Why Darth Vader Killed The Man Who Made His Armor

Summary Palpatine's plans almost collapsed after Darth Vader's defeat on Mustafar, and he recruited a scientist named Cylo to help create Vader's armor.

Cylo became deeply embroiled in the Imperial science projects, and this became a problem for Palpatine.

The Emperor ultimately played Darth Vader against Cylo.

Darth Vader's iconic armor may keep him alive, but the Sith Lord actually killed the man responsible for creating it. When Darth Vader’s physical body was completely destroyed after his duel against Obi-Wan Kenobi on Mustafar, it left him completely dependent on his new cybernetic limbs and synthetic respiratory system. Vader’s new body was suddenly the most important addition to the Empire’s security.

Palpatine had gone to great lengths to recruit Anakin Skywalker to his side, and he had no intention of letting this go to waste. The new Emperor turned to the greatest scientific minds in the galaxy, specifically searching for one who aligned with the Sith. Darth Vader's armor kept him alive, which was all Palpatine had needed, but over time Darth Sidious realized he was posed with a problem: he'd allowed the armor's creator to become too important to his Empire.

Related 10 Surprising Facts About Darth Vader, Star Wars' Greatest Villain Darth Vader, Dark Lord of the Sith and Star Wars's central villain, has had a much more interesting time as the Emperor's servant than you'd think.

Darth Vader's Armor Was Made By A Cybernetics Expert Named Cylo

Cylo's later experiments became a problem

The story is told in Kieron Gillen and Salvador Larroca's Darth Vader #20, in which Palpatine reveals a scientist named Cylo had undertaken the job of rebuilding his apprentice. Cylo spent an entire night working tirelessly to save Darth Vader, and the Empire along with him. Vader went almost two decades before he came face to face with the man who rebuilt his body, and by the time the two met, they were essentially rivals. Where Vader was Sidious’ apprentice in the Force, Cylo sought to create a match for Vader who had no dependence on the Force at all.

As Sidious discusses Cylo, he admits to Vader that the scientist had too great an influence on the Tarkin Initiative - the creation of the Death Star. Removing him without a legitimate cause would have created an irreversible division among the Empire's scientists, delaying work on the project. The Death Star had taken 20 years, and Palpatine couldn't afford for it to be further delayed. Too many of his plans required the superweapon, meaning Cylo had been impossible to remove.

Palpatine Charged Cylo With Trying To Replace Darth Vader

The Sith played his apprentice against his challenger

After his success with Darth Vader, Cylo continued to expand his experiments with cybernetic enhancements. He thought himself capable of creating a being that would rival Darth Vader without any need for the Force. Following Vader’s failure to keep the Rebels from destroying the first Death Star, Sidious briefly entertained this idea. However, none of Cylo's creations held a candle to Vader, and soon the Emperor decided to allow Cylo’s ego to be his undoing. By allowing him to continue his experiments, Sidious hoped Cylo would overplay his hand and become branded a traitor in the process.

Cylo ultimately did exactly this, betraying the Empire in an attempt to give Vader over to the Rebellion. Vader got wind of this treachery, however, and used that information to legitimize his hunt for the scientist. Undeterred by all Cylo’s creations and contingency plans, Vader’s final confrontation with Cylo happened aboard the scientist’s whale ship. Using the Force to control the whale’s mind, Vader sent the whale ship flying into the nearest sun. Cylo proves that underestimating the Force can be the ultimate mistake in Star Wars, especially when going up against Darth Vader.

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