Decades on from its release, the original Star Wars trilogy is still sparking much discussion and dissection.

Now, a theory on Reddit has gone down a storm with fans as it suggests that there was a hidden meaning behind one Vader line that viewers may have missed.

In Return of the Jedi, Luke surrenders to Darth Vader before being brought in front of Emperor Palpatine.

In that scene, he tries briefly to access the good in his father, while Vader tries telling him that Anakin Skywalker is no more.

“It is the name of your true self, you’ve only forgotten,” Luke says. “I know there is good in you – the Emperor hasn’t driven it from you fully.”

When he then pleads with Vader to “come with me”, Vader turns and retorts: “You don’t know the power of the Dark Side.”

It’s that last line that is the subject of this particular theory.

While the obvious assumption is that Vader is trying to lure his son to join him, there may actually be more to it than that.

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In a post that has been 96% Upvoted, user strawberryvolvic32 wrote: “When Vader says to Luke ‘you don’t know the power of the dark side’ it definitely comes off as a sort of ‘you don’t know what you’re missing’ type thing.

“But to me I’ve always seen it as ‘you don’t know how much power it has over me’.

“He’s trying to tell his son that he’s too far gone, and there’s just no going back for him.”

It certainly adds a new layer of sadness to the line, and feeds in to where things end up between the pair by the time the final credits roll.

https://www.youtube.com/embed/w-HFv6Ms1lw

Responding to the theory, another Reddit user added: “I always read it as like ‘you don’t know what you’re getting into/what you’re up against’ kind of deal.

“Like how Luke is so confident that he can stand up to the emperor and Vader’s like ‘cool story kid, I tried that and look what happened to me. You’re gonna get completely barbecued if you don’t fall in line’.”

Someone else wrote: “I thought of it as an apology, like Vader wants to join Luke but he can’t turn back. He’s too far gone, there’s no hope for him.”

Whatever the true intent, Vader’s position as an iconic but highly complex movie villain is secure.

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