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Regarding Luke keeping his Skywalker last name. I get the feeling that Obi-wan did not intend for him to keep that name, but also didn't tell Owen & Beru the whole. Or they just didn't believe all that space magic mumbo-jumbo.
Either way, Owen & Beru were just given a baby that isn't even related to Owen but his step-mom.
It's possible they kept the Skywalker name to honor Shmi

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 insaniak wrote:

 Lance845 wrote:

The thing with the sci is that it has to be based on some kind of science. The technology of ballista exist in fantasy, but the magic is just nonsense. In sw its not just the magic thats nonsense. Its ALSO the tech. You can call it sci-fantasy if you want. But its JUST fantasy in actuality.

Which is fine, but Science Fantasy is still the name used for that genre.

From the various professors at the uni I attended, SW is more accurately a Space Opera, as the series bears nearly all of the hallmarks of traditional operatic works.

The two labels aren't exclusive. 'Science Fantasy' is a comparatively newer description, without some of the baggage that 'Space Opera' carries around, is all.

The thing that bugs me more than anything is the attitude to Jedi and the Force as being more or less myth / legend - "hokey religions and ancient weapons" and so on - when they were only wiped out around 20 years previously. Within living memory of the average humanoid in the Star Wars universe. How did that happen?

Most people would have never encountered a Jedi. To those people, they would be little more than Legends... And a legend muddied by decades of misinformation peddled by the Empire.

Even when the Jedi were around, they would have been poorly understood by those with no direct dealings with them. They hint at this in Episode 1, when the Neimoidians are kicking themselves on the bridge in an attempt to keep the Jedi out.

Crispy78 wrote:
The thing that bugs me more than anything is the attitude to Jedi and the Force as being more or less myth / legend - "hokey religions and ancient weapons" and so on - when they were only wiped out around 20 years previously. Within living memory of the average humanoid in the Star Wars universe. How did that happen?

People in the world RIGHT NOW dont think the holocaust halpened.

Palpatine spends his time post order 66 running a brutal propaganda campaign. He has 20 years of near complete control over whole solar systems to run those campaigns with.

There’s also the question of how many people ever actually encountered a Jedi, especially on the Outer Rim?

The primary skeptic is also Han, who was 10 when Order 66 happened and in no real position to believe in Jedi beforehand. Rebellious kid isn't going to listen to grandpa's wisdom after all. It would probably work better if he was a tad younger; like 5, but not totally out of line either.

It's still tenuous to me.

I mean, the Jedi Order were the peacekeeping force behind the Galactic Republic, and served as the leaders of the clone forces in the Clone War. They were well known - even if maybe not encountered daily.

I get the propaganda aspect, but it feels like it would all be too recent for it to have taken hold to that extent. The Holocaust was nearly 80 years ago now, it's dropping out of living memory. If the Clone Wars were only around 20 years before A New Hope, then surely most of the adult population would have first-hand knowledge of it. I have memories from 20+ years ago that I still remember like yesterday.

Crispy78 wrote:
They were well known - even if maybe not encountered daily.

I feel this is a misconception. Those in political circles that regularly visit Corusant may have heard of the Jedi, maybe even met one. Heck, people outside of that circle have probably also heard of the Jedi. But knowing a group exists is far from the same as knowing what that group is and can do. Even those that have met Jedi may not have seen what they were capable of.

I get the feeling that most in the Galaxy who have heard of them, think of them as a myth, or at least all the extraordinary things they do have been exaggerated. Most of the Galaxy probably just thinks they are a group of peacekeepers that have skills with a lightsaber, but may not truly believe stories about them levitating objects or any of that space magic non-sense.

And also remember that just prior to the time of the Clone Wars, the Galaxy was in a very long period of peace (like a thousand years?) and Jedi were rarely going out and showing off. And the Clone Wars were only what, 3-4 years long. Sure there were lots of instances for the Jedi to show there power during that time, but it would have been very easy for Palpatine to diminish these tells as war-time propaganda by the Jedi. Therefore the status quo would be returned to most people not believing the Force exists, save for the Rebellion who were made up of those who worked directly with the Jedi before the purge

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 Grey Templar wrote:
I always found how they worked in the Lars family in the prequels to be odd. Lucas didn't do a great job of that part especially. They BARELY interact with Anakin at all other than "Hi. I'm your step-bro." 5 minutes later. "Oh mom's dead? That sucks. oh you're leaving now? Ok bye."

