CT What do you think of the idea of Luke and Leia being siblings?

I feel I should point out that there was actually a famous astronomer by the name of Allan Sandage who worked as an assistant to Edwin Hubble. In Lucas's earliest notes for Star Wars, mention is made of a "Hubble people." Therefore, it seems reasonable to deduce that Lucas was drawing from some text dealing with famous astronomers when coming up with names for his story, and "Sandage" and "Hubble" happened to be two that he chose.

Beyond that, I won't comment.

 

Interesting. I didn't know that!

 

Neither did I. I just Googled "Sandage," clicked on Allan Sandage's Wikipedia page, saw his connection to Edwin Hubble, remembered reading something about a "Hubble people" in The Making of Star Wars, and then made the connection just now.

Painstaking scholarship!

 

I still remember sitting at home one Saturday morning with a friend, who recommended we try some VHS tapes of Star Wars.

When Leia gives Luke a kiss "for luck", my friend says "ewwwww." When I ask him why, he says what we all know.

I was disappointed when I got the news.

 

All this business about Leia kissing Luke seems a little overdone. Yes, in hindsight brother and sister kissed each other, but at that point in the movie they had no idea they were related! They were raised on different planets in different parts of the galaxy and were total strangers when they met. As Devilinthedetails notes Leia kissed Luke to make Han jealous and get him to pay more attention to her, not because she was 'in love' with Luke. The so-called "love triangle" definitively ended when Luke found out Leia was his sister.

 

Yes, this. I've never really been able to understand why some people think the kiss is so gross. They didn't know they were brother and sister, not yet. Although it wouldn't suprise me if Leia had begun to suspect a deeper connection after Luke made force contact with her in Bespin.

 

I'm sure we don't have anything to gain from speculating about potential incest on the part of a one-handed blond knight who kissed his sister in public.

 

I believe most of the speculation is done in jest. A lot of people, myself included, find it comical and funny.
I don't get people being hung up on it or having a problem with them kissing. They had no clue they were related. None of the kisses were done with any passion or feeling. Even Leia kissing Luke on Hoth is without emotion. It's purely for the sake of making Han jealous. It's not like Lucas had them making out and banging in ANH only to find out they were siblings in ROTJ.

The only issues I have with the being brother and sister is it's a lazy way to resolve the love triangle. Can't have the hero lose out on getting the girl, so make them siblings. And it makes Luke appear a bit inept in that he doesn't see the sexual and romantic tension between Han and Leia. Plus it makes the fact that them being siblings wasn't the original idea and was changed to suit the story.

 

It might be a joke, but the potential was there from the beginning.... before the beginning, in fact:

"Weialala leia! Wallala leialala!"
- The Rhinemaidens, Twilight of the Gods (Richard Wagner)

"Bride and sister shall you be to your brother; so flourish then, O Waelsungs' blood!"
- Siegmund to his sister Sieglinde, The Valkyrie (Richard Wagner)

 

Great idea badly handled post ROTJ,

 

To be honest, if there was one thing about the OT (and I guess RotS) that I could undo, this would be it. A cheap plot twist that's super awkward in retrospect and pointless overall.

The only ''purpose'' it served was making Kylo Ren a Skywalker in the ST, which was only another reason why the 'sister twist' was a bad idea, IMO.

 

I think he did see the sexual/romantic tension between them. Han asks Luke (because he sees Luke is jealous) if he thinks "A princess and a guy like me.." and Luke cuts him off with "No," and Han laughs at the look on Luke's face.
I agree that it was kind of a lazy way to resolve the triangle, but I like the whole twin thing between them. Plus his love for his sister being the catalyst for pushing Luke toward the dark side the way Anakin's love for Padme being the catalyst for him. The similarity between the two is one of the things I really like about the story.

 

Luke and Leia as siblings naturally leads to my entire favourite moment of the saga. Vader baiting Luke with Leia.

You see, everyone jokes about the Incesty thing with Luke and Leia - But I feel that actually plays into Lukes reaction. He has some really funky and messed up feelings for Leia. Love, Lust, Friendship, Maybe a little bit of Jealousy with Han. He never grew up with Leia, he has never seen her as a sister till Endor.

So Luke has buried inside some stirred up stuff that he is supressing with his Jedi training.

And then Vader mentions her. Corrupting her. Which maybe in the back of Lukes mind is kind of something that would slightly appeal (Him and Her as Dark Game of Thrones like Siblings on the throne, a love they could share now, any rules thrown aside) and also repulses him (he has always seen her as this white-than-white angelic princess. Someone pure and honest and honourable and now Vader sullies that)

This all hits his buttons in a huge way and the Dark Side Beckons.

Without Leia, what could Vader bait Luke with? What is his tragic flaw?

(Which leads to a very odd reading of the terrible sequel trilogy where Luke kind of gets the girl in the afterlife and Han is forever gone)

UKS