CT If Luke joined the Imperial Academy, would Vader have eventually realized who he was?

Let's pretend for a moment that Owen let Luke leave and join the Imperial Academy. Is it possible or very unlikely given the number of Imperial Tie Fighter Pilots, that Vader would have eventually realized who he was based on his flying ability's? There was that line at the end of A New Hope when he says "The force is strong with this one." I doubt that's something he would have said in the past about a regular Tie Fighter Pilot.

 

I honestly doubt Vader would have overseen normal recruits' pilot training. So no, I don't think he would have noticed Luke. There may have been thousands or millions of them. I believe Luke had planned to follow Biggs' path, use the academy for pilot training only, then somehow sneak off and join the Rebellion.

 

Luke would have no reason not to hide his last name. I think at some point, Vader would hear that there was a ‘Skywalker’ within the Imperial army and want to check it out. Especially if he heard that Luke was an exceptionally skilled pilot. Who was raised by the Lars on Tatooine after his father’s ‘death’.

Vader isn’t that stupid to not put two and two together and investigate.

 

Skywalker might be the Smith of a GFFA just as Kenobi could be the Jones. Otherwise the Empire would've gone to every system and hunted people with those names. As has been explained many times here, the best place to hide a tree is in a forest.

 

Not stupid. He just wouldn't have cared. The point when he became aware of a very good pilot was during the ship-to-ship combat at the battle of Yavin. It's only then Vader may have sensed his son, still alive. Still, it was only a feeling, nothing concrete. It wasn't until ESB that Vader was "obsessed with finding young Skywalker". Before that Luke was off Vader's radar.

 

Good point about Luke being able to use his last name, and I agree it's something Vader would want to look into himself.

 

It's possible, but he only known Skywalkers from Anakin/Vader's Time are from the same family line. Vader would be smart enough to have the Imperials keep a lookout and inform him if any individual using the last name Skywalker to report it to him immediately.

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Why would he? He had no idea Padme had given birth before she died.

 

Maybe not, but if he heard that this 'Skywalker' grew up on Tatooine to moisture farmers with the surname Lars...

It would certainly have had him ponder, 'It couldn't be... This isn't possible...'

And while it may be possible that 'Skywalker' is a common surname, from what we've seen in the movies and the books -- the only people with that surname is from Anakin's bloodline and we've no sequence where we meet a Skywalker not related to Anakin. It could've been easily done in the Prequels, like Padme hears of a Skywalker, asks Anakin if they're related and he says, 'No relation. Mom would've told me.'

Indeed, in the OT, Vader never, not once, presumes that this Skywalker is just some random Skywalker kid. He immediately assumes this is his son, or at least is tangibly related to him. No one, not even the Emperor, asks him if this is just some other Skywalker -- not THE Skywalker. We don't even see a sequence where, again, Han asks Luke, 'Hey, you've a brother or something?' in relation to another Skywalker and Luke says, 'Nope, not related to him.'

Because this doesn't happen, the only thing I can conclude is that Skywalker is uniquely to Anakin's family tree.

 

How do we know Anakin never met another person with the surnames Skywalker or Kenobi? There might've been other Jedi with those names that we, as the audience, never saw. There might've been senators, aides, representatives or citizens from hundreds of worlds that Anakin had met that we didn't see because it happens offscreen or outside literature.

 

I think several people in this forum would disagree. Anything that's outside the canon movies or literature is just pure head speculation on our part. I could say that Anakin once solved a murder mystery on Naboo when he was a Padawan, with the help of Regni Binks -- a youthful nephew of Jar-Jar's -- and they stop the bad guy, but that doesn't make it true.

Again, if there was supposed to be another Skywalker running around that wasn't related to Anakin, we should've seen it in either the films or the canon books.

This whole thing spawned from a joking comment from Lucas decades ago, when he said it may be a popular name, like how 'Smith' is. Did he, in any official capacity, say that yes, Skywalker was a common surname?

 

A pilot with unusual skills with the last name Skywalker may not have attracted Vader's attention immediately, but I doubt Palpatine would ignore that.

 

The Legendsverse certainly made it clear Vader got extremely suspicious when "Skywalker" was combined with "Lars" in Luke's discovered background.

