For as many jedi as Vader's killed...sure, most of those jedi were pikers, and not real threats, but he's fought a LOT of jedi. His best real fights were Galen Marek/Starkiller...and Count Dooku, way back in the day.
It just doesn't seem like the same Sith Lord that sent dozens of jedi to become One with the Force personally is giving the same effort against his son.
'"I will not turn, and you will be forced to destroy me."
"If that is your destiny..." This was not his wish, but the boy was strong - if it came, at last, to blows, yes, he would destroy Luke. He could no longer afford to hold back, as he once had.'
-Return of the Jedi
"For the first time, the thought entered Vader's consciousness that his son might best him. He was astounded by the strength Luke had acquired since their last duel, in the Cloud City - not to mention the boy's timing, which was honed to a thought's breadth. This was an unexpected circumstance. Unexpected and unwelcome.Vader felt humiliation crawling in on the tail of his first reaction, which was surprise, and his second, which was fear. And then the edge of humiliation curled up, to reveal bald anger. And now he wanted revenge. [...]
"You are unwise to lower your defenses," Vader warned."
-Return of the Jedi
"His anger was layered, now - he didn't want to win if the boy was not battling to the fullest. But if winning meant he had to kill a boy who wouldn't fight... then he could do that, too."
-Return of the Jedi
"If he did not, the Emperor would destroy Luke.
Vader did not want that.
When they fought, he had also tried to strike the boy down, but that had been merely a test. Had he been able to kill Luke easily, Luke would not have been worth the effort to recruit. But although he had certainly attempted to defeat Luke, the boy had held his own. Despite Vader’s superior skill, despite his experience, Luke had survived with no more damage than an easily repaired amputated hand.
The meeting had made Vader feel, not a normal occurrence lately. There had been the thrill of meeting a worthy opponent and pride that the one so strongly opposing him was his own son."
-Shadows of the Empire (This is referring to the duel on Bespin)
"A warrior needed to contend with equals. Obi-Wan was gone, and the other Jedi were all extinct, save one, who was the strongest of them all: His own son. He had told the Emperor that Luke Skywalker would join them or die. The real truth was only slightly different: Luke would join Darth Vader or die. It would be something to look forward to. That would be the duel of a lifetime. This wasn’t even exercise.
Yes. It's somewhat similar to Mara on Mykr. It's one thing to have 'You Will Kill Luke Skywalker' dancing around in your head. It's another to actually go through with killing him.
Most parents certainly tell their children they're going to kill them. Doesn't mean they'll go through with it. His belief that he can kill his son is comprable to the dad who shouts 'I brought you into this world, boy, and I can take you right back out of it!'
You particularly don't kill your son that you're secretly PROUD of!
It was Luke's thoughts when he was getting Tk'd against a less Powerful foe than Vader.
Might have been a Nightsister and might have been in The Courtship of Princess Leia. Can't remember now.
Anyway I honestly don't think the ROTJ novel holds up as evidence anymore. Uncle Ben is apparently Obi-Wan's brother in that novel. And Lucas has said in the ROTJ Audio commentary that Luke wasn't yet trained well enough to be a match for Vader.
I suppose that doesn't negate the possibility that Luke was Vader's equal in Sabers (since Vader held back on his TK at least) but I personally don't even buy into that.
Vader wasn't fighting Luke to defeat him. He was fighting Luke to convert him.
Indeed. He was using considerably more TK in ESB then he was using in ROTJ. He certainly wasn't throwing everything not nailed down (and a few things that were) at his son.
Must be a different book then. Because there's definitely a passage somewhere of Luke thinking something like "So this is what it would be like if Vader really tried to kill me".. And he was pinned against the wall Iirc.
@Power: IIRC she was bursting the blood vessels in his head, not outright ragdolling him. I remember someone had brought it up a few months ago, trying to stretch Luke thinking "who am I kidding?" or something of that sort to imply that he was referring to his ability to stand up to Vader.
Here we go. Not sure where they are in the book but I've seen these both before (and used them myself).
"Vader had sought only to turn him, had kept Luke alive. Yet Luke had no illusions that Gethzerion would be so lenient."
"Time seemed to slow. His head throbbed, pounding to the same rhythm as the beating of his heart. His face had gone cold, numb, and Luke realized distantly that Gethzerion's spell had ripped open blood vessels in his brain, and he was about to die, one among hundreds of fatalities on this battlefield.
So this is how it would have been, if Vader had tried to kill me."
Dec 25th, 2014 06:35 PM
