Star Wars: Everyone Who Knew Vader Was Luke's Father (Before He Did)
The revelation that Darth Vader is Luke’s father is a critical moment in the Star Wars original trilogy, but several characters knew of this before Luke did. While A New Hope introduced the Star Wars galaxy and many of the original trilogy’s heroes in a simple and accessible manner, The Empire Strikes Back delved deeper into not only the characters and intricacies of the Force and its dark side but also the connection between Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader. The surprise revelation of Luke’s true parentage perfectly set up his and Vader’s character arcs in Return of the Jedi, which had some of the Star Wars franchise’s most compelling and nuanced characterization. Empire Strikes Back’s twist ending also called into question who knew that Anakin was both Darth Vader and that Luke was his son.
The Empire Strikes Back’s surprise revelation is regarded as one of cinema’s greatest plot twists, in addition to fundamentally changing the dynamic between the original trilogy’s heroes and villains. It’s not clear whether or not George Lucas planned this relationship from the start. While Lucas has claimed that the twist was always planned, there’s little evidence that this was ever the case, and dialogue from A New Hope (be it from deleted scenes or the film’s theatrical cut) doesn’t hint at the twist, though some actors’ performances and certain exchanges retroactively fit well with it. Vader being Luke’s father might have been an early consideration when working on the Star Wars films and Lucas simply re-adopted it in The Empire Strikes Back after the first film's success.
Related: Star Wars: How Dooku Proved The Greatest Difference Between Anakin & Luke
Many characters throughout the saga films and non-movie material from both
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