Star Wars contains a lot of iconic and memorable moments that have etched themselves into the pop culture psyche for eternity. Now, more than four decades after the franchise’s premiere, fans are realizing this instantly recognizable line from The Empire Strikes Back has a much deeper meaning than what it implies on the surface level.
You probably already know what we’re talking about. Those final moments between Luke and Darth Vader, when the villain reveals his identity, shocked the entire world. George Lucas made sure that even the cast and crew would be taken by surprise, with Harrison Ford famously turning to Mark Hamill during the screening and saying: “Hey kid, you didn’t f*cking tell me that.”
But Vader’s “I am your father” line shouldn’t just be a moment celebrated for its shock value, because as some Star Wars fans have pointed out, it’s actually very significant that Vader thought of himself as Luke’s father when he had essentially killed or buried everything else that associated him with Anakin Skywalker.
Star Wars canon makes it a point to repeatedly bring up the idea that Vader doesn’t want to remember Anakin Skywalker. The Sith Lord even says it out loud on multiple occasions, with dialogue like “Anakin Skywalker was weak, I destroyed him” reaffirming why it was important to leave his past behind.
But even though he burned all those bridges, and even actively hunted down Obi-Wan Kenobi — who was like a brother to him —Vader couldn’t bring himself to shun Luke. It wasn’t even a Sith manipulating an aspiring Jedi to join the Dark Side; Vader genuinely wanted to reconnect with his son and maybe topple the Emperor.
If you take this specific detail into consideration, Vader’s redemption in Return of the Jedi becomes even more impactful than before.