Duel on Cophrigin V Shortly before the Battle of Yavin , a lightsaber duel was fought on the fifth planet of the Cophrigin system between exiled Jedi Master An ' ya Kuro and Darth Vader , Dark Lord of the Sith . After Kuro , known only to her pursuers as " the Dark Woman , " was tracked to her hiding place on Cophrigin V by the Emperor ' s Hand Mara Jade , Darth Vader was dispatched by his Sith Master , Darth Sidious , to the Outer Rim Territories to find and eliminate the rogue Jedi . In doing so , Vader hoped to complete his Master ' s plan for the eradication of all Jedi , as ordered and initiated by Sidious himself nearly two decades prior . Darth Vader ' s arrival on Cophrigin V was sensed by Kuro , and the Jedi Master prepared herself for an encounter with the Dark Lord . Vader found Kuro in her sanctuary and quickly attacked with expectations of cutting her down swiftly , but he was surprised by the skill with which his opponent dueled . Kuro overcame Vader on several occasions , once through use of the Force to subdue him with the surrounding flora and again when she knocked his lightsaber from his grasp . However , the Dark Woman ' s own strength began to wane before the increasing dark side power of Darth Vader , and she was defeated when the Dark Lord used his lightsaber and the Force to fell a massive tree , which pinned the Dark Woman beneath it . He then moved in for the kill , and An ' ya Kuro ' s body vanished into the Force . Her demise on Cophrigin V resulted in a victory for Darth Vader and one of the final Jedi deaths of Lord Sidious ' Great Jedi Purge . Background . Almost two decades had passed since the Galactic Republic had been overthrown by the Order of the Sith Lords and replaced with the establishment of a Sith - governed Galactic Empire . The Jedi Order , stewards of the Republic since its inception , had been all but exterminated in a purge initiated by the Sith ' s Dark Lord , a man known as Darth Sidious . On the same day that the Republic fell and was reorganized into the Galactic Empire , Sidious , in his guise as Supreme Chancellor Palpatine , issued an order to the clone troopers of the Grand Army of the Republic to execute all Jedi without question , thus enacting the Great Jedi Purge . Nearly all were killed , and most of the survivors were hunted down by agents of Sidious ' Empire in the years that followed . One such individual was a Human female Jedi Master named An ' ya Kuro , known only to Imperial spies as the " Dark Woman . " Reports of Kuro ' s whereabouts in the Outer Rim Territories eventually reached Sidious through one of his operatives , Emperor ' s Hand Mara Jade . Jade was ready and willing to dispatch the Jedi fugitive and even vied with the Emperor ' s Sith apprentice , Darth Vader , for the mission , but Sidious assigned the task of hunting Kuro down to Vader , given his reputation for being able to find and eliminate Jedi Knights — wherever they hid . Vader promptly left for the fifth planet in the Cophrigin system with a contingent of Imperial stormtroopers in search of the Dark Woman . When Vader ' s " Lambda " - class shuttle touched down on Cophrigin V , he advised his accompanying stormtroopers to maintain their position with the craft , as his mission did not require their support . The Dark Lord ' s arrival was sensed through the Force by Kuro , who , in an acceptance of fate , ceased her meditation and readied herself to face Darth Vader in battle . It was not long before Vader appeared at the threshold of a lush sanctuary and was greeted by the mysterious Dark Woman . The duel . Formidable opponents . An ' ya Kuro engaged in a conversation with her executioner that eventually led to a philosophical debate that concerned both the dark and light sides of the Force . Vader ' s position was that the power of the dark side was greater than that of the light — something that he believed would be obvious to a being who referred to herself as the Dark Woman . Kuro , however , claimed that while the dark path was one easily undertaken , it was one only embarked upon by the faint - of - heart . Her words enraged Darth Vader , who ignited his lightsaber and struck at Kuro . The Dark Woman parried his blow , and an intense duel ensued . Darth Vader had fully expected to defeat the Jedi Master with relative ease , but he was amazed to be faced with an opponent of advanced age and sufficient skill to contend with a Sith Lord . Kuro noted Vader ' s exceptional dueling talent as well before lunging at him , performing a series of acrobatic maneuvers in an attempt to overwhelm her adversary . The Dark Lord was unrelenting in his defense , and when ample distance had been placed between them , Vader reiterated his belief in the superiority of the dark side as he hurled boulders at Kuro with the Force , only to have them cut to pieces by her purple blade . She then used the Force to manipulate the surrounding plant life and subdue Vader with thorn - covered vines , which rendered the Dark Lord temporarily immobile . Vader was able to block the attack that followed , however , and was also able to repel the Jedi Master as he escaped the plant - restraints under her command . The Dark Woman ' s defeat . This time Vader advanced with powerful blows , but these were checked as the Dark Woman retaliated and disappeared into the cover of a nearby waterfall . She emerged behind Darth Vader and caught him unawares , giving her the opportunity to knock his lightsaber from his grasp . Her advantage was short - lived , however , as Vader seized her arm and forced her own lightsaber from her hand . Realizing that the Dark Woman ' s strength was diminishing , the Sith Lord cast her aside and recalled his own weapon as he prepared to finish her . Kuro recovered her lightsaber but was backed up against an enormous tree . With nowhere to run , Vader sliced the trunk with his lightsaber and used the Force to bring it down upon the Dark Woman . Pinned beneath the tree , Kuro laid helplessly as Vader brought his blade down for the killing stroke . Her body then disappeared into the Force in the manner of Jedi Masters , leaving only her robes and a victorious Darth Vader . Aftermath . Immediately after her death , An ' ya Kuro appeared to Darth Vader as a Force ghost . Addressing him as Anakin Skywalker , the man he was before he embraced the dark side of the Force , Kuro stated that in death , she proved that the light side of the Force possessed greater power and that she saw within him the potential to become free of the dark side ' s influence . Vader , however , did not seek emancipation and struck at the apparition with his lightsaber in defiance of his former identity . Kuro ' s ghost then vanished , and Darth Vader departed , having successfully executed yet another victim in accordance with the Great Jedi Purge . Behind the scenes . The duel on Cophrigin V first appeared in author Ron Marz ' s two - part comic series titled " Extinction " , which was featured in " Star Wars Tales 1 " and " Star Wars Tales 2 " . It was later compiled into a trade paperback version , " Star Wars Tales Volume 1 " . Plausible stories in " Star Wars Tales 1 " – " 20 " were initially considered S - canon until referenced in a non - " Tales " source , at which point the subject matter was elevated to C - canon . An ' ya Kuro ' s death at the hands of Darth Vader was later mentioned in both " The New Essential Guide to Characters " and " The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia " , thus raising the event to C - canon . The duel resulted in one of the final deaths of Sidious ' Great Jedi Purge , an event which began officially with the Showdown on Coruscant in . The contest between Kuro and Vader also saw the first use of " Plant Surge " , a light - side Force power that was later explained with great detail in Wizards of the Coast ' s " Power of the Jedi Sourcebook " , a guide for the " Star Wars Roleplaying Game " . At the end of the duel , the dialogue between An ' ya Kuro and Darth Vader was altered between the original two - part version found in " Star Wars Tales 1 " and " Star Wars Tales 2 " and the trade paperback version in " Star Wars Tales Volume 1 " , which combined the two . The changed dialogue is found when the Dark Woman ' s Force ghost appears before Vader . In the original version , the Dark Woman speaks to Darth Vader and calls him by his original name , thus eliciting a response from him ; in the trade paperback version , only the Dark Woman speaks as Vader listens .