random star wars thought

[orangerful]

The scene during Luke's final battle with Vader in RotJ, when Luke is "hiding" from Vader and Vader is apparently using the "I'm just going to keep talking until you get sick of my voice" approach of dark side coercion, you see Luke close his eyes and suddenly Vader says "...sister. So, you have a twin sister. Your feelings have now betrayed her too." and we see Luke open his eyes and sort of let his shoulders go down in defeat.

I've realized that I interpret this moment different from most.

My head-canon for this, was that Luke wasn't struggling to hide his thoughts about Leia. I always thought it was the opposite. This was part of Luke's way of trying to bring Anakin back - he hoped that the revelation that, not only does he have a son, but he also has a daughter - would make Anakin turn against the Emperor right there. In fact, I almost felt like Luke projected his last conversation with Leia to Anakin. Of course, when this doesn't immediately work and Vader continues to bait him, Luke loses his temper and fights back.

BUT I always felt like that little bit of information did something to break through Vader and into Anakin, to pull him back to the side of good. It's why Anakin says "tell your sister you were right about me" because he "saw" that moment between Luke and Leia.

(Why yes, I was watching more Pop Culture Detective videos tonight, why do you ask?)

Comments

[beccadg]

A) I've never given that scene much thought, but b) your headcanon makes perfect sense to me. In fact, now that you have made me think about it, I like your interpretation of the scene much better than the idea he was struggling to hide his thoughts. I mean his losing his temper when and how he does never seemed quite right to me with the "trying to hide" interpretation. How should anything Vader does in that sequence surprise or anger him if he's just dealing with him as a bad guy? It makes more sense if he was trying to reach Anakin, but feeling like he was failing. Then the anger isn't really at Vader, it's at himself for not reaching past Vader to Anakin. Plus, as you say, it also explains the, "tell your sister you were right about me," bit. It's not just about reassuring Luke he was right, or encouraging him to tell Leia he was right, it's about letting Luke know that he "saw" what Luke deliberately made the effort to show him.

[orangerful]

It makes more sense if he was trying to reach Anakin, but feeling like he was failing. Then the anger isn't really at Vader, it's at himself for not reaching past Vader to Anakin.

OMG YOU MADE IT BETTER! :D

[beccadg]

*Blushes.* Thank you and you're welcome. I can add to it since I've had more time to think about how Luke's losing his temper when and how he does never seemed quite right to me? For me, it's a question of character growth. If Luke was just hiding and he just gets mad at Vader then he's learned nothing since he confronted Vader in The Empire Strikes Back. He might talk like he has leading up to that confrontation, but at that moment he shows he hasn't learned a thing. However, if Luke was trying something new--trying to go past Vader to Anakin--and gets mad at himself because it doesn't work exactly how he was hoping it would, that's okay. He's showing growth by trying something new, and he's being human by getting angry when it doesn't work exactly how he hoped it would. Hell, it even adds a layer of, "Don't let the fact it didn't work as fast as you'd hoped it would eat at you," to Anakin's "tell your sister you were right about me." It becomes not just, "you were right," not just "you were right and I heard you," but "you were right, I heard you, and you did your best--don't let how long it took to work eat at you." Your interpretation not only allows me to see character growth in Luke, instead of feeling a frustrating lack thereof, but it allows me to appreciate how much Anakin as a father is trying to give to his son with those words. It is totally my new headcanon.

[orangerful]

I love this. :)

[beccadg]

*Blushes some more.* Again, thank you and you're welcome. I thought it was only fair, since you gave me a lovely piece of headcanon, to share with you how it is a lovely piece of headcanon for me. For me, it enables me to see real growth in Luke Skywalker, instead of wondering whether or not he actually learned anything in the previous movie, and to see Anakin Skywalker as having been able to not only give his son love and encouragement, but serious advice on a subject he had a lot of painful personal experience with--don't let anger eat away at you. To me, those are gifts, gifts I might not have been aware I wanted when I first saw Return of the Jedi in the theater 36 years ago (I was 8, and mostly cared more about what happened to R2D2 and the Ewoks than to any of the adults, Princess Leia was the only exception), but which I very much appreciate now. Thank you for giving me those gifts. <3

[rhoda_rants]

Oooh, I've never thought of that scene that way, but I like it! When I start my next Star Wars marathon (which will probably be soon, although I haven't settled on a viewing order yet) I'll keep that in mind. It definitely seems like the kind of strategy he'd use: leaning on compassion to try to win is kind of Luke's MO, at least at that point in his life.

[orangerful]

I always felt that Luke and Buffy had a lot in common - their "teachers" kept insisting that friendships and relationships were weaknesses but they both knew deep down that wasn't true. That our relationships, those that we love, are what make us stronger. Even before the prequels (which just prove that the Jedi are kind of assholes) I always felt that Luke's entire story wasn't to recreate the Jedi as they were, but to carry on what they should have been. Taking the best parts of their practices - to protect those around them, to be a light in the darkness. But none of this "A jedi shall not know love" crap.

Which, technically, he shouldn't really know about anyway since I don't think Obi-Wan really worried about covering that. Again, I felt like Yoda and Obi-Wan gave Luke the "best self" version of the Jedi. They also learned from their mistakes, having plenty to sit and think about what went wrong, what lead to the downfall of the Jedi. So what they told Luke about their stories was carefully curated to make the Jedi the Knights in shining armor they should have been.