The 10 Saddest Quotes From The Original Trilogy

Star Wars is arguably the most beloved film franchise of all time. With over forty years of material, it has given us some of the most iconic moments in all of human culture. Part of the draw is that it gets the audience emotionally invested in it, as good stories should. With so many events in the original films, there are some real tearjerker moments and lines. We connect to these characters, and their sadness is ours. While Star Wars has never had Oscar-worthy scripts, it has its moments of sadness. We're here to look at the 10 most heart-wrenching, tear-jerking lines. In no particular order:

1. "I can't believe he's gone." A New Hope.

The death of Obi-Wan Kenobi was the first real shock of the franchise. Yes, it was sad that Uncle Own and Aunt Beru were torched, but we never really got to know them the same way we did Obi-Wan. He was a mentor and almost father figure in some ways to Luke, and then he was brutally cut down during his duel with Darth Vader on the Death Star. It was a quiet moment of grief that also gave the audience a few moments to breathe before the TIE fighters showed up, and the action restarted. Of course, Robot Chicken added their own brand of levity to the situation.

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2. "I love you." The Empire Strikes Back

Most people would go with the more iconic following line of "I know," but I am going to argue with the earlier line myself. Han was meeting his potential demise with stoicism, but it was hard not to notice the traces of fear in his expression. In the high-stress situation, Leia, who could only watch helplessly, blurted out what may very well be the last thing she ever said to him: her declaration of love. She did not even know if he was going to survive the experience. Even if she did, she did not know what would happen to her next. This could be it, and she knew it.

3. The conversation Luke and Leia have about Padme. Return of the Jedi

"Leia, do you remember your mother? Your real mother?”

“Just a little bit. She died when I was very young.”

“What do you remember?”

“Just... images really. Feelings.”

“Tell me.”

“She was... very beautiful. Kind, but sad. Why are you asking me this?”

“I have no memory of my mother. I never knew her."

This conversation does have a few issues with it once you see Revenge of the Sith and find out that Luke and Leia saw Padme for about three seconds when they were born, just long enough for her to name them. There had been a lot of speculation from fans about how exactly Leia remembered Padme. One of the most common explanations is that Leia felt Padme's emotions through the force, and that was how she remember her. Regardless, the idea that Leia mainly remembered sadness while Luke did not recall anything was tragic.

4. "I want to come with you to Alderaan. There's nothing for me here." A New Hope.

The first majorly shocking story beat in Star Wars was the deaths of Uncle Own and Aunt Beru. They did not get much screen time, but in the limited time they did get, we got a real sense of how much they and Luke cared for each other. When we see their burned up skeletons, it was a powerful moment. Luke's realization that all he could really do now was take the leap of faith and follow Obi-Wan to a largely unknown fate was chilling. He had everything taken from him. Now this was all he had left.

5. "Ben, why didn't you tell me?" The Empire Strikes Back.

After his duel with Darth Vader, Luke was left with the physical pain of losing his hand, and the greater emotional pain that his father, the man who he had built up in his mind as the legendary hero he was as Anakin, was the same evil Sith who just tortured his friends and had been relentlessly chasing him throughout the galaxy. He was scared. He was confused. All he could do was wonder why the person he trusted most had lied to him.

6. "I felt a great disturbance in the Force, as if millions of voices cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced." A New Hope.

This one was chilling and sad not just because of Obi-Wan's reaction to it, but the realization that he probably was not far off. Given how fast the Death Star blew up Alderaan, the people on it would have only had seconds to react to their imminent destruction, if that. The ones who saw the green beam of death probably would not have time to even register exactly what was happening. Not only does the quote showcased the horror of what happened, but it revealed the might and extent of the Force as the destruction of the planet sent shockwaves through it to Obi-Wan, who was light-years away.

7. Darth Vader's dying request. Return of the Jedi.

"Luke help me take this mask off.

“But you'll die.”

“Nothing can stop that now. Just for once let me look on you with my own eyes."

The power of these lines lay not just in the fact that it was the final moments of an iconic character, but that it was arguably the first time we truly saw Anakin Skywalker talk to his son. There had been hints of Anakin cutting through the darkness of Vader when he talks to Luke, but this was when the final shades of Darth Vader were literally peeled away, and we got to see the love that Anakin held for his son that broke the hold the Emperor had on him. He died as Anakin Skywalker, looking at his son with his own eyes.

8. "Your father he is." Return of the Jedi.

Even through the shockwaves sent by arguably the biggest reveal in film history, there were still seeds of doubt about Luke's parentage, both from the audience and Luke himself. Maybe this evil Sith lord was lying to him to throw him off and make him both doubt himself, and destroy the image Luke had built of his father. But then Yoda confirmed it, and all that was thrown out the window. Darth Vader was Luke's father, and if Luke truly wanted to become a Jedi and save the galaxy, he would have to confront him.

9. "Soon I will rest. Yes, forever sleep. Earned it, I have. Twilight is upon me and soon night must fall. That is the way of things. The way of The Force." Return of the Jedi

Cheating a twinge since this was technically two quotes combined into one, but even before Yoda's bigger role in the prequel saga, Yoda had become an iconic character with little screen time. While this was nothing new in Star Wars (Boba Fett got five minutes, and even Darth Vader only clocked in at about thirty-four minutes in the three films) Yoda always had a sense of a long, storied history behind him, even before we learned that he was nine hundred years old. When he said that he earned his rest, in a way, that made it seem like he was almost looking forward to it, and you believe him.

10. “Chewie. This can't help me. There'll be another time. The Princess. You have to take care of her, alright?" The Empire Strikes Back

Han Solo was always a character that seemed like he could get out of any mess, no matter how bad it got. No matter the odds, he and his trusty Wookiee co-pilot would get through it. It was heartbreaking to see how Han accepted that he would not be getting out of this while Chewbacca did not fully understand it. In what he thought might be his last moments, Han assured his friend that there was still some hope, while making sure that the love of his life was taken care of.

Star Wars has some of the most iconic moments in all of cinema. We feel every emotion the characters did, especially in the original trilogy. It is one of the reasons that the characters, and even the films themselves, have endured for generations.

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Written By Tommy Durbin

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