Why didn't Vader Sense Leia's "Force Power"?

It seems that whenever two beings with the Force come within range of each other, they sense a tremor or disturbance in the Force. Obi-Wan and Qui-Gonn sense it when they first arrive on Tatooine in TPM, Vader senses it when Obi Wan arrives on the Death Star in ANH, Vader senses it again in ROTJ when Luke is on the shuttle Tydirium going to Endor, you get the point.

So, why then, in ANH, when Vader is less than a foot from Leia during several scence (most notably when Tarkin is ordering Alderaan's destruction and Vader actually GRABS her) does he not sense the Force within her? You'd think he'd have thoughts like "Hey, the Force is strong in this one, she could be a great asset to the Empire". But apparently he is totally oblivious to Leia's "Force Power".

I used to think that Vader didn't sense Leia's powerr because she hadn't been trained in any way yet, and the Force was still dormant within her. But, Obi-Wan and Qui-Gonn sense a tremor in the Force from Anakin, and he hasn't recieved any training at that point.

Any of my fellow fans have any thoughts/theories on this matter?

 

Vader didn't sense Luke's connection to the Force when they first laid eyes upon one another on the Death Star in ANH.

 

Because Leia wasn't Luke's sister at this point.

(In ANH she was more like his intended love interest, actually... )

 

I used to think that Vader didn't sense Leia's powerr because she hadn't been trained in any way yet, and the Force was still dormant within her.
Thats it.


But, Obi-Wan and Qui-Gonn sense a tremor in the Force from Anakin, and he hasn't recieved any training at that point.

QUI-GON : Don't let them send any transmissions. Be wary...I sense a
disturbance in the Force.
OBI-WAN : I felt it also, Master.

I think the disturbance they were referring to came from the Dark Side, ie Darth Maul and/or Darth Sidious.

 

I subscribe to your theory Voodoopuuduu. The Force was dormant, and therefore undetectable, in Leia in ANH, and the Force disturbance on Tatooine was caused by the reemergance of the Sith.

"Council adjourned".

 

That's debatable. It could be that the Force disturbance Vader felt when the Falcon entered the Death Star hangar bay was caused by BOTH Obi-Wan and Luke, but MOSTLY Obi-Wan. As the great Jedi Master Voodoopuuduu has decreed, the Force lies dormant in its hosts unil they have been trained to tap into it. Luke had had almost no Jedi training when the Falcon was captured; just the laser bolt deflection exercise en route to Alderaan. Luke was probably causing only miniscule Force tremors at that point, which were imperceptable compared to the MASSIVE Force tremors of a bad-ass, hard-core Jedi like Obi-Wan. That is why Vader attributed the Force tremors EXCLUSIVELY to Obi-Wan.

 

trouble is, Anakin was tapping into it anyway for the podrace...

 

It may very well have been Anakin that Qui Gon sensed...TPM establishes that Anakin was already unconsciously tapping into the force completely on his own...thus the reason a 9 year old human boy could pod race. It seems logical to me that if Sidious could hide his force presence to avoid detection by the Jedi, that it seems he would have taught Maul how to do it too...since the Sith had yet to reveal themselves, Maul couldn't be running around blasting out a dark side force signature everywhere, it would have been counterproductive. It was probably Anakin Qui Gon sensed.

 

OK...but that once again raises my original question: if QGJ and OWK could sense an untrained Force user (Anakin) in TPM, why couldn't Vader sense Leia in ANH when he was in close proximity?

Anyone? Anyone? Bueller? Bueller?

 

trouble is, Anakin was tapping into it anyway for the podrace...
Yeah, but while he was racing, no one mentioned great disturbances in the Force. Also by that time, Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan knew Anakin had a super high midi-count.

 

Surely though if Leia is being tortured, she might subconciously reach to the Force...?

 

DING DING! You get first prize!

Tune in tomorrow when I ask: "Why did the ANH crawl tell us that the Death Star's destruction would restore freedom to the galaxy?"

 

Surely though if Leia is being tortured, she might subconciously reach to the Force...?

Maybe, maybe not. Using the Force may be something you can only do consciously. In other words, you have to will it to be done.

