CT Freezing Han & Luke.. WHY?

I've watched ESB for 32 years now & cannot figure out, especially in light of the distances travelled so swiftly, what in the world is the point of Vader freezing Luke for his trip to the Emperor?

I mean, he's going to be there in a day at most, right?

If it's a security issue, Big, bad Darth Vader can't hold him prisoner?

Can anybody give me a reasonable plot device for this?

 

It is, in itself, a plot device, even moreso after the Prequels have shown that you can restrain a Jedi in certain types of energy fields. I suppose it would just be easier than having to deal with his lip and backtalk, and him trying to mind-trick guards and all that stuff. Vader has a navy to maintain, he can stand guard with the MPs for the next 24/7.

And we really don't even know for sure if taking Luke to the Emperor had been his plan all along. When the Emperor confronts Vader via hologram, Vader acts surprised, even though he told Ozzel he was specifically searching for Skywalker before that. So, it's possible that he was going to put Luke away somewhere, safe from the Emperor, to train in secret.

 

Yes, I was thing specifically about Obi-Wan being restrained on Geonosis in that energy-thingy
But decided not to mention that as those things did not even exist in the mind of George Lucas at the point ESB was made...

After all, we need to cut the dude a little slack...

And, Obi-Wan was restrained in that energy field BEFORE he ever met Count Dukoo. ....

 

I assume he froze them because imprisonment isn't bad ass enough.

 

It's to show how evil Vader is. I always wonder how he can bring himself to do something like that to Luke. He sees Luke as a tool or commodity at this stage.
It's an interesting mirror between trilogies... Padme starts the prequels at the core of Anakin's heart, but gradually becomes replaced by Anakin's lust for more power. In the OT, Luke is initially a way for Vader to gain more power, but becomes the catalyst for Vader's redemption, which happens when he decides there is someting more important than power and saves him.

 

Yeah, it's a "Vader is a badass" device but I also had always assumed that it was part of the lure, the trap that was to bring Luke to Cloud City to begin with. That freezing Han was actually more important than freezing Luke.

 

I agree that it was mostly to get Han out of the way, but freezing Luke allows Vader to transport him around without having to keep watch on the kid the entire trip.

 

Well, as we know, Vader was impressed that Luke couldn't be lured into the freezing chamber. I think Vader wanted to get into Luke's head before the Emperor could. Luckily, Luke was too clever to just freeze thus Vader was able lay the "I'm your father" bomb on Luke. A much more desired outcome for Vader than just freezing his kid and sending the slab to Palpatine's castle. I don't think Vader had any intention of taking Luke to the Emperor.

 

Just wanted to point out that Vader makes it clear that Han is only frozen as a test to make sure that freezing Luke won't kill him. Han and Leia have already been used as bait to get Luke to come there before that point (especially via Han's torture).

Regarding freezing Luke, I guess Vader sees a frozen Luke as a lot easier to transport, and that the process itself could be a test of Luke in itself; Vader's private thoughts could be that if Luke lets that happen, Vader will be less impressed, but if Luke can fight his way out of it then Vader will give more consideration to trying to get Luke to join him, as father and son (which is how it plays out).

 

Let's see. After chasing the scoundrels for god knows how long, it would make sense to incapacitate them once Vader finds them. They're frozen = they can't escape, wiggle cry and be annoying the whole time. It's just a relief for Vader, he doesn't want to put up with that crap for the trip back.

 

Well now he can't have luke using the force to get out of his cell during the trip back. Gotta watch out for those pesky Jedi, they're always unlocking cells and mindtricking guards. Better to freeze him. It makes for a more foreboding ominous dark-side introduction, don't you think?

 

Luke was strong with the Force, so freezing him was a safe way to be able to transport him back to the Emperor. Obviously, Han was a guinea pig ot make sure that the freezing process wouldn't kill Luke.

 

I don't know why. To me, it's just a plot device, nothing more or less.

 

What I was going to say has mostly been said above by others. In my opinion, Vader has no idea how powerful Luke may be so the easy thing to do is freeze him and take him to the Emperor. Maybe Vader would have done the old bait and switch, freeze some random guy after freezing Luke, and give the random guy to Palpatine and secretly unfreze and train Luke some place secret (as mentioned above).

 

Yeah. Not only would they not be completely sure how powerful Luke might be, but there is probably some additional comfort in knowing that, even after he's been "thawed", he would still not be at 100%, probably also have temporary blindness, etc. It stands to reason that a Sith would seek to have every possible advantage over his opponent.

In ROTJ, Luke is disarmed and handcuffed before being taken to Vader. And they don't take the handcuffs off until he's in the Emperor's chamber - where presumably Palpatine and Vader could easily overpower him, no matter what he attempted to do.

 

Couldn't he have simply kept Luke into a drugged state?

 

In carbonite, Luke would have been in hibernation, asleep but alive, awake in his dreams, trapped not only in carbonite, but in his mind with no escape.

With drugs, they dilute the senses, and if Luke was strong enough in the Force and in tune with it, he might have used the Force to "turn off "the effects that the drug was doing to his body and be able to escape by removing the device constantly injecting him with said drug.

Ignoring anything in the EU, we assume that Vader and/or Palpatine haven't dealt with an actual Jedi in many years, and when Vader "kills" Obi-wan to watch him "disappear" -- well...that had to have been a major mind **** for Vader. So again, not knowing the extent of Luke's power, the safest bet to take him to the Emporer unwillingly was carbonite.

 

Another good point. Guess Vader didn't want his son pulling any funny business on him, or embarrassing him in front of his Master.

 

I think Vader was going to try and secretly turn/train Luke before bringing him before the Emperor. Part 2 to his plan: they both kill the Emperor and rule the galaxy together. Pretty badass.

 

We also don't know how far away the emperor was. Maybe he on vacation or out in some outer rim looking for people to build his new Death Star. Or maybe Vader had other things on do before going back to see the emperor

 

Palpatine on vacation... haha. Just picturing him relaxing at some rental villa by one of the lakes on Naboo.

My "real" answer from back in February...

 

I agree with you there Han was only a test subject and Luke was easier to transport.