Vader Once Again Tries to Convert Luke

"The Strength is with you, young Skywalker… merely you lot are not a Jedi still."

―Darth Vader, to Luke Skywalker ^[1]

The Duel on Deject Urban center was a lightsaber duel that took place on Deject City in the planet Bespin. After failing to capture Luke Skywalker during the Battle of Hoth, Darth Vader—Skywalker'southward father—set a trap for Skywalker on the Cloud Urban center of Bespin. He captured Han Solo and Leia Organa to torture them, hoping to lure Skywalker out of hiding. Skywalker saw a vision of his friends' suffering while on Dagobah, where he trained with Jedi Master Yoda, and rushed to Deject City to help them, despite the objections of both Yoda and Obi-Wan Kenobi.

When he arrived, Skywalker briefly encountered Imperial troops and Boba Fett, who was taking a carbon-frozen Solo to his send. Skywalker avoided the enemy forces and fabricated his mode to the carbon-freezing bedroom and found Vader waiting for him, and the two engaged in a lightsaber duel throughout the chamber. The duel progressed through the urban center'south processing vane and onto a maintenance catwalk where Vader disarmed Skywalker by slicing off his weapon paw. He then tempted the young Jedi apprentice to bring together him and embrace the night side. When Luke refused, Vader revealed that he was the male child's own begetter, Anakin Skywalker.

Rather than allow himself to exist captured, Skywalker threw himself off the platform where they had fought, before landing and hanging helplessly at the lesser of the city. Skywalker was rescued by Organa, Chewbacca, and Lando Calrissian in the Millennium Falcon before returning to the Rebel fleet, where they began plotting a mission to rescue Solo from Jabba the Hutt on Tatooine.

Contents

• 1 Prelude
• 2 The duel
  • two.1 Revelation and escape
• iii Backwash
• 4 Behind the scenes
  • four.1 In popular civilization
• five Appearances
  • 5.ane Non-canon appearances
• six Sources
• 7 Notes and references

Prelude [ ]

"I've got to become to them."
"Make up one's mind, you must, how to serve them best. If you leave at present, aid them, you could, only… you would destroy all for which they have fought and suffered."

―Luke Skywalker and Yoda ^[1]

A few days prior to the duel, the Alliance to Restore the Republic had been dealt a disastrous defeat in the Battle of Hoth. Though the Brotherhood had managed to stave off total destruction, the conflict had seen the Brotherhood's new headquarters destroyed and had scattered their surviving forces. As the Imperial assault had neared completion, Han Solo, Leia Organa, Chewbacca, and C-3PO managed to escape off-world in Solo'southward personal ship, the Millennium Falcon. However, the Falcon had been undergoing extensive repairs prior to the battle, and, unknown to its crew, its hyperdrive motivator was damaged to the point of beingness non-functional.^[ane]

Vader, who had led the Royal assault, had been attempting for months to track downwardly and capture Luke Skywalker with the intent of making the male child his amateur. He arrived in the hangar where the Falcon had been docked just in time to see the send leave and, recognizing information technology, he concocted a plan to capture it and its crew. Vader hoped that if he could capture and torture Skywalker's friends, the young Jedi would experience their hurting through the Force and attempt to rescue them. To that terminate, he sent function of his personal armada, Expiry Squadron, to capture the Falcon. Solo managed to evade the pursuers, but he soon came to realize that the damage to the Falcon 'south hyperdrive was then all-encompassing that he could non repair it without aid. Unable to meet up with the remains of the Rebel fleet, Solo attempted to seek refuge on the nearby planet of Bespin. An old friend of Solo'southward, Lando Calrissian, had go Baron Administrator to Bespin's largest settlement, Cloud City, and Solo believed Calrissian could help him repair the Falcon. However, the bounty hunter Boba Fett had informed Darth Vader of Solo's destination, and, with the advantage of operation hyperdrives, an Imperial detachment nether the Dark Lord's control arrived at Bespin before Solo's coiffure. Afterward Vader arrived Deject Urban center, he informed Calrissian of his programme to use Solo and his friends to capture Skywalker. In render for his cooperation, Vader promised that the Empire would leave Deject City to its own affairs later Skywalker had been captured. With the threat of Imperial occupation looming over his head, Calrissian was forced to comply. With his cooperation, Vader captured Solo and his companions shortly after they landed. He and so began torturing the Rebels to lure out Skywalker. The program was successful; Skywalker sensed his friends' anguish on Dagobah, and prepared to go to Bespin to save them. In doing then, he overlooked the advice and pleas of his masters, Yoda and Obi-Wan Kenobi, the latter of whom told Skywalker that his friends' suffering was well-nigh certainly role of a trap.^[1]