 

I'm going to go with the answer that because Leia herself was not aware of her own powers. When Qui Gon met Anakin, Anakin already had a feeling he was special and had already unknowingly used the force in aspects of his racing/building/etc.

Luke only really believed, trusted and was controlled by the force when he took his shot during the Death Star run, and Vader had realized the force was strong in Luke right at that point.

 

Yep, at that point, Luke was consciously using the Force.



BEN'S VOICE: Use the Force, Luke.

EXTERIOR: SURFACE OF THE DEATH STAR.

The Death Star trench zooms by.

INTERIOR: LUKE'S X-WING -- COCKPIT.

Luke looks up, then starts to look back into the targeting
device. He has second thoughts.

BEN'S VOICE: Let go, Luke.

A grim determination sweeps across Luke's face as he closes
his eyes and starts to mumble Ben's training to himself.

EXTERIOR: SURFACE OF THE DEATH STAR.

Luke's fighter streaks through the trench.

INTERIOR: DARTH VADER'S COCKPIT.

VADER: The Force is strong with this one!

 

Could it also have to do with the level of Force power?

Anakin was much more powerful than Leia. I'm not sure Leia had enough Force power to unconsciously tap into it.

I'm not really sure that Vader sensed Luke on the first Death Star either. My impression was always that the presence that he sensed was Obi-Wan, because he would be very familiar with Obi-Wan's Force signature.

 

Perhaps there are a lot of Force sensative beings who aren't either Jedi or Sith. Who is to say that Vader didn't sense Leia? Who is to say that Qui-Gon didn't sense the Force in Shmi Skywalker? Perhaps for a time a being has an undeveloped connection to the Force until it's developed.

 

Because in G-canon at the time Leia was just the leading lady/damsel in destress with no real importance other than the Death Star plans.

 

So very true. In fact the ANH script says Luke is 18-20 (it varies, depending on the source) whereas Leia is just 16. They're hardly "twins"...

 

Qui-Gon didn't seem to sense anything special about Anakin at all when he first met him. He didn't even give Anakin an inquisitive look until after Anakin revealed his podracing history. The disturbance felt by Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan on Tatooine seems similar to the sensation expressed by Obi-Wan when in Naboo orbit at the beginning of the film, which is not attributable to Anakin.

 

How come Yoda, Mace Windu, Plo Koon, and many others on the Jedi Council couldn't sense the dark side of the Force in Palpatine, yet he's there in their faces?


Vader sensed Luke during the dogfight over the 1st DeathStar.

Did Luke know where to find Vader on Bespin, or did he sense where his presence and went to where he was?

Qui-Gon and Obi-1 didn't sense Darth Maul on Naboo, but didn't know that he was there until the doors opened.

Vader sensed Kenobo aboard the first death star and vice versa.

Dooku, like with Obi-Wan and Anakin, didn't sense Yoda on the hanger. He just turned around and Yoda was there.

Aboard the shuttle that headed to Endor, both Vader and Luke Skywalker sensed each other.

Why was Vader able to sense Luke, and Palpatine wasn't able before they landed on Endor?

Just because Vader isn't able to sense Leia through the Force doesn't mean anything. He just didn't sense her.

 

From what I have seen in ANH, Vader did not sense the Force in Luke, when they first laid eyes upon one another on the Death Star. Vader finally sensed the Force in Luke, when the latter was trying to use it to help him destroy the Death Star.

When Qui-Gon sensed that Anakin might be strong in the Force, he only came to this conclusion when he discovered that Anakin was the only Human to participate in podraces.

I have not seen any evidence that Vader had felt a quiver of the Force or anything else like that when he first laid eyes on Luke. The only presence he felt at that time came from Obi-Wan, who used to be his Jedi Master.

 

My theory is that Yoda stripped Leia of the Force before sending her off with Bail Organa. That way she can't tap into it unconsciously even in moments of great distress. There's no way they'd allow her to go live on Alderaan if it means running the risk that Vader or Palps might sense her.

 

I always thought that she was not that powerful to be recognized in the force

 

I assume that one has to actully start using the force in some way as to give off those readings that other force users identify. Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan were able to sense Anakin because he inadvertly used the force during his podraces..