cjp (10/21/82)
You're all wrong, wrong, wrong! One: Luke is Vader's son or clone. The reason Vader wasn't too concerned about Leia's ship reaching Tattooine at the start of SW IV is that he knew he had left a son (clone) growing there, and that he would be able to enlist Luke's help later on. Two: The second hope alluded to by Yoda is Vader himself! Vader really is the same person as the elder Skywalker. Vader started his evil career as a one-man plot to bring down the Empire. Of course he had to maintain the appearance of being evil in order to advance his position within the Imperial hierarchy. The Empire being so powerful, Vader reasoned that the commission of a few foul deeds would be justified by the worthy end of destroying the Empire forever. However, the Dark Side of the Force managed to capture Darth and make him evil in reality as well as pretense. But just look at how well he is succeeding so far: he's managed to coerce Luke in helping to destroy the Death Star, in which huge amounts of Empire resources had been invested. He's (literally) singlehandedly offed about three of the Empire's high command; of course he had to give them opportunities to make mistakes so Vader would appear justified in so doing. But since Vader is obviously evil, how could Yoda think there is hope for Vader? Simple! Everyone's been assuming that a lightsabre is just a cutting instrument. But the only people who've been seen to survive cuts by lightsabres are Luke and Darth when they fought on the "bridge" in the cloud city. I'd say that the Force in Luke as transmitted by the blow from his lightsabre has reawakened the ability for Darth to recognize good and evil. Surely lightsabre cuts have some life-transmuting capability, as witness the apparent survival of OB1's spirit (though this was probably done with the aid of the billions of lives worth of the Force that OB1 stored up during the destruction of Alderaan). Luke thus defeats the dark side of the force. But, as foreshadowed by his experience inside the tree, his act of so doing has sealed his own doom. Luke will die, Vader will off the Emperor, Han and Leia will found a new benevolent dynasty. Well, ok, so there are a few holes in it, at least it's an interesting theory. Please redirect flames to your favorite null unit. May the Force be with me if I sign my name, Charles J. Poirier decvax!duke!mcnc!cjp