# I noticed somthing Odd in Empire Strikes Back **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 21, 2003, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-noticed-somthing-odd-in-empire-strikes-back/202984 "2003-09-21T16:05:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2003, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-noticed-somthing-odd-in-empire-strikes-back/202984/61 "2003-09-27T23:49:00Z")
Is that before or after he hunts down every living Jedi? He didn’t have to lose all those body parts right at once, you know. Really, it could go either way, but I like to think that Vader was largely cybernetic by the time of Return of the Jedi. Just seems cooler to me. Also, I can’t really see spindly little Christensen _ever_ filling out Vader’s suit, no matter how much he works out. That’s gotta be implants. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Asbestos\_Mango](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/edb3f5/32.png) [@The\_Asbestos\_Mango](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Asbestos_Mango)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2003, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-noticed-somthing-odd-in-empire-strikes-back/202984/62 "2003-09-28T00:15:43Z")
Actually, if you think about it, I doubt Vader would have been able to kill every living Jedi in single combat. More likely he would have been in command of a ship that took them out by the boatload. I could maybe seeing him losing an arm that way, but, let’s face it, if he lost a leg in single combat, I highly doubt the Jedi who sliced it off would say, “Right, we’ll call it a draw”, and gallop off, with his squire banging coconut shells together to mimic the sound of hoofbeats… Also, the fact that he’s dependent on artificial life support would have seriously diminished the survivability of any injury to the torso, which would basically punched a hole in that portable iron lung he was walking around in. Any loss of limbs, beyond that first hand, would have most likely have been the result of punishment by the Emperor, and really, why sever an arm or leg when a blast of Force lightening would do the trick. Also, since it’s been stated that the Force is created/generated by living things, I don’t think Vader would have sat still for having living tissue cut off of him by his master. He would have gotten out of Dodge and worked on developing his powers until he was able to overthrow the Emperor. ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2003, 6:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-noticed-somthing-odd-in-empire-strikes-back/202984/63 "2003-09-28T06:50:52Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Thea Logica \* > \*\*Obi-wan. Um, this is the guy who told Luke that Darth Vader killed his father… > > I think there is a really strong likelihood that if Obi-Wan was being metaphorical in saying Darth Vader had killed Anakin Skywalker, then he might have been leaning towards hyperbole when he said Vader was “more machine than man”. > > In the ROTJ novelization, Obi-Wan states that Vader crawled out of the molten pit, which carries a pretty strong implication of having at least one good arm and possibly legs as well. I’m guessing that probably most of his body was intact, though obviously pretty severely damaged, in order for him to be able to get out of the molten pit under his own power. \*\* Yeah, but who says Vader needed arms to pull himself out. I mean, Yoda levitated a freakin’ X-wing out of a swamp, Vader’s ass _couldn’t_ have been _that_ fat, no matter how many bags of Ewok Chow [sup]TM[/sup] he’d been scarfing down. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2003, 7:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-noticed-somthing-odd-in-empire-strikes-back/202984/64 "2003-09-28T07:31:25Z")
Plus, if when he goes into the pit in the third movie, he’ll already have one bionic arm. Maybe that’s the arm he uses to pull himself out. ---
**Author:** ![Laughing\_Lagomorph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/6bbea6/32.png) [@Laughing\_Lagomorph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Laughing_Lagomorph)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2003, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-noticed-somthing-odd-in-empire-strikes-back/202984/65 "2003-09-28T12:29:44Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Miller \* > \*\*… Also, I can’t really see spindly little Christensen _ever_ filling out Vader’s suit, no matter how much he works out. That’s gotta be implants. \*\* Yeah, this aspect was bothering me too. Is Hayden supposed to grow another foot (taller) at the age of…what is he at the end of AOTC, eighteen? He’s nowhere near as tall as Vader at the beginning of Episode IV. I am going to go out on a limb here and praise the acting skills of David Prowse as Darth Vader. If you watch Episodes IV through VI he did far more than “hold up the suit”. Considering it was basically all mime, with no lines for him (and no facial expressions!), it is quite a performance. ---
**Author:** ![Kaspar\_Hauser](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b3f665/32.png) [@Kaspar\_Hauser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kaspar_Hauser)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2003, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-noticed-somthing-odd-in-empire-strikes-back/202984/66 "2003-09-28T18:33:20Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Laughing Lagomorph \* > \*\*I am going to go out on a limb here and