STAR WARS
His Royal Highness, Lord Darth Vader, cometh
After the royal emmissary droids, we meet Darth Vader - naturally.
Anakin Skywalker married Queen Amidala.
That's not just fantasy made up for the new trilogy.
Leia is Vader's daughter - PRINCESS Leia - if she's the Princess, then who's her daddy?
Darth Vader is - LORD Darth Vader, Anakin Skywalker.
The title of Lord is not a Sith title - the word 'Sith' is never mentioned in the original trilogy.
Darth Vader is King - he is the male head of galactic royalty.
Vader arrives on an active battle scene, BEFORE the ship is secured.
Impressive. Most impressive.
Can you imagine Janet Reno strolling into the Waco compound?
Or Westmoreland crawling into a Viet Cong tunnel?
Why is Vader so intent? Because his daughter is on this ship.
And Vader pauses to survey the dead, a poignant moment we see from no one else in these movies.
Vader is troubled by this bloodshed
In rapid succession we see Vader's soldiers
NOT executing prisoners
NOT firing on an escape pod
NOT shooting to kill
All of this somehow has left a lasting impression that the Imperials are evil.
Um, say again?
This is Lord Vader picking up his daughter - why are the 'Rebels' shooting at Vader's troops?
"WHY THE FUCK ARE MY DAUGHTER'S GUARDS SHOOTING AT ME?! BRING ME THEIR LEADER!"
These are not Rebels.
This is not a Rebellion - it is a Counter-Rebellion.
The actual Rebellion happened about two decades before this.
The man that we see Vader choking is a complete mystery, thanks to the movie providing no information about him.
Who is he? What, exactly, does he think he's doing? And who for?
This is one of the first actions we see of Vader's and it is meant to burn into our minds that Vader kills at a whim.
Vader does not kill without reason, and the reason he mostly kills is when anybody - ANYBODY - fucks with his family.
Like when nobody else in the family or community could do anything about his mother being kidnapped and tortured.
Imagine a rising politician flying from Washington DC to the middle of the desert, climbing on a motorcycle and hunting down his mothers's captors.
Wow.
When searching for his missing son, Vader killed high ranking Imperial officers who thwarted his efforts.
And when the Emperor was going to kill Luke, Vader picked him up bodily and threw him down a shaft.
Seriously, don't fuck with the King's family - he will personally fuck your shit up.
I suspect Vader has a personal grudge he is settling with this jackass leader of Leia's bodyguard.
Their exchange is delightful - the man is obviously lying, knowing Vader will kill him instantly if he reveals the truth.
So, after confirming confirming the lie with a sneer that can almost be felt through royal respirator, he kills this villain.
We do not see Leia interacting with her crew at all - she gives them no orders during this firefight and is hiding alone.
Leia has lost control of her ship.
This is a MUTINY!
Vader is not capturing Leia - his is RESCUING her from her own trecherous crew!
Why did Leia's crew rebel?
The DEATH STAR PLANS!
The Death Star causes madness that is infectious and spreading.
Leia isn't running from her father, she's on a mission from her father to deliver the plans.
Her father, Vader, monitored the transmission of the plans - this may have been a complicate rouse gone afoul.
Then something happened aboard her ship that required Vader to storm in, diable the blockade runner, and sieze control.
What did they intend to do? Sell the plans? Try to make another Death Star? Barter for Leia's life?
We never find out, but Leia is no longer safe with these mutineers and it is her father who saves her.
Also interesting side note: while Vader is holding this man in the air by his throat, he's not leaning forward at all.
Some feel that Vader is holding the man up with the Force, but nothing magical seems to be implied here.
Rather (Vader being more machine than man (Obi-Wan's words)), I agree with others more observant than I that this demonstrates the power of his cybernetic armature.
There is no telekinesis in Star Wars.