CT Leia's "Good Luck!" in ESB?

I'm currently re watching Empire and Leia's "good luck!" to the Rebels before the battle of Hoth struck me as odd. Was this an oversight on the part of the screenwriter or maybe a subtle indication that Leia has lost her belief in the Force at this point? As we learn from Obi Wan in ANH, "in my experience there's no such thing as luck" and everywhere else implies Leia believes in the Force but then in this scene she wishes the pilots luck and not a traditional "May the Force be with you".

What do you make of this?

 

She was nuts and bolts, very grounded, very stoic, during her character in SW77. She did not visibly seek out for the reassurance of a higher authority prior to her siding closer to Dodonna after the loss of Red Leader. Who had faith, and who had lost faith, at that juncture? Watch the moment. She did not mention the Force in her communication by hologram to Obi-Wan. Indeed, after a logistical exposition of names and places, she said "you are my only hope". She made an appeal that was factual and historical, and was based on what reduces to technical facility with data on hardware. She sparred with Darth Vader and Tarkin with pragmatic deception, fully knowing that there was a correct and an incorrect version of what is true.

She was a recruiter for the Rebellion. She did not act on any latent or unconscious attraction towards Han for upwards of two years, for, the mission was paramount. Attract star systems that are slipping through the fingers of tyranny. As a mere mortal that was thoroughly unaware of her lineage, she had enough on her plate to realistically manage multiple conflicting viewpoints in the coalition she was vital to building. She did not have the bandwidth, as it were, for the numinous.

Possibly, for her to say "May the Force be with you" might have come off as populist. Dodonna does not say it ironically. He says it as if he is a veritable true believer, and his age (comparable to Ben Kenobi) places him well into the time well before the dark times, the empire. Luke, for his part, had to ask Ben Kenobi, "The Force?"

 

Probably an oversight by the screenwriter (Kasdan) that managed to evade GL.

 

Indeed. The Force was either regarded as an "ancient religion" or was met with complete ignorance (as with Luke). Neither Leia nor the young warriors she addressed would take "May the Force be with you" seriously.

 

This is good question.
ROTJ has

So, it's on the books. Leia "could never have" 'understood' the Force.
What she made of her 'good luck' in hearing Luke at the bottom of Cloud City, we aren't going to know. Mary Poppins Leia does not offend me personally, but, the opportunity is passed.

 

Yes, but she also didn't believe she was Force sensitive (and Han had never even heard of it as of ANH). So, to her, "good luck" makes a lot more sense. Since she was raised by Bail Organa, it would be interesting to know how much he's told her about the Jedi.

 

Leia knew where to find the last known Jedi, so it's easy to speculate that she knew more than the ordinary Imperial citizen.

 

and?

Obi-Wan's opinions are not Leia's opinions, she might believe in luck, she might not, she may believe in the force, she may not.

It's no different than a non-religious person saying 'bless you' after somebody sneezes. It's just a common expression

or Vader saying "pray I do not alter it further"

 

That's interesting, because she addresses him as General Kenobi. Maybe she had heard of something from Bail about "Jedi". She might not have. Bail might have protected her by just keeping the Jedi characteristic out of it. She could have addressed him as Master Kenobi, had Bail made it clear of the proper address. I'd err that she was as unfamiliar with Jedi and Force as Luke and Han were. But she knew to do what her father requested, go get General Kenobi.

 

She says to Luke before they swing over the chasm, “for luck.” It reads and plays better for these quick moments.

 

I'm sure as well this is the historical fact of the matter. But I won't hit like on your post, because I do not like the effect of the simplicity of your analysis. (It's only a model...) Too much historical fact truncates dialog, and dialog is where a lot of unseen wisdom lives. We're the knights of the round table.

 

Simplicity is often the answer, people tend to search for overly complicated answers though.

 

Don't dismiss reality-based explanations. This is the same film where Han Solo says "I'll see you in Hell", which also sounds very un-StarWars-like.

 

I'm pretty sure it meant she wanted to wish them good luck.

 

Hobbie asks incredulously, "Two fighters against a star destroyer?" He could not believe it wasn't butter. But Leia assured him / them that the ion cannon would clear a path. Still, it was not a sure thing. A significant difference between the contexts was that Dodonna intoned "May the Force be with you" when the cause faced a total, all or nothing existential threat. Leia was talking to a group of pilots who would escort small transports in a numbers game. Death Star / Tarkin could kill the rebellion in one swift strlrlrlrloke. That captain on the Star Destroyer said, Good our first catch of the day. So, perhaps invoking 'may the force be with you' has appropriate contexts. 'Thou shalt not take the presence of the force in vain. Do so only for great, just cause.' Type thing.

 

There's a difference between Leia Organa, who has no idea of her true heritage and Obi-wan Kenobi, a fully trained Jedi Master. One believes in a thing called luck and one has learned that there is a greater power via the Force and that the will of the Force will often play a hand in things that would otherwise be considered luck.

 

I'm still hoping for an in-universe explanation for that line.

