Star Words: Episode VI, Part 50
Nov. 4th, 2021 09:00 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
matrilLuke's plea does not go unheard. After years of bondage, Anakin at last breaks the chains of the Dark Side and steps forward to rescue his son.
Brief aside -- why does this mark a return to good, when all he's doing is killing someone? Killing is violent and aggressive, right? Isn't that just another fruit of the Dark Side? Sometimes, yes. The intent is very important here. Vader is not overthrowing Palpatine to take his place as Sith Master. He's not performing an act of vengeance or a power-grab or a hatred-fueled attack. Doubtless he's wanted to destroy the Emperor for years (claims he can do it all the way back in Episode III, in fact) but he knows he's not strong enough to survive the attack. This time, however, it's not about triumphing over his master. He knows he'll die, and that doesn't matter anymore. His son's life is more important than his own. The fate of the galaxy is more important. All of the hunger for control and power that has driven Anakin to such darkness, he finally lets it go. Palpatine unleashes the full force of his electric power and wracks the mechanical body that has sustained Vader for twenty years, but that doesn't matter. Luke, exhausted but alive, goes to him in silent gratitude.
Meanwhile, Lando's team is well on their way to destroying the Death Star. With the Emperor no longer holding him captive, Luke hurries to find an escape for himself and his father. Anakin, however, knows he has but moments left. He has one last request.
"Luke. Help me take this mask off."
"But you'll die!"
"Nothing can stop that now. Just for once, let me look on your with my own eyes."
Anakin teaches his son the lesson that he himself only learned at the very end. There are some things you cannot change, sorrows you cannot prevent no matter how powerful. His death is inevitable. With his short remaining time, he seeks something more powerful than any purported Sith ability -- the chance to connect with Luke as he never could before. Discard the trappings of the Sith Lord and be with his son, face to face.
Of course the symbolic power of this moment cannot be overestimated. Masks are deeply evocative in the Star Wars saga, a marker of hidden or shifting identities. Vader is inhuman, more machine than man. With the return of Anakin, we see his face again at last. He has become his true self, the self long forgotten and restored by a son's love.
Next time, another short but powerful exchange....
Brief aside -- why does this mark a return to good, when all he's doing is killing someone? Killing is violent and aggressive, right? Isn't that just another fruit of the Dark Side? Sometimes, yes. The intent is very important here. Vader is not overthrowing Palpatine to take his place as Sith Master. He's not performing an act of vengeance or a power-grab or a hatred-fueled attack. Doubtless he's wanted to destroy the Emperor for years (claims he can do it all the way back in Episode III, in fact) but he knows he's not strong enough to survive the attack. This time, however, it's not about triumphing over his master. He knows he'll die, and that doesn't matter anymore. His son's life is more important than his own. The fate of the galaxy is more important. All of the hunger for control and power that has driven Anakin to such darkness, he finally lets it go. Palpatine unleashes the full force of his electric power and wracks the mechanical body that has sustained Vader for twenty years, but that doesn't matter. Luke, exhausted but alive, goes to him in silent gratitude.
Meanwhile, Lando's team is well on their way to destroying the Death Star. With the Emperor no longer holding him captive, Luke hurries to find an escape for himself and his father. Anakin, however, knows he has but moments left. He has one last request.
"Luke. Help me take this mask off."
"But you'll die!"
"Nothing can stop that now. Just for once, let me look on your with my own eyes."
Anakin teaches his son the lesson that he himself only learned at the very end. There are some things you cannot change, sorrows you cannot prevent no matter how powerful. His death is inevitable. With his short remaining time, he seeks something more powerful than any purported Sith ability -- the chance to connect with Luke as he never could before. Discard the trappings of the Sith Lord and be with his son, face to face.
Of course the symbolic power of this moment cannot be overestimated. Masks are deeply evocative in the Star Wars saga, a marker of hidden or shifting identities. Vader is inhuman, more machine than man. With the return of Anakin, we see his face again at last. He has become his true self, the self long forgotten and restored by a son's love.
Next time, another short but powerful exchange....
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Date: 2021-11-05 11:27 am (UTC)