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matrilIn every step of the narrative process, there must be a deliberate choice made by the storyteller regarding how much information to reveal to the audience. Too much all at once, and you've ruined the tension and the flow of the story. Too little, and you'll leave your audience bewildered or disinterested. I've explored a bit of how being deliberately coy about what your audience knows versus what the story's characters know is merely obnoxious and gimmicky. But if you can withhold just enough information until just the right moment, you can create moments of revelation that are positively transformative, subverting expectations with deft touches of dramatic irony.
The marvelous thing about the opening sequence in Jabba's palace is that it does all of this while also mirroring the opening sequence in Episode III and foreshadowing the latter half of Episode VI. Our expectations are toyed with again and again, showing that nothing is quite what it appears to be - a message that we would do well to remember as we consider Palpatine's duplicity in both Episode III and VI.
To start with, let's examine the events leading up to the downfall of Jabba's little empire. One by one, each of our heroes are introduced, always in a manner that challenges our previous assumptions. And always we are left guessing as to what's really happening. To start with, our point-of-view character is C3PO. We follow him and Artoo into the palace. And we know nothing more than what Threepio can tell us, which is very little - this poor protocol droid is virtually clueless. He believes that Lando and Chewbacca have disappeared without a trace. He is shocked and dismayed to hear Luke's message to Jabba, having no idea of its contents until it's being played.
The look of a droid betrayed.
And we, too, are left wondering what kind of game Luke is playing, though hopefully we have a little more faith than Threepio that he hasn't permanently abandoned his beloved droids or his still-frozen-in-carbonite friend. Next, however, we see Chewbacca led forcibly into Jabba's presence by a masked bounty hunter. How did he get captured? Who is this hunter? We're allowed a glimpse of some deeper plan, at least, when Lando is revealed hiding behind a guard's mask, but the first big revelation comes when the bounty hunter sneaks through the palace in the dead of night to free Han from the carbonite. By this point we've probably already guessed from the hunter's distinctive body language that it must be Leia underneath that mask (and I've discussed Leia's journey at length in Part 1) but any happiness at her reunion with Han is immediately disrupted by Jabba's ominous laugh.
It seems like whatever rescue they had planned has been frustrated. Han, blind and enfeebled, is tossed into prison with Chewie; Leia is chained to Jabba in a state of humiliating enslavement. Any remaining hope rests with Luke. Perhaps we can be forgiven for feeling as skeptical as Han at the idea that Luke could mastermind a daring rescue - Luke, thoroughly defeated and broken at Vader's hands not very long ago. So far, whatever Luke intended, it seems like almost everything has gone wrong.
Then Luke appears at last, clad in dark robes that are disturbingly reminiscent of Vader's garb. He coolly Force-chokes the guards who try to bar him entrance and coerces Bib Fortuna into bringing him to Jabba's audience chamber. But before we can dwell too much on whether Luke is veering toward the Dark Side, we see him fail. Jabba is imperious to mind tricks. Luke's attempt to snatch a blaster is cut short by his descent into the Rancor pit.
He prevails, but just barely. And as far as we can tell, he's only delaying an inevitable execution - not only his, but Han's and Chewie's as well. Han remains darkly cynical. We hope that Luke's confident "I've taken care of everything" isn't misplaced, but things look pretty bleak. Hands bound, weaponless, staring into the fanged maw of the Sarlaac pit. What sort of grand rescue could he possibly be planning in this state?
Suuuure, Luke.
