'Cause he meets this punk kid, who clearly has signs of the force, who has the same last name as Vader, and knowing he knocked boots with padme and if she got knocked up, the kid would be roughly Lukes age. Not a huge leap of logic.
Leia has a different name, refers to her family on Alderan, so you’d assume she’s referring to her birth parents, and she’s showing no signs of the force.
Er, no. Anakin was never “just a pilot” - he was always a Jedi Knight. We know this because Obi-Wan tells us so in Star Wars. We also know Owen knew this as well, because Obi-Wan tells Luke that Owen would not allow him to leave Luke the lightsabre.
Re: Vader knowing he had a child. It’s always played out to me like Vader knew he was going to have a child, but didn’t know it would be twins. I mean, come on - not only is Luke not hidden by any method, not even one so simple as changing his last name, but he’s living in his grandparents’ old house!
It seems obvious from where I’m sitting that Obi-Wan deliberately left Luke where Vader could find him easily because you don’t go searching for what isn’t hidden. If Luke had been well-hidden, Vader would have torn the galaxy apart looking for him and might have found Leia as well. Instead, because Luke was in plain sight Vader didn’t bother searching for his child because he didn’t think he had to.
Anyway, back to the point - Vader knew all along that Luke was his son. What he didn’t know in Star Wars was that Luke was the blonde lad on the Falcon or the pilot of the X-Wing in the trench. He recognised Obi-Wan from his “Force signature”, but he had no such point of reference for the son he had never met.
Plus there is always the issue of the Emporer. He is a manipulative SOB, who encorages Luke to destroy Vadar in ROTJ. It’s not unreasonable to think that he knew Vadar had a son who was staying with Owen and Beru, but didn’t tell him. Once the Emporer hears about Obi-Wan’s little journey to the death star, he would probably guess that Luke was involved, and is now of age. A couple subtle manipulative hints, and Vadar finds out that he had a son after all. And the battle for prime henchman begins.
All of this reminds me of another discussion I read earlier today about how the original Halloween makes less and less sense (and is sucked of its magic) the more you pay attention to the sequels.
And I’d say it is a huge leap of logic to say that Obi-Wan was trying to hide Luke from his father but didn’t even bother to change his last name.
Back to the OP, really briefly. I thought that Luke had a good relationship with his aunt and uncle, but was just going through that “rebellious teen boy” thing.
From RotJ:
LUKE
But I have no sister.
BEN
Hmm. To protect you both from the Emperor,
you were hidden from your father when you
were born. The Emperor knew, as I did, if
Anakin were to have any offspring, they would
be a threat to him. That is the reason why
your sister remains safely anonymous.
Well, I’m not an expert by far, 'cause I’ve never seen the original in its entirety. However, from what I recall, I thought it was just the normal tension between a teen who is wanting to get out of the house and his (surragate) parents. You must remember that angsty age where nothing is good about where you grew up? But Luke seemed to really care about them and I thought they cared about him. MHO
sleeepy2:
Maybe, his NAME is Skywalker?
But maybe Skywalker is that galaxy’s equivelent to Smith or Jones or [insert very common non-American last name]
Regardless of how common a surname Skywalker is, how does Vader know this is Luke’s last name. He never talks with him or anyone who knows him during SW:ANH except for the on camera conversation with Obi-Won before their lightsaber duel, and they don’t discuss Luke.
Since Darth Vader can’t find the rebel bases, we can presume he doesn’t have any spies in the Rebellion to find out the last name of the pilot that destroyed the Death Star. He sees Luke during SW:ANH, but he doesn’t have any reason to think that he’s anything but crew on the Mellenium Falcon, like Chewie and Han.
So I’m sticking with my theory that he didn’t realize he had kids until stormtroopers interrogated Owen and Beru to find they’d been raising an orphan named Skywalker.
One more question to keep your minds from pondering more constructive matters, where does the name Skywalker come from. Anakin is a virgin birth so its not his fathers? Is it his mothers name?
Yes. His mother was Shmi Skywalker.
