Perfect Evil Perfect Evil is a two - part comic , totaling 96 pages , written and illustrated by Shin - Ichi Hiromoto . The story begins in " " and concludes in " " . The first eight pages of the story are fully colored , but the remainder of the story is in normal black and white . The comic tells the story of one of Darth Vader ' s illegitimate apprentices , Tao . The story starts before the Battle of Yavin and ends at the conclusion of the Battle of Hoth . Plot summary . Part 1 . The tale begins above the remote world of Shumari . A massive force of Star Destroyers are bombarding the planet , reducing its surface to rubble . On the surface , a group of stormtroopers are in battle with a large group of Jedi with heavy casualties on both sides . The attack is interrupted by the sudden arrival of Darth Vader , who has arrived to complete the destruction . Several of the remaining Jedi charge Vader , attempting to cut him down , but they are no match for the Dark Lord of the Sith who easily dispatches with his attackers . The leader of the Jedi , appalled by the deaths of his allies , steps forward , claiming that Vader will pay for the slaughter . Vader begins to choke the man with the Force , but he is able to resist , launching himself at the Sith Lord . However , Vader is prepared for the attack , and he stabs the man through the chest . Unseen by Vader , a young Jedi Padawan , Tao , approaches the slaughter . The Jedi leader , with his dying words , pleads with Tao not to attack , asking that Tao live through this encounter . Vader turns to face Tao , who , although badly injured , has ignited his lightsaber . Vader sees the hate in Tao ' s eyes and ponders what to do with the young Jedi … Sometime later , on Yavin 4 , Luke Skywalker is walking through the hangar bay of the Great Temple . He finds Han Solo and confronts him about leaving to avoid the upcoming battle . Han shrugs off the criticism , and Luke leaves , but not before Han wishes him good luck . The X - wing starfighters of Red Squadron begin their attack on the Death Star . Darth Vader enters the battle in his TIE Advanced x1 , shooting down the enemy pilots . Luke and his wingmates , Biggs Darklighter and Wedge Antilles , begin their Trench Run . They are pursued by Vader , who kills Biggs and forces Wedge to withdraw . Before Vader can shoot down Luke , he is interrupted by the arrival of the " Millennium Falcon " , piloted by Han . The smuggler shoots down one of Vader ' s wingmates , causing the other one to become distracted and collide with Vader ' s starfighter . Vader and his spacecraft spin off into space as Luke destroys the Death Star . As the Rebels celebrate their victory , Vader is coasting through space , where he vows revenge on the victorious Rebel pilot . Sometime later , a fleet of Star Destroyers is approaching Coruscant . The citizens of the planet have heard rumors that the Rebels have won an important victory . Although worried about the possible danger the Rebels might pose , the citizens reassure themselves , claiming that they are safe as long as the Emperor is with them . Amidst cheers for the longevity of the Empire , Darth Vader arrives on the planet where he is greeted by several stormtroopers and a scarfaced Imperial officer . Vader dismisses the officer ' s greeting , telling him to use any means necessary to uncover the identity of the Rebel pilot who destroyed the Death Star . Vader makes his way to the Imperial Palace to speak with his master , Darth Sidious . In the Emperor ' s throne room , Vader is greeted by his master , who rebukes him for his failure at Yavin 4 . The Emperor claims that he can see right through Vader , witnessing his inner thoughts about his past . After reminding Vader that he is his tool , Palpatine dismisses him . Vader makes his way back to his tower and retires to his meditation chamber . As Vader begins to meditate about the identity of the Rebel pilot at Yavin , he is interrupted by Tao . Tao claims to Vader that he senses a new feeling inside of his master , that of happiness . Vader is amused by Tao ' s belief , and he tells the boy to attack him . Tao strikes at Vader , but the Dark Lord easily deflects his attacks . Vader claims that Tao is not attacking with enough ferocity , and he orders his student to use his anger and hate him . Tao is unable to harness his anger , and he cries out , claiming that he can ' t use his hate . Part 2 . Vader yells at Tao , claiming that his student should have no problem hating him . After all , it was him who destroyed his home planet , killed his parents , and took everything away from him . Despite Tao ' s protests , Vader claims that he cannot accept weakness . Tao vows that he will become strong , and Vader , satisfied , says that the lesson is over . Vader leaves his tower and boards a " Lambda " - class T - 4a shuttle . Vader travels to a Star Destroyer to oversee the launching of several shuttles . During the operation , he is contacted by the scarfaced Imperial officer who gives him a holoprojector containing the name of the Rebel pilot . Vader activates the hologram to see the face of Luke Skywalker . Vader recalls the face of the young man on the Death Star who had fired at him after he had killed Obi - Wan Kenobi . Vader concludes that Luke must be the child he had fathered with Padmé , who he had thought dead . Elated by the thought of his son , Vader vows to hunt down and be reunited with his child . Back on Coruscant , Vader is back in his meditation chamber when he is approached by Tao . Tao claims