The year is 2015. It is roughly three hours before I am set to see Star Wars: The Force Awakens when — despite all of the limitations and filters I've put on my internet usage for days — I am spoiled by a random Facebook friend.
Being spoiled for Star Wars is pretty much par for the course for fans nowadays — what with the internet and leaks and stuff — so it's pretty wild to think that The Empire Strikes Back still contains one of the greatest plot twists in movie history.
And this week Mr. Luke Skywalker himself, Mark Hamill, revealed exactly how they managed to keep his character's shocking lineage ~all in the family~ and, y'all, it's a pretty great Jedi mind trick:
The cast & crew first learned of it when they saw the finished film. When we shot it, Vader's line was "You don't know the truth, Obi-Wan killed your father." Only Irvin Kershner, George Lucas & I knew what would be dubbed in later. Agony keeping that secret for over a year! 😩 https://t.co/DcB2lW8AhC
That's right. The cast and crew ON THE SET literally didn't know what the actual line was. THEY WERE FED A FAKE LINE.
"When we shot it, Vader's line was, 'You don't know the truth, Obi-Wan killed your father.'" Hamill said. "Only Irvin Kershner, George Lucas, and I knew what would be dubbed in later. Agony keeping that secret for over a year!"
OVER. A. YEAR?! Y'all, I can't keep a good secret for 20 full minutes and this man kept maybe the biggest plot twist in movie history quiet for OVER. A YEAR?!
Hamill also told Entertainment Weekly that he believed the idea of Obi-Wan — "This icon of virtue" — murdering his father was actually a great twist in its own....SO, I HAVE A THEORY.
Basically, I think that the cast and crew were so satisfied with this fake twist that they didn't even bother poking around for holes or further reveals...which is how I vote all movie sets handle twists from now on. JUST MAKE UP A REALLY GOOD LIE AND TELL IT TO EVERYONE. JUST LIE, IT'S FINE.
So, uh, yeah...there ya have it. Do you remember how you first found out that Darth Vader was Luke's father? Were you spoiled, or did you experience it fresh? Share your Star Wars story in the comments below and may the force be with you — and always spoiler-free.
