"No, there is another..."

I was explaining the history of the Star Wars films to a friend recently, and we specifically got to talking on the point that when The Empire Strikes Back was originally released, Leia was not the intended referent in Yoda's cryptic line, "There is another...."

We fans all know that the Leia was only retconned as The Other when Lucas' domestic problems convinced him to discontinue making Star Wars films, thus inspiring him to tie-up all existing plot threads in Return of the Jedi instead of leaving them to be answered in a latter movie.

As I was relating all this to my friend the thought occurred to me that Lucas at that point could have chosen from among a number of characters to have been the other Skywalker. The example I gave to him was Han Solo. and as soon as I said it we both realized that this would have been a far more satisfying revelation.

"The Force runs strong in my family; my father has it... I have it... my older brother has it."

As I write this, it occurs to me that under his mask Boba Fett could easily have been a sibling of Luke's. He was already such a favorite that an expander role in Return of the Jedi as the second Skywalker would have likely been welcomed by the fans.

Is there any other character you believe would have made a more successful retcon to the story as the Other of whom Yoda spoke, or do you agree with Lucas' decision to make Leia Luke's sister?

 

Fett was apparently a popular theory among fans in between ESB & ROTJ, some also still believe it was meant to be Anakin all along.

As far as existing characters are concerned, I don't think any really work, particularly not Han - a large part of the appeal of his character is based on him being the cynical, down-to-earth one, to make him a Force-potential would undermine what came before. About the only retcon which would work is Anakin (a better choice than Leia, IMHO).

I still prefer to believe that it was an unknown character who would have featured in the Sequel Trilogy (& whose existence may have been established in the PT).

 

Perhaps Leia had not originally been meant as Luke's sister (although I believe she was) but she clearly had connection to the Force at the end of Empire-so why wouldn't she have been the 'other' Yoda was referring to? I don't really see any point in wondering 'what if?' about some character that was never actually created.

 

You're wrong about the Force connection at the end of Empire. Luke is (was) just using the force to contact a friend. He knew Leia was there, so he tried to contact him through the Force, something very possible and not necessarily related to any Force potential.

And besides, remember that, until Return of the Jedi, there is nothing to suggest that the Force is hereditary, so a connection to the Force doesn't mean that you have to be related to other force users.

However, that moment at the end of Empire works incredibly well as a clever hint of Leia being "the other" and Luke's sister.

 

Why not Leia?

Think about the scene in question:

(Luke flies away)

OBI-WAN: That boy is our last hope.

YODA: No, there is another.

OK, now this exchange occurs after Luke has gone against his mentors' advice, to go & rescue his friends, including Leia. The friends who are being held prisoner by Darth Vader & the Empire, & will most likely die. The friends Yoda suggests to Luke are easily expendable in the fight against evil.

In this context, how could any of them be the 'other hope' for the galaxy Yoda refers to, & even if one was, why would Yoda & Obi-Wan object to Luke trying to rescue them?

As for speculating as to who the 'Other' was, it's not so much a 'what-if' as a 'what-was?'

 

Agreed. Don't forget that Ben "heard" the cries of Alderaan when it was destroyed. Do you think this means everyone on Alderaan was Force-sensitive?

Furthermore:

 

Fett was apparently a popular theory among fans in between ESB & ROTJ, some also still believe it was meant to be Anakin all along.

Did you mean Boba was supposed to be the "other" or Anakin was the "other". If you meant Anakin, well that makes no sense. Anaking Skywalker is Darth Vader, not Luke's long lost twin.

 

But there's nothing concrete to say that it is wrong to say that Leia's Force connection was hinted at in TESB. As far as the Alderaan victims all being Force sensitive... of course they weren't, but the point is that the one doing the "hearing" (Obi-Wan in their case, Leia in Luke's case) may be Force sensitive. Of course, Luke is probably using the Force too, but that doesn't change the potential Force sensitivity of the person hearing him (Leia).

 

But not necessarily! At the time TESB was written, the Force wasn't related to the blood. Anyone could learn the Force, so there isn't anyone with potential Force sensitivity. Luke decided to learn the Force becuase he found an old Jedi Knight, but he didn't have any special potential, or Force sensitivity.

 

Well, the Force can be related to blood, but it isn't necessarily limited to blood. I was just pointing out that Ben's ability to "hear" the cries of Alderaan wasn't necessarily due to anyone on the planet consciously broadcasting out through the Force.

 

Yoda never said anything about the 'Other' being Luke's twin or sibling, in either ESB or ROTJ. In ESB he never even says anything about this person being related to Luke in any way, or a Force user (although it's implied he or she would be a potential Jedi).
In ROTJ, all he says is "there is another Skywalker", which, of course, Anakin is, but a few minutes later Obi-Wan says it's Leia anyway.

For the record, I don't subscribe to this theory, just pointing out that it's something that crops up now & then. If you eliminate the Leia retcon, it does sort of make sense.

 

Unfortunately that's not the situation as depicted by the film:

EMPEROR: He could destroy us.

VADER: He's just a boy. Obi-Wan can no longer help him.