Of course this is just good storytelling at its most basic. If the hero's triumph is too easy, it's boring, lacking tension. Of course we expect Luke to save the day even if it seems impossible - we would feel cheated by anything less. But what happens next is far more than a victory in the face of overwhelming opposition. When Artoo reveals a brand-new lightsaber - with a blade of startling green, unheard of before Episode VI came out - and Luke begins to handily deflect every attack thrown at him, it gradually dawns on us that he has been completely in control of things from the beginning. He could have come charging into Jabba's palace at the start, wielding his saber and easily dispatching of the crime-lord's goons, rescuing Han without any of this trouble. He waited on purpose, giving Jabba ample opportunity to agree to a peaceful bargain. Over and over Jabba dismisses this as false bravado and refuses to negotiate. "This is your last chance," Luke declares on the verge of the plank into the Sarlaac pit. "Free us or die." Not an exaggeration; not false bravado. It's a threat he's fully capable of following through on.
Yeah. I got this.
And Leia, supposedly helpless? She, too, has only been waiting for the right moment to cast off her disguise of helplessness and take on Jabba. Do you really think she would passively put up with any of his demeaning treatment unless she was quietly luring him into complacency, poised to strike at the appointed time? When it comes, she makes short work of Jabba, using the very chains he thought to enslave her with.
From Threepio's perspective, everything is madness and impending doom. If we had followed Luke from the start, we would know that he really has taken care of everything. But we don't follow the narrative from his viewpoint because then there would be no suspense, no startlingly satisfying pay-off, no reversal of expectations. It was wise, I believe, to cut the scene that shows Luke putting the final touches on his new lightsaber. Better to withhold that surprise until the last minute for maximum effect.
And where else do we witness the withholding of information until the last minute, when it's revealed like a punch in the gut? From Palpatine, the master deceiver. Let's look first at how the opening sequence of Revenge of the Sith contains a series of deceiving moments that aren't what they seem, serving as a striking mirror of the start of Episode III. There are countless instances of mirroring between the two trilogies, and covering them is far beyond the scope of a single post, but let's briefly consider this - Episode I and IV find a beleaguered political idealist seeking help from an unlikely hero from Tatooine; Episode II and V contain dual plotlines, one with a pair going into hiding and gradually realizing their romantic feelings for each other, and a lone Jedi on a solo mission. And Episode III and VI both start with a thrilling rescue that, it turns out, is not at all what it seems.
Anakin and Obi-Wan embark on a perilous quest to rescue the kidnapped Chancellor - at least, so it would appear. They find Palpatine, bound and helpless. They must defeat Dooku and fend off General Grievous to bring the Chancellor safely back to Coruscant.
Except...Palpatine is never a prisoner. His secret persona, Darth Sidious, is Dooku's Sith master as well as the leader of the entire Separatist army that Grievous leads. He pulls all the strings. He orchestrated the entire thing. Why? For the same reason he started the Federation's blockade of Naboo; for the same reason he fomented the Separatist conflict. To gain ultimate power over the galaxy and turn Anakin to the Dark Side as his most powerful apprentice.
And it works. We know something creepy is going on because we've seen Darth Sidious, and it's pretty obviously Palpatine in a hood. But it comes as an earth-shattering shock to the Jedi. By the time Palpatine reveals the truth of his identity to Anakin, he's planted so many seeds of doubt and confusion that Anakin doesn't know what to think.
Yeah, I've already pretty much won.
In the parallel rescue sequence of ROTJ, however, all of this deviousness is flipped so that our heroes are the ones fooling their enemies, feigning weakness and defeat so as to bring everything to a perfect climactic triumph. But don't get too gleeful about all that triumph, because it, in turn, is only foreshadowing the ultimate deceptive powers of Emperor Palpatine. The set-up seems straightforward enough, even predictable - the Rebels are preparing to take down the Death Star, just as before. They've analyzed its structure, found its weaknesses, learned very secret, including the Emperor's presence there. It was hard-earned knowledge at the cost of many lives.
Let us have a moment of silence for the fallen Bothans.
But oh, how wrong the Rebels are. Anyone who questioned the ease of their plans, wondered how the Emperor would be so foolish as to allow such vulnerability in his plotting - now they must realize that in fact he has "taken care of everything" even more thoroughly than Luke did. He allowed the spies to gain their supposedly crucial intelligence; he set up an ambush on Endor and at the Death Star. He probably even conceived of creating the second armored space station entirely for the purpose of luring in the Rebels and destroying them.
