# Star Wars A New Hope, Obiwan taking Luke on a suicide mission? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 27, 2011, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-a-new-hope-obiwan-taking-luke-on-a-suicide-mission/607559 "2011-12-27T20:41:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2012, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-a-new-hope-obiwan-taking-luke-on-a-suicide-mission/607559/121 "2012-10-12T03:05:01Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > It could be. No one bats an eye when Luke introduces himself. “‘Skywalker’, is that Bespinian? How do you spell it?” Actually, when he starts working with the rebellion the Empire figures out quite quickly who he is within the time between A New Hope and Empire Strikes Back. Vader is certainly aware for the whole movie and the Emperor for some time as well. ---
**Author:** ![grude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47774/32.png) [@grude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grude)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2012, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-a-new-hope-obiwan-taking-luke-on-a-suicide-mission/607559/122 "2012-10-12T03:13:36Z")
> [@AK84](#): > > Actually, when he starts working with the rebellion the Empire figures out quite quickly who he is within the time between A New Hope and Empire Strikes Back. Vader is certainly aware for the whole movie and the Emperor for some time as well. Wasn’t that a great bit of misdirection? The audience assumes Vader is obsessed with finding him for revenge. I think once word gets out that a noob named Skywalker was the hero of the battle of Yavin Palps and Vader very quickly figured it out.(Vader must have been like ooo so thats why the force was strong with him!). ---
**Author:** ![Declan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecae2f/32.png) [@Declan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Declan)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2012, 6:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-a-new-hope-obiwan-taking-luke-on-a-suicide-mission/607559/123 "2012-10-12T06:47:52Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > Are there any other references in the Star Wars 'verse to how the Empire recruits for its military? All the stormtroopers are clones. Fighter pilots could be as well, I don’t think we ever see one unmasked. Officer ranks seem to be unique individuals, though. I wonder if they could fill those positions with an all-volunteer force. EU wise, the stormies are now draftee’s and not clones. Declan ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2012, 7:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-a-new-hope-obiwan-taking-luke-on-a-suicide-mission/607559/124 "2012-10-12T07:28:07Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > Not sure where you get all this. IIRC, the only thing Obi Wan had was the “Help me Obi Wan, you’re our only hope” message in R2 to take the Death Star plans to the rebels on Alderan. He didn’t know it wouldn’t be there when they arrived or that the Death Star would be waiting. Forgive the ignorance of this SW-universe, er, ignoramus, but – why was an old burned-out deep-fried husk of a tired and retired Jedi warrior the only hope for the … galaxy? I mean, there’s bad preparation and then there’s BAD preparation. ---
**Author:** ![Declan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecae2f/32.png) [@Declan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Declan)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2012, 7:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-a-new-hope-obiwan-taking-luke-on-a-suicide-mission/607559/125 "2012-10-12T07:46:54Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > Forgive the ignorance of this SW-universe, er, ignoramus, but – why was an old burned-out deep-fried husk of a tired and retired Jedi warrior the only hope for the … galaxy? I mean, there’s bad preparation and then there’s BAD preparation. We don’t really get briefed on the state of the union in any of the original movies, this is George Lucas, not George RR Martin. But trying to imagine it based on various rebellions of the twentieth century, the empire was not all that bad if you were not a rebel or an alien. The rebellion, pre Yavin, was most likely a rag tag group that was constantly on the move and not a real threat. One of the officers in the death star conference, made the comment that the rebellion was a joke, while another one was stating that they were a real threat. Governer Tarkin comes along and says the stolen plans will soon be back in Empire hands, which tells me that someone sold out the rebellion. The Bothans being the leading candidates. Obi wan would have been a spiritual leader, offering sage advice and being able to ferret out who is shopping the rebellion to imperial intelligence, and be an impact player in the art of diplomacy and bringing in new planets to the alliance. In short, he was Leia’s last hope and not the rebellion’s. Buy her time and bring a respected name and past organization to the table. Declan ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2012, 8:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-a-new-hope-obiwan-taking-luke-on-a-suicide-mission/607559/126 "2012-10-12T08:48:58Z")
> [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](#): > > You think Skywalker is the Star Wars equivalent of Smith? naah, that’s[Antilles](http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Antilles_%28disambiguation%29) 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2012, 9:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-a-new-hope-obiwan-taking-luke-on-a-suicide-mission/607559/127 "2012-10-12T09:23:04Z")
Han doesn’t discount that the Jedi did cool stuff; he just says it’s all trickery. He saw it all at age 10, and hasn’t seen it since for 2/3 of his life. It’s not that unusual to think you were deluded as a kid. Especially in an Empire that is probably best served by downplaying the existence of the Force. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-a-new-hope-obiwan-taking-luke-on-a-suicide-mission/607559.md?page=6)