Anakin Skywalker won the largest and hardest racing event in the galaxy. At the age of ten.

I'm making no assumption. I'm simply saying that your assumption does not follow. There is insufficient evidence to link Luke's apparent love of piloting via his T-16 skyhopper with an interest on Luke's part in podracing. As Stamp has also pointed out, podracing was built heavily around gambling and shady sponsorship. Not that that necessarily matters a jot (consider our own world), but if it's common knowledge on Tatooine, it might be a factor against podracing garnering Luke's interest or approval. I should also reiterate that Anakin boasts about being the only human capable of racing pods, implying that it isn't the sort of thing a sandy-haired kid who lived several towns away (at least) who was more into aerial flight would care for; even if the kid was that earlier kid's son. As for your analogy: Wayne Gretzky is literally the only hockey player I've ever heard of. In racing, outside of Formula 1, it's even worse. Right now, I couldn't tell you the names of any NASCAR drivers, motocross riders, rally drivers and so on. I do watch Formula 1 on occasion, but I don't go in for the other stuff. We all have our preferences and our loci of interest.

 

There is, indeed, no hard evidence that Luke was interested in pod-racing. Nor is there any hard evidence that he wasn't, however. He may have been, or he may not have been. Given his interests, I, for myself, wouldn't be surprised if he did. I know nothing of your interests, and thus cannot comment on how relevant your example is to the present discussion.

For me, though, the bottom line is that I don't see how there's a continuity problem even if he knows about Anakin's victory. We do have hard evidence of Owen feeding him a false history of what his father ended up doing during the Clone Wars. There's no reason to assume that Owen wouldn't have dealt with Anakin's pod-race in the same manner. Problem solved.

 

I see nothing to question. No where does it even imply Luke doesnt know his fathers name. Nor was he even really surprised that he was a Jedi. He just takes it all in stride. Hearing about one Race 30 years ago wouldnt really amount to anything in terms of where his father went to. Plus no one knew Anakin became Vader except the people who were there aside from his family, Yoda, Obi Wan, Padme, and Bail Organa. All of which he never ever met.

 

I think your post makes the most sense.

Look obviously, its a plot hole that GL probably gave zero thought to, but if there was a real excuse or reason, yours would be it.

 

How can you agree Derrville's post makes the most sense and then label the issue a "plot hole"? Its in no way a plot hole. There are several plausible explanations surrounding it that have been eloquently put forward in the thread thus far.

 

And according to Dark Lord: The Rise of Darth Vader, only Obi-Wan and Yoda knew that Anakin survived. Obi-Wan finds out by seeing a holo in a bar in Mos Eisley a few weeks after Mustafar; I'm assuming that he would have then told Yoda. I don't know that Bail Organa ever found out.

Again, I also assumed that Luke knew his father's name, although I'm also assuming that Owen gave him very little information on him aside from that. I envision a scene similar to the Dursleys' explanations in the Harry Potter series: "Your father was a navigator on a space freighter. Now don't ask questions."

 

Bail found out in the very same book.

 

Oh, OK, I stand corrected. It's been five years since I read it.

 

Just because Derrville came up with decent reasoning, it doesn't mean GL had the same idea in mind when he wrote the script.

You would think that Luke would have a better idea of who his father is, when his father was a legendary championi n the same area. It would be like being Babe Ruth's son and not really knowing anything about him.

 

Who cares whether it was in Lucas' mind? He didn't trip himself up. This is no "your father wanted you to have this" sized gap. Its not a gap at all. The fact there is adequate ambiguity and logical reason within the story to explain the perceived irregularity (as you admit there is) is at odds with what actually defines a plot-hole. Stating both cases in tandem is a contradiction. What the writer intended is irrelevant. For all you know, Lucas might well have reasoned the same things we have in this thread when writing TPM.

Such lack of knowledge would certainly leave a viewer scratching their head were its absence not founded on assumptions. You assume that the race was significant and/or irregular enough for the one-time winners to become legends like Babe Ruth. You assume Luke is interested in and a student of Pod-Racing and its history. You assume Luke knew his Father's forename and was not given false information by an Uncle likely keen to keep his Father's real identity secret - "he was a navigator" etc., and you assume there is only one or two "Skywalker" families found on Tatooine. Were these assumptions shown and evidenced in the movie, there might well be case for arguing a plot hole exists. No, wait.... no, there wouldn't because Luke could easily have been aware his Father won the Pod-Race as a slave kid without there being an issue. Shmi knew. She probably told Cliegg and Owen. Owen might have told Luke, who knows. The fact Anakin won a pod-race does not jar with the other info Luke believes about his Father - that he grew up, became a navigator and died before Luke's birth. Luke only expresses surprise when learning his Father was a Jedi. It actually takes more reasoning to find a plot hole than it does to defend one here.

 

Well, seeing as how GL has never addressed the issue, all we have are assumptions to go on.

Its really not that major of a problem anyway. Many other fish to fry in the PT.

 

Let's not forget that Anakin also blew up the capital ship that was besieging Naboo (by 'spinning', no less). I would like to think that such a feat would not go unrecognised by the populace.

 

Well to be honest the senate did not seem too concerned with what happened on baboon...

 

I think it is very probable that Luke was a podracing fan, or at least had conciderable knowlage of it.

I think it is referanced somewhere that one of his freinds in Anchorhead (Fixer?) was building a Pod to sell for the Boonta Eve or the actual podracing circut.

