Star Words: Episode V, Part 46
Nov. 5th, 2020 10:03 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
matrilWhew. This installment has gone on for quite a while, hasn't it? Longer than the previously reigning champion, Episode III. It could be that there are a lot of great lines in this film, but more likely it's just that I tend to get more long-winded the longer I write about something. (Also, my favorite scene in this film is very dialogue-heavy, so it took up five whole entries on its own...) Anyway, we're finally winding down. I'm planning on just two more entries after this to finish Episode V.
The duel with Vader culminates with a fascinating twist -- and I'm not just talking about the reveal of Vader's true identity. That line is pretty simple, though oft misquoted (It doesn't start with Luke; it's No. I am your father) but it leads into the deeper implications of Luke's parentage. It's not just that Luke's father is the bad guy. With this ominous birthright, Luke possesses the capacity to follow in his dark footsteps and become like him. And there's a particularly tantalizing claim amid Vader's call for Luke to join him.
"You can destroy the Emperor; he has foreseen this. It is your destiny. Join me, and together we can rule the galaxy as father and son. Come with me. It is the only way."
Quite a mouthful, and Luke is done interrupting. After his initial anguished outburst, he has withdrawn into his own thoughts, silently working through these shocking revelations. He may deny them all he wants, but his feelings are telling him otherwise.
And that claim about destroying the Emperor. Who wouldn't be tempted by that? To be told that destroying the leader of the Empire is nothing less than his destiny -- well, didn't Luke already destroy the Death Star and lead the Rebels to their first great victory? Isn't he the last Jedi apprentice for a reason?
We know about Vader's ploy to turn Luke from his earlier communication with the Emperor, but until the end of the duel Luke probably still assumed that Vader just wanted to kill him. That's what he did to Obi-Wan; that's what he supposedly did to Luke's father. Instead, Vader offers him victory, power, the chance to build the galaxy anew. As father and son. I already addressed the parallels with Episode III in that installment's 34th entry, the heartbreaking moment when Anakin makes a similar offer to Padmé.
Both of them reject it. The price is too high.
It is the only way. It says so much about Anakin/Vader that he believes this. That he sees nothing but the narrow, shadowed path of the Dark Side. That he cannot conceive how anyone could choose differently. When Padmé chooses differently, his frenetic mind casts the blame upon Obi-Wan. When Luke lets himself fall into the void, there is no one else to blame. He chose, of his own volition, to reject power and embrace passivity -- even a possible death. Though Vader's thoughts remain unexpressed, I imagine this marks the beginning of a change in his perspective, a broadening of possibilities that will draw him gradually back to the light.
Next, Threepio is dependably hilarious in the face of peril....
The duel with Vader culminates with a fascinating twist -- and I'm not just talking about the reveal of Vader's true identity. That line is pretty simple, though oft misquoted (It doesn't start with Luke; it's No. I am your father) but it leads into the deeper implications of Luke's parentage. It's not just that Luke's father is the bad guy. With this ominous birthright, Luke possesses the capacity to follow in his dark footsteps and become like him. And there's a particularly tantalizing claim amid Vader's call for Luke to join him.
"You can destroy the Emperor; he has foreseen this. It is your destiny. Join me, and together we can rule the galaxy as father and son. Come with me. It is the only way."
Quite a mouthful, and Luke is done interrupting. After his initial anguished outburst, he has withdrawn into his own thoughts, silently working through these shocking revelations. He may deny them all he wants, but his feelings are telling him otherwise.
And that claim about destroying the Emperor. Who wouldn't be tempted by that? To be told that destroying the leader of the Empire is nothing less than his destiny -- well, didn't Luke already destroy the Death Star and lead the Rebels to their first great victory? Isn't he the last Jedi apprentice for a reason?
We know about Vader's ploy to turn Luke from his earlier communication with the Emperor, but until the end of the duel Luke probably still assumed that Vader just wanted to kill him. That's what he did to Obi-Wan; that's what he supposedly did to Luke's father. Instead, Vader offers him victory, power, the chance to build the galaxy anew. As father and son. I already addressed the parallels with Episode III in that installment's 34th entry, the heartbreaking moment when Anakin makes a similar offer to Padmé.
Both of them reject it. The price is too high.
It is the only way. It says so much about Anakin/Vader that he believes this. That he sees nothing but the narrow, shadowed path of the Dark Side. That he cannot conceive how anyone could choose differently. When Padmé chooses differently, his frenetic mind casts the blame upon Obi-Wan. When Luke lets himself fall into the void, there is no one else to blame. He chose, of his own volition, to reject power and embrace passivity -- even a possible death. Though Vader's thoughts remain unexpressed, I imagine this marks the beginning of a change in his perspective, a broadening of possibilities that will draw him gradually back to the light.
Next, Threepio is dependably hilarious in the face of peril....
