STAR WARS

The Big Lie

When Luke asks the Big Question, Kenobi's face contorts drastically, telegraphing the enormous line of bullshit he's about to lay down. His story is so twisted it's difficult to tell if there's any truth in it. A 'young Jedi' named Darth Vader? Young? Jedi? And doesn't Anakin receive the title Darth Vader when he becomes a Sith (Sith lord?)? Oh wait, we never hear the term Sith in the original trilogy. Ever. Is Vader indeed a Sith Lord at all? We're only given this info after he dies and cannot refute such a claim. I'm very suspicious of the myths about the Sith that we are given via the Jedi. The Jedi are a biased source for info about their most ardent opponents I should think.

How old was Anakin when he was 'killed' by (assumed the mantle of) Darth Vader? The only real clue comes at the end of Return of the Jedi. We are presented with the ghostly visage (that Luke, but no one else, can see) of Anakin Skywalker, a middle-aged man with full head of hair, wearing Jedi robes. I always assumed that this was essentially a portrait of Anakin in his good-guy phase, and that this 'seduction' of the dark side took place over a long period of time. As well, I had been under the impression that Anakin gained his wounds over a similarly long period of time, say in his hunting down of the Jedi.

With the first release of the original trilogy on DVD, we find a very jarring change at the end of ROTJ. Instead of a middle-aged Anakin, we find a very young and long-haired Anakin - the one from the falsified records of Episode II and III! What does it mean? I have no idea, but if the lie goes so deep that the image we get of Anakin as good has to lose twenty or more years then ask yourself what happened in those now-missing two decades.

If Kenobi is on Luke's side, then he is doing something the coniving droids don't do - lies to a known ally. This may be why the royals love droids so much - they rely on Jedi for bodyguards and then must partner with criminals as a defence against the Jedi. The droids are the only ones who could be trusted to any degree. Does Kenobi consider Luke, the son of his mortal enemy, to be a trusted ally? It's looking more like Luke is just what he appears to be - a pawn in a very big game.

Luke's eyes are almost glassed over while Kenobi speaks. Cluck like a chicken for the nice folks, kid...

Here we also have the first mention of the Force, something Luke has never heard of it seems. More hand gestures accompany the explanation ... hmmm. "An energy field created by all living things." That's the only time it's referred to that way. In Empire Strikes Back we're given a broader definition that includes all matter. However, most of what we can gather about the force must come from Kenobi or Vader or the Emperor, as they are the last verifiably living Force-practitioners (Yoda is far from verifiable). Please note that from the time we first meet Kenobi until the time of his death, and during his supposed 'visitations', he never mentions telekinisis or midiclorians. Luke, for his part, can only nod vacantly at Ben's ascertions.