would han and leia have died if luke wasnt there?

Yoda: you must not go

luke: ummm. okay.



would things have been much different?

 

They escaped without his help, didn't they? Although having Luke aboard the Falcon meant the TIEs and the Executor couldn't tear it to pieces as they attempted to escape.

EDIT: This is an interesting question, as it's clear the stormtroopers were 'trying' to stop Leia, Lando and Chewie from escaping, but could've well have killed them (the most painful miss is when Leia stands to watch Slave 1 fly off. As she trembles, a shot goes to the right of her. Geez, how can you miss a standing target?).

 

Well, at least GL kept continuity; the stormtroopers couldn't hit anything in ANH either.

 

Since when were stormtroopers known for their accuracy?
As for the question, Leia, Lando, and Chewie had already taken care of themselves (and also had to save Luke at the same time). As mentioned above, though, his presence on the Falcon probably contributed to them being able to avoid the Imperials, who would have been trying harder to blast them if it wasn't for Vader wanting Luke intact. But who knows?

 

"Those blast marks are too precise to be Sand People. Only Imperial Stormtroopers are that accurate."

Or something like that.

 

I think it's a good question, and until now I had assumed that Luke made a mistake by going there, that they would have escaped anyway, but now I realise that Vader's attention was not on Leia or Han, but on Luke.
Had he not been preoccupied I think he would have made certain that Leia and Han would never have left cloud city out of Imperial hands.

 

Dig deeper.
What if the droids didn't make it to Luke in ANH?
What if Han wasn't hell bent on taking out that Tie Fighter that led them to the Death Star?
What if R2 wasn't able to lock down that stabilizer that had gotten loose?

You can go on and on and on.

Things happen for a reason.

 

this isnt a hypothetical "what if" question.

what im trying to figure out is if lukes departure from dagobah had any effect at all. because to me, it seems that things would have gone on just the same, with leia and han, regardless of wether or not luke left to try and save them.

 

Definately. Leia and Chewie had escaped on their own. They would have waited for Luke to return better equiped and trained to make the final assault on the Empire and of course rescue Han.

 

So you're talking about fate?
Vader would eventually do whatever it took to get Luke into his hands, killing would not be beyond him.

 

Well Luke didn't really make much of a difference. But if Luke stayed on Dagobah, then there would have been no R2. Without R2, they could not have escaped Cloud City or gotten away from the Executor. So, Luke indirectly helped them escape.

 

Good point SLR.
I forgot about little R2.
Although, would they have been in the area of the Executioner if they didn't go back for Luke? Maybe they were forced to take a different route by the Tie Fighters.

 

But w/o R2, they would not have been able to get to the Millenium Falcon (the door was locked and only R2 could override the City's computer system). Also, w/o R2, they couldn't have fixed the hyperdrive. They wouldn't get too far w/o that and the Empire would have gotten them.

 

R2-D2 - the true hero of Star Wars.


He who carried the Death Star plans and saw them delivered to Ben Kenobi.

He who shut down the trash compactor on the Death Star - saving Luke, Leia, Han and Chewbacca.

He who saved Leia, Threepio and Chewie from Cloud City.

He who provided Luke with his lightsaber at just the right moment at the Sarlacc pit.

He who put Threepio back together on two seperate occasions.

He who saved the day when Queen Amidala's ship lost it's sheilds.


I could just go on and on, but as it is I've already steered right off the main topic of this post!



I totally agree SLR, if Luke hadn't rushed off to 'rescue' them then Artoo wouldn't have been there to do the actual rescuing that ensured their escape.

 

If Luke had not left for Bespin, then Leia and Chewie would never have escaped.
Vader captured these three for the sole purpose of attracting Luke's attention. Han's torture seems to have been the catalyst, since Lando says that Luke is on the way to Cloud City.
If Luke had never left Dagobah, then Vader would have continued to torture Han, Leia, and Chewie until either Luke showed up, or all three were dead.