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  1. In Memory of LAJ_FETT: Please share your remembrances and condolences HERE

CT How did Vader knew that Luke is his son?

Discussion in 'Classic Trilogy' started by TheRevanchist, Dec 13, 2012.

  1. Iron_lord

    Iron_lord Chosen One star 10

    Registered:
    Sep 2, 2012
    If Vader didn't know about Shmi 's claim that he "had no father" then he could have concluded that the Skywalker was a more distant relative.

    In the book, there's a detailed passage showing Vader's thoughts on the subject:

    Even while inspecting his nearly completed flagship, the Super Star Destroyer Executor, at the Starship Yards of Fondor, Vader could not get Luke Skywalker out of his mind. He silently chewed on the name, and considered the fact that the boy had been born three years after the death of Shmi Skywalker. To the best of his knowledge, Anakin Skywalker had been his mother's only living blood relative.

    Could there have been other Skywalkers from Tatooine? Vader allowed the possibility. After all, it wasn't an entirely uncommon name in the galaxy.

    But Anakin and Padme Amidala had been expecting a baby nineteen years ago.

    Nineteen standard years.

    It's not possible, Vader thought. I killed Padme. The baby died with her.

    Not for the first time, he wondered if the Emperor had told him the whole truth about Padme's death. But I remember choking her ... seeing her collapse on Mustafar. I was so angry with her. And yet ...

    Luke Skywalker exists.

    Vader refused to believe the notorious Rebel's surname was merely a bizarre coincidence. If he had possessed any other name, Vader would not have hesitated to report what he had learned to the Emperor. But for purely selfish reasons, Vader kept the young Rebel's name to himself. To him, Luke Skywalker was more than a mystery to be solved.

    He is ... an opportunity. As strong with the Force as he may be, he is an opportunity ... an opportunity for even greater power.

    But who is he? Who were his parents? Could he have been Obi-Wan's son? But then why was he named Skywalker and raised by the Lars family? Or was he merely trained by Obi-Wan?

    Because Obi-Wan Kenobi, Shmi Skywalker, Owen and Beru Lars, and Padme Amidala were dead, there was only one way Vader could discover the truth. He would have to ask Luke Skywalker himself. All he had to do was find him.
     
  2. rumsmuggler

    rumsmuggler Chosen One star 7

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    Aug 31, 2000
    Looks like I'll have to get that book one day. Sounds interesting.
     
  3. Iron_lord

    Iron_lord Chosen One star 10

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    Sep 2, 2012
    It does go through a lot of existing material again- but it's interesting to see certain scenes from Vader's point of view.
     
  4. rumsmuggler

    rumsmuggler Chosen One star 7

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    Aug 31, 2000
    Nothing wrong with that. There is a bunch of material that I never got around to reading or chose to skip.
     
  5. Iron_lord

    Iron_lord Chosen One star 10

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    Sep 2, 2012
    The Life & Legend of Obi-Wan Kenobi is very similar, but for Obi-Wan.

    There's another book focussed on Luke- but it's less concerned with movie events.
     
  6. DRush76

    DRush76 Jedi Master star 4

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    Jan 25, 2008
    I thought it was explained that a comic story or novel revealed how Vader discovered the name of the Rebel pilot that blew up the Death Star.
     
  7. Iron_lord

    Iron_lord Chosen One star 10

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    Sep 2, 2012
    It did (Vader's Quest). Knowing Luke's name doesn't correlate to knowing the precise relation he has to Vader. Vader recognized it was not a coincidence- but didn't succeed at drawing further conclusions.
     
  8. gobalicious

    gobalicious Jedi Youngling star 1

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    Dec 30, 2010
    I don't buy that Vader didn't know Skywalker was his son when he talked to Palps. He would have to be colossally stupid not to come to that conclusion.
    He knew the following facts:
    a) The rebel pilot's name is Luke Skywalker
    b) Skywalker was with Obi-Wan on the Falcon
    c) The Falcon, and thus Skywalker, came from Tatooine

    It doesn't take a genius to figure out Padme's child might have survived and Obi-Wan took him to hide out on Tatooine. Sure there could have been doubts, but for someone so connected to the Force, where destiny plays such an important role and there is no such thing as coincidence, it would be hard to take those seriously.
     
    rumsmuggler likes this.
  9. Iron_lord

    Iron_lord Chosen One star 10

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    Sep 2, 2012
    We've seen that he's not exactly the brightest star in the galaxy- in Revenge of the Sith.

    He's probably unwilling to entertain the possibility- even if he's aware of it.
     
  10. DRush76

    DRush76 Jedi Master star 4

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    Jan 25, 2008

    I don't know if I would confuse lack of emotional control with lack of intelligence.
     
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  11. Iron_lord

    Iron_lord Chosen One star 10

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    Sep 2, 2012
    Lack of willingness to contemplate that the Emperor's lying to him, maybe.
     
