Not that Darth Vader had it so good beforehand — he lost his limbs, religion, wife, children, friends and skin — but a major spoiler from Rogue One: A Star Wars Story turns the screws a little more. If you haven’t seen Rogue One yet, then there’s no good reason to read further.
Rogue One briefly takes us to Darth Vader’s castle on a fiery planet. So far so good. What self-respecting evil lord would be without a fire fortress? But Lucasfilm Story Group member Pablo Hidalgo confirmed on Twitter that Vader’s castle isn’t located on just any old lava planet, it’s Mustafar.
See Also: 'Rogue One: A Star Wars Story' Review: Forgettable Characters In An Unforgettable Space [NO SPOILERS REVIEW]
In case you’ve successfully avoided Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith all these years (congratulations), Mustafar is the site of longest, most boring lightsaber duel in the entire Star Wars series, culminating in the defeat of Darth Vader by Obi-Wan Kenobi, who won because he had the high ground (as if that’s ever mattered in a Jedi duel before). Still, while the scene is lackluster (“from my point of view the Jedi are evil!”), the events on Mustafar were formative to the Darth Vader seen in Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back, Return of the Jedi and now Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.
Mustafar is where Darth Vader tortures whatever shred of Anakin remains in him. According to Wookiepedia, drawing from Star Wars: Complete Locations, Vader and Sidious return to Mustafar to meditate on the Dark Side after the events of Revenge of the Sith. It is a place to channel old hatreds. Jedi survivors of Order 66 were brought to Mustafar to be tortured and executed.
Darth Vader continues to be bound to the trauma of his defeat. He was brought low by his best friend after slaughtering children and strangling his wife, Senator Amidala. That he can still be found there, years later during the events of Rogue One, testifies to the ultimately masochistic hatred that binds Vader to the Dark Side. Poor Anakin Skywalker, tortured and spiritually executed on Mustafar, all those long years.
