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By Chris Snellgrove
| Published
The Empire Strikes Back is definitely the best Star Wars movie, but it’s still one that left fans with questions. For example, it’s never clear why exactly Darth Vader is obsessed enough to risk thousands of Imperial lives to chase down the Millennium Falcon. However, one fan theory provides an elegant answer: he would have sensed a strong Force user on board the ship, and not knowing that it was Luke Skywalker’s twin Leia, would have assumed that the man who destroyed the Death Star was on board.
Darth Vader Wants the Millennium Falcon
In case you need a quick refresher, Darth Vader personally helped invade Hoth, and after the Millennium Falcon escaped, he led the chase from his own Star Destroyer. The Rebels’ escape is successful thanks to cunning and skillful piloting Solo Hanand we see that the pursuit cost the Imperials a lot in terms of lives lost. Two Star Destroys collide and another appears to be destroyed by an asteroid, and fans have spent decades wondering why Vader was willing to lose nearly 47,000 lives (a Star Destroyer’s overall supply) to go after two men, two droids, and one alien.
Obviously, there are several practical reasons why Darth Vader he could be obsessed with capturing the Millennium Falcon, including that it would be the only way to interrogate any Rebels after the rogue invasion of Hoth. In addition, he was getting extra pressure from the Emperor, who piped in via hologram to warn him of their “new enemy, Luke Skywalker.” According to this fan theory, Vader’s obsessive pursuit of the Falcon stems from the fact that he is completely convinced that Luke Skywalker is on board, and is willing to sacrifice countless Imperial lives to capture an archenemy the Empire.
Darth Vader Sensing Leia On The Millennium Falcon
It is a very good theory because of the climax of Return of the Jedi it was confirmed that Vader had no idea about Leia’s existence. In fact, Luke Skywalker does not give in to his anger until his Dark Side father threatens to find Leia and convert her to his cause. So, the Darth Vader of Empire strikes back He would have sensed a strong Force user aboard the Millennium Falcon and assumed it was Luke. From a distance, her presence would probably have felt a lot like Luke’s during the Death Star attack (“the Force is strong with this,” he said at the time).
Some Star Wars fans might feel that Darth Vader’s Millennium Falcon obsession didn’t need a compelling reason, and it’s admittedly funny to think that the Dark Lord of the Sith doesn’t care about the body count of his obsession (he almost 47,000 people gone, and we only know about it from the Star Destroyer!). However, we like the idea that Vader always has a secret purpose. In the news of A New HopeObi-Wan Kenobi speculated that his former pupil was “marking time in preparation for some unfathomable abomination.” Take it from his old Jedi Master, this bionic baddie never does anything without a reason.
If nothing else, this fan theory will change how we look at events The Empire Strikes Back. The next time Darth Vader is chasing the Millennium Falcon, remember that he most likely thinks he’s hunting Luke Skywalker. Little did he know that the young man was chilling on Dagobah, taking the one week crash course that would eventually help him become the greatest Jedi Master in the galaxy.
