Heh-heh… I don’t pretend it’s anything but. I’m a Star Wars apologist and I admit it.

Still, if you watch the original trilogy, you’ll see there’s evidence for supporting this explanation all over the place. Yoda telling Luke in Empire that through the force he could see “old friends long gone.” Vader intuitively figuring out that Luke had a sister at the end. Luke telling Leia that she has force powers and would someday learn to use them as he has. Luke knowing that there was good in Vader despite Obi-Wan and Yoda’s insistence otherwise (implying some kind of strong family connection via the force.) Probably a dozen other instances I’m not thinking of.

Now, I realize George Lucas wrote Jedi without knowing all the details of the backstory and that he probably *did* intend for Leia to have lived with Padme for a few years in her youth, but even if he changed that, we can still explain this easily by saying that Leia, in her youth, intuitively knew things about Padme which she misinterprets as memories. She even says it in Jedi. “Just images, really. Feelings.” And even after Luke tells her who she is, she responds with, “I know. Somehow, I’ve always known.”

I’m not saying Lucas planned it that way from the beginning, but it works just fine in the overall context of the movies. That’s how viewers would interpret that moment if they watched the films in order of I – VI. Leia can, and does, intuitively recall info about Padme via her innate force abilities. Luke does it. Vader does it. Why can’t she?

I see from your IP address you’ve moved from California to St. Louis, MO. You musta moved Skywalker ranch to be closer to the Provel cheese. Thanks for the thoughtful reply. Force be with you too!

When Luke speaks to Leia about their real mother, Leia is indeed speaking of their real mother, Padmé. Remember, Leia is born with the Force too.

In the case of how Darth Vader discovers Luke Skywalker, you’re absolutely correct. It is never explicitly mentioned in the films, though your theory about spies alerting Vader of Luke’s presence in the Rebellion may not be too far from the truth.

Also, while Chancellor Palpatine told the story of Darth Plagueis to Anakin, I never actually implied that Palpatine or Plagueis formed Anakin’s life to Shmi Skywaker. Anakin’s birth to Shmi was done by the will of the Force.

I hope that answers some of your questions or future Star Wars TV shows or movies will.

May the Force be with You… always,
George

Anakin’s fall to the Dark Side is so poorly handled it’s embarrassing — it’s the crux of the 6 episode story and it feels like it was thrown in with no thought. The motivating factors are not compelling at all.

I could go on and on, but this guy nailed most of my complaints about the prequels: http://www.chefelf.com/starwars/ep1.php — and a pretty funny read as well.