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Vader Identity Controversy
Mar. 19th, 2009 08:21 pmIdea came to me while leaving a lecture on King Arthur...
Excerpts from Encyclopaedia Galactica, tenth edition
VADER IDENTITY CONTROVERSY
...like so many of his predecessors, the identity of the Sith Lord Darth Vader remains unknown. Several theories have been advanced, although each is flawed to some degree...
...the best known theory is the Anakin theory, which identifies Darth Vader with the Clone War hero Anakin Skywalker. Supporters of this theory point out that Anakin was a close friend and ally of Palpatine during the Clone Wars. They also note that Anakin’s fate remains unrecorded; one of only a handful of Jedi Masters never officially recorded as dead by the Galactic Empire...
...the Order of Skywalker Knights believe that their founder, Luke Skywalker, was the son of Anakin, and it was the relationship between the two that allowed the younger Skywalker to survive his encounter with Darth Vader during the First Battle of Endor. However, as many historians have pointed out, this only serves as evidence to support the theory that Vader was Luke’s father; it does nothing to prove that Anakin and Vader were one and the same. As the Jedi of the late Republic were traditionally celibate, most mainstream historians consider Luke Skywalker’s claims to be dubious at best...
...primary flaw in the Anakin hypothesis is that it offers no explanation as to why Vader’s identity was kept secret. Anakin Skywalker was an extremely popular hero of the Republic during the Clone Wars. Critics of the Anakin theory argue that if Vader was Anakin, the Empire would have quickly disseminated this information for propaganda purposes and to bolster support for the New Order...
...Obi-Wan theory has many of the same strengths and weaknesses as the Anakin theory. Like Anakin, General Obi-Wan Kenobi vanished just before the end of the Clone Wars, and was never officially recorded as dead by the Galactic Empire. Proponents of this theory point out that both Obi-Wan and Darth Vader were skilled commanders of armies and fleets, whereas Anakin rarely commanded forces larger than a single star-fighter squadron. They also point to surviving recordings of Obi-Wan Kenobi in which he openly expresses contempt for the political class of the First Republic, and argue that this indicates he would have been sympathetic to the New Order’s goals...
...recent discovery of an ancient computer system in the lower levels of Coruscant containing records and copies of correspondence between Bail Organa and various Imperial Senators during the early Imperial Era has bolstered support for the Obi-Wan theory. Proponents argue that several passages in the recovered messages strongly imply that Bail Organa believed Obi-Wan was still alive more than a decade after the rise of the Empire, and that he could be a possible ally against Palpatine. Critics note that the passages are ambiguous, and that there are indications that the entire computer system is a post-Imperial hoax...
...Iridonian theory identifies Darth Vader with the Iridonian Sith Lord present on Naboo during the Trade Federation blockade. Proponents argue that the Jedi council reported the Iridonian dead simply to prevent a panic, noting that even the Jedi records admit that no body was ever found, and that it is unlikely that a Sith capable of defeating a Jedi Master would then fall victim to his apprentice...
...historian Bao-Thirn, a proponent of the Iridonian theory, writes in the introduction to his book Behind the Masks: Mysteries of the First Empire that “Historians have tended to dislike the Iridonian theory not because there is no evidence, but because it is not satisfying. No-one wishes to announce they know the secret of the Lord Vader, only to admit that the truth is an even more mysterious figure.”…
...despite the lack of hard evidence, the theory is popular on Iridonia, where Vader has become something of a national hero, in spite of his dark reputation...
...rarely held by mainstream historians any more is the idea that there was no single Darth Vader; that there were rather a number of Imperial agents in identical armour. Though largely discredited, the idea remains common in dramatic depictions of the Imperial Era, most recently in the highly romanticised holodrama 'The Last Day on Alderaan', which concludes with Bail Organa and an Imperial assassin in Vader armour, their hands at each other's throats, falling to their death from the top of the Royal Palace, mere moments before the Death Star fires...
Excerpts from Encyclopaedia Galactica, tenth edition
VADER IDENTITY CONTROVERSY
...like so many of his predecessors, the identity of the Sith Lord Darth Vader remains unknown. Several theories have been advanced, although each is flawed to some degree...
...the best known theory is the Anakin theory, which identifies Darth Vader with the Clone War hero Anakin Skywalker. Supporters of this theory point out that Anakin was a close friend and ally of Palpatine during the Clone Wars. They also note that Anakin’s fate remains unrecorded; one of only a handful of Jedi Masters never officially recorded as dead by the Galactic Empire...
...the Order of Skywalker Knights believe that their founder, Luke Skywalker, was the son of Anakin, and it was the relationship between the two that allowed the younger Skywalker to survive his encounter with Darth Vader during the First Battle of Endor. However, as many historians have pointed out, this only serves as evidence to support the theory that Vader was Luke’s father; it does nothing to prove that Anakin and Vader were one and the same. As the Jedi of the late Republic were traditionally celibate, most mainstream historians consider Luke Skywalker’s claims to be dubious at best...
...primary flaw in the Anakin hypothesis is that it offers no explanation as to why Vader’s identity was kept secret. Anakin Skywalker was an extremely popular hero of the Republic during the Clone Wars. Critics of the Anakin theory argue that if Vader was Anakin, the Empire would have quickly disseminated this information for propaganda purposes and to bolster support for the New Order...
...Obi-Wan theory has many of the same strengths and weaknesses as the Anakin theory. Like Anakin, General Obi-Wan Kenobi vanished just before the end of the Clone Wars, and was never officially recorded as dead by the Galactic Empire. Proponents of this theory point out that both Obi-Wan and Darth Vader were skilled commanders of armies and fleets, whereas Anakin rarely commanded forces larger than a single star-fighter squadron. They also point to surviving recordings of Obi-Wan Kenobi in which he openly expresses contempt for the political class of the First Republic, and argue that this indicates he would have been sympathetic to the New Order’s goals...
...recent discovery of an ancient computer system in the lower levels of Coruscant containing records and copies of correspondence between Bail Organa and various Imperial Senators during the early Imperial Era has bolstered support for the Obi-Wan theory. Proponents argue that several passages in the recovered messages strongly imply that Bail Organa believed Obi-Wan was still alive more than a decade after the rise of the Empire, and that he could be a possible ally against Palpatine. Critics note that the passages are ambiguous, and that there are indications that the entire computer system is a post-Imperial hoax...
...Iridonian theory identifies Darth Vader with the Iridonian Sith Lord present on Naboo during the Trade Federation blockade. Proponents argue that the Jedi council reported the Iridonian dead simply to prevent a panic, noting that even the Jedi records admit that no body was ever found, and that it is unlikely that a Sith capable of defeating a Jedi Master would then fall victim to his apprentice...
...historian Bao-Thirn, a proponent of the Iridonian theory, writes in the introduction to his book Behind the Masks: Mysteries of the First Empire that “Historians have tended to dislike the Iridonian theory not because there is no evidence, but because it is not satisfying. No-one wishes to announce they know the secret of the Lord Vader, only to admit that the truth is an even more mysterious figure.”…
...despite the lack of hard evidence, the theory is popular on Iridonia, where Vader has become something of a national hero, in spite of his dark reputation...
...rarely held by mainstream historians any more is the idea that there was no single Darth Vader; that there were rather a number of Imperial agents in identical armour. Though largely discredited, the idea remains common in dramatic depictions of the Imperial Era, most recently in the highly romanticised holodrama 'The Last Day on Alderaan', which concludes with Bail Organa and an Imperial assassin in Vader armour, their hands at each other's throats, falling to their death from the top of the Royal Palace, mere moments before the Death Star fires...