He Lives! Darth Vader may be alive in Star Wars VII

Stars Wars fans old and young will be eagerly awaiting the return of the saga in December this year and we’ve already been treated to some tantalising snippets of information about who and what we’re likely to see happen in Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

One of the most astonishing moments that took place at the end of the last Star Wars film – Star Wars Episode VI – Return of the Jedi – was that Darth Vader, ultimate supervillain, actually sacrificed himself to save his son, Luke Skywalker, who was being attacked by Darth Vader’s boss Emperor Palpatine, the ruler of the Galactic Empire. This was a remarkable turnaround from Vader, who since turning to the dark side of the force had carried out the Emperor’s dirty work with aplomb. At one stage he even cut Luke’s right hand off! Dispatching the Emperor was an uncharacteristic act of behaviour that earned Darth Vader a place on gaming site bgo’s list of top five film characters who beat the boss (his co-nominees on bgo’s list are much warmer characters than him).

As Darth (now Anakin Skywalker) was dying, having been struck by the Emperor’s Force lightning, Luke removed his helmet for him so that he could see him with his own eyes. His last words to Luke were that there was good left in him after all. At the end of Episode VI, we saw Luke escaping the Death Star, taking his father’s body with him, which he burned in a funeral ceremony on the moon of Endor. The end of Vader, we all assumed. But, now in the trailer for Star Wars: The Force Awakens, we get to see the charred helmet again and intriguingly, a voice says: “The force is strong in my family, my father has it, I have it, my sister has it, you have that power too.” Note the use of the present tense. Not ‘my father had it’ but ‘my father has it’…

Of course, this can lead us to only one conclusion – Darth Vader/Anakin Skywalker will be making a comeback in The Force Awakens, in some form or other, although this hasn’t been confirmed officially.

It’s a long wait until December, but that also leaves plenty of time for the cat to be let out of the bag, via further plot leaks. In the meantime, we’ve been given more info on other returning cast members. Mark Hamill will take up his role as Luke again, while Carrie Fisher returns as Princess Leia and Harrison Ford as Han Solo.

There hasn’t been much detail on Luke’s role in the new film, except that new characters Rey and Finn will be searching for him. So Hamill may or may not get that much screen time.

Princess Leia Organa’s part in the next film is even more mysterious. So far there have been no details on her, except that new character Poe Dameron receives a mission from her. We don’t as yet know if she married Han or if she went through the training to become a Jedi as Luke and her father did.

And the same goes for Han Solo – we’re not really sure what he’ll be doing in the next part of the story. There have been rumours that he will join Rey and Finn in the quest to find Luke, after Luke’s robotic hand and lightsaber have been discovered on a desert planet.

Part of the appeal of the countdown to The Force Awakens is the mystery about the storyline. True Star Wars fans probably wouldn’t have it any other way. We’ll just have to be patient and see what the next episode of this massive film franchise has in store for all its characters, both good and bad.