praise the acting skills of David Prowse as Darth Vader. If you watch Episodes IV through VI he did far more than “hold up the suit”. Considering it was basically all mime, with no lines for him (and no facial expressions!), it is quite a performance. \*\* Definitely. Especially the scene where the Falcon gets away after he was told the hyperdrive had been deactivated. No facial expressions at all but you could just feel that rage boiling. And then he just spins and stalks away… ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2003, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-noticed-somthing-odd-in-empire-strikes-back/202984/67 "2003-09-28T19:52:39Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Thea Logica \* > \*\* > And did anyone else think the dude who played Captain/Admiral Piett was a hottie? I can’t remember his name anymore, but I had quite a crush on him when I was a youngun’. \*\* Kenneth Colley. There was an article about him in the _Star Wars Insider_. I probably have it around, and when I get my new scanner set up, if you like, I could scan it for you? Luke wouldn’t have known Ewan Obi-Wan. He would have recognized Alec Obi-Wan. But I would think that when Obi-Wan is truly reunited with his friends, he’s Ewan. Mmmmmm…Ewan… _drools_ ---
**Author:** ![The\_Asbestos\_Mango](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/edb3f5/32.png) [@The\_Asbestos\_Mango](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Asbestos_Mango)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2003, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-noticed-somthing-odd-in-empire-strikes-back/202984/68 "2003-09-29T00:18:43Z")
**Guin** , lay it on me. Now, since I haven’t seen AOTC, I’m guessing that for the part of Anakin Skywalker who was consideraby shorter than David Prowse’s 6’7"… So, did Lucas forget how tall Vader was in the original trilogy, or could he just not find an actor in the required age group in the 6’5"+ size category? ---
**Author:** ![KGS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/90ced4/32.png) [@KGS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KGS)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2003, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-noticed-somthing-odd-in-empire-strikes-back/202984/69 "2003-09-29T01:20:19Z")
Darth Vader wore platform shoes, didn’t he? (Hey, it _was_ the Seventies…) ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2003, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-noticed-somthing-odd-in-empire-strikes-back/202984/70 "2003-09-29T05:17:26Z")
> [@](#): > > _Originally posted by Guinastasia_ > Luke wouldn’t have known Ewan Obi-Wan. He would have recognized Alec Obi-Wan. But I would think that when Obi-Wan is truly reunited with his friends, he’s Ewan. Mmmmmm…Ewan… By that logic, shouldn’t Anakin have come back with half his head missing? 😉 Hey, maybe it wasn’t Anakin at all. “Hey, Luke. Yoda and I just dropped by to congratulate on toppling the Empire. What? Anakin? Nah, this isn’t Anakin. Dude, I know he repented and all, sure, but he’s still got, like, twenty years of hard-core evil to make up for before he gets into Blue Glowy Land. I mean, hello? Alderaan? This here is Steve. He was hanging out with us, decided to tag along. Hope you don’t mind. He’s cool, don’t worry.” ---
**Author:** ![Baggins111](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9fc29f/32.png) [@Baggins111](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baggins111)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2003, 11:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-noticed-somthing-odd-in-empire-strikes-back/202984/71 "2003-09-29T11:22:53Z")
**Miller** - _That_ was funny. ---
**Author:** ![Sister\_Vigilante](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de0a6/32.png) [@Sister\_Vigilante](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sister_Vigilante)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2003, 11:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-noticed-somthing-odd-in-empire-strikes-back/202984/72 "2003-09-29T11:50:22Z")
Man I love threads like these. 🙂 Here’s a pretty good link on the suspected injuries of Vader: [http://www.theforce.net/swtc/injuries.html](http://www.theforce.net/swtc/injuries.html) I think he’s pretty much all machine from the chest down, and even has some neck support. ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2003, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-noticed-somthing-odd-in-empire-strikes-back/202984/73 "2003-09-29T13:31:27Z")
I love it when **my** threads go on into multipages! Who am I kidding? I love it when my threads get more than two replies. ---
**Author:** ![FordPrefect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e99b99/32.png) [@FordPrefect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FordPrefect)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2003, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-noticed-somthing-odd-in-empire-strikes-back/202984/74 "2003-09-29T13:51:53Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Laughing Lagomorph \* > \*\*I believe the name is [womp rats](http://www.wizards.com/starwars/article.asp?x=sw20010315b), not [wombats](http://home.mira.net/~areadman/wombat.htm) > > [Cliff Claven] > “Actually, it’s a little known fact that the desert womp rat of Tatooine is almost extinct…” > [/Cliff Claven] \*\* I believe you are correct. Crap. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-noticed-somthing-odd-in-empire-strikes-back/202984.md?page=3)