encountering a krayt dragon but killing it and using its skin to cover himself and create knives. With this new equipment, he ambushed a pair of bandits at night and stole their equipment to communicate with the First Order, ordering them to bring the Finalizer to Tatooine and await for his signal.[5]

Finally returning to Gardulla's fortress on a Dewback, Ren noticed that the Finalizer arrived on the planet and ordered General Hux to bombard the fortress with everything they had in the next twenty minutes. In those twenty minutes, the Supreme Leader used his makeshift knives and abilities to annihilate every single one of Gardulla's guards before leaving the fortress just in time for it to be destroyed by the Finalizer's turbolasers and torpedoes.[5]

Aftermath

icon Main article: Assault on Naboo (First Order)

The mission to Tatooine proved to be a harrowing affair for Ren,[6] who was nonetheless able to walk away from Tatooine with a new resolve.[3] Returning to the First Order after his journey on Tatooine, Kylo Ren had a private holo-call with Vaneé, where he told his servant how he learned that he was alone and that, just like Vader, he found out that there was power in that purity. Pleased with Ren's new discovery, Vaneé hoped that their journeys would continue, to which the Supreme Leader conceded, as there more from his grandfather's life and legacy he had to learn. Vaneé informed Ren that he was waiting for him on Varykino.[5]

Ren visited Naboo, the home planet of his grandmother Padmé Amidala. Believing the Nabooians' superstitious beliefs related to their past had held them back, the Supreme Leader initially launched an assault on the planet, declaring himself as the new king of Naboo,[3] but he later made his forced withdraw from the planet to continue on his journeys with Vaneé.[6] For Ren, the Naboo journey was harrowing, much like his time on Tatooine.[7]

Appearances

Notes and references

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Legacy of Vader 1
  2. ↑ 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 2.11 2.12 2.13 2.14 2.15 2.16 2.17 2.18 2.19 2.20 2.21 2.22 2.23 2.24 2.25 2.26 2.27 2.28 2.29 2.30 2.31 Legacy of Vader 2
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Legacy of Vader 4
  4. ↑ YouTube The FUTURE of Star Wars Comics - An Interview With Charles Soule, Marc Guggenheim, and Alex Segura on the Star Wars Explained YouTube channel (backup link) establishes that the events of Star Wars: Legacy of Vader take place immediately after the events of Star Wars: Episode VIII The Last Jedi, which takes place in 34 ABY per Star Wars: Timelines.
  5. ↑ 5.00 5.01 5.02 5.03 5.04 5.05 5.06 5.07 5.08 5.09 5.10 5.11 5.12 Legacy of Vader 3
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Legacy of Vader 5
  7. ↑ Legacy of Vader 6