CT Luke's Last name

Well, originally, Vader wasn't Luke's father and thus was unaware of his existence. This changed at some point in 1978 and the idea was that Vader had no reason to suspect that he had a child and had no reason to go back to Tatooine.

 

I don't know, Yoda thought it was a good idea.

 

For the average person, there's a stunning lack of communication, no media. People in the newest film think Han Solo was a myth, and he helped bring down two Death Stars and was part of the post-Empire govt!

I'm not so sure 'Skywalker" is that uncommon, if you look at names of others from where he lived. They use the same naming convention -- Darklighter and others.

And as far as Vader coming back to look for Luke, he wouldn't put the Lars family into danger... they freed Shmi, loved her, gave her a home. And since Vader didn't know his child(ren) survived, he wouldn't know to find him via the Force. Palpatine is a different story regarding the Lars family, but again, he probably didn't realize the children survived, either.

 

Somewhat off topic but do you guys think Owen and Beru had any idea that Luke had a twin sister?

 

Nope. Better to keep the knowledge from the Lars, so that it never slips while talking to Luke.

 

Skywalker has to be a popular name, or there are problems with the CT.

Darth Vader actually knows and mentions the name "Skywalker" when referring to Luke before his communication with The Emperor in ESB. For me, this is an indication that Skywalker was a popular surname and it was passed as a mere coincidence by Darth Vader that Luke shared the same surname as Anakin.

I doubt many people made the connection of Anakin being Darth Vader. Only The Emperor, Yoda and Obi Wan knew.

 

I suppose it was made back in the 70s with Lucas not thinking it would be nearly as successful as it was so he probably didn't think people would be analysing it some 40 years later.

Edit: That sounded sarcastic, it wasn't meant to be... not really.


Sent from my R5 Astromech Droid using Holotalk

 

I hear all the time that people say, "originally he wasn't supposed to be Luke's father." But we have no way of actually knowing that. What we do know is that Lucas had created most of the entire story, sequel trilogy plotlines (although they've probably changed drastically) before he ever even finished ANH. So if Vader being the father was supposed to be the big secret that it was, then why the heck would Lucas tel everyone on set, "Yeah Vader's his father." Naturally he kept that quiet until the big reveal.

There is no evidence to suggest that Vader was ever not Luke's father.

 

Kenobi1138 wrote

There is no evidence to suggest that Vader was ever not Luke's father.

Actually, there is, i.e. The Rolling Stone interview from 1977 and Lucas talking about his decision to make Vader Luke's father in ESB in the documentary From Star Wars to Jedi.

 

I think that, retroactively, Owen and Beru are meant to know that Anakin became Vader. That's why Beru's voice was edited in the Special Edition. She says, "He has too much of his father in him," with a worried emphasis on the word father.

 

Or, it could mean he's just like his father: a reckless, troubled young man who got involved in things that were none of his business and got killed as a result. I doubt Kenobi told them, "Ani is now an evil Sith Lord", since it's debatable that he, himself, knew Ani had survived the duel at that point.

Also, Beru's line was in the movie before the SE edition. The voice was changed from the original release, but the line wasn't.

 

Shmi Skywalker married into the Lars family and she had a son....that son got married and had a son of his own. Vader and the Empire had no idea that the children Padme was pregnant with survived. Everyone but Yoda, Obi-Wan, and Bail Organa knew the truth. Tatooine was an outer rim planet and it would be the last place the Empire and Vader would think of. Plus no one had heard of Luke Skywalker until he singlehandedly destroyed the first Death Star....

 

12. GOVERNOR HOEDAACK'S QUARTERS - ALDERAAN

The large, white-on-white executive quarters resound with the high-pitched
laugh of the evil Governor Hoedaack. He slaps Darth Vader, a tall, grim-
looking general, on the back, and the general's mouth makes the slightest
gesture at a smile.
______________________________

HOEDAACK
Darth, you've done well. Do you think you will have the Royal Family by
nightfall?

VADER
An advance expedition is already on its way to their underground hideaway.
They should reach it by nightfall... but only if this Count Sandage can be
trusted.
______________________________

66. LIBRARY - PALACE OF LITE - AQUILAE

The king's old library has been converted into an office for General Vader.
He is sitting behind his desk as Prince Valorum, the black knight of Sith,
enters and salutes. The black knight is dressed in the fascist black and
chrome uniform of the legendary Sith One Hundred. The general returns his
salute.

