Star Words: Episode VI, Part 48
And now we come to the crowning moment of the saga. This is the point of the entire story, the transcendent victory of good over evil. It does not come through fancy piloting or swordplay, nor through clever stratagems and ploys. It comes from nothing less than the integrity of the hero's choices, the staunch refusal to descend to the level of the enemy. This is not a battle of Empire against Rebellion, tyrant versus freedom fighter. It is a battle of souls.
Luke goes to the very brink. He succumbs to his fear and anger, lashes out against Vader and defeats him with the vengeful finish of cutting off the same hand that took Luke's.
But even as the Emperor cackles in triumph, urging Luke to finish the deed and kill his father, Luke is hardly listening. We need no words to understand his racing thoughts. The sight of the electronic stub of Vader's arm, Luke's stunned expression, looking at his own clenched fist with the artificial hand beneath the glove. It all comes to him in a rush. He is becoming Vader.
And that pulls him back from the edge, like a man waking from a nightmare. He transforms to perfect serenity, does the unthinkable -- he throws aside his weapon.
Criticizing this choice marks a decided misunderstanding of the stakes. Luke fully expected that he was going to his death when he gave himself up to Vader. He had no plans on escaping. He sacrificed himself for his friends, for the mission, and for the chance of saving his father. He never thought to survive. The Death Star is destined for destruction; he has complete faith in that. He plans to die when the Emperor dies, with the entirety of the space station, but he'll die a Jedi.
"I'll never turn to the Dark Side. You've failed, Your Highness. I am a Jedi, like my father before me."
Simple words, yet quietly profound. Alongside his declaration of unshakable goodness, Luke honors the man his father was, and the man he still believes in. That affirmation -- I'm telling you, I've heard it a thousand times and it still gets me every time. I'm teary-eyed right now. Luke could have sneered something about how he's better, stronger than his father, that he won't make the same foolish mistakes. But that's not the way of the good side. He is compassionate, granting his father a noble legacy, attributing his choices to a desire to follow his father's example.
This presumably stirs something deep within Darth Vader's soul, whatever is left of it, a prelude to the true eucatastrophe of this brilliant story.
Next time, two words that mean everything....
Luke goes to the very brink. He succumbs to his fear and anger, lashes out against Vader and defeats him with the vengeful finish of cutting off the same hand that took Luke's.
But even as the Emperor cackles in triumph, urging Luke to finish the deed and kill his father, Luke is hardly listening. We need no words to understand his racing thoughts. The sight of the electronic stub of Vader's arm, Luke's stunned expression, looking at his own clenched fist with the artificial hand beneath the glove. It all comes to him in a rush. He is becoming Vader.
And that pulls him back from the edge, like a man waking from a nightmare. He transforms to perfect serenity, does the unthinkable -- he throws aside his weapon.
Criticizing this choice marks a decided misunderstanding of the stakes. Luke fully expected that he was going to his death when he gave himself up to Vader. He had no plans on escaping. He sacrificed himself for his friends, for the mission, and for the chance of saving his father. He never thought to survive. The Death Star is destined for destruction; he has complete faith in that. He plans to die when the Emperor dies, with the entirety of the space station, but he'll die a Jedi.
"I'll never turn to the Dark Side. You've failed, Your Highness. I am a Jedi, like my father before me."
Simple words, yet quietly profound. Alongside his declaration of unshakable goodness, Luke honors the man his father was, and the man he still believes in. That affirmation -- I'm telling you, I've heard it a thousand times and it still gets me every time. I'm teary-eyed right now. Luke could have sneered something about how he's better, stronger than his father, that he won't make the same foolish mistakes. But that's not the way of the good side. He is compassionate, granting his father a noble legacy, attributing his choices to a desire to follow his father's example.
This presumably stirs something deep within Darth Vader's soul, whatever is left of it, a prelude to the true eucatastrophe of this brilliant story.
Next time, two words that mean everything....