Luke approached the Cloud City in his X-wing starfighter, unaware that the Imperial forces occupying the city had been tracking his progress since his inflow in orbit. He landed his craft without incident, and proceeded cautiously into the city. Equally he and R2-D2 began the search for his friends, he encountered Boba Fett and a group of Imperials who were transporting Solo—encased in carbonite—to Fett's ship. Skywalker, hoping not to reveal his presence, quietly followed the group for a curt fourth dimension until they disappeared from sight. Every bit Skywalker prepared to continue through the metropolis, Fett all of a sudden reappeared and fired on Skywalker, who ducked effectually a corner to avert the shots. After firing a few deterring blaster bolts, Fett disengaged and Skywalker, not knowing what Fett's cargo had been, did not attempt to follow him. Before long later on, he encountered Organa and Chewbacca, who were existence brought to Vader's flagship as prisoners. The stormtroopers escorting the pair began shooting at Skywalker, who took encompass again. Organa saw him and, aware of Vader'southward trap, desperately tried to interruption complimentary of the grip of an Imperial officer in an attempt to warn Skywalker. As the group of Imperials with Organa broke off the fight and dragged her abroad, Luke attempted to follow. Just as he passed through the door where Organa had disappeared, it slammed shut backside him, cutting him off from R2-D2.^[1]

The duel begins

Making his way through the catwalks and elevators of a gas-processing vane in the lower levels of Cloud City, he eventually reached the dimly lit carbon-freeze sleeping room. Of a sudden, the sleeping room lit up, revealing Darth Vader, standing atop a flying of steps to the walkway higher up. Vader claimed that while the Force was with Luke, the male child was not a Jedi yet. Striding up to the Dark Lord, Skywalker ignited his lightsaber. Vader responded by calmly activating his own saber, and the duel began.^[1]

The duel [ ]

"You have learned much, young 1."
"You'll find I'm full of surprises!"

―Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker ^[1]

Skywalker opened the duel with 2 brief, unsuccessful strikes at Vader's torso. He so attempted an overhand strike, but the Sith Lord blocked the attack with a ane-handed grip on his weapon. Skywalker's assault resulted in a blade-lock, which Vader bankrupt by casually pushing Skywalker to the floor. Skywalker quickly recovered and advanced, engaging in an aggressive string of attacks as Vader retreated. Withal, Vader soon counter-attacked and forced Luke back to the caput of the stairs. During a subsequent pause in the duel, Vader complimented Skywalker on his swordsmanship, and Luke arrogantly agreed. Equally he spoke, Skywalker attacked Vader once more, but later on a few strikes Vader disarmed him with a quick flourish.^[i]

