Fergus: "I thought a good topic of discussion would be Owen Lars. Perhaps he is one of these other kids cast for the prequal. the age would be about right. it also seems probable that Owen serves in the wars with Anakin. In the Lucas novelization, Ben tells how Owen was always trying to get Anakin to go back to Tatooine and be a farmer. Also, Biggs tells Luke that  Owen could hold off an army of sandpeople with just a blaster. Its been said in various sources that Owen was Ben's brother. The outfit he wears is just like Ben's! Perhaps brother-in-arms or brother Jedi wouldnt be too much of a stretch? And who's Beru? Is she a Skywalker? Maybe this is the sister we've heard rumors of in episode one?" 

> FEB 6 

SNS22 wrote: "Just like from Ben's line in ANH.. "Vader betrayed and murdered your father"...was true from a certain point of view (as he revealed in ROTJ), I wonder if Owen is completely lying to Luke when he says that "He died about the same time as your father"... 

Maybe from Owen's Point of view, Obi-Wan is Dead. I doubt this would be explained by "The Clone Theory" (OB-1 being a clone of Old Ben), But maybe there is rift between Owen and Obi-Wan, which leaves Owen to consider Obi-Wan "Dead To him"...or perhaps Obi-Wan appears to die, or just vanishes, leaving Owen (as well as Tarkin, and more than likely The Emperor as well) to believe Obi-Wan is dead and gone. 

That still wouldn't explain Owen ignoring "The Crazy hermit" that lives beyond the dune sea". But it's never told to us if anyone had actually met Obi-Wan while he was living out there, or if they were just vague rumors. Rumors that Owen refused to believe. Or maybe Owen just refused to believe that Old Ben was his brother, Obi-Wan.  

In any case, I think that scene between Owen and Luke in ANH, will seem much more different and important once we have seen The first three films. Beru is silent during the whole conversation. Until AFTER Luke leaves when she says "...He's just not a farmer, Owen. There's too much of his father in him." To which Owen says the eery line "That's what I'm afraid of". In 1977, that line didn't seem that significant. But after it was revealed that Vader was Luke's father, that line became downright "chilling". 
  
So, we know (From The Novel Of ROTJ) That Owen is Obi-Wan's brother, and not Anakin's (Luke's Father) brother. Which leaves us with the question. Just how well did Owen know Anakin? Something tells me it's more than just knowing "of him" (through Obi-Wan). If Kenobi grew up on Tattoine, perhaps his family did as well. Owen appears to be younger, which could indicate that Owen is the same age as Anakin. Perhaps Anakin and Owen were childhood friends, and he meets Ben through Owen (Or vice versa). Having seen the changes in Anakin (Maybe not directly) would make his fear of Luke ending up like his father more intense.  

Maybe the rift occured during the Clone Wars which Owen might not have supported... 

>From ANH: 

Luke:"No, my father didn't fight in The (Clone) Wars, he was a navigator on a space freighter" 
(This may have been true, prior to The Clone Wars, making it a half-truth)  

Ben:"That's what your Uncle told you. He didn't hold with your father's ideals....He thought your father should have stayed here and not gotten involved" 
(Perhaps Ben means that Owen didn't hold with HIS ideals, and didn't like how Obi-Wan was influncing Anakin. 

"...He feared you might Join old Obi-Wan on some damn fool idealistic crusade, like your father did", gives the impression that Owen didn't approve of Anakin going off to war with Obi-Wan. I personally don't think anything that Obi-Wan told Luke in ANH about Owen was a lie. Just the "Uncle" reference. Likewise Owen may not be completely lying to Luke, just twisting the truth, to hide Luke from his Father's Tragic past. 

JEV wrote: "To SNS22: I don't think your theory on "a certain point of view" is good. My opinion is that Owen does believe Anakin is dead, like everybody except a few. But he must know what happen to him:is recklessness and his supposed death at the hand of Ben. He lies to Luke about Obi-wan so the subject will be drop. Owen knows Kenobi is alive, but he just doesn't want Luke to go running out to find Obi-wan and go with him on a "idealistic crusade". 
  
But I agree with you that Owen and Anakin must have known each other. Pherhaps they do have some family connection. For example, Beru coulb be the niece of Shmi Skywalker or something. Since Owen and Obi-wan are brothers, maybe Owen followed is older brother on Tatooine, where he met a nice girl, related to the Skywalker and who he will latter marry. 
  
One thing can be held for a fact, by the time of ANH or maybe even right from the start, Owen doesn't believe in going out to war. But that doesn't mean he wouldn't be involve in one, to protect somebody or to convince him he should go back home, to his queen wife, explaining futher why he's afraid Luke is to much  like Anakin."

