this post was submitted on 20 Aug 2023
83 points (92.8% liked)
Star Wars
4893 readers
1 users here now
Discussion for all things Star Wars. Movies, books, games, TV shows and more are welcome.
1. Keep it civil.
2. Keep it Star Wars related.
3. No memeposts. Memes are great and everybody loves them, but there is already [email protected] for those.
Community icon art from DeviantArt user DavidDeb.
Banner art by Ralph McQuarrie.
founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
This is great, but the line in the movie always annoyed me.
Darth is just a title, so it doesn't make sense to call him that. He should really say "Only a master of evil, Vader". Otherwise every sith would just be called Darth.
What’s wrong with calling people Darth? It’s like addressing someone as “Captain” or “Doctor”.
Yeah, like if someone was talking to Master Yoda, they can say "thank you, Master."
Yes, I figure this was due to a bit of retconning on Lucas’ part. When he wrote Star Wars: A New Hope, perhaps he intended “Darth” as a name rather than a title. It wasn’t until the Phantom Menace he introduced the usage of Darth as a title.
Even so, how many times are other character addressed by their titles, such as Padawan, Master, Senator, etc., not to mention military titles like captain and admiral. In that context, I think it could make sense for Obi-wan to call Vader “Darth.”
I think there's enough room for interpretation for Darth to make sense. You could even postulate that addressing him purely by his title and without his name is Obi-Wan putting a spotlight on the fact that Vader has become less a person and more his position.
Yeah, it's a bit of a retcon, but one that was handled well, albeit clumsily. Darth was probably going to be his real name at one point before they decided it was more appropriate as a title.
I always like to re-interpret that scene as Obi-Wan using a bit of wit in the heat of battle to chastise his former apprentice. Him referring to Vader as simply "Darth" is a refutation of Vader's claim that he is the master/more powerful one, and it drives his point home that he would never be better or more powerful than a Jedi Master because he had already embraced the Sith ideology and even taken their title.