That same smug face, twenty-plus years later.
On the other side, the face of "IT'S A TRAP"
Once again, his apparent weakness and vulnerability is nothing more than a ruse to gain more power and control, on the cosmic scale of the Galactic Empire as well as the deeply personal level of Luke Skywalker's soul.
Aside from the wrinkles, he really hasn't changed much.
And here's where things get really good.
Where Palpatine succeeded in Episode III, where Luke triumphed over Jabba, this final bait-and-switch moment of the saga will have an entirely different result - the deceiver will not prevail. Palpatine's plots are truly insidious (yes, very punny) and they do bring Luke and the Rebellion to the absolute brink of despair and defeat. But after the horrible reversal of Palpatine's treachery, we have a second glorious reversal. The Ewoks prove to be unexpectedly useful allies; Han devises one final trick to make their way into the bunker, and Luke defies every one of the Emperor's expectations.
"You've failed, your Highness. I am a Jedi, like my father before me." A euphoric moment followed closely by another - Anakin's return and bittersweet reunion with his son just before his death.
Only after a carefully crafted series of reversals could this moment carry the awesome weight it does. We've seen Palpatine prevail through playing weak and hiding his true nature until the electrifying (more punniness) moment of revelation; we just saw Luke and his friends prevail over Jabba through their own less-sinister but similarly clever ploys. But now, at last, Palpatine's duplicity is overcome by determination, ingenuity and sheer goodness. A victory all the more meaningful because it was by no means inevitable.
Never underestimate the power of a son's love, the resourcefulness of a rag-tag band of outlaws....and the ferocity of a clan of teddy bears.
The marvelous thing about the opening sequence in Jabba's palace is that it does all of this while also mirroring the opening sequence in Episode III and foreshadowing the latter half of Episode VI. Our expectations are toyed with again and again, showing that nothing is quite what it appears to be - a message that we would do well to remember as we consider Palpatine's duplicity in both Episode III and VI.
To start with, let's examine the events leading up to the downfall of Jabba's little empire. One by one, each of our heroes are introduced, always in a manner that challenges our previous assumptions. And always we are left guessing as to what's really happening. To start with, our point-of-view character is C3PO. We follow him and Artoo into the palace. And we know nothing more than what Threepio can tell us, which is very little - this poor protocol droid is virtually clueless. He believes that Lando and Chewbacca have disappeared without a trace. He is shocked and dismayed to hear Luke's message to Jabba, having no idea of its contents until it's being played.
The look of a droid betrayed.
And we, too, are left wondering what kind of game Luke is playing, though hopefully we have a little more faith than Threepio that he hasn't permanently abandoned his beloved droids or his still-frozen-in-carbonite friend. Next, however, we see Chewbacca led forcibly into Jabba's presence by a masked bounty hunter. How did he get captured? Who is this hunter? We're allowed a glimpse of some deeper plan, at least, when Lando is revealed hiding behind a guard's mask, but the first big revelation comes when the bounty hunter sneaks through the palace in the dead of night to free Han from the carbonite. By this point we've probably already guessed from the hunter's distinctive body language that it must be Leia underneath that mask (and I've discussed Leia's journey at length in Part 1) but any happiness at her reunion with Han is immediately disrupted by Jabba's ominous laugh.
It seems like whatever rescue they had planned has been frustrated. Han, blind and enfeebled, is tossed into prison with Chewie; Leia is chained to Jabba in a state of humiliating enslavement. Any remaining hope rests with Luke. Perhaps we can be forgiven for feeling as skeptical as Han at the idea that Luke could mastermind a daring rescue - Luke, thoroughly defeated and broken at Vader's hands not very long ago. So far, whatever Luke intended, it seems like almost everything has gone wrong.
