Star Wars Introduces the Most Absurd Darth Vader Replacement of All Time

Star Wars is always accepting candidates to replace Darth Vader. The Sith Lord who terrorizes the Rebellion throughout the original trilogy leaves an indelible mark not only on his franchise but on cinema as a whole. A character with that much potential doesn’t just grow on trees, so filmmakers have to be creative when trying to fill his shoes. Kylo Ren gives it his best shot in the sequel trilogy, showing up in Star Wars: The Force Awakens with the all-black costume, including a helmet that changes his voice. However, it’s just not the same, and by the time the character is ready to turn over a new leaf, he’s nothing more than a poor imitation of the real deal.

A few other characters attempt to give Vader a run for his money, such as Saw Gerrera, who becomes more machine than man after picking a fight with the Empire. While Saw is a great character, it’s hard to buy him as a Vader replacement, mostly because he only knows one speed — refusing to change, despite another, more positive path being available to him. Star Wars’ latest attempt at finding a Vader successor doesn’t fall into that trap, even though they’re an absolutely absurd character.

Star Wars’ Latest Show Returns to the Scene of the Crime

There are a few spots that rarely leave Star Wars’ purview. Coruscant is the center of the galaxy in both the prequel and original trilogies, so it always finds its way into the action. The only planet to outdo it is Tatooine, Luke Skywalker’s boring home planet that turns out to be a lot more than that. Of course, the prequels spend plenty of time there, as do a few of the live-action Disney+ series, Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Star Wars: The Book of Boba Fett. The latest project to travel there is Star Wars: Visions, the non-canon anthology series. In Season 3’s “Yuko’s Treasure,” the titular character spends his days on the desert planet with his best friend BILY, a droid that looks a lot like a teddy bear.

Yuko wakes up from a bad dream and wants to spend her birthday at home with BILY. That doesn’t work for the droid, though, because he needs to get his friend a gift. Unfortunately, BILY’s outing leads dangerous pirates back to his home, putting Yuko in grave danger. After hitting the droid with a couple of blaster shots, the pirates take him away so he can show them the location of the treasure they’re seeking. Yuko and her new friend, Sola, go after them and finally catch up after a run-in with a krayt dragon. But BILY isn’t happy to see the rescue team, as his pirate captors have stolen his heart.

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BILY Embraces the Dark Side in “Yuko’s Treasure”

The moment Sola lays eyes on BILY, he knows something is wrong and tries to stop Yuko from running to him. His plan doesn’t work, and BILY rises from the ground with a new black helmet and cape and attacks the child he’s supposed to be protecting. While no lightsaber is present, it’s clear that the droid is stealing his look and attitude from Vader. However, in typical Star Wars fashion, the kids believe there is still good in their robot companion and let the chips fall as they may.

When the krayt dragon resurfaces and turns the situation upside down, BILY’s helmet comes off and restores his humanity. Yuko is over the moon, and her day only gets better when BILY shows her all of the treasure that her parents left behind for her. BILY’s reign of terror doesn’t last nearly as long as Vader’s, but his story is nothing to scoff at.

Star Wars: Visions is streaming on Disney+.

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