From: nnhill@david.wheaton.edu (Nathan N Hill)
Subject: Re: ..last hope. No there is another one.
Organization: Wheaton College, IL
Date: Fri, 11 Dec 1992 22:40:34 GMT

In article <92343.173809GPS108@psuvm.psu.edu> <GPS108@psuvm.psu.edu> writes:
>Ben's line in ROTJ, "The other he spoke of is your twin sister," clearly shows
>that Yoda meant Leia, but there's still something I don't quite get.
>
>In TESB, Yoda tries to talk Luke out of rescuing Han and the Princess.  At one
>point he even says to sacrifice them if Luke honors what they fight for.  But
>why would he let "the other hope" be sacrificed?  Perhaps Lucas didn't intend
>for Leia to be the one spoken of, hmm?
>                                                ----Eric

The conversation between Luke and Ben in RotJ almost certainly means that Leia
is "the other" that Yoda mentioned. Though I for one am a little disappointed
about the whole thing...
	 I honestly think that George read fan magazines and took in fan mail
before he decided who "the other" would be. Yoda's prophecy in ESB is really
cool, and the cinematography of the scene (in letterbox) really emphasizes it.
I only wish that Lucas had made more of it. Great, so Leia's the other hope,
but that fact never made a difference in RotJ except as a way for Vader to get
at Luke...
	The line was a great fan "hook" for the sequel and a device for 
maintaining fan discussion & fervor between the films. Much like Vader's claim
to be Luke's father. It also provided a way out for Lucas if Hamill died or
something--No kidding, George said that if Hamill had died in his car accident,
Luke's long-lost brother would have appeared to take his place. Convenient.
Anyway, what seemed ominously important in ESB turned out to be kind of a soap
opera throwaway in RotJ.
	Not to mention that, based on their lines in ESB, it seemed that only
Yoda really knew about the other, and not Ben; yet Ben should have been fully
aware of Leia's potential based on what he says in RotJ. Oh, well. I do have a
theory.

	Perhaps Yoda had always wanted to train Leia instead of Luke, but Ben
disagreed with him. Certainly, Leia fit Yoda's idea of a Jedi better than
Luke: "the deepest commitment, the most serious mind" and not "reckless". Leia
had a firm will and the ability to accept great sacrifices (such as Alderaan) 
to save a greater purpose. Her character was strong; she only lacked trainig
in the ways of the Force.   
	So why did Ben disagree? Perhaps he had great hope in Luke, or thought
he could make up for Anakin's fall with Luke's success. Maybe he wanted to
validate the traing he had already given to Luke. Or maybe...just maybe he
didn't approve of Leia being trained, for some reason.Now, surely Ben wasn't
some kind of chauvanist, but he could have reasons.
	An idea I'd like to see in parts I-III is Obi-Wan having a Jedi
girlfriend or wife. Then she could get killed by Vader and it would all be
very tragic. Though I believe that episodes I-III will all predate Anakin's
conversion---a good way to make them viewable before the middle trilogy.
Obi-Wan could be uncomfortable about women being Jedi Kinghts if the above
story happened. But I don't think so. All I can say is, Ben always had
confidence in Luke but never showed any in Leia.

	And now, since this post is longer than any of my papers for Lit. class
have been, I think I'll stop. May the Schwartz be with you all.

					Nathan Hill, local Star Wars guru
					
						nnhill@david.wheaton.edu
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.starwars