Then Luke appears at last, clad in dark robes that are disturbingly reminiscent of Vader's garb. He coolly Force-chokes the guards who try to bar him entrance and coerces Bib Fortuna into bringing him to Jabba's audience chamber. But before we can dwell too much on whether Luke is veering toward the Dark Side, we see him fail. Jabba is imperious to mind tricks. Luke's attempt to snatch a blaster is cut short by his descent into the Rancor pit.
He prevails, but just barely. And as far as we can tell, he's only delaying an inevitable execution - not only his, but Han's and Chewie's as well. Han remains darkly cynical. We hope that Luke's confident "I've taken care of everything" isn't misplaced, but things look pretty bleak. Hands bound, weaponless, staring into the fanged maw of the Sarlaac pit. What sort of grand rescue could he possibly be planning in this state?
Suuuure, Luke.
Of course this is just good storytelling at its most basic. If the hero's triumph is too easy, it's boring, lacking tension. Of course we expect Luke to save the day even if it seems impossible - we would feel cheated by anything less. But what happens next is far more than a victory in the face of overwhelming opposition. When Artoo reveals a brand-new lightsaber - with a blade of startling green, unheard of before Episode VI came out - and Luke begins to handily deflect every attack thrown at him, it gradually dawns on us that he has been completely in control of things from the beginning. He could have come charging into Jabba's palace at the start, wielding his saber and easily dispatching of the crime-lord's goons, rescuing Han without any of this trouble. He waited on purpose, giving Jabba ample opportunity to agree to a peaceful bargain. Over and over Jabba dismisses this as false bravado and refuses to negotiate. "This is your last chance," Luke declares on the verge of the plank into the Sarlaac pit. "Free us or die." Not an exaggeration; not false bravado. It's a threat he's fully capable of following through on.
Yeah. I got this.
And Leia, supposedly helpless? She, too, has only been waiting for the right moment to cast off her disguise of helplessness and take on Jabba. Do you really think she would passively put up with any of his demeaning treatment unless she was quietly luring him into complacency, poised to strike at the appointed time? When it comes, she makes short work of Jabba, using the very chains he thought to enslave her with.
From Threepio's perspective, everything is madness and impending doom. If we had followed Luke from the start, we would know that he really has taken care of everything. But we don't follow the narrative from his viewpoint because then there would be no suspense, no startlingly satisfying pay-off, no reversal of expectations. It was wise, I believe, to cut the scene that shows Luke putting the final touches on his new lightsaber. Better to withhold that surprise until the last minute for maximum effect.
And where else do we witness the withholding of information until the last minute, when it's revealed like a punch in the gut? From Palpatine, the master deceiver. Let's look first at how the opening sequence of Revenge of the Sith contains a series of deceiving moments that aren't what they seem, serving as a striking mirror of the start of Episode III. There are countless instances of mirroring between the two trilogies, and covering them is far beyond the scope of a single post, but let's briefly consider this - Episode I and IV find a beleaguered political idealist seeking help from an unlikely hero from Tatooine; Episode II and V contain dual plotlines, one with a pair going into hiding and gradually realizing their romantic feelings for each other, and a lone Jedi on a solo mission. And Episode III and VI both start with a thrilling rescue that, it turns out, is not at all what it seems.
Anakin and Obi-Wan embark on a perilous quest to rescue the kidnapped Chancellor - at least, so it would appear. They find Palpatine, bound and helpless. They must defeat Dooku and fend off General Grievous to bring the Chancellor safely back to Coruscant.
Except...Palpatine is never a prisoner. His secret persona, Darth Sidious, is Dooku's Sith master as well as the leader of the entire Separatist army that Grievous leads. He pulls all the strings. He orchestrated the entire thing. Why? For the same reason he started the Federation's blockade of Naboo; for the same reason he fomented the Separatist conflict. To gain ultimate power over the galaxy and turn Anakin to the Dark Side as his most powerful apprentice.
