You’ve Been Watching Empire Strikes Back All Wrong
Luke’s not the hero. Vader wins. And the Rebellion sucks at their job.
This week on Unspooled, we revisited what might be the most misunderstood film in the entire Star Wars saga — The Empire Strikes Back.
It’s the one where the Rebellion loses, the villain wins, and the hero’s big moment is getting emotionally wrecked…by his dad.
We unpacked:
Why George Lucas gave up control — and how that helped the story.
How The Big Sleep was a central inspiration for Han and Leia.
How Luke followed in the footsteps of Yoda in more ways than one.
Why C-3PO might be the only emotionally stable person in the galaxy
And whether “Do or do not” is the Jedi version of gaslighting
Listen to the episode:
▶️ Empire Strikes Back on Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.
IS THIS VADER’S MOVIE?
Making a case for Paul’s POV that Vader not Luke is the Main Character of the Film.
He gets the best entrance and theme song and has NO losses.
Luke trains and fails, Vader conquers Hoth, captures Han, and breaks Lando.
Every significant action in the movie is a reaction to Vader. He drives the plot.
The twist is about him. The movie ends with his reveal, not the hero’s victory.
He doesn’t just win the duel — he shatters Luke’s worldview, and lets him live.
He’s the only character with an actual goal, strategy, and emotional arc.
Everyone else runs, doubts, and reacts. Vader acts.
“If you want to build a better rebellion, Empire Strikes Back teaches that the path to victory isn’t through swagger and improvisation — it’s through patience, sacrifice and humility.”
In her must-read LA Times piece, Amy digs into how Empire slices our assumptions about good vs. evil like a Wampa’s arm — and how George Lucas may have been warning us that cool jackets and confidence aren’t enough to win a war.
Do or Do Not — Rewrite, There Is No Try
If Leigh Brackett’s 1st Draft script included:
More WAMPAS!
After they recover, Luke and and hear his story about the Wampa, they determine that these creatures are a massive threat to the base. And indeed, almost right away, they begin infiltrating and killing the Rebels group by group (kinda like Aliens). If you read the fourth draft, which is much closer to the finished film, you can see that this is carried over into that script. While the Rebels must deal with the approaching Imperial Walkers, they are also getting attacked from within by the Wampa creatures, who have breached their base. It’s a way cooler scenario, but scratched for budgetary reasons.
Vader Is Not Luke’s Father
The iconic “I am your father” twist does not exist in her draft. Instead, Luke’s father appears as a ghost named Anakin Skywalker, who trains him on the other side. Brackett keeps Vader and Anakin as two separate people — the original idea from A New Hope.
Lando Is a Clone
Lando is described as a descendant of the “clone wars” — possibly even a clone himself.
Yoda’s Name Was “Minch”
Before he became Yoda, the little green guy was called “Minch.” He was grumpier, more serious, and less enigmatic — more wizard than space zen master.
Han’s Fate Is Vague — But He’s Still in Trouble
Han doesn’t get frozen in carbonite; head off to find his long-lost stepfather. Han’s step-father is a man named Ovan Marekal, a huge political bigwig who’s carefully aligned himself with Darth Vader to protect the people of the galaxy. The Rebels believe that if Han can get to him, he may be able to convince him to fight against Vader, giving the otherwise helpless Rebel Army a fighting chance.
NELLITH SKYWALKER!
Anakin Skywalker’s Force ghost would do more than encourage and knight his son, he’d also reveal that Luke has a long-lost twin sister, Nellith Skywalker, who resides in the far reaches of the galaxy, training as a Jedi as well.
Kasdan took over scripting after Lee passed and loved writing his pages in longhand:
Even though Lucas wasn’t the director he was still very involved in the production as you can see from Irvin Kershner’s Script Notes after speaking to George Lucas about Yoda and Luke
EXTRA BITS
The carbon freezing chamber was an aesthetic accident.
The iconic orange-and-blue look of the carbon chamber? That wasn’t planned. The crew was behind schedule, the set was mostly unfinished, and they improvised the lighting to mask the lack of detail. It ended up being the most stylish scene in the film.
Yoda’s face is based on Einstein.
Sculptor Stuart Freeborn modeled Yoda’s wrinkles and eyes on Albert Einstein’s face — hoping to give the character an unconscious visual cue of wisdom and gravity.
The Space Slug scene was nearly cut.
Lucas was convinced the space slug moment was too goofy and slowed the pacing. Insisting it was “better on paper!” Kershner fought to keep it, arguing it was a surreal, eerie breather between action scenes.
HERE’S A HINT ABOUT OUR NEXT FILM….
That’s right, we are doing THE BIG SLEEP
Also, if you missed our SINNERS/MINECRAFT NO SPOILERS Ep - Check it out in the UNSPOOLED FEED.
Paul’s NYT Best-Selling book Joyful Recollections of Trauma will be released in Paperback on 5/6, with 20 new pages! Check it out here
Paul will be performing in Toronto on 5/9 at Massey Hall and with Dinosaur Improv in Chicago on 5/11 at 430PM.
All EP Art Created by Kim Troxall!
See You Next Week - Paul, Amy, Molly & Courtney
Loved this episode. Loved Amy’s piece in the LA Times. Some of the missing scenes, such as the Wampa attack in the base did survive as deleted scenes: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=zmaX_mViU7A&pp=0gcJCdgAo7VqN5tD
Great ep & especially love Amy working through her issues with it in real time. And I get it because the everyone having to be related to someone of it all drives me nuts. TROS totally rips the guts out of how cool the moment was Kylo telling her she was a nobody.