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It would be an understatement to say that Anakin Skywalker, more infamously known as Darth Vader, is a major character inStar Wars. He is the catalyst behind the events of a majority of theStar Warsmovies. Anakin’s journey to the dark side had a lot of massive shockwaves, but one of the biggest was his actions during Order 66. His turn towards evil eventually led to aduel with his master Obi-Wan Kenobi on MustafarinStar Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith.
For a lot of fans, this duel stands as the best in the entire series, but ultimately, Anakin comes out as the loser. That is why some may find it shocking that he would go on to have a fortress erected on the planet where he nearly lost his life. Fortress Vader may not receive much focus in the series, but its importance can’t be understated.
What Is Fortress Vader?
As one might expect, Fortress Vader is the castle where Darth Vader would live on the planet Mustafar. With a deep connection to the dark side of the Force, Fortress Vader would prove an important tool as he dove deeper into what it meant to be a Sith. The powerful fortress hada rich connection to the Force, so much so that Darth Vader could use it to further push his own abilities. At the same time, it served as an ornate home. Situated where he had lost his climactic duel with Obi-Wan, Vader’s castle served as a reminder of his greatest failure in battle, one that he made sure not to repeat.
Fortress Vader would be assaulted quite often by the inhabitants of Mustafar. Unfortunately for anyone who would come to the fortress with ill intent, the power Vader could harness inside his castle made him nearly unstoppable. With his immense power,Darth Vader had no issue repelling attackson his fortress. It seems that, at some point, whatever important prisoners were captured by the Empire (especially if they were Jedi) would be destined for a trip to Fortress Vader. From that location, they would likely never be seen again.
How Was Fortress Vader Built?
In the bookStar Wars: The Secrets Of The Jedi, Luke Skywalker of all people gives some insight into the construction of Fortress Vader:
The castle’s unique shape was based on designs by an ancient Sith Lord, Momin, and was specifically attuned to the dark energies of that world for one purpose: to pierce the veil between life and death.
The ancient Sith Lord Mominhas an even richer history with Fortress Vader than Darth Vader himself. Deep below Fortress Vader was an ancient Sith cave, which held the kind of power that most Sith could only hope to one day achieve.
Fortress Vader was built on top of the cave in an effort to allow Vader to channel the Dark Side. With Momin’s designs in hand and Vader’s vast resources as Emperor Palpatine’s right-hand man, Fortress Vader’s construction moved at a rapid pace. This would only be the first of his fortresses. While using it to augment his powers and reach out to the Dark Side of the Force, Vader would destroy his castle time and time again. With the promise ofpotentially bringing Padmé Amidala back to life, Vader would continue to try until the fortress reached its ultimate form on the ninth try. Sadly, Vader couldn’t get Padmé back. Instead, the Sith Momin double-crossed him and attempted to rise to power once more (which ended terribly for Momin).
What Happened To Fortress Vader?
While it took nine tries to perfect Fortress Vader, that ninth attempt had a lot of staying power. After Darth Vader had died, there was no longer any purpose for Fortress Vader. His former followers left the massive structure mostly intact on Mustafar. Considering that the Mustafarians weren’tbig fans of Darth Vader, two foolish young Mustafarians eventually tried to blow up the fortress, hoping to be rid of one of the greatest evils in the galaxy for good. After a run-in with Vader’s old servant Vaneé, one of the young Mustafarians lost their life. In the end, the naive youngsters only managed to do minimal damage to the sturdy structure.
The only use that remained for Fortress Vader was whatever dark artifacts remained within and beneath it. For that reason, the fortress was left untouched for the most part, until the era of the First Order. During the opening ofStar Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker,Kylo Ren travels to Mustafarto claim Darth Vader’s old Sith wayfinder. Audiences never actually see Fortress Vader during the sequence, but it seems likely that the wayfinder was still somewhere in or around Fortress Vader, a place where few would ever dare to journey.
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Star Wars
Star Wars is a multimedia franchise originally created by George Lucas and Lucasfilm Ltd with the 1977 motion picture. The science fiction franchise follows the adventures of characters (both humanoid and alien) in outer space including those who can wield a mystical power known as the Force. Since the release of the original trilogy of movies, the franchise has expanded to include multiple films and branched out to other media like comics, video games, tv shows, theme park attractions, and more. The IP and Lucasfilm were sold to Disney in 2012.
