STAR WARS

Vader's secret identity

Luke meets Wedge Antilles, an amazing pilot who lives through all three movies, participating in this assault, the battle on Hoth, and the attack on the second Death Star. Despite his formidable piloting skills, nowhere in the movies is it ever suggested that he should be a candidate for Jedi training, or indeed that he could be Force sensitive at all. Sorry, Wedge but somebody's gotta risk their lives for no reward so the royals can rule over all.

Threepio said that his last master was "Captain Antilles". Is that supposed to be Wedge? Or did Captian Antilles die during the capture of the Blockade Runner at the begining of the movie? Returning the droids to anybody is never mentioned. Possibly Threepio lied and he and R2 were always servants of Leia. At any rate they stay by her and Luke's side for the rest of the movies.

Wedge's comment about the improbability of the mission gives Luke the chance to brag about his ability to hit a target of similar size. In typical yokel fashion this is related via a story of shooting wildlife. You like to go bantha tipping too, farmboy? Sheesh.

In the Special Edition there's an originally-cut scene where we also get to meet Biggs, Luke's friend from back home. Alas, like so many others, he's doomed to die while near the son of Skywalker. Luke will never mourn his passing in the movies, however. For that matter, he never mourns anybody's passing, except his own father (who he may have killed). Death just doesn't seem to bother this kid.

During this reunion, we get a telling anecdote from Red Leader:

This is significant because it shows that Anakin Skywalker is known among the Rebel ranks, but the fact that Anakin Skywalker is Darth Vader is UNknown to even high ranking officers (we assume this because SOMEONE would say 'Hey, isn't your DAD the asshole we're fighting?!'). Who knows this secret? Kenobi knew and Owen knew (Baru may not have known) and both paid the price for that knowledge. Because Leia is the leader of the Rebels and Kenobi's superior, she must know Vader's true identity. That means she knows who Luke is. Does anybody else?

More importantly perhaps, WHY is this a secret? Secrets are often born of shame. The Rebels aren't proud of the fact that it was their golden boy who betrayed them. Vader kept Luke a secret to hide him from the Rebels and the Emperor. Leia continues to keep the secret because Luke is their best weapon against Vader at this point, and she may be keeping Luke in reserve as her own trump card. To get Luke here, Kenobi had his foster parents killed. To keep him here, Leia offers herself as sexual bait.

Nobody understands what kind of fire they are playing with. These Skywalker boys are a frightening pair.

The Rebel fleet is in such dire straights that it'd be suspicious to withhold an experienced pilot without good reason (there are only thirty who fly off to battle). Leia's got a good reason but she's not sharing this info. She's as crafty and coniving as Kenobi was.

It's also arranged that Luke gets to have R2-D2 as his astromech (almost foiled by a conscientious crew tech who offers to switch R2 for a newer model). Leia probably had some hand in this, not only to keep an eye on Luke but to keep his ass safe. R2 has no doubt had a number of 'special' upgrades over the years, allowing him to perform varied tasks that we never see other astromechs doing (hacking into computer main frames and security systems for instance). Presumably having him on board greatly increases your survival chances.