After Episode VI, was it then common knowledge that Luke is Vader's son?

Question

Moving forward from Return of the Jedi, is there any evidence that - aside from Leia and Ben Kenobi - people knew that Luke and Vader were father and son? Or, did Luke and Leia keep that close to the chest? Like, even just Han/Chewy/the rest of the "gang"?

It would make total sense for Luke to not want to share that part of himself with anyone else, but at the same time maybe he came to terms with it once Vader died and the Empire was destroyed..

Are you looking for a Legends answer, or from current canon only? — DavidW, Dec 07 '20 at 16:23
possible dupe: https://scifi.stackexchange.com/questions/134684/why-did-the-senate-freak-out-upon-hearing-that-leia-was-vaders-daughter — NKCampbell, Dec 07 '20 at 16:27
Legends is fine with me. If an answer wants to also mention canon as a footnote then that'd be cool too. — Charles, Dec 07 '20 at 16:51
Considering Rey wasn't even sure if Luke had ever really existed I doubt it. — IG_42, Dec 07 '20 at 17:14

score 3 · Answer 1 · edited Dec 07 '20 at 21:03

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Leia told Han that Luke is her brother at the end of ROTJ:

HAN: When he gets back, I won't get in the way.
PRINCESS LEIA ORGANA: [puzzled for a moment, then smiling] Oh, it's not like that at all! He's my brother. [kisses Han ...]

And from Bloodline (via this Reddit link):

"Does Captain Solo know? When did he find out?"
"Han’s always known. I told him the day after I learned the truth from Luke."
[...]
Would he be even quicker to leave once he knew she was a part of Darth Vader himself? But Han hadn’t flinched once. He had simply rocked her in his arms[...].

edited Dec 07 '20 at 21:03

Jenayah

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answered Dec 07 '20 at 17:09

Slayerchaek

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if this is the accepted answer, then it's a duplicate - this exact text is linked in this answer to a very similar question: https://scifi.stackexchange.com/questions/138706/did-han-solo-know-that-anakin-skywalker-was-darth-vader/138744#138744. (note that this is different from the possible dupe I posted in comment) – NKCampbell Dec 07 '20 at 21:27

score 1 · Answer 2 · answered Jul 18 '22 at 21:19

This was explicitly not widespread knowledge for a long time in the Canon version of events. Luke, Han, and Leia (and R2-D2) kept this information to themselves following the end of Return of the Jedi, and didn't even tell Ben Solo, since they were planning to wait until he was older:

Before Ben was born, Leia made the difficult decision to shield her son from the truth of the monstrous Darth Vader's identity until the time was right—just as Bail Organa had kept the full story of Leia's own relation to the Sith Lord from her until she was mature enough to carry the burden.

(source: Skywalker: A Family at War, page 228)

However, Luke and Leia's parentage was eventually discovered and revealed to the public by Leia's political opponents approximately 24 years after Return of the Jedi:

Soon after, Leia's rivals ended her storied career in the political sphere by means of a cruel memento discovered inside her childhood hope chest from Alderaan, which had been in the safekeeping of an Organa relation on Birren. The Centrists unearthed a message that Bail Organa had recorded before his death, disclosing the truth of Leia's biological lineage.

The news that Leia Organa and Luke Skywalker were the offspring of Darth Vader was nearly as explosive as the recent bombing. Overnight, Leia went from an unimpeachable figure to a political pariah. Only a few kind friends remained loyal, risking their own career suicide.

(source: Skywalker: A Family at War, page 240)

After Episode VI, was it then common knowledge that Luke is Vader's son?

2 Answers2