Recently, someone on stackexchange asked why Darth Vader, one of the leading officers of the Empire, repeatedly put himself into such danger?
He pointed out some incidents, such as, in A New Hope, he boarded Tantive IV, a ship he knew belonged to the rebels. It could have been filled with explosives, and it was not entirely unlikely that the rebels would choose to sacrifice themselves in order to kill him.
The same logic applies when Vader enters the Hoth base in The Empire Strikes Back.
Back in A New Hope, he also enters a dangerous starship battle on his own.
So, did he somehow know from the Force that he would not put himself into danger?
To this, some answers and explanations were made. Some of the interesting ones are:
The Force is strong with this one
He’s a powerful force user. He would probably sense the trap if there was one.
His Job
That’s kind of his job. He’s Number One to the Emperor’s Picard, Luca Brasi to the Emperor’s Godfather. You can’t effectively inspire fear from behind a space desk.
Death Wish
Vader probably carried a death wish to a certain degree which would have made many of his actions insanely bold.
A great Pilot
Vader was, in his younger days, one of the greatest pilots the galaxy had ever seen, so entering the Death Star battle wasn’t a huge risk.
He’s matured
Vader doesn’t rush headlong into battle anymore like he used to as Anakin – and he survived that. These days, he sends expendable stormtroopers to overrun the enemy and secure the ground before making his entrance. If anyone is dead from a trap, it won’t be him.
The Suit
Don’t underestimate Vader’s suit. It is a pressurised environmental suit, capable of surviving in the vacuum of space and can perform better in all terrains than specialised stormtroopers (eg. Snowtroopers). It is also well-armoured against damage, including substantial resistance against even lightsabers. That suit can take quite a lot of punishment.
How can you support this ? What do you think why he was such ‘careless’ ?