Star Wars: Luke & Vader's 10 Greatest Moments | ScreenRant
As far as heroes go, there are few as iconic as Luke Skywalker, and as far as villains go, there are few as iconic as Darth Vader. By some miracle, this iconic hero and villain ended up in the same story, with a mind-blowing plot twist along the way. In The Empire Strikes Back, it was revealed that Vader is Luke’s father, placing the Star Wars saga’s focus squarely on family and changing blockbusters forever.
From that point forward, Luke and Vader developed a special bond — as father and son, as hero and adversary, and as Jedi Knight and Sith Lord.
10 Their First Lightsaber Duel
Sensing that Han and Leia are in trouble on Cloud City, Luke decides to cut his Jedi training short. Yoda warns him against this, saying he’s not ready to face Vader, but Luke lets his emotions get the better of him, so he disappears in his X-wing.
Unfortunately, Yoda was right on the money. As Luke engages Vader in a lightsaber duel, he finds himself hopelessly outmatched. It’s hardly even a fight; Luke just gets his butt kicked.
9 “I Am Your Father.”
In one of, if not the most shocking plot twists in film history, Darth Vader reveals to Luke Skywalker that he is his father.
He didn’t kill his father like Obi-Wan said; he’s the actual guy. To capture this moment authentically, the line, “I am your father,” was left out of the script, and Mark Hamill’s “That’s impossible!” reaction is genuine.
8 Their Force Bond
Before the sequel trilogy ran Force bonds into the ground, they were a fascinating plot point in the original trilogy. After Luke refused to join his father’s side and chose certain death over taking his hand, Vader connected with him via the Force.
From onboard a Star Destroyer, Vader reached out to his son once more. He ominously tells him, “Luke...it is your destiny,” setting up the mystery of whether Luke would follow in his father’s footsteps in Return of the Jedi.
7 “My Son Is With Them.”
As the Empire prepares to fight off the Rebellion in the final battle of Return of the Jedi, Vader senses that some of the Rebels are attacking the shield generator on Endor.
Then, as he focuses a little more, he detects that Luke is with them. The Emperor questions this, but Vader stubbornly says, “I have felt him, my master.”
6 Vader Takes Luke To The Emperor
While the Rebel fleet prepares to infiltrate the mid-construction second Death Star, and Han and Leia let them in by disabling the shield generator on Endor, Luke turns himself over to Darth Vader on an Imperial landing platform and they head up to the Death Star.
On the way to greet the Emperor, Luke tries to get his father to disavow the dark side. However, he remains loyal to Palpatine and Luke says, “Then my father is truly dead.”
5 Luke Refuses To Fight Vader
Emperor Palpatine’s grand plan is for Luke to defeat Darth Vader and take his place as his Sith apprentice. However, when Luke arrives in his throne room, he refuses to fight his father.
He still believes there is good in Vader, and through peaceful means, he’ll be able to coax the Jedi out before any unnecessary blood is shed.
4 Their Second Lightsaber Duel
Eventually, Palpatine’s taunting gets to Luke and he takes up his lightsaber and agrees to fight Vader. The two engage in another lightsaber duel, but this time, Luke isn’t so unprepared.
He’s completed his journey to becoming a Jedi Knight, banked a lot of extra training time, and even adopted his old master’s technique of taking the high ground in battle.
3 Vader Saves Luke From Palpatine’s Force Lightning
When Luke begins to get the better of Vader in lightsaber combat, Palpatine decides to give him a helping hand by blasting Luke with Force lightning. Luke can barely take the heat, buckling under the unlimited power, and it brings Vader’s humanity back.
Vader returns to the light side of the Force in the blink of an eye, picks up Palpatine, and tosses him down a reactor shaft, killing him.
2 “Just For Once, Let Me Look On You With My Own Eyes.”
Luke went up to the Death Star hoping to save his father from the dark side and he managed to do it, but it killed Vader in the process. As he dies, Vader tells Luke, “Just for once, let me look on you with my own eyes.”
So, Luke takes off Vader’s helmet, revealing his scarred, white face, and Vader gets to proudly gaze upon his son, the Jedi’s savior that he was initially prophesied to be.
1 Luke Cremates Vader
At the end of Return of the Jedi, after Vader’s death, Luke takes his body down to Endor. Before joining the rest of the Rebels in celebrating their victory against the Empire, Luke cremates his father.
The image of Vader’s corpse burning as Luke watches on is an emotional one, and a bittersweet note on which to end the mainline Star Wars saga.