VADER
Welcome, Prince Valorum. Your exploits are legendary. I have long waited to
meet a Knight of the Sith. If there is any way I can assist you, my entire
command is at your bidding.

VALORUM
I want a tie-in to your computer network, a control center, and communication
access.

VADER
Right away! I'll also transfer all information we have on the general. His
command post was self-destroyed, but we believe he is still alive.... Do you
really believe he's a Jedi? - The Star Wars: first draft

As you can see in this early draft, "Darth Vader" wasn't even a Sith to begin with, which means he was never a Jedi, either. Darth was his first name (as it was used by Ben in the novel and film):


Film
VADER
When I left you, I was but the
learner; now I am the master.

BEN
Only a master of evil, Darth.
--------------------------
Novel
"You sense only a part of the force, Darth," Kenobi murmured with the assurance
of one to whom death is merely another sensation, like sleeping or making love or
touching a candle. "As always, you perceive its reality as little as a utensil perceives
the taste of food."

So, his actual name is "Darth Vader", as in "Mr. Vader", but he's now been made a Sith.

 

MeBeJedi Lt. Hija, I stand corrected. I didn't know that.

 

Kenobi1138

Up to this day I don't understand why Lucas felt the need to pretend he had everything planned from the very beginning up to the point that authors (e.g. Making of books) were retroactively propagating this myth and distorting the factual evidence. So you are not to blame, as you probably accepted these presentations in good faith as true and correct.

 

Because it's a way to protect his (always-evolving) vision of the story and defend it againts criticisms such as "this new movie is betraying the previous ones, the plot doesn't make sense...".
The truth is, fans of an ongoing Saga (with a single story) like to know that there is a master plan. That the author knows how the story will end, and therefore, every chapter takes a logical step towards that goal.
Think about this. It's 1977, you are George Lucas and you have created this hugely succesful movie. You want to continue the story, make sequels. The audience wants to see how the story continues. Would you really come out and say "hey, I'm about to make the first sequel, although I don't know what will it be about yet".
You say that, then you have the "I am your father" scene, and (nowadays at least), you have half of the fandom arguing how the new movie sucks and that Lucas doesn't know what he's doing with the story.

 

Beru's voice was completely redubbed by a different actress for the theatrical re-release in 1981, and has been the same in every version since then. It wasn't changed for the 1997 Special Editions.

I'd have to dig out the clips of the original vs changed to check (comparison clips have been removed from YouTube), but I don't recall there ever being any mention of the emphasis on the word 'father' being changed in any meaningful fashion, certainly not for the reason you're suggesting. It's never sounded 'worried' in comparison to me, it just sounds like they were looking for a slightly better performance. The actual lines themselves weren't changed at all.
There's a clip of the original only here:



GL simply got lucky enough with the existing dialogue as written for it to work in retrospect (and it's quite possible that such potentially ominous lines even helped inspire the twist when he was developing ESB).

 

Actually, Beru's lines that we hear on every single home video release are from the original 1977 stereo mixes. When the movie went to a wide release in 1977 they made some changes for the mono mix and used alternate takes for some of her lines. But that version has never been included on any home release. There are some websites that claim they dubbed a completely different actress for the mono mix, but according to Rinzler's making-of book, it was actually the same actress, Shelagh Fraser, and they went to her house during post-production to do ADR work. When I listen to both versions, it certainly sounds like the same actress as well. She just used a slightly different accent on the alternate takes.

 

I stand corrected, I was under the impression (most likely from the sources you mentioned) that the re-dubbing was by another actress altogether, several years later - however, there was all manner of tweaking going on with the audio mixes for the premiere, then the wider US release, and then the international version, so that makes perfect sense. Reports of viewing bootlegs of the 1977 US release also reveal that alternate takes of C-3PO's lines were used in earlier versions, which would sound quite different to those we've become used to.
Various sound effects, as well - along with "Blast it Biggs, where are you?" being changed to "Blast it, Wedge, where are you?", then back again, plus lines like "Close the blast doors!", which went back and forth in various versions. I'll leave it to someone else to chronicle where and when these lines were included.

However, my original point still stands - Aunt Beru's voice wasn't 'edited' in any way to emphasise the 'Father Vader' twist, the alteration was merely for quality. The version which has become the definitive one since 1981 was simply the preferred one for reasons of performance (and perhaps some technical issues), it had nothing to with the context of the later, altered storyline. If GL had such ambitions back then, he could have changed the lines of dialogue themselves to fit this larger vision - most likely those of Alec Guinness - but he didn't.

