Duel on Cloud City/Legends

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

- Darth Vader to Luke Skywalker

The Duel on Bespin 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'll find I'm full of surprises!"

- Luke Skywalker to Darth Vader



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 and Vader revealed himself. Walking up to the Sith Lord, Luke ignited his lightsaber and challenged. Vader activated his own weapon and the battle was on.

Luke attacked first and managed to drive Vader back, surprising the Sith with his skill. However, Vader quickly counter-attacked, eventually overwhelming Skywalker and flicking his lightsaber out of his hand. Luke retreated and lost his balance, falling down the stairs to the center of the chamber. Vader leapt after and backed Luke up to the edge of the freezing pit. Vader pushed forward suddenlyand Luke fell back, losing his balance and falling into the freezing pit. Vader then used the Force to activate the chamber and didn't notice when Luke sprang out just in time.



Vader walked up to the chamber musing as to how Luke was far more easily defeated than he had thought. Then, he noticed Luke trying to climb the pipes and hoses above the pit. He sliced through one of them 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 they fought on.



Vader taunted Luke, but Luke quickly pressed the attack, causing Vader to fall off the carbon freezing platform. Luke leapt down and followed, searching for Vader. Luke walked down a passage into the processing vane, and was immediately assaulted by Vader, who used Dun Möch to hurl objects at Luke. A misguided piece of piping hit an observation port, and Luke was sucked out into the air shaft, but managed to cling onto a balcony on the outside of the vane several floors below.

Luke tried to get out of the air shaft, entering a small corridor. But the Dark Lord ambushed him, driving Luke back viciously, but Luke was able to wound Vader's shoulder. Enraged, Vader continued his assault, finally ending the duel by cutting Luke's hand off.

"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



Vader tried to sway Luke to the dark side by revealing the fact that he was indeed Luke's father. Luke, who felt it to be true, chose death rather than joining Vader and gained the moral courage to throw himself off the ledge. He 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.

"Leia... hear me."

- Luke Skywalker

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.

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