Vader and then lazily slashed at Skywalker, hoping to herd him towards the carbon freezing pit. Skywalker dove out of the way of the attack and rolled down the stairs to the freezing chamber'south main platform. Vader jumped after Skywalker and held him at blade-signal just across the edge of the pit. As the pit was airtight and Skywalker's attending was focused on his opponent, the young Jedi did not perceive Vader's trap. Vader and then claimed that Skywalker's destiny lay with him, and that Obi-Wan had known it. As Skywalker denied this, Vader connected to walk Luke towards the now-open up freezing pit and Luke, non realizing that the pit had opened (or indeed that it was even there), continued to retreat. As such, when Vader performed another casual swing of his weapon, Skywalker backed correct over the lip of the pit and fell in. Vader immediately activated the bedchamber with the Force, remarking that his victory had been disappointingly like shooting fish in a barrel. Just before the freezing procedure could begin, Skywalker used the Forcefulness to leap out of the pit and grab onto the hoses in a higher place it. Vader and then approached the pit, contemptuously musing that Skywalker was not every bit potent as he had been told, when he heard a metallic crash from above and noticed Skywalker trying to climb the tubing above the pit.^[1]

The duel continues in the carbon freezing chamber

Complimenting Skywalker'due south escape, Vader slashed 1 of the hoses in an attempt to dislodge his opponent, triggering alarms that started clarion through the sleeping accommodation. Skywalker jumped down, grabbed the severed hose, and used it to spray gas into Vader's masked face. With the Sith Lord momentarily stunned, Skywalker used the Strength to summon his lightsaber to his hand. He re-engaged Vader and locked blades with him again. Vader taunted Skywalker, asserting that, while he had command of his fear, unleashing his anger was the simply path to victory.^[1]

The Sith Lord broke the bract-lock and attacked. Skywalker managed to fend off Vader'due south onslaught, flipping over the Sith Lord to avoid an attack at his legs. Landing behind Vader, Skywalker went on the offensive and drove the Sith Lord to the edge of the platform, boot Vader in the abdomen. Vader toppled over the edge of the platform and disappeared from sight. Seeming to accept gained the upper hand, Skywalker jumped down subsequently Vader.^[1]

Searching for the Sith Lord, Skywalker wandered through a tunnel into the city's processing vane, which overlooked a deep,^[1] low-pressure level^[5] reactor shaft. At that place, he encountered Vader, standing with his weapon ignited at the far end of the chamber.^[one]

Vader uses the Force to fling objects at Skywalker

Equally Luke began to haltingly advance on his opponent, Vader telekinetically tore a fixture of metal pipes off of a wall behind Skywalker and threw it at him. As Skywalker turned and cut the fixture autonomously, the Sith Lord lunged, engaging Skywalker in a brief bout of swordplay. As the pair locked blades, Vader used the Forcefulness to throw a metal box at Skywalker, which smashed into the back of his head and broke the bract-lock. Vader then pulled dorsum and began telekinetically pummeling Skywalker with various objects in the room.^[ane]

As Skywalker failed to hold off the improvised missiles, a misdirected slice of piping smashed through a large observation port behind him. The sleeping accommodation immediately and violently depressurized, sucking Skywalker out into the reactor shaft while Vader grabbed a nearby wall for support. As the pressure equalized, Vader went to the shattered observation port and observed that Skywalker had managed to grab the railing of a catwalk several floors below.^[one]

Skywalker climbed upwards onto the catwalk and again began searching for Vader. Eventually, he entered a narrow corridor in the processing vane, where he was ambushed by Vader. The Sith Lord engaged in a ferocious series of overhanded strikes, which forced Skywalker onto the defensive. Overwhelmed by Vader's force, Skywalker was rapidly driven dorsum through the corridor. Blade-locking with the boy, Vader threw him against a wall and slashed at him, just Skywalker recovered merely in time to avoid Vader's assault. The attack struck the wall behind Skywalker and showered the corridor in sparks. After dodging another such attack, Skywalker attempted to retreat forth the catwalk from whence he had come up but Vader rapidly cut him off. Shoving Skywalker onto the expressionless-end that was the central catwalk, Vader continued his relentless assail. Blocking or shunting aside everything Skywalker threw at him, Vader soon blade-locked with the youth 1 final time and pushed him to the ground.^[i]