Besides, while SW/ANH was being prepared for its 1981 re-release, it's still not 100% clear what he had in mind for Vader's backstory, anyway, despite the earth-shattering "No, I am your father" line in ESB. Vader could have been lying. He could have been Obi-Wan's son or younger brother. He could have been Luke's older brother. He might have been Luke's father - but via infidelity or rape, a different person to the 'old friend' Obi-Wan refers to.

When the re-release of SW/ANH was underway (roughly the same time ESB was in post-production, I would imagine, or just after), the vision of the SW Saga was still in a state of flux, and while it seems that there were plans to include the Jabba in Docking Bay 94 scene (abandoned until 1997), there wasn't any manipulation of the content of the film to match a storyline that had been heavily changed - largely because it hadn't been completely decided upon.

The only real change to the content/context in 1981 was the addition of the 'Episode IV: A New Hope' subtitle to the opening crawl - committing GL to an entire trilogy of chapters regarding a backstory he'd previously mentioned as hoping to be able to do in one film if he ever had the chance. Be careful what you wish for.

 

Yep, I gotcha - just wanted to clarify that the current lines are indeed from the original '77 audio.
Basically, when it went to a wide release, they created a new mono mix (mono was still the prevalent format in 1977) that had a few relatively minor differences from the stereo mix that include:

1) alternate takes for a few lines from Beru, 3PO, stormtroopers, Luke, etc,
2) made subtle changes to and replaced various sound effects
3) added in additional audio (3PO tractor beam lines, "Close the Blast Doors", etc)

So originally in 1977 there were 3 audio mixes: 6-track, Stereo, and Mono. The two stereo mixes, though, were made from the same master, so they have identical sound effects. Basically the mono mix was the only mix that included alterations and alternate takes. No audio changes were done for the '81 re-release, as far as I know. There were also a couple new mixes made for home video in 1985 and 1993, but these are almost identical to the original stereo mix.

Anyone interested in the differences between the 1977 stereo and mono mixes can hear them all here:

 

'Luke Lars.' Sound appetizing?

 

Obi-Wan Catnobi

I considered this possibility but then I realized this:

RED LEADER Are you... Luke Skywalker? Have you
been checked out on the Incom T-sixty-
five?

BIGGS Sir, Luke is the best bushpilot in
the outer rim territories.

Had Luke's cover name been "Luke Lars" all these years, certainly his best friend Biggs would have wondered about that during their Yavin IV re-encounter.

 

Thanks for the video!

Of course, this leads to a question for all those who want the original versions available... Which sound mix is the "original" one?

 

Getting back to the original topic - even if, once all the potential contexts have been taken into account, the name 'Luke Skywalker' wasn't necessarily a name that would put a target on our hero's head (at most, he was simply the relation of some dead Jedi Knight), surely the rather lacklustre alias of 'Ben' Kenobi was tempting fate. It's the sort of dimwitted attempt at deception that even the writers of The Simpsons would consider stupid enough to include as a joke:



ANONYMOUS INFORMER: Is this the Imperial Garrison? Yes, I wish to inform you that I have seen a certain Obi-Wan running in the vicinity of Mos Eisley.

IMPERIAL OFFICER: You have seen the former Jedi General Obi-Wan Kenobi in Mos Eisley?

ANONYMOUS INFORMER: Well, I saw an OB-1 refrigeration unit down near the cantina, and it was running just fine. You'd better go and catch it.



IMPERIAL OFFICER: You little S.O.B.! If I ever find out who you are, I'm going to shove a sausage down your throat and stick starving dogs in your butt!"

 

The lack of media and easy communication in Star Wars makes it in some ways like ancient greece or rome. So maybe Luke keeping his last name isn't that big a deal on a big planet in bigger galaxy. Anakin after all lived in Mos Espa and Luke lives on a farm hours outside of Mos Eisley.

If there is still Podracing on Tatooine, Anakin should be known at least a little bit for his big victory on at the Boonta Eve Classic. And Luke being into racing would have read a list of past Podrace champions and seen Skywalker. But who knows.

Owen and Beru probably don't know about Darth Vader. But they might realise the need to protect Luke from the Empire. But it does really seem like Beru would like him to be able to attend the academy. Owen and Beru probably know what Anakin did to the Sand People. If so they have some first hand knowledge what he was capable of.

I wondered if the Emperor knew Luke was born. It could have been in his interest to let Luke grow up normally and then turn to the darkside as an adult.

Also could having Luke keep the Skywalker name helped cover for Leia?