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star wars - Did Yoda definitely know who the other hope was?


When Yoda said "there is another," I always figured it had to do with Darth Vader. The ending makes much more sense that way.


The counter-argument that I keep seeing is that Yoda was specifically referring to Leia. I don't think that this is necessarily true.



To me it seems like this: Yoda just didn't know who the other hope was. He felt a really strong force, and felt that it had some good in it. It doesn't mean he knew whom it belonged to. He was a Jedi master, not a prophet. Even if it were powerful enough to belong to a Skywalker, we can't really blame Yoda for not considering Vader a candidate. Seems to me that when he said "there is another," he meant exactly that, and nothing more: there is another hope.


Again: I don't think Yoda necessarily knew it was Vader. But I don't think he was sure about it being Leia either. Ben believes Yoda meant Leia, but there is a couple of reasons to think that he and Yoda differed on that. In response to "That boy is our last hope," Yoda's cryptic words are "No. There is another." It is an odd thing to say to Ben, who was well aware that Padme had two children. Yoda would have just said "His sister there always is." Ben's belief that Yoda meant Leia is mistaken, but understandable: Vader was quite a bad guy, and Yoda had reservations about Anakin from the get-go. It seems to me that the viewer is being intentionally misled in order to make Vader's change of heart that much more impactful.


The plot itself also suggests that Vader was the real other last hope. Leia was very helpful, but her help was a bit more general, not reflecting a "last hope" role. In addition, her help had very little to do with her being a Skywalker. She could have done all the stuff she did being a Dolan, Smith, or Schwartzbraum. Her being Luke's sister benefited Han Solo, but that's about it.


However, Darth Vader very much played the role of "another last hope." When Luke was beaten and the need for "another" became real, it was Vader's decision to turn from the dark side that made the difference; he very much delivered on his role as "another." And he did it precisely because he was Luke's father. The last hope did end up resting on a Skywalker - not because of his powers, but because of his love for his son. It makes a lot more sense than Leia's rather unfulfilled "last hope" role.



Answer



In the context of the final in-universe movies


The "other hope" is pretty unambiguously Leia. Even ignoring the prequels, Ben specifically states who Yoda was referring to.


When we add in the prequels, Yoda clearly believes that Leia is an option, at least at the time of her birth, even using the word "hope" when it comes to them.


From Revenge of the Sith:




OBI-WAN: I will take the child and watch over him. Master Yoda, do you think Anakin's twins will be able to defeat Darth Sidious?


YODA: Strong the Force runs, in the Skywalker line. Hope, we can . . . Done, it is. Until the time is right, disappear we will.



In the context of the development of the movies


This is actually slightly fuzzy.


The annotated screenplay touches on the subject. In the second and third draft, Ben and Yoda don't actually have anyone in mind; they're not even entirely sure that there is someone else.



In [the second draft] there's no hint that there may be another hope if Luke fails. In the revised second draft a few lines of dialogue were added as Luke's X-wing disappears in the sky: Yoda says: "Now we must find another." Ben replies: "He is our only hope." And in the third draft, after Luke takes off, Ben says: "The boy is our last hope." Yoda replies: "No ... We must search for another."


George Lucas: "My feeling about Luke being the last hope was really done in an effort to make sure that he was in some jeopardy, that he might not succeed. I was trying to set up subliminally in the audience's mind that something is going on here, that he could fail. And if he does fail, 'there is another hope.' So the audience is saying, 'Don't go, finish your training.'"




Scanning through the screenplay's notes and the relevant scenes, I've been unable to find anything stating unequivocally that Leia was intended as "the other hope" during the production of Empire.


That said, the final screenplay is what we see on the screen - and aside from the changes during development, there is nothing to imply that a decision was not made by the writers/producers regarding Leia as "the other hope". The notes do not cover who Lucas/Kirshner thought might be the hope, only that earlier during development, Ben & Yoda did not have someone in mind.


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