George Lucas Reveals The ORIGINAL Backstory For Darth Vader [NOT LUKE'S FATHER] 

"Luke, I..... am your Father's Friend's Teacher's Brother"

Darth Vader: Obi-wan never told you what happened to your father Luke: He told me enough. He told me YOU killed my father. Darth Vader: Um... yeah. So he did tell you

This sounds like when you're desperately trying to hit that word count on a college essay.

Anakin is still the chosen one. Rey isn’t the chosen one. She is the badly written one.

Anakin was 23 when he became Vader. Anakin was Vader for 23 years. Luke was 23 when he redeemed Vader. It rhymes, it's like pottery.

Luke: has no hand Anakin: has no hands Leia: has no han

Beru "he's got too much of his father in him" Lars "that's what I'm afraid of." ...is that not a hint?

"I *am* the Senate." "Only half."

The fact that Anakin has turned into Darth Vader in Rots always got me tearin up. Thats what made Rotj such a happy end for me, because Anakin became a Jedi again.

awh darth Vader was supposed to be a generic villain. thank goodness we live in this timeline

George Lucas: “Dad, I want to make some really great films!” George Senior: “Absolutely not! That is no way to make a living, you will never attain a viable source of income with that career path.” George Lucas: *😑...goes on to make billions of dollars and the most iconic cinematic franchise in history*

“This kid’s here to bring balance to the force.” “Hang on one sec...” Does very basic math... Kills youngling Anakin immediately. There were hundreds or thousands of Jedi at this point and a maximum of 2 sith. Who in their right mind would assume bringing balance means anything other than Jedi genocide?

The best part of the story we got is when Luke cut off Vader's hand but refused to kill him. Because of Luke's mercy Vader saw the light side of the force for the first time in a long time. He then picked up the emperor and through him down a shaft thus defeating the empire on both fronts. All because a son showed mercy to his father, when the father did not deserve it. Now thats good story telling!

Tune in the next episode of _You Are Not The Father_

"Luke, being a Jedi is not a viable source of income!" - "Nooooooooooo!"

"I am your father's brother's nephew's cousin's former roommate!" "What does that make us?" "Absolutely nothing! Which is what you are about to become! Prepare to die!"

*George Lucas : "I....am your Father"* *Star Wars Fans : "That's not true...that's impossible!!"*

By making Vader the father of Luke, it adds a level of tragedy to the character as well as giving him the redemption arc. As much as giving Luke a Hero's Journey that lead him to redeem his father.

I wonder what Georg Lucas had in mind with part 7-9 back in the 70s.

I think the story we got is probably the better of the two on account of Vader being Luke's father made the narrative more personal and complicated. It's not just "Oh, Vader bad, he kill muh dad!", it's the idea that the person who is functionally your enemy has a familial bond to you, and once was very much like yourself before falling for an unknown reason. Additionally, it gives us that scene in Return of the Jedi where Vader openly confesses that he thinks it's just too late for him to redeem himself, which when I rewatched the trilogy more recently, was a really hard hitting moment for me, and it primes his betrayal of Palpatine and saving of Luke. Something that I think is more impactful than just having Luke fight it out with them and win through ability. I mean, he was pretty screwed until Vader sacrificed himself to throw in an assist, and I find that more believable than Luke going from farm boy to matching killer space wizards hardened by over two decades of war with a few scattered training sessions and fighting Stormtroopers. That being said, it would be cool to see the original concept of Vader and Anakin being separate individuals explored in an AU series, akin to the alternate storylines of the original trilogy we got in those comics or whatever they were (the ones that included Yoda crashing the Death Star into Coruscant).

While obviously going with Vader being Anakin was the right move this original script sounds really cool.

Join me George and together we can rule the family business as Father and Son.

"and pushed him down a nuclear reactor shaft" AD starts: there was nothing sane about chernobyl

I love the way the original Star Wars trilogy played out. Darth Vader being Luke's father was a great touch. Even so, this original version of the events would have been great to see too.

Disney:Change the Timelines. Fan: So you have chosen death!!!

Vader: “No I Am Your Father!” Luke: *”SAY SIKE RIGHT NOW”*

4:28 ''Mysteriously though, a lot of the senators that began opposing Palpatine began to mysteriously die.'' This video is written like a 6th grade essay lmao.

