I'd really like to know the truth, 'cause one of things I always hated about Empire is my (perhaps mistaken) belief that the beginnig of the film was written to overcome something that happened to an actor in his personal life, rather than to serve any legitimate story purpose.

Frankly, it looks to me like Hamill suffered far more than a broken nose, and that his fairly drastic difference in appearance was certainly noticeable ... perhaps even requiring some sort of explanation in the film.

Either way, I don't like the opening ... and I might be more forgiving if it was not there simply to explain Luke's messed-up face.