Duel on Cloud City/Legends

"The Force is with you, young Skywalker&hellip; but you are not a Jedi yet."

- Darth Vader to Luke Skywalker

The Duel on Cloud City was a fight between Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader during the Galactic Civil War. It was during this time that Darth Vader revealed to Luke Skywalker that he was Anakin Skywalker, his father. Luke also had his hand severed during the battle, and was wounded, barely escaping alive.

Prologue
"I've got to go to them." "Decide, you must, how to serve them best. If you leave now, help them, you could, but...you would destroy all for which they have fought and suffered."

- Luke Skywalker and Yoda

After Han Solo, Leia Organa, Chewbacca, and C-3PO were captured by the Galactic Empire after trying to seek refuge in Lando Calrissian's Cloud City, Luke disobeyed Yoda and Obi-Wan Kenobi and set off to rescue them. Vader was tracking Luke once he entered Cloud City. As Luke entered, he was looking around with R2-D2 when all of a sudden, Boba Fett fired around a corner to hold him off.

Luke fired back and advanced a little but soon he saw Leia's head stick from around a corner desperately trying to hold off an Imperial soldier to warn him. She claimed it was all a trap.

The duel
"You have learned much, young one." "You'll find I'm full of surprises!"

- Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker



Luke ignored her and continued following. As he passed through the door, it slammed shut behind him, cutting off R2-D2. Making his way through the catwalks and elevators of the Cloud City core, he eventually reached the darkened Carbon-Freezing Chamber.

Suddenly the chamber lit up, revealing Darth Vader, standing atop the flight of steps to the walkway above. Walking up to the Sith Lord, Luke ignited his lightsaber and challenged. Vader calmly activated his own weapon and the battle was on.

Luke attacked first, managing to drive Vader back, surprising the Sith with his skill. However, Vader quickly counter-attacked, driving Luke back to the head of the stairs. Luke attempted his own counter-attack, only for Vader to deprive him of his lightsaber with a quick flourish. Luke retreated and lost his balance, falling down the stairs to the chambers main platform. Vader leapt after him, backing Luke up to the edge of the freezing pit, all the while affirming that Luke's destiny lay with him. As Luke denied this, Vader lunged forward, causing the youth to lose balance and fall into the pit. As Vader activated the chamber with the Force, he failed to notice that Luke had leapt onto the overhanging pipes above the pit. Walking up to the pit, musing about how easily Luke had been defeated, Vader suddenly noticed Luke trying to climb up the pipes and hoses above the pit.

"Impressive... Most impressive!"

- Darth Vader

He sliced through one of the hoses in an attempt to dislodge Skywalker. Luke then jumped down and sprayed tibanna gas through the severed hose, stunning Vader momentarily. Luke quickly recovered his lightsaber and slashed at Vader, only for the Sith Lord to block his blow. As the two bladelocked, Vader taunted Luke, complimenting him on having controlled his fear, but advising him to draw on his anger as well.

Vader promtly broke the bladelock and pressed the attack, but Luke managed to counter-attack driving Vader back to the edge of the platform. Vader eventually lost his balance against this assault, toppling off the edge of the platform. Luke leapt down and followed, searching for Vader.



Advancing down a passage into the processing vane, Luke was immediately assaulted by Vader, who utilized the Dun Möch technique of psychological warfare and telekinetally hurled objects at Luke. As Force-propelled equipment was launched at Luke, a misguided piece of piping hit an observation port. As gale-force winds filled the chamber, Vader hugged the wall for safety while Luke was sucked out into the air shaft. As the winds subsided, Vader went to the shattered observation port and saw that Luke had managed to cling onto a catwalk along the exterior the vane several floors below.

"You are beaten, it is useless to resist! Don't let yourself be destroyed as Obi-Wan did!"

- Darth Vader taunting Luke



As Luke tried to get out of the air shaft, entering a small corridor he was suddenly ambushed by the Dark Lord. Driven back viciously along the mantainance catwalk, Luke, in desperation, managed to slightly wound a taunting Vader's shoulder. Enraged, the Sith Lord continued his assault, his barrage driving Luke onto a small extension at the end of the catwalk. Vader ended the duel by slicing off a piece of equipment there, and when Luke involuntarily glanced at it, Vader took advantage of the opening and swiftly sliced off Luke's lightsaber hand.

Defeat and Revelation


"If you only knew the power of the dark side. Obi-Wan never told you what happened to your father." "He told me enough! He told me you killed him!" "No. I am your father."

- Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker

As Luke recoiled in pain, retreating along the extention, Vader tried to sway Luke to the dark side and revealed the fact that he was indeed Luke's father. Initially, Luke was in denial, but ultimately felt it to be true. In the end, he chose death rather than joining Vader and gained the moral courage to throw himself off the mantainance catwalk into the air shaft below.

"Leia... hear me."

- Luke Skywalker

As he fell, Luke was sucked into a gas port, and ended up clinging to a weather vane on the underside of Cloud City. He reached out to Leia through the Force, and was rescued by her, Calrissian, and Chewbacca in the Millennium Falcon.

Though Vader made another attempt to capture Luke, as the Falcon departed Bespin, using the Executor, the astromech R2-D2 was able to reactivate the ship's hyperdrive and allow the heroes to escape.

The Aftermath
"Ben... Why didn't you tell me?"

- Luke Skywalker

This revelation haunted Luke, yet motivated him, and helped turn him into a true Jedi, one who did not stray to the dark. A year later, Luke was finally able to come to terms with this, when he met his father above Endor on the Second Death Star, where they dueled again, this time to the death. Cloud City was captured by the Galactic Empire, which turned the gas mines into Ugnaught slaving camps. It is known that Vader recovered Luke's hand and took it to the Mount Tantiss storehouse, where it was used to grow a clone of Luke Skywalker.

The duel was witnessed by Allania Jakien, an eleven-year-old girl lost in the underbelly of Cloud City during the chaos of the Imperial takeover.

Though annexed by the Empire, holos of the duel between the two Skywalkers later found their way into the market. Though they only captured the first twenty seconds of the duel, they sold for 15 credits each in Port Town.



Behind the scenes
The duel between Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker is remembered by many Star Wars fans as the most memorable lightsaber duel in Star Wars history.

As Lucas wanted the lightsaber fights to gradually become "faster and more intense" as Luke was becoming more adept at using a lightsaber, a shift in fighting style began to show itself, with some one-handed forms making their first appearance -- a precursor to what lightsaber fights of old would be revealed to look like.

Appearances



 * Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back
 * Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back novel
 * Star Wars 44: The Empire Strikes Back: Duel a Dark Lord
 * The Emperor's Trophy
 * Shadows of the Empire comic
 * Star Wars: Rogue Squadron III: Rebel Strike
 * LEGO Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy
 * LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga
 * The Rise and Fall of Darth Vader
 * Tatooine Ghost
 * Heir to the Empire
 * The Last Command
 * The Lost Lightsaber

Notes and references
Duelo en la Ciudad Nube Duel sur Bespin