RE: Darth knowing Luke was his boy: The opening crawl tells us "Evading the Imperial Starfleet, a group of freedom fighters led by Luke Skywalker has established a secret base on the remote ice world of Hoth. Lord Vader, obsessed with finding young Skywalker, has dispatched thousands of remote probes into the far reaches of space… "
I always took that to mean that the Empire knew they were after someone named Luke Skywalker. As soon as Vader heard the name, he knew who it was and became obsessed with finding him. When he spoke with the Emperor they’d obviously talked about it before. “The Force is strong with him. The son of Skywalker must not become a Jedi.” (Imagine if he’s said “Your son - the son of Skywalker - must not become a Jedi.” That sure would’ve ruined that later scene, eh? :))
It has been pretty much accepted by we fanboys that in between ANH and ESB, Vader discovered the truth about who the boy that destroyed the Death Star was. It would not have been difficult to get his name, he just has to interrogate some lowlifes in various locales around the galaxy. As a hero, Luke’s name would become known to some.
Another thing some fanboys believe is that Vader was fully aware of Luke’s existence for a long time before ANH, and very deliberately did not interfere or go looking for him (he never returns to Tatooine again), because rather than a threat to his own existence, he knew Luke could be an ally to overthrow the Emperor. This is what comes to light in ESB, but it’s quite possible that Anakin had those plans long before then.
Total fanboy wank, really. George Lucas may have some inkling of storypoints like this, but generally he thinks of his movies as simple adventures, and glosses over plotholes.
Actually, Owen knew exactly what Luke’s father had become from the get-go – there’s no retconning involved on that point, Lucas set the major plot points up according to Joseph Campbell’s Hero With A Thousand Faces, and Darth Vader was originally conceived as the “Dark Father” (“Vater” is German for “father.”) Luke’s relationship to Vader (and Leia, for that matter) was a given from the beginning. (Creepy incestuous overtones and all.)
Owen’s “That’s what I’m afraid of,” has intentionally delayed significance.
Well, gee, would you want him as your Lamaze coach?
“Breathe, honey (wheeze). Just remember the breathing (wheeze) exercises.”
Am I the only one who thought that Padme was pregnant in the closing scene of Episode II? In the wedding scene? I could’ve sworn that the long pan down her body was showing a swollen belly, but I could’ve just been projecting.
I’m not sure why some find it be odd that Vader would know about Luke, but not care about finding him until after the destruction of the original Death Star.
Is it that much of a stretch that a Dark Lord of the Sith could also be a deadbeat dad?
Actually, that’s not so. In ESB, Obi-wan says “That boy is our last hope,” and Yoda says, “No, there is another.” When that movie first came out, our family discussed who the “another” might be and concluded (fairly quickly) that it was Leia… mainly because she DOES show signs of the force.
There were two or three other points that imply that Leia is strong with the force, but I’ve forgot 'em. (I ain’t no obsessive fanboy, but our son was, so we had discussions like this.)
Good point. It’s entirely possbile that Vader has always known about Luke, but didn’t give a crap until Luke joined the Rebels.
My thoughts: If Vader didn’t know that he had a son, then he probably found out when the Stormtroopers raided Owen & Beru’s place.
Vader only got a brief glimpse of Luke on the Death Star, but since Vader knows that the Millenium Falcon came from Tattooine, he can probably figure out that the young blond guy is Luke. Also, it’s possible that he might have read Obi-Wan’s ming during their duel, and found out that Luke was there. (Much like how he read Luke’s mind to find out about Leia in ROTJ.) This might also be how he found out that Obi-Wan had lied to Luke about Luke’s father. (Sorry Ben, but I don’t buy your weasely, half-assed explanation in ROTJ. You lied.) In the fight at Yavin, Vader has no way of knowing that Red 5 is Luke, although he does notice that the Force is strong with that guy. He might put 2 and 2 together later, or he could find out via informants some time before Empire Strikes Back.
My theory for Episode III is this: Anakin knows that Padme is pregnant. He does not know that she gives birth to twins. When the kids are born, one of them (Leia) is spirited away to Alderaan with Padme. Mom and kid are given new identities in the hope that they can live a normal life. Luke is given to Owen Lars. Anakin knows that he should have a kid out there somewhere, so Obi-Wan doesn’t go to any great lengths to hide Luke. He goes to live on Tatooine near the Lars farm, just in case. Anakin/Vader finds Luke, and decides that he doesn’t want to be bothered with the boy. Eventually, Obi-Wan drifts away and becomes a hermit.
Speaking of the interrogation, in the 1981 radio version of this scene, which is extended well beyond the closing of the door, Darth attempted to work the location of the rebel base out of her by suggesting that he was someone she trusted-- her father. Although he was using a combination of drugs and force persuasion to represent himself as Bail Organa, it’s fun to hear him encourage her: “Leia-- tell your father…”
I’m sure it clicked for a lot of people right there.