TexasFett wrote: "I really like what SNS22 wrote about "true from a certain point of view," I think that is going to turn out to be one of Ben's most important (cover all) lines.  The only Star Wars history we know was told by him or Yoda, and both were hiding things.  He also got me thinking about Owen possibly being a Jedi too, or at least a friend of both Anakin and Ben. 

I have always thought the OB-1 clone theory was interesting, but not very likely, I think there is more chance of Boba Fett, being an identical twin of Luke."

Matt (Mavericko) Hecht wrote: "I have a theory about why Owen might think Anakin is dead.  Let's say in Episode 2, Anakin leaves Tatooine for good with Obi-Wan.  Some oppose this, possibly including Owen.  So they go off and fight in the Clone Wars.  What if Obi-Wan told everyone back home that Anakin died while fighting?  That would protect the honor of Anakin, and not make everyone hate Obi-Wan.   Maybe Obi-Wan saw telling everyone he was dead was better than telling everyone he had joined the Dark Side.  I'll also be willing to bet that everyone knew how strong he was in the force.  Therefore it would be Obi-Wans fault when Darth Vader emerges and starts wiping out Jedi.  If Obi-Wan had told the truth, the Jedi might have been prepared.Perhaps this is why Obi-Wan tries to right his wrongs in A New Hope - with his life. "

SineadR wrote: "We don't know for sure whether GL will respect the storyline of the ANH novelisation that states that OB1 and Owen as brothers.  (This isn't a SW canon discussion so we won't go there.)  BUT....if he does, things could certainly fall into place.  If OB1 and Anakin are such close friends, then certainly OB1's brother Owen would get to know young Anakin (they must be close in age).  And it makes it very likely that Owen would know a great deal about the relationship between the young jedi and his student, including the details of the climactic duel.  The rumors and statements coming from those close to LFL all seem to point the finger at OB1 for Anakin's fall.  Thus it may be perfectly understandable for Owen to resent his older brother, blaming him for Anakin's "death" (if he doesn't know the identity of Vader) or for his downfall (if he does know)."

First of all, forget about Owen changing his last name to 'Lars'.  If he did this, why didn't he change Luke's last name as well ?. By the way, I think the reason why Luke's last name remained Skywalker (even though it would appear safer for him to change it, so he won't be hunted down) was because the Republic/Empire consists of millions of Star Systems.  What chance is there of finding Darth Vader's son on a desolate, remote planet no one has ever heard of ?  Anyway, if anyone did come down looking for Luke, Ben was there not too far away to protect him if need be.  But in a huge galaxy, he would be impossible to find.  Darth wouldn't even have considered Luke to grow up on the same awful dustball of a planet that he did. I mean, what logic is there in Kenobi taking Luke back to Tatooine? None. No one would ever look for them there. See what I mean?  It would be virtually impossible, despite Luke's last name for Vader to find him.  I mean where do you start to look? He could be hidden on any one of a million planets. 

Anyway, back to Owen.  Is it possible that Beru Lars was previously Beru Kenobi?.........Ben's sister.  When she marries Owen Lars, she becomes Beru Lars.  So, when Ben states Owen is his brother, he is correct.  Owen is his brother in-law.  Brother, brother in-law.........same thing............."

Jom wrote: "There really isn't enough info about Owen to come to some conclusion.  Most of what has already stated can certainly happen, I just disagree with any notion that Owen knew Anakin's fate. 

I've always believed that only the Jedi (and Palpatine) knew Vader was Anakin.  Since most of the Jedi died the secret was kept ("Dead men tell no tales").  I think Owen's statement "that's what I'm afraid of" meant he didn't want Luke to go run off and get killed (as Owen thought) like his dad did.  Owen certainly blamed Ben for this since he was the one who took Anakin off on some "damn-fool idealistic crusade".  Owen may have also been one of the many people that resented the Jedi (which seems to be one of the reasons for their downfall), so this probably didn't help his relationship with Ben either. 

What exact relationship Owen was to Ben depends on what one believes as SW canon.  If one uses the movies (as I do) Owen could anything from Luke's real uncle to just some guy Ben knew.  If you use the novelizations as canon then Owen was Ben's brother.  This all depends what GL decides to do.  Who knows???? 

The only thing I'm a bit confused about at this point is why there doesn't seem to be an Owen character in Episode 1.  Interesting...."

EZ9D9 wrote: "To ZAC: 
Who's to say Owen Lars is his full name and it's not Obi-Wan Kenobi Lars???

Remember, this was back in '80 - '81, so Lucas may well have revised this particular back story. However, I would agree with Anthony Renaud's  version and say that Owen surely does *not* know the Anakin-Vader  connection, just that Obi-Wan led Anakin to an early death. "

I think that the break between Owen and Ben came about for three reasons -- Owen's dislike for the Jedi, Anakin Skywalker's "death," and Owen's feelings for Luke.  It's clear that Owen had little use for Ben's beliefs. Owen is pragmatist, while Ben is an idealist.  Perhaps Owen was content with life as a moisture farmer, and couldn't understand Ben's interest in the wider universe.  Perhaps he didn't like the Jedi for other reasons.  In any case, the brothers would naturaly drift away from each other. 