According to the Wook,

Anakin's win was somthing of an amazing feat in sports, think of Braun GP a couple of years ago in Formula One or the Butler Bulldogs in College basketball. Skywalker was an underdog who rose to an unbeliveable 15 minutes of fame.

I suspect Luke heard his name and knew of him because it was just so unexpected that he was a cult hero. Think of it, every year Sebulba won the Boonta Eve it was nothing new. Anakin's win was special.

I always thought the Boonta Eve was like the Indianapolis 500, the race everyone knows and the race everyone wants to win. It is also stated in the Episode 1: Racer game that it is the Crown Jewel of the Podracing Circut.

We do know that Anakin entered several races before the Boonta Eve and was probable at least known a little bit on the Podracing Circut as a pilot who could at least salvage a crashing pod, as said by Watto. But as I said above every other year in the Boonta Eve Sebulba won, this race was different and people remembered it.

 

LOL, I thought we put this one to bed. I stand by my original post on the topic but someone brought up an interesting point:

Can anyone here name the winner of either Indy or Daytona, 18 Years ago off the top of thier heads? And if you can, would you still if that was the only race the driver ever won?

 

I don't know what is being discussed exactly. Who's to say that Luke didn't know that his father had won the Boonta Eve race as a child? What is the significance of the name "Anakin Skywalker?" Did Owen not tell Luke his father's name?

Of course, Luke didn't know that Vader was Anakin Skywalker until Vader tells him, but there isn't any contradiction that I am aware of in believing that Luke knew he had a father named Anakin Skywalker who was a great pilot, who became a freighter captain and died.

Or even if we go with the idea that Luke is completely oblivious to the fact that his father won the Boonta Eve race as a child, I don't see anything wrong with that either.

 

If I was a racing fanatic, maybe, particularly if there was something unusual about the race &/or winner. There's fans of every sport who can pull out obscure statistics & names much older than 18 years. Most older English football fans could probably name the entire English squad which won the World Cup in 1966 - even I know Bobby Charlton was in there.

Luke was the Tatooine equivalent of a drag racer, it's not much of a leap to think that he would have followed both legal & illegal races. Perhaps podracing was considered old hat by those who used skyhoppers, but it's inconceivable to think that Luke, Biggs, Fixer & co wouldn't have been exposed to something about it, even if they didn't consider it worthwhile.

Good point - except that it would have been known that the same Anakin Skywalker was freed & left to become a Jedi Knight, & a well-known one at that.

Even then, I'm not sure how well-known it was during the Imperial era that Anakin Skywalker became Darth Vader. The Jedi were considered outlaws & traitors - Owen probably told Luke he wasn't any relation to Anakin anyway, if it ever came up.

 

To be fair, that line isn't sourced in the article, as as such is still unproven.

Really, the races on Malastare would/should be much bigger, as Malastare is a major world right on the Hydian and Tatooine...isn't.

Also, being that Luke thought his father was the navigator on a spice freighter, it seems to be a safe bet that he knew Anakin's name. Making the connection that his father was THE Anakin Skywalker, however, is more tricky. Especially since the Empire tried to wipe the Jedi from history.

 

Personally, I think the answer lies in something simple; one easily forgets Tatooine is a planet.

An entire planet, with different cities with thousands of miles between them... Compare the situation to Earth; would a boy on the ranches of Texas today be familiar with a (nonetheless significant at the time and place) car race in Australia that took place in the 1970s? I think not.

 

Different context - within the galactic situation, Republic or Empire, Tatooine may has well have been a country, & locals of the entire planet would have regarded themselves the same way that citizens of a single nation would have, with all the same local pride that would have been generated by large events & victories.

It's not exactly what I'd call a plot hole, because one first has to address the issue surrounding the name 'Skywalker', pod-race champion or not. If the name itself is not so unique, planet- or galaxy-wide, to invite the attention of a pair of Sith Lords in control of the entire galaxy, then it really doesn't matter if Luke happens to share the surname with someone who won a significant racing victory on the other side of the planet three decades earlier. He may well have been aware of the podracer Anakin Skywalker, he may have even been the subject of comments & taunts as a result - I share the full name of a legendary Australian rugby league player, have no relation to him & have no interest in rugby league, yet have copped comments for years, even now, almost 30 years after he retired - but it's a given that Owen & Beru would have denied any association.

I don't think this 'hole' has been addressed by the EU, apart from the implication that native Tatooine names tend towards very literal wording - Skywalker, Darklighter, Fardreamer (can't remember the novel, but Luke recognised someone called 'Fardreamer' as coming from Tatooine from his name) - just as a number of old-fashioned English names do, like Broadfoot, Drinkwater, Bracegirdle, even the virtually generic name Smith.

As already mentioned, GL addressed the issue by flippantly referring to the Tatooine phonebook. The EU might as well bury the issue by giving the name to a few characters who aren't related to the family we know.

 

I'm aware the context may be slightly different, but then again, Tatooine is about as much a member of the Republic as Nal Hutta is; it is a world far from the bright center of the universe, as Luke says, after all; inhabitants had to look after their own skin, Republic laws didn't apply... Tatooine, I think, can be seen as a world independent of the Republic enough for the analogy to work.

 

Well there was a Daytona 500 winner in about 1993 or 1994 called Derrick Cope who won the race in a last lap duel with Dale Earndhart and then did nothing with the rest of his carier. I am a racing fanatic and I could rememeber that and I assume Luke could too if he was as much of a petrol head as I think he is.

This is, of course, going on the assumption that the Boonta Eve Classic is a big race or if its not well known throughout the gallaxy.