Originally posted by: Commander Courage

Maybe I need to be shown the light -- how do you account for the lying, Commander? What good did it do him to lie to Luke? I need to believe something big was gained by Obi Wan being so deceptive before I can be okay with this scene being in Episode IV. It works just fine in Star Wars, the stand alone movie as it was released and designed -- when it WASN'T a lie. But now it's a lie that, as far as I can figure, gets him exactly nowhere and sets Luke up for a terrible fall.

It was in Luke's best interest. He needs to focus on becoming a Jedi, not on his father not really being dead but instead the Emperor's right hand man and exterminator of the Jedi Knights. As Yoda said in RotJ, "Not ready for the burden were you." This is why I think a Yoda/Obi-Wan exchange establishing them keeping their lineage a secret from the children is essential. Of course Obi-Wan seems to not be sure what side to take: Does he ACTUALLY believe in his "truth" that Vader destroyed Anakin? Yoda says as much in RotS: "The boy you trained, gone he is. Consumed by Darth Vader." Or were he and Yoda just witholding the truth and devised that as a comfortable alternate to tell Luke until the time was right. I can't answer that, but I wish things had been a bit more clear in RotJ (which is why Lucas should release the deleted scenes!).

That's not convincing to me. That's just justifying what is there, not explaining what good comes of it. Telling Luke the truth would be in his best interest because being told that the father you never knew was corrupted by temptation and turned bad does not handicap you. It could easily steel your resolve to not follow in his footsteps. Luke has no indication of an inability to tell good from bad. Only a simpleton needs to be "protected" from unpleasant truths. Yoda says Luke wasn't ready for the burden, but that's just another half-truth added in to justify the lie. The only burden Luke wasn't ready for was THE WAY he discovered the truth -- not the truth itself. He has no particular trouble understanding that evil Vader is his father. In fact, he rightly deduces there is still good in Vader where Obi Wan and Yoda believe there is not. They believe it would be truthful to say "a pupil of mine named Darth Vader betrayed and murdered Anakin Skywalker. The good man who was once your father died, replaced by Lord Vader." Aside from the part where there never was a pupil named Darth Vader, the part where NO ONE murdered Anakin, and the part where Luke can tell there's still an ember of Anakin still glowing inside of Darth Vader -- Obi Wan is being completely truthful. In other words, he bats ZERO with his "truth from a certain point of view" and achieves nothing except to devestate Luke when he goes to Bespin unprepared.

BUT...

I figured out something that would work for me-- and if we can't add it in, then I'll just have to keep it in the back of my mind somehow. It goes like this:

If Obi Wan and Yoda knew that Vader could sense Luke-- could feel him IF Luke knew the truth, then that might be worth keeping the secret. Jedi meditate, and they can reach across the Galaxy and sense things that happen in their feelings. If Luke knew Vader was his father, then Vader could discover Luke and come for him. This fits the timing of events -- for the point at which Obi Wan lies to Luke is a point where he has no plans regarding how to bring Vader down. He's simply watching over Luke and waiting... Leia finds him there, knowing that he's hiding out, sitting out the entire Rebellion so far. He's basically there to make sure Luke doesn't fall the wrong way or get snatched by Vader somehow. At the beginning of their adventure to save the Princess, it may be wise to keep the truth from Luke in case Vader were to sense them and jeopardize their mission. There will be a better time to tell him the truth... but then Ben dies.

I can sort of make that work for me. I wish this reason could have been established in Episode III and in the "log scene."