Don't use the lightsaber!
5by5’s geek culture podcast does Return of the Jedi. The last film of the original trilogy gets a lot of flack, but in this second part of their discussion, they talk at length about the confrontation between Luke, Vader and the Emperor. This made a big impression on me as a kid: I can close my eyes even now, hear the choral music as an enraged Luke attacks his father, and feel a lump in my throat.[1]
Despite loving this bit, what I hadn’t thought about much (until this podcast) was how cleverly structured the confrontation is: the usual “I’ll tell you my evil plan” and “I won’t kill you but I should” and “violence isn’t always the answer” tropes actually all make sense here.
So, thanks to the folks at the Incomparable for reminding me how awesome Jedi is. Ewoks and all.
I should get that checked out. ↩︎