EMPEROR: The Force is strong with him. The son of Skywalker must not become a Jedi.

VADER: If he could be turned, he would become a powerful ally.

EMPEROR: Yes. Yes. He would be a great asset. Can it be done?

VADER: He will join us or die, my master.

VADER: You do not yet realize your importance. You have only begun to discover your power.

VADER: You can destroy the Emperor.

If we assume "anyone could learn the Force" and "Luke didn't have any special potential or Force sensitivity", all of the above is reduced to nonsense.

 

^ Exactly! There is a reason why Palpatine fears Luke, and not the tons of other people in the galaxy who could conceivably be trained in the Force and sent on a mission against the Sith / the Empire. Palpatine knows the strong Force connection that Luke inherited from Anakin.

 

Luke's parentage gave him 2 benefits - strength in the Force (which made him desireable to the Sith), and a familial connection with Vader, which gave Luke a better opportunity to get close to Vader (and, ultimately, Palps.) Vader deferred to Luke in a way that he would not have deferred to anyone else - especially another Force user that was more powerful than he.

Palpatine made the mistake of thinking it was Luke's power in the Force that would destroy him, when in actually it was Luke's connection with Vader that helped Vader to fulfill the Prophecy. This gave Luke an advantage over any other Jedi, potential or trained.

But bloodlines are not the only way to achieve Force sensitivity. Otherwise, Jedi would be having children, and only those children would be Jedi. There's no indication of that situation in the films.

 

I think that Yoda is refering to Anakin himself...His turn is that makes the difference and not Luke's abilities...

If he refered to Leia, then I guess she would also be trained in the Force....

 

You're certainly right that the prequels' genetically-determined nature of Force power was not at all implied in the original trilogy as it was filmed. Which is in my opinion a good thing, since I've never liked the notion of Force powers being arbitrary and randomly parceled out by genetics.

The original trilogy indicates that, if you're powerful in the Force, it's not so much because of your bloodline, as it is due to your acceptance of its power. Yoda is extremely powerful, for instance: Why can he lift an X-wing out of a swamp? Because he believes he can, and he has faith that the Force will give him the power to do so. When Luke doubts it's possible, Yoda says "that is why you fail." Conversely, Han Solo is not at all powerful in the Force, precisely because he doesn't believe in "hokey religions and ancient weapons" having any effect whatsoever. It's all down to one's faith in the Force, which is ultimately a metaphor for believing in oneself.

However, in all fairness, I ought to point out that in the second draft of ANH, at least, there definitely seems to have been a genetic aspect to the Force. Force use is said to have been passed down within families of Jedi, and Jedi never taught the Force to anyone outside these select families. Plus, in this draft Luke is the son of the most powerful Jedi in the universe. These are ideas which later came back (in modified form) in the prequels... although I still don't like them much.

 

I think you've missed the full scope of MeBeJedi's point there. He is saying (I believe) that there's no indication in the films that bloodlines are the only way to achieve Force sensitivity; he is not saying that the OT does not say anything about genetics and inheritance playing a role.

In addition, this (as I said above) shows that inheritance played a role in the OT too, and within the OT it was not just in ROTJ... but in TESB too:

 

Yoda says something along the lines of: "If you leave now...help them you could. But you may destroy all for which they have fought, and suffered" to Luke on Dagobah.

I don't see anything implying expendable there. Yoda isn't going to stop Luke rushing off to rescue Leia and co, he's simply warning Luke of the potential danger\fall to the dark side fraught in an impulsive maneuver. Funnily enough, he doesn't turn out to be a match for Vader.

 

Except for the fact that when Yoda says this in Empire, we know Anakin Skywalker was killed by Darth Vader. When the big reveal is done in Jedi, we already know Anakin Skywalker turned to the Dark side and is Darth Vader. So, once again, how could Anakin be the "other"

On a completely odd note, due to Admiral Ackbar being the first available Jedi action figure via special mail away offer, I actually thought he was the "other" when I was a kid. Until Jedi came out, of course.

 

That's simply not accurate. Besides the TESB material posted above which concerns Luke's genetically inherited Force potential, there is this scene from ROTJ:

LEIA: Luke, don't talk that way. You have a power I -- I don't understand and could never have.

LUKE: You're wrong, Leia. You have that power too. In time you'll learn to use it as I have. The Force is strong in my family. My father has it... I have it... and... my sister has it.

 

I believe it was intended to be Leia from the start. Lucas has said that whatever has changed over time about the general details of the story, it was always about the twins (boy and girl) and their father, Darth Vader/Anakin. So that would seem to me that from the beginning GL planned to have Leia revealed as "the sister," an element of the story that was always there from the beginning.

I think it's great that it's Leia. Works fine for me.

 

Correct.

 

[image=http://www.collider.com/wp-content/image-base/Clubhouse/F/Funny_Pictures/slices/slice_star_wars_stormtrooper_facepalm_01.jpg]

 

It should have been this guy:
[image=http://www.gradering.org/cpics/boba.jpg]

 

It also works fine for me.... but you are definately wrong about everything else