Hypothetical Question(s)

I was just thinking about this and was curious. The "I am you father" revelation is very important to Luke and sets him on his path to redeem Vader in the end. But let's say Vader never told Luke and instead Obi-Wan, when first talking to Luke in A New Hope told him upfront that his father was Vader. Do you think the "shock" for Luke would still occur. The denial? If he still followed Ben and went on to face Vader, do you think he would have killed him or would still try to redeem him? Would Luke run to the nearest cliff edge on Tatooine, scream "No!" and let go?



Oh, and if you have your own hypotheticals, post 'em!

 

I'm interested to see what people think about this, too. A lot of people seem to chastise Obi-Wan for not telling Luke the whole truth about his father in ANH, but I'm not so sure it would have been a good idea.

In ROTJ, Obi-Wan tells Luke that if he's not willing to kill his father, the Emperor has already won. He doesn't mean that Luke has to kill his father, only that he has to understand that it might be necessary to kill Vader- not out of anger or anything, but out of necessity. If Luke can't do that, the Emperor already has his leverage to get Luke to turn.

So did Obi-Wan not tell him in ANH because he was afraid it would make Luke too susceptible to deception by Vader and the Emperor right off the bat, certainly before he's ready? That's what I think.


-sj loves kevin spacey

 

Ben and Yoda didn't want to tell Luke that Vader is his father because they knew that Luke would not have wanted to kill him. Even Yoda was still hesitant to confirm the truth when Luke asked him in ROTJ. They were correct. In ROTJ, Luke told Vader that he rather die himself than kill him. Luke also told Ben that he couldn't kill is own father.

I agree with Ben and Yoda with not wanted to tell Luke. The relevation that Vader was Luke's father was created a weakness in Luke. Ben and Yoda thought that there was no more good in Vader and that he could not be turned back. So they thought that the only way was for Luke to kill Vader. Only Luke felt that there was still good in him.

 

It would most definately be a different reaction...

Luke gained most of his hatred towards Vader after this conversation in ANH.

 

...Hmmm, I think the most likely reaction would have been; "Who?" Remember, this kid had never even heard of the force, much less Darth Vader. Even a lightsaber was a mystery to him. Apparently, he'd never read a history book in his life. I guess the Tatooine educational system, wasn't exactly a shining jewel in the emperor's crown.

 

Ben made a mistake in telling Luke about Darth Vader. If luke were to be a true Jedi he should not feel any emotion. Ben created the hate in Luke for Darth Vader by telling Luke that Vader killed his father. Luke wanted to get off that rock so bad that I think that he would have had become a Jedi no matter what. Even if he knew his father wasn't a Jedi.

Jag29

 

If Luke had no idea Vader was his father he definatley would've killed Vader.

 

Luke facing Vader with the knowledge he is fighting his long lost father would have been seen by Yoda and Ben as emotional battle as well as a physical and mental one. Yoda and Ben probably felt that the task at hand was to defeat the Sith and the less emotional attachment placed upon the task for Luke the better.

Telling him outright that his father was the Dark Lord of the Sith would not have been a good idea.

But in the end it was Luke's compassion for his father that saved them all.

 

IMO, it would have been a disaster, and one of two things could happen.

1) Luke is a young, dumb, and impressionable kid. The only thing he wants out of life is to get off of Tatooine and fly spaceships.
Suddenly he finds out that the second most powerful man in the galaxy is his father. It wouldn't be unreasonable for Luke to contact Vader outright and fall into step with him.

2) Luke is feeling all moral and wants to help Ben. Now, when Luke thought that Vader had killed his dad, he was angry and bent on revenge. But if he knew from the start that Vader was his dad, then the desire for revenge that pushed him to train so hard is gone. Luke likely would have tried to turn Vader on the DS and would have been either killed or lost to the Emperor. That is, if he wasn't so devestated by the news that he left Ben and never returned.

 

I think if Obi-Wan had told Luke in the beginning that Vader was his father then Luke would've felt compassion for his father and may have wanted to join him....

Luke was very young at the time and very impressionable so telling him this fact would've, maybe, sent Luke on the dark path to "follow" in his father's footsteps. He did have the force in him but didn't know at the time that he had this special gift and once he did realize he had it he certainly didn't know how to utilize it....

Obi-Wan did the right thing at the time by not telling Luke the truth about his father cause it would've ended up alot different....

 

Also remember that the main motivation for Luke wanting to become a Jedi was because of his father, and his desire to be like him. If he realized at the beginning that his father had turned evil he may have been discouraged from becoming a Jedi for fear of following in his father's footsteps.

Obi-Wan: "Luke, I trained your father to be a great Jedi, but he turned evil and is now the terror of the galaxy - so now I'm going to train you."

Luke: "Uh, no thanks. I think I'd rather stay here."

 

If luke were to be a true Jedi he should not feel any emotion.

This is true. He should not, but he wasn't trained the way jedi had been trained in the past. It's important to remember that Luke was way beyond the age of normal training and had already lived a life that jedi don't see. His emotional connections were formed young, when he was not a jedi and it would be extremely difficult for him to abandon them, which is why I think he is a stronger jedi than most make him out to be, but that is for another time and place. Luke knew of the history, he had heard of the jedi, but mostly as a legend.

If Obi-Wan had told him in ANH it, I think, it would've given him the oppurtunity for one of 2 reactions.

1: WTH? Well I'm not going anywhere with you. I'm staying right here. Tell Wedge we're going to Mos Eisley for those power converters.

or

2: Daddy? You mean my real Dad is that bad man? Well maybe we can go get him and make him nice again. Let's go Ben.

I really think that Luke wouldn't have wanted to train as a jedi after that, because he might think that it was his father's traning that made him what he was, no matter what Ben said. Also, as mentioned before, it gave the Emperor something that he could use to try to turn Luke to the Dark Side. Ben probably knew that the Emperor would prey on Luke's emotions like that and wanted to make sure that he was ready to fight that battle and strong enough not to fall to the Emperor.

-Sky

 

I have to agree with some of the posters who said Luke wouldn't go with Ben, or at least wouldn't trust him.

Luke: "So what you're telling me Ben, is that my father was your apprentice, you failed him, and now he's the most evil man in the universe...and you want to train me?"

Ben: "Pretty much."

Luke: "What's that? Oh, that's the train to crazy town!"

*Luke runs away and the Galaxy is doomed*

 

That's true too...

Being that Luke was bored and wanted off of Tatioone is the reason I think he might've wanted to join his father...

He craved excitment and wanted to leave that moisture farm far behind... It's like good ol' Aunt Beru said, "He has too much of his father in him". Of course joining his father might be rather extreme, no one would want THAT much excitement I guess...