Star Words: Episode IV, Part 39
Dec. 12th, 2019 02:16 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
matrilArtoo has been disabled, Luke is all alone, and Vader centers his sights on the lone X-wing with an ominous "I have you now." Yet the subsequent blast destroys not Luke's ship, but a neighboring TIE fighter. While Vader cries out in disbelief, those of us who share Luke's faith are not surprised to see Han returning for just a little bit of selfless heroism. Having cleared the way, he encourages Luke to finish what he came to do. After Luke fires the torpedoes, the moment is drawn out with a pounding urgency in the musical score, shots cutting from Tarkin to the battle station's control center to the exterior -- and then a tremendous explosion, as the music comes to a soft, joyful rest.
"Great shot, kid; that was one in a million!"
Han probably doesn't know the half of it. That "hokey religion" he recently derided has just given Luke the means to accomplish the near-impossible. Luke himself seems almost overwhelmed by the power that guided him to victory, like he is emerging from a trance, as Ben's voice continues to echo in his mind.
Consider Obi-Wan's earlier statement: "In my experience, there's no such thing as luck." (His old master voiced a similar thought with "Nothing happens by accident.") Think of how the Force could have nudged a few greedy Jawas to capture Artoo, so he would end up at the Lars farm and bring Luke into the adventure on his way to deliver Leia's message to Ben. How a smuggler down on his luck, desperate for money no matter how risky the job, would be at the cantina at just the right time (with a co-pilot who happens to have experience working with Jedi) -- and how that smuggler, for all his mercenary nature, had the capacity for heroics if only someone said the right words to prick his conscience. All these things, along with so many other circumstances, converge to bring about a victory that was anything but guaranteed. General Dodonna, your invocation was fully appropriate. The Force was truly with the Rebellion.
Next, we conclude this episode with a gleeful reunion....
"Great shot, kid; that was one in a million!"
Han probably doesn't know the half of it. That "hokey religion" he recently derided has just given Luke the means to accomplish the near-impossible. Luke himself seems almost overwhelmed by the power that guided him to victory, like he is emerging from a trance, as Ben's voice continues to echo in his mind.
Consider Obi-Wan's earlier statement: "In my experience, there's no such thing as luck." (His old master voiced a similar thought with "Nothing happens by accident.") Think of how the Force could have nudged a few greedy Jawas to capture Artoo, so he would end up at the Lars farm and bring Luke into the adventure on his way to deliver Leia's message to Ben. How a smuggler down on his luck, desperate for money no matter how risky the job, would be at the cantina at just the right time (with a co-pilot who happens to have experience working with Jedi) -- and how that smuggler, for all his mercenary nature, had the capacity for heroics if only someone said the right words to prick his conscience. All these things, along with so many other circumstances, converge to bring about a victory that was anything but guaranteed. General Dodonna, your invocation was fully appropriate. The Force was truly with the Rebellion.
Next, we conclude this episode with a gleeful reunion....
