CT Why did Vader not kill his step-brother ?

Vader went to great lengths to make sure no one knew of his past. So why not get rid of his family members too ?

 

I'm assuming here but I don't think Vader/Anakin really considered Owen his family. He barely knew him. Plus, I think in the grand scheme of things Owen was simply not important to Vader or even worth noting. He had no information on he Rebels and he wasn't Force sensitive. Why waste time on him? Of course if he had known Owen was harboring his son then things may have been different.

 

Can the opening poster give us an indication as to why he or she thinks Vader should have killed Owen, and when?

 

Strictly technically speaking Vader did kill his step-brother but not consciously - when he provided the Tatooine detachment with explicit instructions to kill anyone that might have gotten in contact with the Death Star plans.

 

Did this show up in the novels?

 

Exactly this.
And the only reason he gets fried 20 years later is because he just happened to purchase a droid that was carrying the Death Star plans. Talk about worse purchase ever.

 

In The Rise & Fall of Darth Vader, it's consciously:

After the meeting, Vader was informed that he had an incoming message from the Tatooine system. He had already been notified that Commander Praji's stormtrooper squad had learned that the Tantive IV's missing escape pod had carried two droids to Tatooine's surface, and that the droids had been picked up by a Jawa sandcrawler. Vader walked over to a communications console, where a holoprojector flickered to life and projected an image of two fully armed Imperial sandtroopers standing beside a middle-aged man and woman who wore robes and were kneeling on the ground. Near the four figures, there was a partial view of a structure, which Vader recognized as an entry dome for a desert dwelling.
Addressing the sandtrooper squad leader, Vader said, 'Report via closed circuit."
"Lord Vader," said one of the sandtroopers, adjusting a control on his helmet so that only Vader could hear his voice. "The Jawas sold a protocol droid and an astromech to these moisture farmers, but both droids are gone."
Moisture farmers? Intrigued, Vader examined the holograms of the kneeling couple and said, "The farmers' names?"
"Owen and Beru Lars, sir," the sandtrooper responded. "They say they don't know where the droids are, but it looks like a landspeeder is missing from their garage."
Owen and Beru, Vader recalled. The resolution of their holograms was clear enough that he could make out their worn, weathered features. Neither of them looked comfortable having blaster rifles aimed at their backs. Remembering how they'd looked on the day Anakin Skywalker had met them, Vader thought, The years have not been kind. It's time for them to pay for their repeated weaknesses.
"Your orders, sir?" said the sandtrooper.
"Tell Mr and Mrs Lars that they seem to have trouble keeping protocol droids on their property."
Not certain if he had heard correctly, the sandtrooper said, "Sir?"
"Then you may extend to them every courtesy you showed the Jawas before you continue your search. Establish checkpoints to detain any droids entering Mos Espa or Mos Eisley spaceports. And one more thing."
"Yes, Sir?"
"Do not stop transmitting until I break the connection."
"Understood," said the sandtrooper.
Vader watched the sandtroopers carry out his orders on their helpless victims. He found the sight of rising flames—even holograms of flames burning millions of light years away—to be most satisfying.
When the Lars family homestead had been transformed into an inferno, Vader deactivated the holoprojector. He proceeded to the nearest lift tube, and was quickly transported to sublevel five of detention area AA-23, which was reserved for political prisoners.
Time to talk with the Princess.​

 

Not in the NEU. It's just an assumption. If it were true Vader would try to get rid of Tarkin but he doesn't.

 

I agree with this. He was of no significance as far as Vader knew. If he had known he had his son then he would have killed them also.

 

If Vader found out that Owen had his son, and killed Owen when Luke was a kid, would Vader have taken him to live with him on the Death Star? If he did just that, for some reason, I see FAMILY GUY type of hilarity ensuing between Vader and small child Luke.

 

Not that much reason to do so - it seems like a bit of plot hole at certain times, while completely reasonable at others. That's what happens when you make up a story as you go along:

- 1976-1978 (solely based upon The Film Formerly Known as Star Wars) - Owen Lars was supposedly the actual brother of Annikin Starkiller/Skywalker, a Jedi Knight raised on Tatooine, murdered by Darth Vader (a separate character) during either the Clone Wars or the later Jedi Rebellion. No reason to hunt down some farmer living in the arse-end of nowhere who happened to be the brother of some dead Jedi;

- 1979-1983 (The Empire Strikes Back & Return of the Jedi) - in the ROTJ screenplay and novel, it was established that Owen Lars was the brother of Obi-Wan Kenobi. Given absolutely nothing else regarding the matter - for the sake of argument, I'm assuming that the ESB backstory conformed to the same, as ESB and ROTJ follow the new development of Darth Vader being Luke Skywalker's father. Owen & Beru were dead by then anyway, simply at the hands of Imperial troops looking for the droids.
In this instance, there was most definitely a reason for Darth Vader to have an interest in the Lars family since Obi-Wan went into hiding, although the smart thing to do would be to simply monitor them closely, in case Owen's brother turned up. No specific connection to Anakin Skywalker anymore, though, just Obi-Wan.
A child wouldn't necessarily be of any interest, and even if he had the family watched, I doubt Vader ever bothered going to Tatooine - so wouldn't have picked up on any Force connection with the child. Still no reason to kill Owen, Beru or their 'nephew';

- 1999-2005 (The Prequel Trilogy) - this is where it gets a touch clumsy, as Owen Lars is confirmed to be related by marriage to Anakin as a step-brother, but the character of Anakin Skywalker is established as being a bit more confused and conflicted than his vicious alter-ego. Vader wouldn't have forgotten his step-family on Tatooine, but all the planet held for him was painful memories, no reason to return, no grudge against the Lars family - hence why Obi-Wan gambled on hiding Vader's son (and himself) right there.
Besides, as far as Vader knew, his child with Padme was dead, anyway. If he had the family monitored, a nephew appearing on reports wouldn't have set off any alarm bells.
If he ever thought to look on Tatooine for Obi-Wan, the pain of returning would surely have convinced him to rationalise all manner of reasons not to bother to actually go there himself.. Again, as far as Vader knew, Owen Lars was no threat to him, or of any concern.

Simple fact of the matter is that Vader never had any reason to kill Owen Lars, whether he was Annikin Skywalker's biological brother, Obi-Wan Kenobi's brother, or Anakin Skywalker's step-brother. He was either:
a) of no concern whatsoever;
b) better use as bait; or
c) someone Vader would rather not deal with for personal reasons, and was content to dismiss as inconsequential.

Oversight on Vader's part? Yes, but that was the point. Darth Vader wasn't Emperor Palpatine. There was still good in him.

 

Well, it's darkly ironic that he did eventually have him killed, and I read it was for how he perceived Owen and Beru as weak when they couldn't save his mother. Notice how he's enraged and glaring at the Lars in AOTC when he returns with Shmi's body. Very disturbing. Of course, when Vader had Owen and Beru killed, it was primarily for the fact that they couldn't lead the stormtroopers to the droids. That really disturbed me as a child. But it goes to show that Luke, like his father, had a dark past. However, he did not attempt to shackle his emotions and in so doing allow his emotions to consume him.

 

Okay, first off, I haven't read any of the new EU. That said, I don't recall Vader being obsessed with the idea of killing off people who knew him as Anakin, at least in the old EU. Vader killed the Jedi because they were going to be a threat to him and Palpatine. Afterwards, he concentrated on his duties to the Empire, so he had no reason to go after the Lars. As ANH demonstrated and it was confirmed in TCW, Tarkin knows who Vader is. Was something said in "Lords Of The Sith"?