Star Words: Episode V, Part 48

[matril]

Here we are at the end of Episode V at last. If this trend of ever-increasing posts continues, I suspect that Episode VI will easily exceed 50. That's perfectly fine with me; I'd be happy to spend another year on this series!

In any case, this middle film in the trilogy ends as any second act of a three-act story, with many questions and problems still unresolved amid a wistful, uncertain tone. Our heroes have made it to the Rebel fleet at last, and Lando is fully on their side now. But Han is still in the clutches of a bounty hunter, presumably frozen, Luke has lost a hand, the Rebellion has been forced to the very outskirts of the galaxy, and Vader's ominous declaration of parentage has yet to be addressed.

What else can be done except to move on? Our heroes don't give up; that's what makes them heroic. More than any extraordinary powers or mysterious origins, it is the determination to keep going no matter how great the challenges, no matter how hopeless the situation appears. Lando and Chewie are already embarking on a quest to rescue Han; Luke and Leia will follow soon after. Luke has a new mechanical hand that looks to function just as well as a real one. And his last line is full of hope.

"May the Force be with you."

(My husband likes to point out that technically, Luke's last line and the concluding line of the film is "Ow!" But let's not nitpick.)

This is the first time we've heard Luke speak this line. It's significant in its timing. It would have easy for him to declare at the end of Episode IV, when he was giddy with the success of his newfound powers and had every reason for optimism. Now he's had to confront a much darker view of the Force, not only from Vader but within himself. He could be questioning whether Ben was ever honest with him, doubting all his teachings. Still he affirms his faith. Invokes the blessings of the Force on their mission. Still he hopes.

I love Luke.

Then, with the final shot of the (unwitting) twins facing a vast vista and their uncertain future (paralleled quite poetically by the final shot with their parents in Episode II) we conclude this episode and move on to the final film!

Comments

[krpalmer]

I have to admit that when I picked up my copy of "The Annotated Screenplays" again to read Episode V's final lines in advance of your final instalment for it, I noticed "Ow!" in it myself. Still, I'd also reflected on your own choice. In the face of "The Empire Strikes Back is the unassailable high point (and everything else is a bitter letdown) because Return of the Jedi wasn't as dark," I have come to insist "hope remains" in its conclusion. Luke's resilience here, too, reflects on certain third-party story extensions... even if I know that to dwell too much on "the negative" isn't healthy at all.

Instead, at the possible risk of being even more controversial, I also have to admit to some maudlin moods in the past week, thinking that some medical news might put us all "in between TESB and RotJ," with the risks still high but some possibility of future hope making our choices matter all the more. I don't want to imagine too much too soon, but if your Episode VI coverage runs for a while as well, it just might be things will be getting better when it reaches its conclusion...

Anyway, I am old enough to have "lived in between TESB and RotJ" myself, but I was young enough I don't recall speculating very much as to what could happen in the next movie. I might have distracted myself by reading scattered issues of the old Marvel Star Wars comic book. As much as they faced their own limitations on getting to move the story forward, they might have kept me from bothering to read the novel written in the 1990s that was supposed to be "the official in-between story," much less play its video game or listen to its "soundtrack album." (In between Attack of the Clones and Episode III, I think I'd settled into "not wanting to make my own theories out of the risk of latching on to them instead of the actual movie to come," although I was oddly energized at the first reports Anakin and Padme would have scenes together in the upcoming film, even given the RotJ novelization had tossed in a comment that "Anakin hadn't known his wife was pregnant"...)

[matril]

Yes, not to get too much into a bashfest, but it was Mark Hamill himself who said he had to play his role in the Disney movies like a "Jake Skywalker" because he didn't feel like it matched Luke's character at all.

As far as real-world parallels, not to delve too much into politics, but I saw more than one person comparing the celebrations after the recent election results with the ending of ROTJ. Living in a quiet suburb, I didn't witness any such spontaneous parties myself, but I wouldn't have minded dancing with an Ewok at that moment.

My husband was born in 1976. He remembers a teacher giving his class a creative writing assignment in the lead up to ROTJ, having the students write their version of the movie. I guess she figured since everyone in the class was obsessed with Star Wars, she might as well use it as an opportunity. He wrote about how Luke killed Vader, having assumed that Vader was a lying bad guy. Those expectations certainly didn't ruin his enjoyment of the film, though kids are generally more easygoing about those sort of things. There's nothing wrong with speculating, but too-rigid expectations can definitely lead to trouble.