Star Words: Episode VI, Part 43
Sep. 16th, 2021 09:31 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
matrilWe visit each of the battle zones, watching each one become bleaker. Just when Artoo is about to open the bunker door, he's blasted into non-functionality, while Threepio laments his bravery. In the space battle, Lando suggests what can only be a suicidal tactic of engaging the star destroyers at point blank range. Yes, the starfighters are unlikely to survive, but at least they have a chance of taking down Imperials with them, which is more than they could manage against the indomitable might of the Death Star.
Meanwhile, aboard that station, the Emperor continues his relentless attack against Luke's will. He has engineered this desperate situation for the express purpose of bringing Luke down into despair. Amid such a crushing defeat, what other course remains but to unleash his wrath upon the Emperor?
"Strike me down with all of your hatred, and your journey toward the Dark Side will be complete."
It's like some kind of twisted reverse-reverse psychology. Alas, in this moment, it works. Luke cannot hold back his fury another moment. Of course the instant he goes to attack Palpatine, Vader is there to engage him. What a chilling image, to see the Emperor laughing wildly as two sabers cross right before his face. This is precisely what he wanted. Pitting father against son, setting up one fallen Jedi to manipulate another fall. It's infuriating, but that only empowers Palpatine further. The more unfair, the more cruel his plots, the more he enflames Luke's hatred of him. The more he taunts him with his impending fall to the Dark Side, the more he encourages it.
This might seem like the kind of extravagantly bizarre situation only found in the over-the-top melodrama of a space opera...and yet I can easily imagine real world equivalents. How many bullies taunt their victims with the express intention of wanting to start to fight? Even if the victim gets in a good solid punch, the bully has still won a metaphysical victory by stirring up the contention. Some people thrive on anger, hatred, nastiness. They don't care if people despise them, as long as they can get them riled up. We tend to think of refraining from fights as cowardly, but sometimes it's the bravest, and the hardest, thing you could ever do.
Next time, a marvelous callback...
Meanwhile, aboard that station, the Emperor continues his relentless attack against Luke's will. He has engineered this desperate situation for the express purpose of bringing Luke down into despair. Amid such a crushing defeat, what other course remains but to unleash his wrath upon the Emperor?
"Strike me down with all of your hatred, and your journey toward the Dark Side will be complete."
It's like some kind of twisted reverse-reverse psychology. Alas, in this moment, it works. Luke cannot hold back his fury another moment. Of course the instant he goes to attack Palpatine, Vader is there to engage him. What a chilling image, to see the Emperor laughing wildly as two sabers cross right before his face. This is precisely what he wanted. Pitting father against son, setting up one fallen Jedi to manipulate another fall. It's infuriating, but that only empowers Palpatine further. The more unfair, the more cruel his plots, the more he enflames Luke's hatred of him. The more he taunts him with his impending fall to the Dark Side, the more he encourages it.
This might seem like the kind of extravagantly bizarre situation only found in the over-the-top melodrama of a space opera...and yet I can easily imagine real world equivalents. How many bullies taunt their victims with the express intention of wanting to start to fight? Even if the victim gets in a good solid punch, the bully has still won a metaphysical victory by stirring up the contention. Some people thrive on anger, hatred, nastiness. They don't care if people despise them, as long as they can get them riled up. We tend to think of refraining from fights as cowardly, but sometimes it's the bravest, and the hardest, thing you could ever do.
Next time, a marvelous callback...
