This is so much part of the collective unconscious now that I see no need for a spoiler box: In The Empire Strikes Back, Darth Vader reveals to Luke Skywalker, “I am your father!” But how could Vader know that, and not know that Princess Leia – a much more prominent figure who came to his attention much sooner – was his daughter?
Or perhaps he did know, as early as A New Hope, but was so deeply corrupted by the Dark Side that he was still willing to arrest her, torture her, and raise no objection when Grand Moff Tarkin ordered her execution?
Seriously, I had a lively conversation with my friend about that after we saw ROTS. His reasoning was that since Leah herself didn’t know, she didn’t have the force in her. IOW, only when you are aware of the Force yourself do you project it outwardly. My argument was that if that were the case, how did Qui Gon recognize the Force in Anakin, since Anakin didn’t know?
On a far more pragmatic note… Luke was still using the ‘skywalker’ name. Doesn’t exactly take a leap of force for the man who was once Anakin Skywalker to suspect something there.
Yeah, but that still doesn’t explain why Obi-Wan doesn’t change his name. After all, Luke may have been relatively “safe” because Vader didn’t know he existed, but surely there would’ve been an intergalactic APB for one of the last surviving Jedi (especially the one who deformed Vader so badly). How hard would it be to check out all the Kenobis–especially one that suspiciously turned up on Anakin’s home planet?
No, no–the Star Wars phone book lists people by their first name instead of their last. Hence, Obi Wan hides by changing his name to Ben. And Darth doesn’t even know Luke’s first name, so, no luck there. Therefore, it was safe to give Luke the last name of Skywalker.
As for Leia…c’mon! Anyone expect a mere female to have Jedi powers? Female Jedi seem to be seriously missing, especially among major characters. No wonder Darth never suspected a thing.
Vader doesn’t sense Leia for the same reason Luke doesn’t have any Force memories of Padme. Parallels are drawn between father and son, mother and daughter.
Luke has a desire for adventure, is arrogant, and is always spending his time looking towards the future rather than keeping his mind in the present, where it should be focused. In this respect he is like his father. His journey becomes a quest to redeem Anakin.
Leia grows up to be a strong woman with a passion for politics, much like her mother. She had a Force connection with Padme and was able to retain “Just images really. Feelings.” about her mother.
I think that, Force Powers aside, Leia went by the name Organa. I’m gonna spoiler box this as it contains Ep. III material:
[spoiler]Vader was told by Palpatine that Padme died by Vader’s own hand at the end of RotS, so Vader never knew that he had children, assuming they died with Padme.
Accordingly, after the Battle of Yavin, I’m assuming Imperial agents winkeled out of the Rebellion Luke’s name (Skywalker), reported to Palpatine, who put 2 + 2 together.
In TESB, when Vader and the Emperor converse, and Paplatine brings up the “son of Skywalker” bit, Vader likewise puts 2 + 2 together.
Why he then didn’t realize that Palpatine lied to him at the end of RotS is beyond me; another one of Lucas’ glaring continuity errors.
Or maybe Vader put it down to Obi-Wan’s craftiness. I dunno. In any case, since Vader didn’t know until TESB that he had issue who survived, let alone fraternal twins, there was no reason for him to be probing and feeling via The Force for familial connections when he confronted Leia on her ship at the beginning of Ep. IV.[/spoiler]
That joke was done much better in Spaceballs:
Dark Helmet: I am your father’s brother’s nephew’s cousin’s former roommate.
Lone Starr: What’s that make us?
Dark Helmet: Absolutely nothing!
Anakin’s journey to the dark side is orchestrated every single step of the way by one thing: Lies (and half-truths) Palpatine told him. Anakin fell for every single word that came out of Palpatine’s mouth hook, line and sinker, including the one about Amidala dying. So, how did Palpatine know she was dead? He had a spy in Organa’s organization. How did Vader not know Leia existed? Palpatine didn’t tell him about her.
While it was clearly conquered by the Empire at some point, at the time that Kenobi takes refuge as a hermit on Tatooine, that system is not part of the Republic. Vader would have no registry of the population from which to search.
Ben could have easily used his Jedi powers to exist mostly unnoticed except as that “crazy old man out in the desert” during the Dark Times.
I would guess that realizing that Palpatine had lied to him was EXACTLY one of the things that started Vader’s journey from cold servant to conflicted father. Even in ESB, Vader seems more rebelious, seeking to ally with his son rather than serve his master. He never mentions the lie, but that may be on his mind.
as far as the emp. knew, padme had died while still pregnant. he did not know the children were born. only yoda, bail, obi-wan, owen and beru knew. i would bet bail never told his wife were leia came from. prob. just that her parents were dead.
vader knew the emp. had lied to him after he became vader. by then it was too late for him to turn against the emp. the emp. was all he had left.
once he finds out that he has a son… then he has a reason to go against the emp.
vader senses the force in luke when he is in the trench against the death star. luke is connected into the force when he has his first instruction from kenobi.
jinn senses the force in anakin because he is using the force as well. anakin has been connected for a while, having visions, fixing things, piloting.