I think the current backstory for Vader has become so firmly entrenched with so much lore built up around it that I wouldn't want it to have been any other way. Like what you said, the concept of redemption is a tale much better told than one of revenge.

Next is Han Solo (Not Kylo Ren’s father)

I'd love to see the version of this story where Vader is not Luke's father. This is why we need a Star Wars Multiverse.

So when Obi Wan said Darth Vader betrayed and murdered Luke's father (in ANH), that was literal (at the time). And in ESB, it was basically retconned into hyperbole. Interesting.

The feeling I get is that George wanted Darth Vader to be a Femto/Griffith figure of sorts with Luke's father being a equivalent to Guts and Luke avenging him. Palpatine himself was not supposed to have force powers and instead be a very manipulative politician, so you could expect him to be a House of Cards kind of villain with the jedi betrayer doing the dirty job for him. It's interesting to see how the story went completely different with Vader being the tragic "hero" Anakin Skywalker and Palpatine being the sith lord we all know today.

"You don't stand a chance against me. No more than your father did anyway..." 1) I heard that in Vader's voice 2) This line could be used if they bring back Starkiller in the new Vader/Jedi-Purge series!

I love that Anakin's original intended role of being the last remnant of the Jedi who helped form the rebellion was eventually taken up by his own apprentice, Ahsoka Tano.

It sounds like a weird fan fiction. Glad we got the one we did

George Lucas is the embodiment of “second guess yourself” and made up an amazing universe.

"This Is Where The Fun Begins!!" "This Is Outrageous!!" This Is Aby Or Bby,It Will Be With Us,Forever May The Force Be With Everyone,Always

Would have been interesting if Vader had been an evil clone of Anakin who had killed the original good Anakin. Therefore Vader is still Luke’s father, ‘from a certain point of view’

I'm amazed at the verbal gymnastics it took to stretch the intro monologue for 2 minutes. Great job getting the video to 10 minutes.

Lucas: The one thing every parent wants is to have your kid be safe and able to take care of himself. 2005: Has his own kid killed by clone troopers on screen.

Omg if Vader actually looked like he does in the thumbnail he'd be one of my favorite looking characters.

The original was a great story but had we gotten that, we never would've gotten the iconic "i am your father" scene... Which i an I'm sure every other star wars fan loves...

Yo that cover art is sick I love it

Wouldn’t mind a fan fic or “legends soft reboot” of this story fleshed out in an independent show/Movie or comic

Interesting that they are talking about a sister already in the original draft of Empire Strikes Back. As Lucas has made it clear the only reason he added the idea of a sister was due to the line "No there is another". The "another" refers to a replacement character for Mark Hamil who Lucas didn't know if he would return for the third movie. Mark had gotten into a motorcyle accident and was very reluctant to act in the movies after that to his slight disfigurement. So when Mark returned for the last movie, the "No there is another" became his sister. Where originally that line referred to a new Jedi else where in the galaxy.

Imagine watching the prequels and having anikins and obi wans best friend turn into vader. A mutant cyborg. Also imagine the clones being evil and crazy from the beggining. Also palpatines political assanations and power play in this draft sounds pretty cool. They wouldent have to hold anything back with vader. Becasue they did in the prequels to make him a semi likable character.

Yes finally I remember u took this down.

It would've been a crazy cool plot twist in this concept if Vader was actually the brother of anakin and they were twins.

I feel like GL accidentally found out vader means father in dutch, and he decided to roll with it. Regardless, I absolutely love what we got.

