Did Vader ever know that the storm troopers killed Owen and Beru?

Forgive me if this has been discussed before...I checked the threads list and didn't notice anything similair.

I know this is a stretch, but I am just curious about how Lucas would answer this question and how my fellow board members feel about it.

At the time Owen and Beru were murdered in ANH, Vader most likely had no idea. He was consumed with finding the droids with the death star plans, and probably didn't even consider how the storm troopers were handling the investigation.

Unless Episode III proves differently, we have to assume that Vader did not know he had a son living with his old step brother. We also must assume that he wasn't aware of his son until after Luke blew up the death star.

I guess the subject of Owen and Beru just never came up in regards to Vader. He probably never knew that they were murdered by his troops. I think that it would've been great if Luke would've brought up Owen and Beru's untimely demise to Vader in their scene on Endor in ROTJ. I think Vader probably would've said something to the effect that it was "unfortunate, but it was their destiny",but would in fact feel badly that he indirectly played a part in their deaths.

Comments?

 

I think that the Lars' were probably just another un-named family murdered by the Empire in an attempt to stop the Rebellion. I doubt if the troops knew who they were or if Vader knew who they were.

And I definitely agree that a line about that would have been cool in RotJ.

 

Thanks for your comments!

I agree that the storm troopers had no idea who they were...and didn't care as long as they tracked down the droids. They were just going on info provided (under duress, I'm sure) by the Jawas (may they rest in peace).

In fact, I'm sure Vader probably wouldn't even give their deaths a second thought prior to finding out about Luke. I think that learning of Luke's existence awoke something deep within him...a connection to his former identity that he thought he had completely severed years before.

The fact is, based on the OT, we'll never know what Vader knew because Lucas either:

1)didn't think to address it (didn't know he would do the prequel trilogy and develop the past of characters like Owen and Beru), or

2)thought it was not necessary to tell his story.

 

If Vader had known, I don't believe he would have felt remorse. Owen wasn't a big supporter of going to find his mother, never mind he wasn't doing much to try and help rescue her after his father was injured. Oh, and Owen casts Anakin a nasty look. So, if Vader had heard this news, he probably would've snickered under his helmet.

I wonder, though, if Owen overheard Anakin's tantrum while confessing he slaugthered the Tusken camp. Owen being afraid that Luke has too much of his father in him, knowing what Anakin did, would be a nice little connection.

 

Wouldn't it be something if it was Beru's cooking that killed them and not the stormtroopers?

I don't think Vader knew and it wasn't important that he did.

With respect to EP III: One could say at this point that the relationship between the Lars' and Anakin is very limited. However, this will have to change since Obi-Wan knows about them at some point and Owen seems to have a strong opinion about Anakin.