From: mason
Subject: Re: The other Yoda spoke of
Organization: Rice University  
Date: Sun, 24 Jan 1993 16:59:23 GMT

In article <1993Jan21.154134.16110@njitgw.njit.edu>                             n Perler) writes:
>In article <16B5CCE27.MHART00@RICEVM1.RICE.EDU> mason writes:
>>ESB:     Ben:     That boy is our last hope.
>>         Yoda:    No.  There is another ...
>>
>>Jedi:    Yoda:    There - is - another - Sky - walker - *
>>         Luke:    (to Ben)  Yoda spoke of another ...
>>         Ben:     The other Yoda spoke of was your twin sister.
>>
>>These two exchanges are not necessarily about the same person.  The
>>Jedi dialog concerns Leia.  Anyone who wants to argue this should
>>collect his ego at the desk on his way out.  The Empire dialog is
>>much more ambiguous.  It is generally accepted that Yoda was thinking
>>of Leia here, too.  It has been suggested, however, that Yoda may
>>have been referring to someone else -- Wedge, or even Han Solo.
>>
>>I don't think so.  Yoda and Ben were concerned with more than reuniting
>>long-lost siblings.  They were working to bring about the fall of the
>>Empire, and of the Emperor in particular.  They were also working to
>>restore the Jedi Knights to their former glory.  Luke needed to know
>>who the original "other" was to accomplish these goals -- the identity
>>of his sister, although important, was incidental to the greater
>>purpose.
>
>While I still agree that the "other" in TESB is Leia, there is still one
>thing that bothers me about this:  If Ben was the one who hid Luke and
>Leia, why did Ben say that Luke was their last hope?  Why didn't he
>consider Leia?  Did Yoda realize that Leia could help them if Luke
>failed, while Ben didn't?  If so, why didn't Ben think this?
>
>(Okay, I know the real reason is that Lucas hadn't decided that Leia
>would be Luke's sister until they were making RotJ, but I'm looking
>for a good reason that fits in with the movies.)
 
No, no, no, no, no.  Lucas knew Luke and Leia would be siblings well
before Empire.  He didn't commit himself to it until Jedi, though.
 
Ben didn't consider Leia a viable alternative for several reasons:
 
1) Leia was the adopted daughter of an Imperial Senator and a member
     of Alderaan's royal family.  Hidden in plain sight, as it were.
     Ben couldn't go anywhere near her without attracting attention
     to Leia and to himself.  Remember, Vader did *not* know he had
     a daughter, only a son.  Luke was hidden on a backwater dustball
     where Ben could watch over and protect him anonymously.
2) Leia's training as a politician and diplomat tied her very much to
     the real world.  Her practical nature was not conducive to the
     study of an abstract discipline like the Force.  Luke, however,
     was uniquely suited to it.  Also, Leia's upbringing left little
     time for the martial disciplines that Luke acquired on Tatooine
     [the best pilot in the rim territories, remember?]
3) Perhaps Luke's potential strength in the Force was greater than
     Leia's, and Ben felt that she could not possibly succeed where
     Luke could not.
4) It was very much a question of time.  Luke knew and trusted Ben.
     Leia did not.  It would have taken time to gain her confidence
     and to convince her to leave the rebellion long enough to train
     under Yoda.  The training itself would have taken longer, too
     (point number 2, above).
 
There are other reasons, but these are the big ones, I think.  Luke
would have the time to train Leia in the ways of the Force after the
fall of the Emperor.  In Ben's opinion, Leia could not have accomlished
that.  Yoda disagreed, apparently, but the argument (fortunately) was
never tested.
 
-- mason
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