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Star Words: Episode III, Part 44
After watching Padmé die and Vader drown in his anguish and despair, it's almost essential for me that the next scene offers a flicker of hope. Arriving at Naboo, the last survivors of the Jedi Council and their stalwart friend plan for the twins' futures even as they prepared to lay Padmé to rest. There are several important loose ends to tie up here; how Leia ended up a princess on Alderaan and Luke a farmboy with the Lars family on Tatooine; how Obi-Wan and Yoda learned the special powers that will give them a voice even beyond the grave. I can't tell you how delighted I was to learn that Qui-Gon uncovered this secret and imparted it to Yoda, proof that he had insights far beyond the Council's myopic viewpoint.
But this entry's line comes from Bail. When he offers to adopt Leia with his wife, he makes a simple but powerful declaration:
"She will be loved with us."
Something about this quote is particularly moving to me. Perhaps it's knowing that George Lucas himself adopted several children and, by all appearances, is a very loving and devoted father. It feels so personal and heartfelt. (It's also why I have a soft spot for his later film Willow because the hero is defined by his ability to nurture and care for a baby, very unusual qualities for a male protagonist and too often undervalued. Anyway, watch Willow; it's great.)
As far as its importance within the story, this gives us a glimpse of the childhood Leia will have, one surrounded by love and caring. She inherits a strength of will and passion in her principles from her birth parents, no doubt, but her adoptive parents are also a crucial part of who she becomes. She wasn't taken to Alderaan from sheer exigency; she was very much wanted and cherished. Alas, this makes the loss of Alderaan in Episode IV that much more poignant. But for the saga's themes as a whole, it emphasizes the tremendous power of love, unconditional love between a parent and child, the sacrifices undergone to protect them and the unending promise that abounds from those sacrifices.
Okay. Just one more to go.....
But this entry's line comes from Bail. When he offers to adopt Leia with his wife, he makes a simple but powerful declaration:
"She will be loved with us."
Something about this quote is particularly moving to me. Perhaps it's knowing that George Lucas himself adopted several children and, by all appearances, is a very loving and devoted father. It feels so personal and heartfelt. (It's also why I have a soft spot for his later film Willow because the hero is defined by his ability to nurture and care for a baby, very unusual qualities for a male protagonist and too often undervalued. Anyway, watch Willow; it's great.)
As far as its importance within the story, this gives us a glimpse of the childhood Leia will have, one surrounded by love and caring. She inherits a strength of will and passion in her principles from her birth parents, no doubt, but her adoptive parents are also a crucial part of who she becomes. She wasn't taken to Alderaan from sheer exigency; she was very much wanted and cherished. Alas, this makes the loss of Alderaan in Episode IV that much more poignant. But for the saga's themes as a whole, it emphasizes the tremendous power of love, unconditional love between a parent and child, the sacrifices undergone to protect them and the unending promise that abounds from those sacrifices.
Okay. Just one more to go.....
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I've seen people declaring it significant Yoda and Obi-Wan have the twins raised by more conventional families than trying to do it themselves the way the Jedi Order might have, and I can certainly ponder Qui-Gon influencing that decision. What I find myself thinking now, though, is "adoptive families" playing against accusations the saga somehow amounts entirely to "heredity."
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And I think it's quite telling that Yoda and Obi-Wan didn't take it on themselves to raise the twins. Partly, I'm sure, they wanted to keep their latent abilities buried deep until the children were a less vulnerable age, which would have been harder if they'd had Jedi Masters constantly hovering around them -- also why they had to be separated. But I think it's also definitely a shift away from the old tradition of cutting off potential Jedi from their families at infancy.
I didn't mention another thing I love about this scene because it's a rather vindictive jab at the Disney movies -- it disproves the notion that Obi-Wan and Yoda simply turned tail and ran to hide forever once the Empire took over, and they only sort of stumbled into helping Luke and the Rebellion and such. When Mark Hamill was expressing his disagreement with Disney Luke's characterization because hiding and sulking isn't what Jedi do, people tried to point out Obi-Wan and Yoda's exiles as proof that it's exactly what Jedi do. Grrr. No. They were biding their time, licking their wounds and preparing the next generation. They hadn't given up, even when they knew the odds were rough. And nor would Luke, who ultimately far surpassed his old masters in wisdom and optimism. I obviously have a strong sensitivity to anyone misunderstanding Luke's nature so thoroughly.
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