I dont know....i kinda like Anakin being a hero but i like the whole Greek tragedy element of his fall and basically causing the very thing he tried to stop is poetic to me plus the psychological flip from going from his persona of Anakin to Vader who even talks of Anakin like hes a separate person from a psychological stand point is fascinating

Very interesting video! You've got yourself a new subscriber 👍

i'm still in the camp of pre-prequel fanfics, one where Pademe didn't die at the end of the clone wars and was on Alderan with Leia and died over a span of 5-6 years (depression, slowly becoming weaker over time). in the mid 90's, my 12yo brain had made up some fanfic about the fight between Anakin and Obiwan. And it didn't take place on a lava planet, but he did end up getting burned in like a house/building fire and collapse that was caused when Vader went after Obiwan because he believed Obiwan was hiding Padme form him. Padme didn't tell Vader she was pregnant either. She was going to, but found out Anakin was the mysterious Darth Vader that was The Emperor's shill killing "troublesome" Jedi and Republic Loyalists behind the scenes. There was also a longer time frame between the end of The Clone Wars and A New Hope, and it took several years after the Clone Wars for the Empire to set hold, making it more like Germany between WW1 and WW2. The Republic was crippled by the Clone Wars and splintered into System States that fought with one another. so the Empire and the Emperor swept through to offer people stability and prosperity-- by force. Anakin sided with the Empire due to loyalty to Palpatine and seeing the might of the Empire hammering states into obedience a better alternative than pure chaos. There wasn't some BiGOL Jedi order either, the Jedi were pretty scattered across the galaxy and their numbers were in the handfuls (no more than like 2-3K in the entire Galaxy). A Master would seek out apprentices on their own, there is no 'system' in place to find force-sensitives among the greater population in mass. A Jedi Master would have 1-5 students at most at a time. During the Clone Wars their numbers expanded in a hurry, so quality control was out the window and they ended up with more than a few sub-par and barely obedient Jedi running around. Anakin among them. He had this ideal on what the Jedi are and became jaded and discontented with how rapidly and hypocritical the Jedi became, he wanted to fix the order and bring them back to their Traditional Roots, but what he wanted and what actually happened didn't mesh (Make the Jedi Great Again... and all that bullsh) . The Emperor courted this jaded Jedi to his side, and gave him the authority to dig out the rot from the Jedi order - by any means necessary. Anakin didn't fully become Vader until after being turned into a crispy critter and he became angry, bitter, and vengeful on the Jedi as a whole. His best friend and master betrayed him, his wife went missing, and he was a shell of a man living in constant pain. (i mean, some of this was done in Eps 1-3, but it wasn't executed very well....)

Love the Vader desing in the thumbnail

It's better that Vader is Luke's father, but I kind of like parts of this old draft a lot more to be honest.

I heard that the “Darth Vader is Luke’s father” concept was originally David Prowse’s idea.

The reveal we got in Empire was the best, which is why Episode V is my favorite Star Wars film.

The original story would have been so damn awesome! This could be another marvel multiverse moment and we could still see it as a movie.

revenge of the sith is my fav of the prequels. hayden delivers even with a weak script at times. i also believe one of the plots had anakin being thrown into the volcano by vader. obi-wan is there and they were both fighting vader.

I wouldn’t mind an AU trilogy that went exactly with how George originally imagined his vision. I think it could work out.

"According to a different point of view." seems like a good synthesis in context of this video.

What happened to the inquisitors after Return of the Jedi, assuming there were any inquisitors left around that time

I really wish the Anakin and Padme story would have been better handled.

I know this is an older video but I absolutely love the thumbnail for this video!!!!

The picture of anakin in the thumbnail is such a badass concept of how anakin could look

So George didn’t “always plan” like many are claiming he did for how the original trilogy was going to go. Thanks for confirming this.

Both of them would have been nice but the one of vader being luke’s father is more impactfull and easy to remember and less confusing.

Kind digging the hooded Darth Vader look.

I remember being in the theater at 12 yrs old and hearing those words; “I am your father”. My first reaction was; “is this really how they are going to do it”. I was actually very disappointed because though we were still early in the story, I felt that to some degree canon had already been altered, a retcon so to speak. It was obvious to me that a “script” change had taken place. I didn’t like it then and as much as I have learned to deal with it, I still don’t like it now, redemption arc aside. I know many/most people do, but to some degree it’s seemed campy though I guess it worked real well.

I love Anakin the way they took his story and he’s become one of my favorite characters of all time. But the pure Jedi Daddy story sounds good too 😳

Great video, it’s very interesting insight, watching episodes 4-6 you can see some slight inconsistencies with character relationships and how they contribute to the overall story. To me episodes 4-6 are still the strongest in the overall arc, with 7-9 going off the rails. Anakin being Darth Vader is still the best choice, though Anakin being the last Jedi to fight Darth Vader and his children going in to hiding makes for a great tragic hero and very typical character of the 70’s & 80’s.

