Timstuff said:
Personally, I prefer how "young Skywalker" sounds from a dialogue standpoint anyway.
I guess there are going to be strong feelings on both sides of this issue. My opinion is that it sounds belittling and dismissive.
The phrase “young Skywalker” works in ROTJ. When the Emperor says it in ROTJ, he doesn’t seem at all concerned about Luke. but rather expresses absolute confidence of prevailing over him, even going as far as to punctuate the point with a campy Evil Laugh.
The scene in TESB is supposed to present a different perspective on Luke. He is a “great disturbance,” he “could destroy us,” he is the “new enemy,” and even “the son of Skywalker” (mentioned not as a point of trivia, but to emphasize the potential power of this new enemy). To discount him as “young Skywalker” is completely at odds with what the Emperor is expressing with everything else he says in the scene. It also sounds strange when Vader says “He’s just a boy” right after the Emperor has expressed the identical sentiment, and then the Emperor rebuts the point.
I’m obviously not going to get any traction with the “son of Anakin” idea, but if there’s any possible way to restore the original 1980 dialog, with “Luke” instead of “young,” I think it would be a big improvement. I hope that somebody can figure something out, and that Ady will see fit to use it.