And it works. We know something creepy is going on because we've seen Darth Sidious, and it's pretty obviously Palpatine in a hood. But it comes as an earth-shattering shock to the Jedi. By the time Palpatine reveals the truth of his identity to Anakin, he's planted so many seeds of doubt and confusion that Anakin doesn't know what to think.
Yeah, I've already pretty much won.
In the parallel rescue sequence of ROTJ, however, all of this deviousness is flipped so that our heroes are the ones fooling their enemies, feigning weakness and defeat so as to bring everything to a perfect climactic triumph. But don't get too gleeful about all that triumph, because it, in turn, is only foreshadowing the ultimate deceptive powers of Emperor Palpatine. The set-up seems straightforward enough, even predictable - the Rebels are preparing to take down the Death Star, just as before. They've analyzed its structure, found its weaknesses, learned very secret, including the Emperor's presence there. It was hard-earned knowledge at the cost of many lives.
Let us have a moment of silence for the fallen Bothans.
But oh, how wrong the Rebels are. Anyone who questioned the ease of their plans, wondered how the Emperor would be so foolish as to allow such vulnerability in his plotting - now they must realize that in fact he has "taken care of everything" even more thoroughly than Luke did. He allowed the spies to gain their supposedly crucial intelligence; he set up an ambush on Endor and at the Death Star. He probably even conceived of creating the second armored space station entirely for the purpose of luring in the Rebels and destroying them.
That same smug face, twenty-plus years later.
On the other side, the face of "IT'S A TRAP"
Once again, his apparent weakness and vulnerability is nothing more than a ruse to gain more power and control, on the cosmic scale of the Galactic Empire as well as the deeply personal level of Luke Skywalker's soul.
Aside from the wrinkles, he really hasn't changed much.
And here's where things get really good.
Where Palpatine succeeded in Episode III, where Luke triumphed over Jabba, this final bait-and-switch moment of the saga will have an entirely different result - the deceiver will not prevail. Palpatine's plots are truly insidious (yes, very punny) and they do bring Luke and the Rebellion to the absolute brink of despair and defeat. But after the horrible reversal of Palpatine's treachery, we have a second glorious reversal. The Ewoks prove to be unexpectedly useful allies; Han devises one final trick to make their way into the bunker, and Luke defies every one of the Emperor's expectations.
"You've failed, your Highness. I am a Jedi, like my father before me." A euphoric moment followed closely by another - Anakin's return and bittersweet reunion with his son just before his death.
Only after a carefully crafted series of reversals could this moment carry the awesome weight it does. We've seen Palpatine prevail through playing weak and hiding his true nature until the electrifying (more punniness) moment of revelation; we just saw Luke and his friends prevail over Jabba through their own less-sinister but similarly clever ploys. But now, at last, Palpatine's duplicity is overcome by determination, ingenuity and sheer goodness. A victory all the more meaningful because it was by no means inevitable.
Never underestimate the power of a son's love, the resourcefulness of a rag-tag band of outlaws....and the ferocity of a clan of teddy bears.
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Date: 2016-09-06 06:15 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-09-06 11:46 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-09-06 09:18 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-09-06 09:22 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-09-07 10:55 pm (UTC)I've been inclined to think myself that it works better for Luke's new lightsabre to be suddenly revealed at the moment of action than in the deleted scene, so perhaps it was especially nice to come across your comment on it. Perhaps, though, I'm as resistant to thoughts that "things went exactly as Luke had planned" as I am to supposing that because Palpatine wound up in the new movies establishing the Empire and corrupting Darth Vader everything had gone just as he had planned from the beginning. In the second possibility, at least, I may want to cling to thoughts of "things could have turned out differently," and I do ask myself about the Emperor's plan "not working perfectly" that other set of movies around.
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Date: 2016-09-08 01:46 am (UTC)