matril: (Default)
matril ([personal profile] matril) wrote2021-07-01 09:25 am

Star Words: Episode VI, Part 32

Even after Vader acknowledges that he will have to kill his son if he refuses to turn to the Dark Side, Luke continues to sense conflict in Vader, and pleads with him to let go of his hate. Vader's brief response contains volumes.

"It is too late for me, son."

There's a lifetime of regret in those words. Too late. If Vader were unequivocally glorying in the Dark Side, he would think of it that way. And there was a time, once, that wasn't too late. It wasn't inevitable. In my view, even an acknowledgement that he wishes it were otherwise is enough cause for hope. A desire to change, though change seems permanently out of reach. That desire is a spark. A spark can start a bonfire.

Vader calls Luke son. Not in commanding tones, to call for his fealty or submission. It's quiet and sad. It means so much. The very fact that Vader addresses Luke this way sheds doubt on the words he just spoke. Too late...or the beginning of hope?

Next time, one more line from this scene and then we'll move on, I promise....
krpalmer: (europa)

[personal profile] krpalmer 2021-07-01 07:56 pm (UTC)(link)
Fernwithy once wrote an essay (which took some digging through the Wayback Machine to find now) arguing Vader could be interpreted as capable of personal transformation just from evidence in the original three Star Wars movies, and this line was its culmination. Reading it did seem to affect my own interpretations going forward. With the way Vader was presented (enigmatic behind a mask) it does easy to come up with varying interpretations of just what he's thinking about what he's doing at any point, and the idea he's been "regretful" ever since the end of Revenge of the Sith does intrigue me with thoughts of "reinterpreting what you thought you knew." At the same time, I am a little bit cautious about what some call "woobifying" villains...