The Rise & Fall of Darth Vader

Luke Skywalker.
According to municipal records obtained from the settlement of Anchorhead on Tatooine, that was the name on the registration for a T-16 skyhopper owned by a human male pilot who had lived at the Lars homestead and was approximately nineteen standard years old.
Luke Skywalker.
According to a Kubaz freelance spy in Mos Eisley, that was the name on a Spaceport Speeders sales record for the landspeeder that had been purchased from a young man who later left on the Millennium Falcon, the Corellian freighter that had also carried Obi-Wan Kenobi to the Death Star.
Luke Skywalker.
According to a captured Rebel whom Darth Vader interrogated on Centares, that was the name of the X-wing pilot who had destroyed the Death Star.
Luke Skywalker.
Even while inspecting his nearly completed flagship, the Super Star Destroyer Executor, Vader could not get Luke Skywalker out of his mind. He silently chewed on the name, and considered the fact that the boy had been born three years after the death of Shmi Skywalker. To the best of his knowledge, Anakin Skywalker had been his mother's only living blood relative.
Could there have been other Skywalkers from Tatooine? Vader allowed the possibility. After all, it wasn't an entirely uncommon name in the galaxy.
But Anakin and Padme Amidala had been expecting a baby nineteen years ago.
Nineteen standard years.
It's not possible,Vader thought. I killed Padme. The baby died with her.
Not for the first time, he wondered if the Emperor had told him the whole truth about Padme's death. But I remember choking her ... seeing her collapse on Mustafar. I was so angry with her. And yet ...
Luke Skywalker exists.
Vader refused to believe the notorious Rebel's surname was merely a bizarre coincidence. If he had possessed any other name, Vader would not have hesitated to report what he had learned to the Emperor. But for purely selfish reasons, Vader kept the young Rebel's name to himself. To him, Luke Skywalker was more than a mystery to be solved.
He is ... an opportunity. As strong with the Force as he may be, he is an opportunity ... an opportunity for even greater power.
But who is he? Who were his parents? Could he have been Obi-Wan's son? But then why was he named Skywalker and raised by the Lars family? Or was he merely trained by Obi-Wan?
Because Obi-Wan Kenobi, Shmi Skywalker, Owen and Beru Lars, and Padme Amidala were dead, there was only one way Vader could discover the truth. He would have to ask Luke Skywalker himself. All he had to do was find him.

 

If there was another individual with the last name Skywalker that isn't related to Shmi, Anakin, Luke or Leia I have yet to see it..

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People in a GFFA should use toilet paper. But we've never seen or read anything about it, ergo, GFFA has no toilet paper.

Lack of evidence is not evidence of lack, people.

 

@Iron_lord That's pretty interesting. You happen to know of canon sources?

I'm willing to concede that maybe the last name isn't uncommon. Maybe y'all are right.

 

If Luke stays on Tatooine, he's safe and anonymous. He works on the farm, and probably ends up owning it when Owen & Beru are gone. He marries a local girl, raises a family, and lives a normal life. And about the only time his name comes up is when some sports fan shows up and says, "Hey, you've got the same name as that kid who won the Boonta Eve race years ago. You related to him, maybe?" And, since Luke stays in Anchorhead, that's about as far as it goes.
On the other hand, if he goes to the Academy, he has to send in an application. He innocently fills in all his personal details, like place of birth and next of kin. Since he's over 18, he won't need Owen's permission and can send it in himself. There's an extensive, Imperial background check. And maybe they find a few things that raise questions. ("Father: Anakin Skywalker? Does he mean that Jedi that disappeared years ago?") Still, maybe he squeaks by without too much scrutiny. But when he starts flying, and shows a skill that's all but supernatural, something happens. Like a training officer saying, "That kid is one great flyer. Lord Vader is looking for pilots like him for his personal squadron. Send his record over to him ASAP." And, then things start to happen that change to course of galactic history.
But, as it turns out, there's a third option to the situation...

 

That's basically all that I would've said, so I'll save myself the effort. LOL

Only thing being I feel it might take a bit longer for Luke to be discovered if he were in the academy-like several years perhaps, as Luke proves himself as a pilot and rises thru the ranks...but ultimately I'd have assumed it would play out just the same.

 

Yeah, Vader'd've noticed Luke in the end. In E5 , Vader senses Luke's presence even though he hides in a distant part of the galaxy along with the rebels. And when an Imperial Officer shows him (Vader) an image captured by a probe droid from the Hoth system , Vader bids (with a very precise tone in his voice) "That's it. The rebels are there." Upon Vader's claim , Admiral Ozzel says "My lord , there are so many uncharted settlements." If-you-behold-the scene ; you'll see that while Ozzel is bidding the phrase , he-mockingly-nods-connoting "My lord , we know you live in a world of fantasy , and hallucinate because of your meaningless belief to the Jedi religion , but haven't you gone too far this time?". He (Ozzel) continues his speech and bids "It could be smugglers..." , but before he finishes his sentence , Vader cuts in on his phrase and says (still, with being so sure of himself) "That's the system. And I'm sure Skywalker is with them. Set your course for the Hoth system".



