"The Force is strong with this one..." ~ Darth Vader, ANH

I always wondered what made Vader say that about Luke. I've been thinking about this quite a bit lately. I watched Star Wars recently (well, ok, I do that a lot...), but when the Death Star trench scene was playing, I was struck by this line suddenly and just really thought that it was interesting that he would say this about Luke during a space battle, not knowing who was in the fighter in front of him.

I also always wondered how Vader would have thought about the Force being strong with Luke at that time. Here they are flying around trying to fend each other off, shooting at each other and dodging the blasts of the opposing enemy fighters, and of all things, Vader thinks to say, "The Force is strong with this one!" Why? Why is the Force strong with THIS one?

What was it he felt about Luke at that moment that made him say that?

I think that he felt a vibe in the Force emanating from Luke as he was following him. I believe that, like Obi-wan, in his experience "there's no such thing as luck" and so, since Luke wasn't getting hit by any of the blasts from the TIE's, he must have been strong in the Force to avoid being shot to bits in the fray.

In addition, I think he knew that there was something special about this young man he was fighting over the fate of the Death Star. I don't believe he knew yet that Luke was his son, but he knew that he was a formidable opponent that he needed to be careful with and to stop. Obviously, he wanted to handle it himself!

What are your thoughts?

Oh! Happy Thanksgiving everyone!! Eat lots of turkey!!