FAN THEORY: Captain Rex’s Final Fight?

Could the famous clone commander CT-7567, better known as Captain Rex, have survived not only the Clone Wars, but also the Galactic Civil War, to fight for the Rebellion in the Battle of Endor? Is it possible that Rex never betrayed the Jedi as the rest of the clone army did? And could this famous clone officer actually have helped destroy the Death Star?

The Second Death Star is destroyed

We know from Star Wars Rebels that Rex definitely survived the Clone Wars and we even see that he and a bunch of his men were operating a salvaged AT-TE walker when they joined up with a Rebel Cell led by Rex’s old Jedi commander, Ashoka Tano, during the Galactic Civil War.

Captain Rex and his men

Captain Rex’s salvaged AT-TE walker

Ashoka Leads a Rebel Cell

We also know from the scar on the side of his head that Captain Rex had the brainwashing chip containing the programming for Order 66 removed from his brain, and we see in Rebels that unlike many of his brethren, Rex remained loyal to his Jedi commanders.

Captain Rex (right) and one of his men have the same scar from the chip-removal surgery

We also know that it was fairly common for deserters from the Imperial Army to defect to the Rebellion, and in Return of the Jedi, we see a member of the rebel raiding party that attacked Endor who looks very similar to the aged Captain Rex who we see in Rebels.

The rebel raiding party that attacked the shield generator on Endor, with the Rebel matching Rex’s profile in the front on the right

As a commander of the celebrated 501st Legion, Rex was sent on various missions during the Clone Wars that involved acquiring technology for the Death Star. This would have made him invaluable to the Rebellion’s efforts to destroy the super weapon.

Captain Rex and three of his men during the Clone Wars

Troops from the 501st search for a power crystal, eventually to be used to power the Death Stars super laser, on Mygeeto

The timeline of events is also very suspicious. Rex joined up with Ashoka’s rebel cell in 5 BBY, or five years before the Battle of Yavin when the Rebellion destroyed the First Death Star. This would have given the young rebel alliance enough time to analyze the data Rex could recall from his service in the Clone Wars, formulate an attack plan using additional stolen intel smuggled in R2D2, gather their strength, and launch their attack. Four years later, Rex’s tactical training and combat experience as an elite clone commander would then prove even more crucial in Rebellion’s surprise attack on the Second Death Star’s ground-based shield generator.

The Death Star II’s planetary-based shield

But why? Why would Captain Rex knowingly and actively help destroy a government he was bred to defend?

Captain Rex fights for the Republic during the Clone Wars

With his brainwashing chip removed and the Empire’s influence on his mind gone, Rex would likely see the totalitarian regime as a menace, just as Padme Amedala and Bail Organa did. In fact we know this is true because, like them, he stayed loyal to the Jedi.

Padme Amidala and Bail Organa watch in horror as Palpatine delcares himself Galactic Emperor

Unlike the politicians though, Rex fought for Palpatine’s government on the battlefield, killing enemies and loosing friends.

Captain Rex holds a dying comrade

Perhaps the only way he could reconcile that in his own mind was to help destroy the Empire’s greatest weapon.

Destruction of the Death Star II, as seen from Endor

So let’s review the facts; we know that Captain Rex survived the Clone Wars and remained loyal to the Jedi. We also know that as a commander of the 501st, he had unique knowledge of the Death Star’s technological secrets, and that he eventually joined up with a rebel cell just before the first Death Star was destroyed. And lastly, we know that a man matching Rex’s physical profile was part of the rebel raiding party that attacked the Second Death Star’s shield generator on Endor.

The later eras of the clone Commander’s life have never been officially documented, so it’s impossible to know for sure whether or not he eventually helped the Rebels destroy the Death Star, so I ask you; was the Battle of Endor really Captain Rex’s Final Fight?

Interested in this theory? check out our video: Conspiracy Test: Captain Rex’s Final Fight?