Bruh this whole video is nuts🤯😂

I’m also curious to see what George first draft of return of the Jedi was because I know in that first draft Leia was not meant to be Luke’s sister he was going to have someone else be his twin.

If Lucas would’ve made it as Anakin and Vader as siblings, i wouldn’t have minded that plot twist either

Imagine how cool it would have been if anakin had been there to convince Luke to continue to train

I can get that. As both an aspiring author myself and also a fanfiction writer. In my favorite fanfic works , the main protagonist didn't even exist in the early draft but was about her big sisters. But now they got the secondary protagonist seat. :)

thank you for info. ı am shure you booked a lot for this much info. I reeeaaaalllly appreciate it.

I wished that there could’ve been like a ghost of anakin in the ROS. That would’ve made the movie a lot better. Especially since he started the force sensitive sky walker family. I also wished Ben survived because he was the last sky walker in the family bloodline. I also hated how Rey said she was a sky walker. I was so pissed

I like this first draft better for Anakin Skywalker’s character. But for overall story impact I like what we got from the original trilogy and the prequels.

Wow, this brings back memories. It was early 1980, before Empire released. I was at a great Sci Fi store called Starbase Central that was at the San Antonio Shopping Center in MountainView, CA. This couple came in who said they worked at ILM and after a long conversation said that Vader was Luke’s father. I thought at the time that there were giving me a bunch of bull. That changed in May when Empire released. After the movie, all I could think about was that couple I talked to that day.

I always wondered if Vader and Anakin were originally meant to be different people. Obi-Wan saying that Anakin wanted Luke to have his lightsaber in ANH is one of those lines that makes more sense with the separate-people script. It seemed that in ANH, it was implied that the Lars knew Anakin way more than they actually could have (now that we also have the prequel story). However, I don't see people complaining about the decision to make Anakin and Vader the same. It's probably what makes Luke my favorite character and a true Jedi...in the end, he chose to try and save his father instead of seeking vengeance.

That’s impossible!!! NOOOOOOOOO!!!!

I have read many of my dad's Starlog magazines where the fan theory was that Anakin was Boba Fett in hiding. I found the theories very good and wish that were the case.

The fact that the clones were originally gonna be the bad guys in The Clone Wars, explains the name “Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones”

Depending on how it was done I would have liked to have seen how the original script would have played out. It would probably still have been good. But I really like the version we ended up with. Thanks for the video. 👍🏾✌🏾

Id love to see a "what if?" Comic or something, that explored that original plan for starwars

7:30 Here is where you lose me cause you say that Vader fights Vader....wha?

For anyone interested in what the first draft of Star Wars looked like, look up The Star Wars. It's an 8-issue comic book series based on Lucas' first draft. It's interesting to see the first solid ideas for the characters and how different they are from what ended up being the first movie.

The thumbnail is badass

George Lucas’ father doesn’t think being a director will be able to make money. I think the money I myself spent on Star Wars sh*t itself will be able to support a whole family for life.

May the force be with yall

With all the animation that's widely available, I'd love to see a rendition of the Original Trilogy first draft.

Kind of a neat parallel with Thulsa Doom (James Earl Jones) claiming to be Conan’s spiritual father in 1982, which was in a way sort of having it both ways.

the amount of times you repeat the same info in a 10 minute video baffles me.

I really like the original one it’d be cool if they did like if Star Wars followed the original script or someone made it on RU-vid

I love the movies story because it showd us even a hero can become a monster And thank you for this amazing video 👌❤️

I like it cause, it shows how his father fell and then when Luke finally meets him and that was a very sympathetic and Heart warning

Goerge's conflict with his father is also probably reflected in Luke's conflict with his uncle Owen.

darth vader: I am your father luke: *well yes, but actually no.*

this reminds me of the original "The Star Wars" by Lucas, which was changed a lot afterwards.

I met one of the guys involved in designing and building Yoda. He showed me a lot of storyboard stuff from the OT that never made it in, like Boba Fett killing Chewbacca during the sarlacc fight...