Certainly not to the level that Uncle Owen's behavior in ANH would suggest. It implies that there was at least a fairly long term, if terse, relationship between Anakin and Owen. Logically, with the backstory that got created by the Prequels, the story they told Luke would have been "You're dad died in the war and his old war buddy dumped you here with us because we're your only family. Only ever met him once."

You also would expect them to have mentioned his mom since the one time they met Anakin she was with him.

Of course this isn't the case because the movies weren't made in this order, but it was a major mistake to have Padme be there in the meeting.

There is also little justification for animosity between Obi-wan and Owen. Again, they didn't really interact beyond Obi-wan dumping Luke with them.

They didn't necessarily know that Padme was Luke's mother.

As to the animosity, Owen may have begrudgingly agreed to take in infant Luke. The animosity might have grown over the years, especially as Luke reached his teenage years.

Crispy78 wrote:
It's still tenuous to me.

I mean, the Jedi Order were the peacekeeping force behind the Galactic Republic, and served as the leaders of the clone forces in the Clone War. They were well known - even if maybe not encountered daily.

I get the propaganda aspect, but it feels like it would all be too recent for it to have taken hold to that extent. The Holocaust was nearly 80 years ago now, it's dropping out of living memory. If the Clone Wars were only around 20 years before A New Hope, then surely most of the adult population would have first-hand knowledge of it. I have memories from 20+ years ago that I still remember like yesterday.

They were not well known. They were talked about. Its like someone hearing about a spirit healer in a tent from 20 years ago. The propaganda campaign includes discrediting their feats. No they couldnt lift things with their minds. They were just generals in a republic army that turned traitor. Religious fanatics that preached nonsense and stole children to swell their ranks.

Ork-en Man wrote:

 Grey Templar wrote:
I always found how they worked in the Lars family in the prequels to be odd. Lucas didn't do a great job of that part especially. They BARELY interact with Anakin at all other than "Hi. I'm your step-bro." 5 minutes later. "Oh mom's dead? That sucks. oh you're leaving now? Ok bye."

Certainly not to the level that Uncle Owen's behavior in ANH would suggest. It implies that there was at least a fairly long term, if terse, relationship between Anakin and Owen. Logically, with the backstory that got created by the Prequels, the story they told Luke would have been "You're dad died in the war and his old war buddy dumped you here with us because we're your only family. Only ever met him once."

You also would expect them to have mentioned his mom since the one time they met Anakin she was with him.

Of course this isn't the case because the movies weren't made in this order, but it was a major mistake to have Padme be there in the meeting.

There is also little justification for animosity between Obi-wan and Owen. Again, they didn't really interact beyond Obi-wan dumping Luke with them.

They didn't necessarily know that Padme was Luke's mother.

As to the animosity, Owen may have begrudgingly agreed to take in infant Luke. The animosity might have grown over the years, especially as Luke reached his teenage years.

Obi-wan just dropped off a kid and said it was Anakin's son. The last time they saw him, he was hanging around with someone he was clearly in a bit of a relationship with.

You'd have to be pretty thick to not put 2 and 2 together.

 Grey Templar wrote:
Obi-wan just dropped off a kid and said it was Anakin's son. The last time they saw him, he was hanging around with someone he was clearly in a bit of a relationship with.

You'd have to be pretty thick to not put 2 and 2 together.

I'd hardly think that's the obvious conclusion. If my long lost step bro showed up for thanksgiving with a "friend" that's not "officially" his GF and than FOUR YEARS later some rando guy drops off his child because he died in the war, I would not immediately think of that rando GF from years ago.
I might wonder if she was the mom, but if the galaxy far, far away is anything like our society people can move from relationship to relationship before kids are a thing (heck some get kids out of one relationship and move to another for more kids).