Skywalker loses his right hand and lightsaber to Vader'south blade

Putting his saber at Skywalker's throat, Vader proclaimed the boy defeated, and told him that further resistance would end in Skywalker sharing Kenobi's fate. Just Skywalker defiantly collection Vader'due south weapon aside and regained his feet. Equally they renewed their fight, Skywalker managed to slightly wound Vader'southward right shoulder with a drastic swing before retreating.^[vi] Enraged by the breach in his defenses, Vader moved to terminate the duel, driving Skywalker to a small extension at the end of the catwalk. In that location, Vader sliced apart a piece of equipment on the catwalk, parried Luke's weapon difficult enough to expose his wrist, and sliced off his right hand with a swift undercut. Both Luke's hand and his lightsaber cruel into the depths of the reactor shaft.^[ane]

Revelation and escape [ ]

"If you only knew the power of the dark side. Obi-Wan never told you what happened to your father."
"He told me plenty! He told me you killed him!"
"No. I am your father."

―Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker ^[1]

Vader reveals himself to exist Skywalker's father

As Skywalker recoiled with a scream of pain, Vader deactivated his weapon and began conversing with Skywalker. While Skywalker retreated to the end of the extension, Vader attempted to sway him to the night side, promising him that the two of them could finish the Galactic Civil War and bring order to the milky way. Skywalker refused, but Vader then revealed to him that he had formerly been Anakin Skywalker, Luke's own father. Though Skywalker vehemently denied the claim, as Kenobi had told him that Vader had betrayed and murdered Anakin, he sensed that Vader was telling the truth. Though shocked and horrified, Skywalker plant the backbone to spring off the catwalk to a seemingly sure decease rather than bring together the Empire. As he fell, Skywalker was sucked through a number of vents, which somewhen deposited him on a weather vane beneath Cloud Metropolis. Desperately injured, wearied and mentally spent, he called out to Kenobi for assistance but received no reply. He and then badly attempted to contact Organa through the Force.^[1]

Unbeknownst to Skywalker, Lando Calrissian had switched allegiances to the Rebels in response to Vader changing the terms of their agreement several times. Realizing that Vader could not be trusted to continue his give-and-take, Calrissian had freed Leia and Chewbacca and they attempted to retrieve Solo from Fett. Although they failed to do so, they had managed to attain the Falcon and escape the metropolis. While on their way to get out Bespin, Organa heard Skywalker's mental weep for assist and ordered the freighter effectually to rescue him.^[1]

As the coiffure of the Falcon recovered Skywalker, Vader arrived at his flagship, the Executor, and pursued the freighter. As the Falcon left Bespin's orbit, the crew attempted to jump to hyperspace, only for the hyperdrive to fail one time over again. Every bit the Executor closed in, panic set in on the Falcon as the rebels desperately attempted to discover what was wrong with the supposedly repaired hyperdrive. As the freighter evaded a small group of Necktie fighters, Vader telepathically contacted Skywalker and attempted once more to turn him to the dark side. Skywalker continued to struggle with Vader's revelation, particularly with the fact that Kenobi had failed to tell him the truth. With the rebels unable to figure out why the hyperdrive of the Falcon was not functional, the Executor airtight and prepared to tractor the freighter. All the same, R2-D2 had discovered during the escape from Cloud City that the Falcon's hyperdrive had in fact been repaired, and that Imperial agents had just deactivated it. The astromech droid quickly reactivated the drive, and the Falcon lurched into hyperspace merely earlier the Imperials could activate the tractor beam.^[1]

Backwash [ ]

"Ben… why didn't you tell me?"

