Star Words: Episode VI, Part 41

[matril]

With the Ewok ambush our heroes have a chance again, however slight. Leia and Han quickly make their way back to the bunker, but the door's code has changed. Who else to call but the ever-helpful Artoo?

Threepio, however, is horrified when his counterpart begins trundling straight into the thick of the battle. He demand to know where he's going, pleads with him to come back, and offers a particularly ridiculous protest.

"Oh, this is no time for heroics!"

If not now, then when? A desperate fight that will either end with the destruction of the Empire or the permanent defeat of the Rebellion -- you can't really come up with a better time for heroics. But Threepio has never exactly been the personification of bravery. His programming must contain a very strong self-preservation function.

Still, he does follow Artoo rather than hanging back at the edge of the fray. There might be a particle of courage in him after all. And let's not forget, there are traits other than battle-courage that can be helpful. Like resembling an Ewok god, and speaking their language just well enough to forge an alliance. Everyone has a role to play, whatever their definition of heroics.

Next, a devastating blow....

Comments

[krpalmer]

I'd been anticipating this line, and had had some "Threepio complains, but stays in the thick of things anyway" thoughts myself. What more I could say had seemed elusive at first, but I might have thought a bit more deeply about this moment raising a laugh in theatres, then considered whether the whole "forest battle" could be taken to have a joking edge to it. That's quite acceptable with me (I've come to enjoy "absurdity with a serious face," although the examples in my mind are anime series, which aren't for everyone), but does remind me of all the complaints of the late 1990s that Return of the Jedi somehow "let down its predecessors" (even if the "space battle" remained more acceptable, while the lightsabre duel never seemed to get as much attention...)

[matril]

For myself, the Luke/Vader/Emperor confrontation is so intense, I need something more lighthearted as a counterweight. And I find it unapologetically delightful to see the Ewoks gaining unexpected triumphs against the Empire, even if their ultimate role is more of a "distract and slow down the enemy while the main heroes come up with a clever stratagem to turn the tide."