 

You know, I totally overlooked Leia's "for luck!" kiss to Luke in ANH. For some reason I always inferred Leia was a believer, maybe because her advice to Luke about Han having "to find his own path" felt spiritual and I always associated the whole rebellion with the Force but you're right, ANH does nothing to imply Leia believes in the Force.

As for the behind the scenes explanation, it's perfectly acceptable to consider both. There's the real world behind the scenes answer and there's the in-universe explanation which I find more fun and more conducive to discussion, immersion in the world and imagination. If the behind the scenes answer is all you are looking for, you might as well shut this forum down!

 

Not to mention that the Jedi plan relies on Palps believing the Jedi are gone, so while she may have been told about the Jedi by Bail, he probably kept their (or, at least, Ben's) existence and location a secret until it was absolutely necessary to tell her.

To be fair, the audience does have to understand the importance of the line. The closest in-universe analogy we have is Mustafar, but even as a metaphor, that planet wasn't known to the audience at the time.

That said, the Star Wars databank used to have a reference to one of my favorite lines in the ANH novelization:

Suddenly the boyish twinkle returned to those piercing eyes along with the old
man's natural humor. "I understand you're quite a pilot yourself. Piloting and
navigation aren't hereditary, but a number of the things that can combine to make a
good small-ship pilot are. Those you may have inherited. Still, even a duck has to
be taught to swim."
"What's a duck?" Luke asked curiously.
"Never mind. In many ways, you know, you are much like your father."
Kenobi's unabashed look of evaluation made Luke nervous. "You've grown up
quite a bit since the last time I saw you."

 

There can be ducks on Dagobah. It had snakes and lizards.

 

Probably not many sea creatures on Tattooine, being a desert planet and all...

[EDIT] Apparently ducks were reintroduced, for a short time, at least, on Naboo.

Behind the scenes

The "ducks" seen in Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace

Ducks were first mentioned in the 1977 novelization of Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope, which was ghostwritten by Alan Dean Foster.[8] They were given an entry in the now-defunct Databank of StarWars.com, which stated that ducks appeared in Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace.[2] However, the birds seen in that movie were later retconned into pelikki, a related species, in Star Wars: The Phantom Menace: The Expanded Visual Dictionary. Nonetheless, the visual dictionary still mentions the ducks as part of Naboo's wildlife, meaning that the old Databank entry remains valid for the most part.[5] -
https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Duck/Legends

 

We see ducks on Naboo in TPM and Captain Panaka refers to his group as being like "sitting ducks" in same movie.

 

Exactly. The whole point of that line is that Luke, having grown up on a desert planet, doesn't know what a duck is. But Obi-Wan does.

 

Also it can’t be overused or else it’s, well...overused. People say Good Luck and also God Bless You etc. And also should be used for dramatic weight in a narrative. Good luck works better here for a screenplay.

 

The deck officer said they had trouble adapting the snow speeders to the cold. So Han says he'll take a taun taun. Deck officer says his taun taun will freeze before the first marker. So Han says I'll see you in hell.
Since my rhymes are un-pro_nounce-Able but my imagination is in_de-fa-ti-Gable, how about:
Han is uttering a Miltonian Satan's taunt to a lost soul. Milton's Satan famously would rather reign in hell that serve in heaven. In the original Klingon this was 'die on your feet not live on your knees'. (Shakespeare also stole some parts of Hamlet from the Klingons.) The deck officer is guilty of abandoning a comrade. Whether or not Luke is a close personal friend of that officer. Luke is a leading comrade, and risked himself to buy a little time and breathing room to a multitude of Rebel Alliance. But this guy is holding back like some unenviable negative example out of a Jesus parable. The correct course was to make 'maximum effort' like they say in 12 O'Clock High. For his part, in a nearly opposite position, Han has not pronounced for the Rebellion. It's not a short topic to get into. Han defenders like () will leap to Han's good character and beneficience and all these other knightly virtues in a scoundrel. Well. My eyes and ears detect only what they detect. Han examples the virtue of putting himself on the line for a personal friend, regardless of the greater politics, greater existential narrative, the particular pickle he and Chewy are in because of their here to fore lifestyle, etc. On one detail I would stand with Han defenders - He absolutely in no way goes to help Luke out of any backward looking glance at Leia. Nope. Total solid loyalty. This is primer material for young minds. But he's had a life that doesn't immediately suit him for this noble cause - he's done bad things himself. And so, in a flash or a pinch, where his deepest truth rushes to the surface without any filter, he admits of his soul's own prospects that he is not fit for Heaven. (Whatever the GFFA version of heaven is, whatever heaven is.) So in this instant, Han has a sharp certainty that this deck officer's sins, or this one sin of abandoning a comrade, stacks instantly to heaven such that it is tantamount to the sum of smaller wrongs Han has ever done. That gives Han power. It's a powerful scene. That's the real Han Solo, that was supposed to stand up when they brought back Han Solo. That Han Solo was not acting in reference to Leia.