that he is ready to continue his training , but Vader tells the boy that he has no more time for him anymore . Tao is distraught , asking why the Sith Lord spared him in the first place . Vader tells Tao to go wherever he likes but that he will have nothing more to do with him . Sometime later , the Coruscant populace is looking up as a massive warship begins to cast a shadow across the city . Vader is standing with Palpatine on a balcony , and he presents the ship , the " Executor " , to Vader as a gift . Vader takes the ship into space where he oversees the release of probe droids throughout the galaxy . As Vader ponders hiding the existence of his son from Palpatine , he is bumped from behind by a defective R2 unit . Vader tells the scarfaced officer to dispose of the droid , but before he can , a hologram projects from the R2 unit . Palpatine has discovered Tao , and two Royal guardsmen present the young boy to Vader . Palpatine orders his apprentice to strike down Tao , and Vader eventually obeys , running his lightsaber through the boy . Palpatine is pleased by the show of loyalty , and the hologram dissipates . Vader looks down at his badly injured student , who is remarkably still alive . Vader decides to return Tao to his home planet to die . Tao thanks his master for the gesture of kindness and claims that he can sense the good in him . As Vader carries the boy ' s body across the destroyed terrain of the world , he senses a presence following him . A Tusken Raider , a survivor of Anakin Skywalker ' s mission to Tatooine , has come to avenge his slaughtered brethren . The Tusken has learned Basic and studied how Vader fights . With his own lightsabers , the Tusken attacks Vader , who becomes awed by the sense of rage contained within the being . Before the Tusken can attack Vader further , Tao summons the strength to rise in defense of his master . Tao kills the Tusken Raider , but his injuries have taken their toll . With Tao ' s final words , he asks that Vader give up his anger . Vader takes Tao ' s dead body and buries it , carving a headstone with Tao ' s name before he leaves the planet . Vader travels to Tatooine and visits the Lars homestead . Staring out at the twin suns of the planet , Vader thinks about his son , claiming that he is the new hope in his life . Sometime later , at the Battle of Hoth , Luke is crawling away from the AT - AT that he has destroyed . Han and Chewbacca are attempting to escape Echo Base , when Darth Vader enters the base with a squad of Snowtroopers . As the troopers overrun the base , Vader is reassured , and he tells himself that his destined vengeance begins now . Behind the scenes . Originally published in Japan , stories from " Star Wars Manga " were considered to be of " fuzzy " continuity by Lucasfilm . Since then , they have been republished in English in the United Kingdom under Infinities label , which established the material in them as non - canon ical . Author Daniel Wallace stated definitively in the article " We Need to Talk About Jar Jar " , written for " Star Wars Insider 131 " in February 2012 , that the stories included in the " " comic trade paperback are non - canon . The planet Shumari has been later referenced in " The Essential Atlas " , which included the Shumari system in its appendix . However , according to Jason Fry , " its inclusion shouldn ' t be taken as a statement of canonicity for anything except the geography . " The Blog Part 2 also briefly alluded to this manga in the ending of KkH ' Oar ' Rrhr ' s section , specifically Vader ' s encounter with the sole - surviving member of the Tusken Raider village he had wiped out . Similarly , Tao ended up mentioned in Ennix Devian ' s section on the second part of the blog " The Imperial Warlords : Despoilers of an Empire " as one of Vader ' s secret apprentices alongside Galen Marek ( Starkiller ) as well as being one of the few people alongside Devian and Marek to have the honor of facing Noghri Death Commandos during training . Because of this , the manga is considered ambiguously canon . This issue conflicts somewhat with the previous backstory concerning Darth Vader ' s discovery of the identity of the pilot who destroyed the Death Star . Marvel Star Wars first showed Vader discovering the name on the Rebel refueling station in " " . A later comic , " Vader ' s Quest " , built on this story somewhat by having Vader discover only the last name on Centares as well . However , " Perfect Evil " , shows Vader receiving a report on the name from one of his Imperial officers . Since it is not specified when this report occurs , it may be possible that the report was simply a follow - up to the discovery of the name on Centares . In the second part of the comic , when Vader claims to Tao that he killed his parents , a flashback image shows the death of the bearded Human Jedi from the beginning of the comic . This may mean that the Jedi is in fact Tao ' s father . This may be supported by Tao ' s anger at the beginning of the comic when he witnesses the death of the man and the Jedi ' s final words to Tao . After Vader makes Tao into his student , Tao takes on the appearance of a younger Anakin Skywalker . Along with the same outfit , Tao ' s right arm is fitted with a cybernetic replacement . When Vader returns to Tatooine near the end of the comic , he claims that Luke is a new hope in his life , referencing the title of . The gravestone of Tao is written in Aurebesh . The hologram of Luke Skywalker contain ' s his name and the caption " REBEL ALLIANCE PILOT " .