"That boy is our last hope" "No...there is another"

A memorable quote from TESB, and a topic of much debate.
I have never been completely sure who Yoda was referring to in the above quote. I think he was most likely talking about Anakin, although I know some people think he means Leia, so I would be interested to hear any theories.

I think Anakin for 2 reasons:

1) Obi-Wan knew that Leia was Luke's twin, as did Yoda, therefore why would they disagree about Luke being their last hope if Leia was indeed the one Yoda was referring to?
They both knew that Leia had the potential to use the force, but IMO they both knew she was too old and would not have the opportunity to learn to use it in such a way as to threaten the empire.

2) Anakin came through in the end!
Obi-wan dismissed Luke's claim that Vader could be turned back to the good side: "He's more machine now than man; twisted and evil"
But Yoda, being wiser and stronger in the force, was able to sense the potential for Anakin to turn good. And Yoda was proved right.

For me this wraps things up quite nicely. This explanation seems to work from a logical point of view, and I think it also adds a nice moral to the story: the wise old master recognises that it's never too late for a person to change their ways.


Sorry to have waffled on! I think this is a really interesting part of the story so if anyone has anything to add, or wants to offer a different opinion on this, then I would be interested to hear it.

Thoughts anyone?

 

Without Luke or Leia there was no chance of Vader just suddenly switching back to the light side.

It's Leia.

 

I seem to remember a thread on this already.

Anakin is not the other Yoda spoke of. In the context of the saga, it's Leia. In actuality, at the time of TESB being produced, the other was supposed to be Luke's sister who would be introduced in a sequel trilogy (not Leia). In no way shape or form has it ever been or will it ever be Anakin. That makes no sense whatsoever.

L8r

 

You're right- we did have a thread on this.

I have always thought Yoda meant Leia. Although at the time we didn't know about the connection between Luke and Leia and it wasn't til RotJ did I realize Yoda did mean Leia being "the other".

 

Well I read somewhere that Dark side users can sense dark side acts and the same thing with light, but they cant sense each other. Maybe when Yoda said that, he felt the good side of Anakin and referred to him. Just a thought though.

 

Leia could be considered the "another" that Yoda spoke of because in ROTJ Luke would not fight Darth Vader until Vader threatened to turn Leia to the dark side.That set into motion the final chain of events that led to Anakin's redemption.

 

my_young_apprentice_ you said that Obi-wan knew luke and leia were twins, but the way I see it these lines show that he didn't, and it was only afterwards that yoda let him in on the secret.

Surely when they were hiding the twins it would be best if as few people as possible knew about both, yoda knew and their mother knew that's it, and the way I see thier mother didn't know where luke was. Yoda was the only one who knew everything.

 

I seem to remember a thread on this already.

Yes, many of them.

QUESTION
My_young_apprentice_ Question: I have never been completely sure who Yoda was referring to in the above quote. I think he was most likely talking about Anakin, although I know some people think he means Leia, so I would be interested to hear any theories.

REAL WORLD ANSWER
RogueScribner: Anakin is not the other Yoda spoke of. In the context of the saga, it's Leia. In actuality, at the time of TESB being produced, the other was supposed to be Luke's sister who would be introduced in a sequel trilogy (not Leia). In no way shape or form has it ever been or will it ever be Anakin. That makes no sense whatsoever.

Yes, to Scribner you listen.

 

I always thought is was Leia without question. But, the Anakin notion did make me wonder a bit.

So, let's say Luke fails by either not killing the Emperor or not turning his father of whatever. What's gonna happen to Leia? Spontaneous Jedi-Masterhood?

Does anyone have any answer for that? The more I think about it, the more it bugs me. I know bout the invisible sister switch too, but didn't GL create a logikal hole there?

 

Yoda & Obi woulda trained her from beyond the grave. *shrug*.

 

Some very interesting comments here.

Firstly it looks as though the common opinion is that Leia is the one being referred to. I have never heard that GL's original idea was for Luke to have a different sister (not Leia), but you guys seem to know more about this than me so I can accept this.

For whatever reason, however, this 'other' sister does not exist in the movie itself. So let's suppose it's Leia.

My problem with this, as I mentioned in the original posting, is that if Obi-Wan and Yoda both knew about Luke having a twin sister, then why would they disagree?