While Vader's bidding his speech , he's SO "definite" in-a-manner-of saying "all this time I was having that very sensation about my son as to his hiding somewhere around the Hoth system. And now , the image that was sent via the probe droid COMPLETELY justifies my feelings.THAT'S IT!!! At last I've found my son!!!"..........



Vader-also-puissantly-senses Leia's presence "even though" he's unaware that she's his daughter. In the middle of the movie , while Vader's searching for the Millenium Falcon , the Imperial Officers establish a connection with Vader holographically to make their report , one of them (the Imperials) says "That , Lord Vader , was the last time they (meaning Han&the team) appeared in any of our scopes. Considering the damage we've sustained , hey must have been destroyed". And Vader responds "No, Captain, they're alive. I want every ship available to sweep the astreoid field until they're found".



If you watch the scene carefully ; you'll notice that Vader was VERY certain as to their (Han&his friends') not being dead , for-he-stanchly-says "No , captain , they're alive" , getting at "I don't know how , I can't explain it , but I'm sure that they're not dead , they're living right now". While he's talking with the Imperial Officer , he-doesn't-just-say "they're alive" , he says "they're a-live " , for he has an "intense" bond with Leia.



And also ; in ROTJ , when Luke reveals to Leia that he was Darth Vader's son , he bids "Vader is here. On this moon (i.e. Endor)". Leia asks "How do you know?" , and Luke replies "I felt his presence. He's come for me. He can feel when I'm near". There's a very energetic connection between Vader/Anakin and his offsprings.



As per above , Vader was able to sense Luke while he was hiding from the Empire "even" in a remote region of space (in ESB) , so yes , if Luke'd enlisted to the Imperial Academy , he (Vader) would've easily sensed who Luke was while he was under Vader's nose.



Many years ago , I went to America and stayed in Atlanta for a while. There, I purchased the premiere issue of the "Sci-Fi Universe Magazine" , which was including a comprehensive article about SW. On the last page of the essay , there was Darth Vader's picture , and above the picture it was writing "Reportedly , David Prowse who played Vader was told Obi-Wan was Luke's father so he couldn't leak the truth to the English press".



Mr Lucas made a very smart move by hiding Vader's being Luke's father from the media , and when ESB appeared in theaters worldwide , BANG!!! , it came as a BIG surprise to the viewers when Vader revealed to Luke (and the audiences ) that he was his father towards the end of the movie. I mean , Luke is a farmboy who grows up with the heroic sagas of his father , he wants to be a Jedi Knight ,an epical hero like him , but when the terrible truth about his father is revealed to him by his arch-enemy (that is Vader) , his world turns upside down , so does the movie.



A BRILLIANT way to heat up the story , and make the franchise more popular than it ever was..........

 

Vader was only aware of someone with strong force abilities at the battle of yavin and investigated. It was boba fett on one of his jobs for vader who discovers the name of the pilot is skywalker. Vader immediately thinks he has a son, what he doesn't think is that maybe it's another non related skywalker. Which makes me think it's a unique name.

See Marvel darth vader for further details

 

Must be the new Marvel continuity. I remember in the original run he gets the name after torturing a wounded Rebel. That was just before the TESB adaptation, and it featured Luke and Vader meeting before those events. It's actually a very interesting three-issue series, especially in how Vader is portrayed.

 

Yes it's the new continuity. I remember the old story called Vaders Quest which saw him hunt down the name of the pilot who destroyed the death star.

Yes it's been depicted that vader and Luke meet before empire. The first spinoff novel.splinter of the minds eye is one such depiction.

 

"Vader's Quest" was from Dark Horse. The Marvel stories from 1980 were "Dark Lord's Gambit", "Red Queen Rising" and "In Mortal Combat". All three show Vader as unusually crafty and manipulative, almost Emperor-like in a way.

 

Ah yes dark horse. It was a good story either way. Regarding vader being almost palpatine like it kinda makes sense. For vader to survive in the emperors court he needed to learn subterfuge even if he hated doing it.

 

If Luke had joined the Academy he would never have learnt his father was a jedi and he had that ability too, he would no longer be known as Skywalker but as TF64554 or some other designation so Vader would never learn his name was Skywalker.