WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Star Wars: Darth Vader #2, by Greg Pak, Raffaele Ienco, Neeraj Menon and VC's Joe Caramagna, on sale now.
After the events of Darth Vader #2, a surviving sliver of Anakin Skywalker peeked through Darth Vader's armor, long before his final redemption within the Emperor's throne room. Taking place directly after the events of The Empire Strikes Back, this series has focused on Vader's quest to find everyone who has kept his son, Luke Skywalker, hidden from him. Visiting Padmé's former apartment on Coruscant, the Dark Lord found a trail that led him to the world of Vendexa. where many rebels from the planet Naboo were stationed. As he entered the base, Vader was surprised to find a woman that resembled his former wife, Padmé.
In this encounter, it's clear that Vader's greatest weakness is still the specter of his late wife, Padmé. Darth Vader #2 reveals that the Padmé lookalike is actually Sabé. As a former handmaiden and decoy target for Padmé Amidala, Sabé is extremely devoted to her former queen, senator and friend. Wanting to find those responsible for Padmé's death, Darth Vader uses her lack of knowledge about his relationship to Padmé to manipulate Sabé into joining him on his crusade. Looking at this interaction, all of Vader's actions appear to point towards the fact that some part of Anakin Skywalker still lives within Vader.
Throughout this issue, Darth Vader appears to be reeling from the woman's resemblance to the love of his life, as he is filled with memories of the past. Although he has faced Padmé before, this comes after his first encounter with Luke, when Vader is already reconsidering everything that he knows. Unlike his usual methods of threats and demands, Vader's initial response upon seeing her is a simple question: "Who are you?"
There is a quiet desperation that emerges from Vader as he promises Sabé that she has nothing to fear from him. During his time as a Sith Lord, Vader was rarely surprised or taken aback by anything. This reaction indicates Vader's weakness for anything that brought his current state before the image of his late wife. If only for a short moment, the hard exterior of Vader disappears in the face of this woman.
At the same time, this confrontation shows Vader's simultaneous desire to both change the past and relieve it. After Sabé directly impersonates Padmé and threatens him, Vader resorts to his usual trick of the force choke. Instead of taking her life, his recollection of his force choke of Padmé on Mustafar results in Vader letting Sabé go and taking a step back. This scene ties into a common element of Vader's character -- he's notoriously unable to let the past go and his many mistakes.
As he chokes a woman that looks like his wife, Vader finds that he cannot go through with it. Besides not wanting to let go of the past, Vader also has a desire to relive and return to the simplicity of that time. As they fight with the creatures of the planet, he is taken back to his battle with Padmé in the arena on Geonosis. While he desperately wants to avoid the mistakes of his past, these constant flashbacks hint that Vader also wants to return to his younger years.
As a younger man, Anakin was also desperate to please those around him, and that tendency remerges in Vader through his comments and actions here. After killing the monsters, Vader actually compliments Sabé on her skills. This small line comes as a direct contrast to Vader's complete dismissal of his son's abilities on Bespin in Darth Vader #1. Later, Vader also allows Sabé to postpone their investigation as she is given time to bury and mourn her fallen soldiers. While the standard Vader would never respect such scenes of grief, this Vader merely waits to the side. These moments prove that, at the end of the day, Padmé's influence over Anakin can truly challenge the Dark Side.
While all of these things show how Padmé was and continues to be Vader's greatest weakness, it is important to remember that Sabé will never truly be the same as Padmé. So far, Vader's response to hi slate wife's doppelganger has been through small moments of inaction and little comments. It's a natural reaction to someone who is the spitting image of his wife as she might look if she had lived past Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith. Of course, it ultimately took Luke, a product of his marriage to Padmé, to bring him back to the Light Side and drive him to action. For the moment, Vader is still reeling from his initial confusion, but it won't be long until the Dark Lord of the Sith fully returns in what he will encounter from his past next.