Leap of Faith #3

Today's Leap of Faith is one of the all-time greatest.

Luke Skywalker, bruised, battered, and newly armless, is confronted by a terrible truth.

Darth Vader is his father.

Luke finds this mildly upsetting.

The villain then asks Luke to join him so they can destroy the Emperor and rule the galaxy as father and son. Luke thinks about it for like point-zero-three seconds and then takes a leap of faith deep into the bowels of Bespin.

Star Wars ABC's - The Letter V

We've almost reach the end of this week's Star Wars ABC's series, but we have a very important one today.

V is for Vader!

There are nightmares, bogeymen, and other unpleasantries.

And then there's Darth Vader.

Encased in a life-giving suit, he's more machine now than man, twisted and evil. At least, that's what his friends say. He doesn't appreciate a good joke and is incapable of playing nice with others. Vader is as Vader does...and Vader does as his Emperor commands.

When I was a very, very young child, Vader scared me. While sleeping in my room at night, I thought I saw his shadow standing in the corner and imagined his synthesized breaths. If I got out of bed, he'd switch on his lightsaber and hack me to pieces.

Good news: I fear him no more.

Part of it's growing up; part of it's knowing that Hayden Freaking Christensen is inside that suit with his pedantic whining and monotone delivery ("One day, I will be the most powerful Jedi EVER!").

Okay, it's mostly growing up; I just wanted to take a stab at the Greatest Canadian Actor Ever.

Vader is the iconic big screen baddie. Mysterious, ruthless, driven, and unafraid to leave a few bodies in his wake (Obi-Wan Kenobi, Admiral Ozzel, Captain Needa, that poor Tantive IV commander, Luke's hand, assorted Jedi & other malcontents).

Without Vader, there is no Star Wars.

TOMORROW: A reliable wing man who helped destroy two Death Stars; a real Rogue.

U is for Ugnaught
T is for Tatooine
S is for Star Destroyer
R is for Rancor
Q is for Qui-Gon Jinn
P is for Probe Droid
O is for Owen
N is for Needa
M is for Mon Mothma
L is for Lightsaber
K is for Kenobi
J is for Jabba
I is for "I know"
H is for Hoth
G is for Galactic Empire
F is for Falcon
E is for Emperor
D is for Death Star
C is for Chewie
B is for Bespin
A is for Ackbar

Star Wars ABC's - The Letter N

The third week of Star Wars ABC's forges onward as we anticipate the release of the movie trilogies on Blu-ray!

N is for Needa.

"Sir, the ship no longer appears on our scopes."

"They can't have disappeared. No ship that small has a cloaking device."

"Captain, Lord Vader demands an update on the pursuit."

"Get a shuttle ready. I shall assume full responsibility for losing them, and apologize to Lord Vader."

The universe never turned on someone more quickly than Captain Needa. One moment, he had Darth Vader's prize--the Millennium Falcon--in his clutches; the next, the Falcon was gone.

Of course, Lord Vader wanted to know what was going on (a crewmember likely tweeted that Needa's Star Destroyer, the Avenger, was in hot pursuit of the galaxy's most wanted space pirate)...and Needa, being a noble officer, fell on his sword.

Or, more accurately, the deck of Vader's Executor.

"Apology accepted, Captain Needa."

TOMORROW: He's the man who refuses to let Luke go to the Tosche Station to pick up some power converters.