The Empire Strikes Back

Special Edition Laserdisc Side 5 Chapter 23:

Vader is speaking to a hologram of the Emperor.

V: What is thy bidding, my master?

E: There is a great disturbance in the force.

V: I have felt it.

E: We have a new enemy: Luke Skywalker.

V: Yes, my master.

E: He could destroy us.

V: He’s just a boy. Obi-Wan can no longer help him.

E: The force is strong with him. The son of Skywalker must not become a Jedi.

V: If he could be turned, he would become a powerful ally.

E: Yes. <realization> Yes. He would be a great asset. Can it be done?

V: He will join us or die, [?] Master. <Sounds something like, "He will join us or die, he-he Master." Can anyone with a script shed some light on the Vader’s vocalization just before the word, "master?">

1) The Emperor exhibits little prior knowledge of Luke -- it’s as though the Emperor has only recently realized that Luke could be a threat. But because of a response by Vader ("Obi-Wan can no longer help him"), we infer that the Emperor has learned of Vader’s encounter with the group in ANH, and of the death of Obi-Wan at Vader’s hands. Who would have told him about this? Surely Vader. And so why are they only now having this conversation? Seems likely that Vader must have told the Emperor about killing Ben, but in doing so he downplayed Luke’s involvement. Vader understands Luke’s potential, but he’s been trying to hide it from the Emperor.

2) Lucas could have had the Emperor say, "your son must not become a Jedi," but he didn’t. With this Lucas could be indicating any of several things: a) the Emperor does not know Vader is Anakin Skywalker (very unlikely); b) the Emperor thinks Luke is some other Skywalker’s son (even more unlikely); c) the Emperor has put a lot of effort into removing any vestige of Anakin from Vader, and thus would never wish to suggest Luke was Vader’s son; or d) the Emperor has never put two and two together and doesn’t realize Vader has a son. I vote "c."

3) Vader tries to protect Luke, first by dismissing him as "just a boy," and then by suggesting a way he could be kept alive. And if this is true, then he is successfully deceiving the Emperor. After all, the Emperor doesn’t respond by saying, "You’re just trying to protect him. You’ve got to put the fact that he’s your son out of your mind."

4) Only once does Luke mention his mother in all this, but he regularly discusses his father. Did Lucas do this just to help keep the story simple? Well, it’s worked from 1977 through the present. But will it work when we’ve all grown to know his mother? Won’t we be wondering why he thinks only of his father? Why Obi-Wan never volunteers information about his mother?