On the title "A New Hope", does it just refer to just Luke, or both Luke and Leia?

Luke for becoming a good Jedi and being a new hope of bringing back the Jedi Order?

And Leia for helping organize the rebellion and being a new hope of bringing back the Republic?

So is it referring to just Luke, or both of them? Or is it referring to something else?

Luke, mainly. He's the one that ends up bringing Vader back. You could also say it's the chain of events that are triggered in the movie, with the Death Star being destroyed, Luke becoming a Jedi, the Rebel Alliance gaining strength.

Luke Skywalker.

I think it refers to everything that happens in the movie...the destruction of the Death Star was the Rebels first major victory against the Empire - therefore giving them "A New Hope" that the Emperor could be defeated.

the new hope isn't a person, it's an emotion

No it's the Millenium Falcon. Took out Vader, protected Leia, destroyed Death Star II.

As far as anyone is concerned, until the last battle, Luke is just a misplaced farmboy(obi-wan aside). I can't imagine he is "a new hope."

I always thought it to be the turning point against the Empire. The Death Star plans and destruction bring "a new hope" to the insurgents trying to regain their freedom from opression.

I like the Millenium Falcon idea.

Oh Lord, what are you all smokin'? If anything, the OP got it right.

Since the revelations of the PT, A New Hope has come to mean the rebirth of the Light Side of the Force through the discovery of the Skywalker twins as major players in the Rebellion against the Empire and the Dark Side of the Force.

This is why the phrase "[Anakin] was the one who would bring balance to the Force" was so prominent in the PT. Because remember in TPM, Darth Sidius and Darth Maul were the first known reappearance of the Sith after the death of the Sith civilization millenia ago (Tales of the Jedi timeline). When Anakin failed to be "the One" and fell to the Dark Side, that duty fell to his offspring, Luke and Leia to bring balance back to the Force.

The Dewbacks

It refers to the Episodes IV, V, and VI -- altogether, they are a "new hope" for Star Wars fans who sat through I-III.




I always thought, before the PT, that it referred to Luke Skywalker, and I always will. A "hope" isn't just an emotion - it can be a person, hence ObiWan's statement "that boy was our last hope."