How many of you with siblings have been introduced to their GFs/BFs ONCE and never see them again? Much less a sibling you barely knew existed (I'm sure Shmi told the Lars about Anakin, but were surprise to see him)
So unless Obi-wan confirmed Padme as Luke's mom, I don't think the Lars would have told Luke. Even IF they knew, why would they? They wouldn't want Luke to repeat Anakin's failures and go off looking for a mother that might be dead. I'm sure the Lars wanted to save Luke that pain.

Side note: The Lars really are the unsung heroes of the SW galaxy. They raised Luke, a kids they aren't technically related to, as their own and instilled the values that would make Luke the Jedi hero he was (ya know, before he betrayed his own character and lost the hope in Ben Solo that he always had in Anakin)

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Anakin and Lars are blood related. In AOTC I believe Lars says "I guess I'm your half-brother" not "I guess I'm your step-brother". Pretty sure he's meant to be Cleg and Shmee's kid.

Seems waaaaaay too old for that?

 Grey Templar wrote:
Anakin and Lars are blood related. In AOTC I believe Lars says "I guess I'm your half-brother" not "I guess I'm your step-brother". Pretty sure he's meant to be Cleg and Shmee's kid.

No, he says STEP brother. And since Anakin was NINE when he left Tatooine 10 years earlier, Owen can be no older that 9 for him to be Shmi's son. Dude already has stubble, he's older than 9 and therefore cannot be Shmi's son.

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 Grey Templar wrote:
I always found how they worked in the Lars family in the prequels to be odd. Lucas didn't do a great job of that part especially. They BARELY interact with Anakin at all other than "Hi. I'm your step-bro." 5 minutes later. "Oh mom's dead? That sucks. oh you're leaving now? Ok bye."

Very little of the backstory as explained in the first film makes sense when compared with the prequels. Probably because the prequels were made up 20 years later and George didn't want to stick with the story implied by the original material.

This youtuber did an analysis on this exact topic some time ago.

I assumed the transports where fuel and munitions carriers myself,

 AndrewGPaul wrote:

 Grey Templar wrote:
I always found how they worked in the Lars family in the prequels to be odd. Lucas didn't do a great job of that part especially. They BARELY interact with Anakin at all other than "Hi. I'm your step-bro." 5 minutes later. "Oh mom's dead? That sucks. oh you're leaving now? Ok bye."

Very little of the backstory as explained in the first film makes sense when compared with the prequels. Probably because the prequels were made up 20 years later and George didn't want to stick with the story implied by the original material.

It's also worth noting that some of this comes down to our own age and understanding of time. When you're a kid and this old man is talking you're like "that must have been like 1000 years ago." When you're an old man telling the story you're like, "man, things were better before the Empire showed up last week". Ultimately the timeline was never really going to work out. There's no version of events where a 60 year old man was a seasoned warrior and master from a time that predates living memory. The best they were ever going to get was 30 years, and while I think that timeline would have made Episode 3 WAY more interesting, Ep1-2 just weren't built to with that kind of timeline in mind.

I reckon Obi Wan mind tricked Owen into looking after Luke. That's why he is so dissonant about it. The mind trick is in battle with Owen's free will trying to break through.

The transports have hyper engines, so they are obviously meant for hyper ramming.

 Grey Templar wrote:
I always found how they worked in the Lars family in the prequels to be odd. Lucas didn't do a great job of that part especially. They BARELY interact with Anakin at all other than "Hi. I'm your step-bro." 5 minutes later. "Oh mom's dead? That sucks. oh you're leaving now? Ok bye."

Certainly not to the level that Uncle Owen's behavior in ANH would suggest. It implies that there was at least a fairly long term, if terse, relationship between Anakin and Owen. Logically, with the backstory that got created by the Prequels, the story they told Luke would have been "You're dad died in the war and his old war buddy dumped you here with us because we're your only family. Only ever met him once."

You also would expect them to have mentioned his mom since the one time they met Anakin she was with him.

Of course this isn't the case because the movies weren't made in this order, but it was a major mistake to have Padme be there in the meeting.

There is also little justification for animosity between Obi-wan and Owen. Again, they didn't really interact beyond Obi-wan dumping Luke with them.

Definitely agreed! Before the prequels came out I had the impression that Owen played some important part - drafted into the clone wars and fought alongside Obi-wan and Anakin.