Dark Apprentice



The Dark Apprentice was a clone of the late Galen Marek. Following Marek's sacrifice, Darth Vader embarked on a quest to create a perfect, obedient duplicate of the man to take Marek's place. Within the cloning facilities of Kamino, several failures were produced before the Dark Lord of the Sith succeeded in creating a clone of the deceased apprentice that was able to overcome his template's emotions and submit himself entirely to the dark side. As his training progressed, the Dark Apprentice surpassed all those who had come before him; he was able to store Marek's memories independent from his own and suppress the dead man's feelings. Vader planned to have the apprentice face a final test against a rogue clone of Marek during the Rebel attack on Kamino, but the Dark Apprentice did not participate in the battle, and the Sith Lord was captured by the Rebel Alliance.

Biography
Created on the ocean-covered world of Kamino around 1 BBY, the Dark Apprentice was a clone of Galen Marek, the deceased apprentice of the Sith Lord Darth Vader, grown as part of Vader's endeavor to create a perfect and obedient substitute to take Marek's place. Several clones had come before him, all of which had been trained using memory flashes from the original Marek's life. These predecessors had failed to meet expectations in one way or another, either due to defects or succumbing to their template's emotions, and were subsequently discarded.

Upon his awakening, presided over by Vader, the Dark Apprentice was confronted with Marek's memories, specifically the man's feelings for his former pilot, Imperial-turned-Rebel Captain Juno Eclipse. Immediately, he asked about her whereabouts, but Vader announced that she was irrelevant—all that mattered was what needed to be done. This, however, did not prevent the Dark Apprentice from inquiring about who Marek was in the future. When questioned, Vader repeatedly found it unnecessary to answer directly—rather, he stated the clone had inherited the memories, thoughts, and dreams of a broken man, one far less powerful than the Dark Apprentice. As a side effect of the cloning process, he possessed both the skills and weaknesses of his genetic template.

The Dark Apprentice was trained in lightsaber combat against several Sith Training Droids. The clone was determined to surpass all the others, but he was curious as to know how many had preceded him. Vader disregarded the question; instead, he told the Dark Apprentice that the only number that mattered was the quantity of clones that would be needed if he failed like the rest. Vader warned him that if he could not overcome Marek's emotions, he would fail like his predecessors. Over time, the lead cloning technician noted that the Dark Apprentice was able to compartmentalize the memory imprints used to train him, thereby succeeding where all others had failed—the clone was able to store Marek's memories independently from his own, freeing him from his template's emotions.

With the apprentice free of Marek's memories, Vader brought him to a chamber where his template's lifeless body was kept. The clone understood the significance of the act, and his Master believed that he, unlike all the others before him, would prove successful. In a training match against the holodroids, the Dark Apprentice was able to rise above Marek's emotions, striking down a droid bearing the appearance of Captain Eclipse. To Vader, the clone revealed his disgust and hatred for his template's weaknesses, and his pride for being able to overcome them when those before him had failed.

During the final stages of the Dark Apprentice's training, a renegade clone of Marek, who had previously fled Kamino, joined with the Rebel Alliance in an attack on Kamino's cloning facilities. Vader intended to use the battle as a final test for the Dark Apprentice by drawing Starkiller into a trap atop the cloning spire. Before leaving to confront Starkiller, Vader instructed the Dark Apprentice to wait until his assistance was required. The apprentice announced that he was ready to fulfill the purpose of his creation. The trap did not go as planned, however. Starkiller bested Vader in a lightsaber duel but refused to strike him down, having previously seen a vision in which he was killed by another clone—Vader's new apprentice—when he attempted to kill his opponent. The Sith Lord was captured by the Alliance upon the battle's conclusion, with no interference from the Dark Apprentice.