Disney’s recent Star Wars content has a renewed focus on Darth Vader’s two identities, recontextualizing his most famous quote. While once a good man as a Jedi Knight, Anakin Skywalker tragically falls to the dark side and adopts the Sith Lord identity of Darth Vader. While Anakin and Vader are one and the same in a literal sense, Star Wars media in both canon and Legends will sometimes treat the two as separate entities, leading to fascinating connotations in iconic moments.
Darth Vader and Anakin Skywalker being separate people is an idea present in the original Star Wars trilogy, with Obi-Wan Kenobi using this perspective to hide the truth from Luke Skywalker in A New Hope before justifying his words as a “certain point of view” in Return of the Jedi. Recent Star Wars canon material, particularly the Obi-Wan Kenobi series, centers the idea of the two being separate even further, which has a strong effect on Darth Vader’s famous “I am your father” line in The Empire Strikes Back. This is notable because Darth Vader himself believes he is separate to his former self, claiming that he “killed Anakin Skywalker.”
Vader's Quote Reveals How Luke's Arrival Affected Him
In the time between the prequel and original Star Wars trilogies, Anakin Skywalker resigns himself to his newfound Sith Lordship, having lost everything he cared about by making his Faustian bargain with Palpatine and falling to the dark side. What changes this resignation is the discovery of his son, Luke, who he believed to have died with Padmé years ago. By telling Luke “I am your father” instead of simply revealing that his father became Darth Vader, he is revealing that the part of him that still identifies as Anakin Skywalker is coming back to the surface.
Star Wars' Iconic Quote Doesn't Work Unless Vader IS Anakin
Any altered wording of the “I am your father” dialogue simply lacks the same impact, on both Luke Skywalker and the viewers. Different phrasing would result in the Sith Lord Darth Vader omitting responsibility for Luke in some form or another, so he had no choice but to accept that he and Anakin are one and the same. By doing so, Darth Vader also became a far more complex character, especially within the context of the original Star Wars trilogy.
For all of A New Hope and most of The Empire Strikes Back, Darth Vader is a menacing antagonist, but it is only after he reveals his secret that the original trilogy films treat him as the complex and tragic figure that he is famous for being. Darth Vader’s discovery of Luke Skywalker gives his Sith persona reason to plot against Palpatine and his dormant Anakin traits motivation to leave the Sith Order entirely. By putting such a strong focus on Anakin Skywalker and Darth Vader’s seemingly separate personalities, the Star Wars franchise enriches the original trilogy era writ large and Vader’s most famous line in particular.