  12. TheManFromMortis

    TheManFromMortis Jedi Master star 3

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    Nov 19, 2012
    _ _ _ _

    Well, if Luke's name did indeed "spread across the galaxy like wild fire" after the destruction of the Death Star, one imagines that it wouldn't have taken too much insight on the part of Vader/Palpatine to realise that a previously unknown somebody strong with the force and called Skywalker might well be the child (Were Anakin/Padme aware it was twins in the PT?) presumed dead when Padme died at the end of RoTS. I know that attempts were made to make Padme still look "with child" when she was buried on Naboo, but nonetheless I think the clues were there.
     
  13. Iron_lord

    Iron_lord Chosen One star 10

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    Sep 2, 2012
    According to the Rebel Force series, Luke's name did not immediately spread- because they knew he would become a target for assassination, so kept it a secret as long as possible.

    Concerning Padme- real women can still look pregnant for the first day or so after giving birth- the belly takes a while to go down- so they wouldn't need to do much.
     
  14. TheManFromMortis

    TheManFromMortis Jedi Master star 3

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    Nov 19, 2012
    _ _ _ _

    All this sort of makes you think that they'd have been wiser to give him a new surname when they took him to Tatooine at the end of RoTS.
     
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  15. TheManFromMortis

    TheManFromMortis Jedi Master star 3

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    Nov 19, 2012
    _ _ _ _

    Yes, of course.
     
  16. Placeholder

    Placeholder Jedi Master star 4

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    Jan 30, 2013

    It's a glaring flaw in the Saga that they would raise him anywhere near there and with that name.
     
  17. TheManFromMortis

    TheManFromMortis Jedi Master star 3

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    Nov 19, 2012
    _ _ _ _

    My Dad always used to jokingly call him Luke Puppywalker.
     
  18. TheManFromMortis

    TheManFromMortis Jedi Master star 3

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    Nov 19, 2012
    _ _ _ _

    As the child was presumed dead when his mother died, Tatooine was, perhaps, still a viable place to hide him, but the name is rather a giveaway. Having said that, do we know conclusively that he was known as Luke Skywalker by others on Tatooine rather than Luke Lars?
     
  19. Placeholder

    Placeholder Jedi Master star 4

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    Jan 30, 2013
    There really is no reasonable way to explain the flaw away IMO. It is what it is.
     
  20. TheManFromMortis

    TheManFromMortis Jedi Master star 3

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    Nov 19, 2012
    _ _ _ _

    Thinking about it, though ... when Luke bursts into the cell on the Death Star's detention level, he says to Leia: "I'm Luke Skywalker and I'm here to rescue you." I suppose that suggests that he did go by the Skywalker name. There's no reason to suppose that he and Obi-Wan had an offscreen chat during which Obi-Wan said something along the lines of: "Well, you might as well call yourself Skywalker now."
     
  21. Jedipilot25

    Jedipilot25 Jedi Youngling

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    Dec 7, 2010
    The Marvel comics have another version of Vader finding out the truth and, unlike Vader's Quest, Vader doesn't go berserk on finding out because Marvel Vader is a cunning manipulator with a flair for the dramatic. It is very appropriate, I think.
    Note that early on in ESB, Vader says that he is 'sure that Skywalker is with (the Rebels).'. Obviously, Vader already knows or at least suspects that Luke is his son. Then, when the Emperor calls him up to discuss the matter, Vader initially plays dumb to see how much the Emperor knows and then drops the act once its clear that the Emperor knows at least as much as he does. And the Emperor doesn't bother calling Vader out on this because they are SITH LORDS. They both know, even if they don't talk about it, what's really going to happen: one of them is going to turn Luke and use him to wack the other because that's what Sith Lords do.
     
  22. Catsmeow

    Catsmeow Jedi Knight star 1

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    Sep 8, 2012
    As mentioned before... The Force is the answer. I mean really he should have been able to put the pieces together himself, Luke's last name was Skywalker, more than likely he traced him back to Tatooine, and could feel that he was strong in the force. As my answer goes with all unanswerable questions... The Force.
     
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  23. rumsmuggler

    rumsmuggler Chosen One star 7

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    Aug 31, 2000
    I have no issues with that considering Owen let him keep it in honor of his stepmom, and that Vader has no reasons to go to Tatooine. His surname first became an issue when Luke wanted to apply to the imperial academy.
     
  24. BoromirsFan

    BoromirsFan Jedi Master star 4

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    May 16, 2010
    Isn't the fact that Luke says "I'm Luke Skywalker I'm here to rescue you!" the answer?

    Maybe they had audio recording for each prison cell. But essentially its because his last name is skywalker, for some reason they didn't change it to Lars...
     
  25. EvilQ

    EvilQ Jedi Knight star 1

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    Feb 8, 2013
    "...at that speed, will you be able to pull out in time?" :p
     
    Joe Antonetti likes this.