This initial crack in Owen and Ben's relationship widened into a full-scale rift when Owen found out that Ben was responsible for Anakin Skywalker's downfall. Owen must have known Anakin before he became Darth Vader.  Whether Owen knew that Anakin was corrupted to the Dark Side or whether he thought that Anakin was dead is beside the point.  As far as Owen was concerned,  Ben led Anakin to his doom. 

Then Ben left Anakin's son, Luke, with Owen for safekeeping.  Owen raised Luke like he would his own child, and wanted to protect him. Owen apparently believed that being strict with Luke and keeping him on the farm would prevent Luke from suffering the same fate as Anakin.  By insulating Luke from the influence which caused Anakin's downfall -- namely, Ben -- Owen could keep Luke safely anonymous and ensure that he leads a "normal" life (or at least a life that meets Owen's definition of normalcy).  This would cause Owen to cut off all contect with Ben; it also explains why he forbade Luke from seeking Ben out.  Owen is rightly afraid that meeting Ben would fire up Luke's imagination and ambitions, causing him to leave Tattooine and risk Anakin's fate."

Anthony Renaud wrote: "In response to Steve Barde wrote :

The 40 years before info from GL and RM has since been updated.   I believe in the ET interview with McCallum, he stated that the first one takes place 10 years before the second and that takes place 2-3 years before the third.  George has stated in a interview with Leornard Maltin (before either the special editions or before the THX video releases) that Luke and Leia won't be born till near the end of the third movie. By ANH, Luke and Leia are 20 years old "Luke Skywalker was twice the age of the 10 year old evaporator, but much less secure" -novelization, ANH.  So adding that up gives 20+3+10, 33 years before a ANH.

Secondly, an novelization never "clearly states that Owen and Anakin came to blows over going off to war or going back  to Tatooine to be farmers."  I also agree that "I can't imagine a 20 year old quarreling with an 8 year old about whether they should leave the  Republic forces or not".  But Owen was never in the Republic forces.  ANH novelization clearly implies that Owen was a farmer and he thought Anakin should have remained one too.

"Owen Lars never agreed with your fathers opinions, ideas, or philosophy of life.  He believed that your father should have stayed here on Tatooine and not gotten involved in ... well, he thought he should have remained her and minded his farming."
"He believed you might get some crazy ideas from it and followed old Obi-wan on some idealistic crusade.  You see Luke, that's where your father and your uncle Owen disagreed.  Lars is not a man to let idealism interfere with business, whereas your father didn't think the question even worth discussing."
        -Ben Kenobi, ANH novelization.

I think its very possible that a 20 year old Owen would fight to keep Ben from dragging a young boy off to war and whatever.  But then again, I have no idea what GL actually plans and perhaps Owen is one of Anakin's childhood friends.  But the implication is that Owen stayed on Tatooine.  Since Anakin's going to leave Tatooine in the first movie, there's not much of chance for Owen and Anakin to be arguing about being farmers or being adventurers.  What young boy would argue to be a farmer?  Having Owen leave with Anakin and then choose to go back to farming would work as well I guess, but I don't think the novelization implies that at all.

As for Owen knowing about Anakin's fall to the dark side and not wishing the same for Luke, I don't believe that's necessary to explain Owen's fears.
"Owen was always afraid that your father's life might influence you, might pull you away from Anchorhead." -Ben in ANH novelization. Owen knew that Anakin was adventurous and THAT got him killed.  He fears the same will happen to Luke.  That's why he's afraid Luke is like his father.  I don't believe he has any knowledge that Anakin turned to the dark side.

Thirdly, you state that Owen and Anakin quite obviously appear the same age.  In ANH, Phil Brown was 59-60.  In ROTJ, Sebastian Shaw was 74-75. Quite obviously not the same age!  In fact, Sebastian Shaw is older that Alec Guiness by 9 years, despite the fact Ben is suppose to be older than Anakin by 10-12 years.  The point is appearances are a very unreliable indication of exact age or related ages.  So the fact that Owen and Anakin APPEAR the same age implies nothing.  They could still be 10 years apart in age.

But of course, if Owen is Ben's brother, and Anakin knew Owen, it still doesn't explain why Darth Vader didn't show up on Tatooine during his hunt for Jedi, looking for Ben.  Certainly Vader would have thought to check Ben's brother for information on Ben's whereabouts (which Owen might possibly been happy to give).   But of course, I don't believe that George came up with the Vader=Anakin idea until after Star Wars. But that's another discussion."