A deleted scene from A New Hope had the potential to ruin Star Wars. Or, so we may think. This scene had Red Leader commenting to Luke about how he knew his father. Although we may think this moment would have spoiled the revelation about Vader in The Empire Strikes Back, it actually wouldn’t have. It would even have enhanced Luke’s character.
Deleted Scene and Its Impact
This recent Reddit forum includes a deleted scene from A New Hope with Red Leader indicating how he had met Luke’s father. He comes up to where Luke and Biggs Darklighter are standing and states, “I met your father once when I was just a boy. He was a great pilot.” He also said to Luke, “You got half the skill he had, you’ll do alright.”
We may first conclude that Red Leader or Garvin Dreis saying this to Luke would have major implications. It could be like announcing Vader and Luke’s relationship before the big reveal in Empire Strikes Back. Most posts above think that including this scene would have dramatically changed Star Wars.
However, this scene actually wouldn’t have had much impact. As one outlier response indicates, most people in the galaxy probably thought Anakin was dead, and interjecting this scene would only provide “knowledge of Anakin having children.”
Coinciding with this idea, Dreis’s comments correspond with what was known about Luke’s father at this point. We need to remember this monumental scene where Obi-Wan briefly talked about the Clone Wars and said to Luke, “I was once a Jedi Knight, the same as your father.” As with Red Leader’s comments, Obi-Wan also stated about Luke’s father, “He was the best starpilot in the galaxy.”
Between the two moments of dialogue, we only realize that Anakin was a Jedi, a skilled pilot, and Luke’s father. Including the scene would have helped bolster the mystery surrounding Anakin at this point, not reveal that he was actually Vader.
As discussed elsewhere, including here, the larger public didn’t know that Anakin had become Vader at the end of the Clone Wars. Like Obi-Wan said to Luke, “the assumption was that Vader was actually the one who killed both Padme and Anakin.” With the added scene, we would get another person recognizing how Vader had killed him.
Would the Deleted Scene Altered Luke’s Character Trajectory?
We may also think that including this deleted scene would disrupt Luke’s unknown, Tatooine identity. If he had a father who was a great pilot, and some knew he was a Jedi, then Luke would no longer have been the farm boy hero out of nowhere.
Yet, the scene would not have changed Luke’s character. True, “both within and outside the Jedi Order,” Anakin and Obi-Wan were quite famous during the Clone Wars. Yet, with Order 66, the wiping out of the Jedi, and Obi-Wan going into hiding, their fame sank considerably.
Within only “10 years after the fall of the Jedi Order,” Kenobi’s life became “bleak” and unknown. As he concealed himself on Tatooine to watch over Luke, most of the galaxy forgot about him. Within the Rebel Alliance, Leia and Bail were the main people who knew about Obi-Wan.
As this discussion suggests, Obi-Wan may have been hiding “not from the empire but the rebellion.” That is, Kenobi may have also concealed himself and wished for a downgrade of knowledge about him to help protect the Rebels.
A similar dynamic happened with Anakin. The public’s knowledge of him declined, while within the Alliance, they remembered bits and pieces of information. As with Dreis, he recalled what he knew when he was a child. Bringing forth this kind of mythic information would not have vaulted Luke to top status.
We should also remember that the Rebellion consisted of different factions outside of the Rebel Command. We may think of groups like Saw Gerrera’s, but there were also less radical forces spread across the galaxy, as we got a sense of from Andor.
Having a little more knowledge about Luke at Yavin would have instead brought more intrigue into who this nobody was from the desert planet. As Luke had rumors circulating about him, he blew up the Death Star. His status began to cement more after the Battle of Yavin, providing a lead into the next movie.
The Deleted Scene Would Have Worked
Rather than ruining Star Wars, including the deleted scene with Garvin Dreis mentioning Luke’s father would have aided the original trilogy. Not only would it not reveal anything about Anakin being Vader, the scene would have complemented Luke’s rise to hero.