Ok, my brother asked me a question and I didn't know what answer to give. Before discovering that Luke was his son, Vader and Luke had a lightsaber duel, on a planet sometime between A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back, and Vaders right had was cut off, which is why it showed wires in Return of the Jedi when Like cut it off again. My brother wants to know if Vader had intentionally cut Luke's hand off to get back at him.

Luke never cut off Vader's hand. Vader's hand some place along the way was damaged and had to be replaced after falling in the lava pit (according to the ROTJ novel).

EU has it that Vader lost his right hand to the Emperor for his failure at Yavin.

Luke sliced at Vader's shoulder scoring a glancing blow. The cut damaged his armor (and explains the change in armor appearnce between ESB and ROTJ nicely if you want to talk about plot devices).

So Luke is not responsible. Luke's hand got cut off since Luke did not defend himself well enough.

No. I have a Star Wars encylopedia and it said that that Vader encountered Luke on a planet called Mimban, where Vader lost his right arm in a duel. It never says anything about the Emperor cutting Vader's hand off for failing him.

Which encyclopedia would that be?

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At last we will reveal ourselves to the Jedi.
At last we will have revenge.

Mara Jade says so in Heir to the Empire.

You are referring to Splinter of the Mind's Eye, which was the first ever SW Book published back in 1978. It sort of is the bastard child of SW EU. No one gives it much respect or mind.

My encyclopedia was written by Stephen J. Sansweet. It has Luke and Vader in a duel in the lower right hand corner and on the inside it has a timeline of key events, which has the Battle of Yavin being standard year zero and anything before it BBY (before the Battle of Yavin) and ABY (after the Battle of Yavin.

I'm just telling you what is in the books, and all Star Wars books. Sansweet is a toy expert (if there is such a thing).

The picture is there because SME has been made into a graphic novel by Dark Horse. It is a direct conflict within the EU.

SME says one thing, Heir to the Empire says another. Tell me, which book would you give more creedence to in the EU...

Well that's the problem with EU and such... There's a few discrepancies...

I have read Splinter also, it was okay, and like pb says, it was the first EU book.

Hey as for the duel, it's said that Vader and Luke's first duel is in Bespin in TESB... So how can they have fought in SME? The joys of EU I tell you http://www.jediknight.net/mboard/biggrin.gif)

The reason Vader's hand is robotic is b/c he's half machine. It was also a reference to the cave in Dagobah, where Luke cuts the fake Vader's head off and it's his face. He was becoming Vader... I don't think you're meant to think "oh it happen here and b/c of this"... It's meant as bringing the story full circle, seeing Luke turning to the DS...

That's my humble opinion anyways!

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Ash to ash,
Dust to dust,
Fade to black,
But the memory remains...

You screwed up paul- you should have posted a link to your q&a website. :P

Coninuity problems? Ever try to read any Star Trek novels and match them to the movies or tv series? Be glad Lucas makes the attempt to keep it all flowing one way!

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The Master is Back
with a vengence

Actually no I never read a Star Trek novel http://www.jediknight.net/mboard/biggrin.gif)

I try not to worry about canon non-canon. Who cares? As long as it's a good read...

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Ash to ash,
Dust to dust,
Fade to black,
But the memory remains...

That's why I stopped reading them.

Same here. I never finished Blackfleet Crisis... I just couldn't. And that's pretty bad b/c I'm a die hard Star Wars fan.

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Ash to ash,
Dust to dust,
Fade to black,
But the memory remains...

I was talking about Star Trek Books. I read the Black Fleet, Bounty Hunter, and everythin written by Kevin J Anderson after JEdi Academy (except for Tales of the Jedi) and went what is this ****????

Even Jedi Academy I found was just not Star Warsish for me... I dunno... It was an okay book, just not my favorite.

Now TPM by Terry Brooks (an excellent author btw, check out his Shannara stuff) I really enjoyed. It was better than the OT novelisation...

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Ash to ash,
Dust to dust,
Fade to black,
But the memory remains...

Terry Brooks is far from good, much less execllent. His books are dry and predictable at best.

I'll stick with Robert Jordan and Tad Williams, two of the best authors around. Their books beats anything done by Brooks hands down.

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The Master is Back
with a vengence

Luke didn't slice off Vader's hand in SotME, he only mangled his arm.

Y'see, Vader unleashed a kinetite attack. A kinetite is kinda like the Star Wars version of a DBZ move; it's a globe of telekinetic energy that carries enough concussive force to break down an armoured ferrocrete wall. Luke deflected the kinetite back at Vader, which crushed his side (i.e., broke bones, probably with massive internal injuries). Vader then tumbled down one of the ubiquitous Bottomless Pits<SUP>TM</SUP> that Jedi love to fight around.

By that point (presumeably), Vader had already been called on the carpet over losing Death Star (as if it was his fault http://www.jediknight.net/mboard/rolleyes.gif) ), and had added an artificial hand to his already impressive list of cybernetics. This is what Mara referred to.

Actually, the real reasoning was that showing a bloody stump would've earned RotJ a PG-13 rating (at least). Note that, when Luke lost his hand, the scene was blurred and that Luke quickly buried his stump in the crook of his other arm.

So the score is:

-Luke destroys DS. ===> Vader loses right arm for "his" incompetence.
-Luke injures Vader on Mimban by deflecting his own attack back at him.
-Vader lops off Luke's right hand on Cloud City.
-Luke chops off Vader's (cybernetic) right arm at Endor.

That was when Luke realized that he was becoming as vicious as his father (watch how he gazes at his own artificial hand), and proceeds to throw away his lightsaber. <small>. . .right toward the shaft. Oops.</small> http://www.jediknight.net/mboard/rolleyes.gif)

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"The Beasts know much that we do not." -Ancient Jedi proverb

[This message has been edited by BeastMaster (edited March 24, 2001).]

Originally posted by oninosensi:
Terry Brooks is far from good, much less execllent. His books are dry and predictable at best.

I'll stick with Robert Jordan and Tad Williams, two of the best authors around. Their books beats anything done by Brooks hands down.



Hey that's your opinion, and your entitled to it. I have better things to do than to argue. I enjoyed 'em and that's all that really matters to me.

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Ash to ash,
Dust to dust,
Fade to black,
But the memory remains...

All I know is what I read, and I read that Vader lost his right arm to the Force wielder, whom he later found out was his son. It never said a thing about the Emperor cutting his hand off for failing to prevent the destruction of the first Death Star. In fact, I haven't even read Heir to the Empire, I don't even have it. I don't know if that part was left out of my encylopedia on purpose or not.

Vader probably lost his right hand to a lightsaber, since bacta can heal laser burns.

Like BeastMaster over there said, when Luke sliced off Vader's hand he relized how much he had become like his father not just with his hand, but with his force ability and danger.

Also, Luke recieved no formal training until Empire Strikes Back, so how could he have cut off his hand between ANH and TESB. He wouldn't have been able to fight Vader at that time, much less cut off his arm.

Om another note, Vader has the same lightsaber handle in both ANH and ROTJ, so how could he have lost it in a battle?