Anyway, we hope you enjoyed this theory! Have any suggestions or request? Send us an email at thenerdvault@aol.com or message us on Facebook! As always, we appreciate your support, so please keep an eye out for more commentary, art and media from our team!

– Nerd Vault

Dark-Side Luke Skywalker, “Darth Zoon”

A few months ago, our artists got curious about what would have happened if Luke had turned to the Dark Side, either by killing his father as the Emperor had suggested, or by teaming up with his Father and overthrowing the Emperor as Vader had proposed during their duel in Cloud City. We came across the images below from the Dark Empire comic, when Luke briefly became the re-born Emperor’s apprentice, and we decided to re-imagine them. Since Luke never took a Sith name in the comic, we have nick-named this idea “Darth Zoon.” “Zoon” means “Son” in Dutch, just as “Vader” means “Father” in Dutch, with “Darth Vader” translating to “Dark Father,” thus “Darth Zoon” would mean “Dark Son,” a fitting title for Evil Luke.


Below is our first version; an evil version of Luke fully consumed by the Dark Side and leading a fleet of Star Destroyers as the Supreme Commander of the Imperial Fleet, which is the Imperial title he held in the comic. We decided to pay homage to the source material by using a quote from Dark Empire. In the comic, Luke tells the re-born Emperor “my father’s destiny is my own.”
 

For our second version we decided to draw on Sith ideas a little more heavily. Inspired by the Fall of Korriban in The Old Republic, during which Darth Maglus slays his master, Vindican, just as they return to re-conquer the ancient Sith homeworld. In his final step to becoming the reigning Dark Lord of the Sith, Malgus sarcastically salutes his master with a brief “welcome home” before decapitating him.

Darth Malgus beheads his master “Welcome Home”

We decided to draw on this idea by depicting Luke about to perform the same act. Turning to the Dark Side, Luke has defeated Vader in their famous duel aboard the Death Star II, and is about to decapitate his father, ready to take his place as Darth Sidious’ right hand.

 

Our third version of Darth Zoon, or Dark Side Luke, not yet published on any of our social media accounts, is inspired by the Sith fascination with relics. In the first draft of this version, an aged Luke is seen wearing a battered and faded Jedi robe, similar to the one his deceased mentor Obi-wan wore.

In the second draft, we decided to include both a beard and another relic; the trinket Anakin gave to Padme in The Phantom Menace.

 

Anakin carved this trinket, called a “japor snippet,” for Padme, and gave it to her “to remember him by” during their flight from Tatooine to Corscant.

Anakin gives Padme the “japor snippet” trinket

This trinket was a token of the love shared by Luke’s parents. Padme died giving birth to Luke, and if Luke ever found this out, we speculate that the guilt associated with her death, and particularly his birth being the only documented cause of her death, could have been a source of the anger that drove him to the Dark Side, just as it was with Anakin.

Padme holds the “japor snippet” trinket Anakin gave her as she is buried

We see in Revenge of the Sith that Padme was buried with the trinket, so depicting Luke with it woven into his beard is meant to imply that the Dark Side’s warping effects on his mind drove him to great lengths to retrieve it…

Our final version, of which we have created four drafts, is meant to draw on all the ideas above. The first draft of this fourth version shows a corrupted Luke honoring the Sith tradition of venerating relics by wearing his father’s gloves, cape, and armor.

 

Our second draft of this version includes the famous quote from Return of the Jedi; “like my father before me.” Luke meant the phrase to mean that he followed in his fallen father’s footsteps by becoming a Jedi Knight, but here we see it re-employed to convey that Luke has taken his father’s place as the Emperor’s Right Hand and Sith Apprentice.

 

Anyway, we hope you enjoyed our work! Have any suggestions or request? Send us an email at thenerdvault@aol.com or message us on Facebook! As always, we appreciate your support, so please keep an eye out for more commentary, art and media from our team!

– Nerd Vault