Max_Rebo_TributeBand has made an interesting point though, that perhaps Obi-Wan didn't know of Leia's existence. I always imagined that Obi-Wan would have known, because of the manner in which he explains the situation to Luke in ROTJ. I may be wrong, but he seems very assured in what he saying - not the manner of someone who lived their entire life in ignorance of the fact only for Yoda to 'spill the beans' to Obi when he was in spirit mode. In my opinion at least, the most likely possibility is that they both knew all along.

I suppose we will have to wait until ROTS to find out for sure, and then we will know who knows and who doesn't!

Roguescribner, thanks for the info - you obviously know a lot about the evolution of the story. However I would have to disagree that the 'other' being Anakin makes "no sense" - regardless of whether it is supposed to be Anakin or not (and judging by people's reponses it looks like it's probably not), I think my original posting makes a good argument for why it COULD be Anakin - after all it is Anakin who saves the day in the end!


Finally, I know I am repeating myself slightly, but would everyone agree that IF it turns out that both Obi-Wan and Yoda DO know of Leia's existence all along, then it would not make any sense for them to disagree?

Maybe I will have to wait for ROTS and then start this up again

 

In the second draft and as in the movie, Luke has the vision of his friends in danger and decides to save them. Ben and Yoda warn him against Vader and the dark side. Luke says he'll come back and takes off. In this draft there's no hint that there may be another hope if Luke fails. In the revised second draft a few lines of dialogue were added as Luke's X-wing disappears into the sky. Yoda says: "Now we must find another." Ben replies: "He is our only hope." And in the third draft, after Luke takes off, Ben says: "The boy is our last hope." Yoda replies: "No . . . We must search for another."

George Lucas: "My feeling about Luke being the last hope was really done in an effort to make sure that he was in some jeopardy, that he might not succeed. I was trying to set up subliminally in the audience's mind that something is going on here, that he could fail. And if he does fail, 'there is another hope.' So the audience is saying, 'Don't go, finish your training.'"

Excerpted from Star Wars: The Annotated Screenplays, page 200.

"So the story was quite a bit more poignant and the ending was the coronation of Leia as the queen of what was left of her people, to take over the royal symbol. That meant she was then isolated from all of the rest and Luke went off then by himself. It was basically a kind of bittersweet ending. She's not his sister that dropped in to wrap up everything neatly. His sister was someone else way over on the other side of the galaxy and she wasn't going to show up until the next episode." --- Gary Kurtz, speaking to Film Threat about the original story idea for Return of the Jedi.

The "hope" was for someone to defeat Vader and the Emperor. Why would Yoda hope for Vader to simply come around and not be a bad guy anymore? Especially after 20 years of terrorizing the galaxy? Sorry, it doesn't make sense. As far as Yoda and Obi-Wan are concerned, Anakin is dead. Their entire plan is for Luke to defeat Vader, not save him. It's a miracle Luke tapped into that one shred of good left in Vader. Yoda and Obi-Wan couldn't count on that. They had the fate of the entire galaxy to worry about.

L8r

 

I remember reading somewhere in an interview with laurence kasdan that it was refering to lukes sister, however it wasnt leia - and that this would be sorted out in episodes 7-9.

 

Yoda was not talking about Anakin. He was talking about Leia.
Luke in ROTJ to Ben: "Yoda spoke of another."
Ben: "The other Yoda was talking about is your twin sister."

Yoda and Ben wanted Luke to kill Vader. They didn't believe any good was left in him. Only Luke felt that there was a conflict in him.

 

Well, to be fair, Luke was referring to Yoda's line, "There is . . . another . . . Sky . . . walker . . .," and not Yoda's, "No . . . there is another," which Luke wasn't even around for.

But the logical choice is Leia, not Anakin.

L8r

 

Yoda said "Only a fully trained Jedi Knight,with the Force as his ally,will conquer Vader,and his emperor". Anakin was a fully trained Jedi who conquered Vader(his own dark side)and the emperor.

 

That being my question. I'm pretty sure that the "other" is Leia, but she neither trained, nor has the faintest clue about the Force. Is there any kind of EU exlpaining what would happen if Luke had failed?

I know Lucas has more regard for his beard than most of the EU, but still I need to know.

 

Is there any kind of EU exlpaining what would happen if Luke had failed?

I seem to remember an Infinities comic, from the very outskirts of my reading the EU, when Luke died and Yoda took Leia as his apprentice.

 

It is Anakin.

It is not Leia... look at how reluctant she is when Luke reveals to her "the truth".

Think about it... "balance to the force"... what do you think that means?