―Luke Skywalker ^[one]

Vader and Skywalker's rematch on the second Decease Star

Despite Vader's tendency to execute Royal officers who had failed him on the spot, Vader spared Admiral Firmus Piett, the CO of the Executor, and strode from the bridge in silence. Meanwhile, the Falcon rendezvoused with the Insubordinate armada, where Luke was fitted with a prosthetic hand that was visibly indistinguishable from his original one (he would later construct a new lightsaber to replace his lost weapon also). Equally his operation was concluded, Calrissian and Chewbacca left aboard the Falcon for Tatooine with the intent of locating Solo in guild to gratis him.^[1] Vader's revelation haunted Skywalker, shaking his religion in Kenobi and destroying the image of the father he had thought he had and looked upwards to.^[1]

However, a twelvemonth subsequently, Luke had managed to come to terms with his parentage, and even thought to utilise it to convince Vader to return to the light. During his confrontation with Vader and the Emperor on the DS-ii Death Star 2 Mobile Boxing Station during the Battle of Endor, he managed to practice just that. Redeeming himself, Vader defeated the Emperor and died from his wounds, bringing balance to the Force and fulfilling the prophecy of the Chosen One which Qui-Gon Jinn believed he would fulfil years agone.^[vii]

In 28 ABY,^[8] Leia cited the duel between Luke and Vader as 1 of the primary reasons for which she couldn't forgive her father, fifty-fifty posthumously, to Senator Ransolm Casterfo from Riosa.^[9]

In 34 ABY, the Force-sensitive scavenger Rey discovered Skywalker's original lightsaber in the basement of Takodana Castle, having been recovered past Maz Kanata through secretive means. Upon touching it, Rey had a Force vision, in which she appeared in the corridors of Deject Metropolis^[x] and witnessed the duel of Vader and Skywalker.^[11]

Behind the scenes [ ]

Concept art by Ralph McQuarrie

The Duel on Cloud City appears in the 1980 film Star Wars: Episode 5 The Empire Strikes Back.^[one] The duel is regarded by many Star Wars fans, such every bit 501st Legion founder Albin Johnson, as the most memorable lightsaber duel in Star Wars history, and perhaps the best remembered scene of the original trilogy.^[12]

As George Lucas wanted the lightsaber fights to gradually go "faster and more than intense" as Skywalker became amend at using a lightsaber, a shift in dueling mode became evident, with some 1-handed fighting forms making their starting time appearance—a peek at what lightsaber duels of olden times would eventually exist revealed to look like.^[source?]

The revelation of Skywalker'due south parentage was kept so hush-hush that even David Prowse, the actor playing the torso of Darth Vader and speaking the lines on set, did non know the truth, as the moving picture'southward coiffure was afraid he could reveal it in an interview. Though information technology's said that Prowse spoke the line "Obi-Wan killed your begetter," which had been printed on a substituted page of the screenplay, Prowse himself revealed that he actually never said that line in April 2006. Instead, Prowse said "Come and bring together me and the Dark Side." On the other hand, he believes that the revelation of Luke's parentage was a wonderful twist.^[13] Meanwhile, the overdubbed voice of James Earl Jones spoke the true line. Marking Hamill himself was only told moments before shooting the scene, and no 1 else on the bandage other than Jones and Hamill plant out until Episode V's premiere.

The duel became a staple of The Empire Strikes Back, existence featured in an official poster for the film's 40th Anniversary.

One of the initial iterations of Rey'due south Force vision from the 2015 film Star Wars: Episode 7 The Strength Awakens included Rey witnessing the duel on Deject City, merely the idea was shelved as director J.J. Abrams wanted it to be a more personal story filled with things she couldn't encompass, like the Knights of Ren or her first time on Jakku.^[14] This idea, notwithstanding, was retained in Alan Dean Foster's novelization and Michael Kogge's inferior novel, which both had segments where Rey witnessed a pocket-size portion of the duel in her vision.^{[11] [15]}

In popular culture [ ]

The great lengths that the production staff went to prevent the identity of Skywalker'southward male parent from beingness leaked to the public was eventually spoofed in The Simpsons episode "Worst Episode Always," where one of the invaluable Star Wars memorabilia that Mrs. Prince was unwittingly selling to Comic Volume Guy was a film reel labeled "Alternate Ending: Chewbacca is Luke'due south Father."

Appearances [ ]

Non-catechism appearances [ ]

Sources [ ]

Notes and references [ ]

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Source: https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Duel_on_Cloud_City

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