Star Wars Personal Theory VI
Nov. 6th, 2014 07:59 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
krpalmerAs I got to the halfway point in watching through the Star Wars movies this year, I was wondering just what I could share as a "personal theory" this time. At last, some ideas seemed to come together, linking not just a theory or two but even a preference; they seem to have to do with planning.
I remember some people arguing pretty much past each other in the days of the Star Wars Usenet newsgroup about whether the rescue of Han Solo was all according to an elaborate plan. I also recall a line in the novelization, which ties into some discussion in the recent "The Making of Return of the Jedi" book, that Han had to be brought outside Jabba's palace to increase the chances of escape. The hindsight we look back at the events in the movie with could be converted into foresight on the parts of the main characters, with just Threepio unfortunately left out because everyone else knew he couldn't keep a secret. For some reason, though, I do want to believe that "Luke didn't know Jabba could drop people he was angry with into the Rancor pit beneath his throne room before he cast them into the Sarlacc in the desert." Certainly, characters who think ahead are a change that may well be welcome in the face of "they who grit their teeth harder win," and yet when one side has all the plans and everything plays into it that sometimes doesn't seem that exciting than at least a bit of fast thinking being necessary. That, perhaps, may tie in to how I want to interpret the new movies as well.
So far as "plans" go, I'm also inclined to think that "after Luke's discussion with his father on the forest moon of Endor didn't turn Darth Vader away from the Dark Side, he despaired and supposed all he could do now was distract the Emperor until all three of them were caught in the attack on the second Death Star." This, again, may just be a stronger statement of something actually said in the dialogue, but I'm also inclined to think that "Darth Vader, after Luke rejected him in the previous movie, was at an equal loss for ideas of how to turn his son to the Dark Side, and saved the Emperor in the moment of crisis because of concerns on some hidden level Luke might even be able to walk away after that." The Emperor may well have suspected this, but I do wonder if he even would have got a dark kick out of the instant of his death in that moment, sure that "Vader taking a gamble" wouldn't have paid off anyway, and everything could go to pieces so far as he cared because he wouldn't be around for it. Perhaps by that point thoughts about "the Sith are supposed to be entirely selfish" are indeed a "personal theory."
I remember some people arguing pretty much past each other in the days of the Star Wars Usenet newsgroup about whether the rescue of Han Solo was all according to an elaborate plan. I also recall a line in the novelization, which ties into some discussion in the recent "The Making of Return of the Jedi" book, that Han had to be brought outside Jabba's palace to increase the chances of escape. The hindsight we look back at the events in the movie with could be converted into foresight on the parts of the main characters, with just Threepio unfortunately left out because everyone else knew he couldn't keep a secret. For some reason, though, I do want to believe that "Luke didn't know Jabba could drop people he was angry with into the Rancor pit beneath his throne room before he cast them into the Sarlacc in the desert." Certainly, characters who think ahead are a change that may well be welcome in the face of "they who grit their teeth harder win," and yet when one side has all the plans and everything plays into it that sometimes doesn't seem that exciting than at least a bit of fast thinking being necessary. That, perhaps, may tie in to how I want to interpret the new movies as well.
So far as "plans" go, I'm also inclined to think that "after Luke's discussion with his father on the forest moon of Endor didn't turn Darth Vader away from the Dark Side, he despaired and supposed all he could do now was distract the Emperor until all three of them were caught in the attack on the second Death Star." This, again, may just be a stronger statement of something actually said in the dialogue, but I'm also inclined to think that "Darth Vader, after Luke rejected him in the previous movie, was at an equal loss for ideas of how to turn his son to the Dark Side, and saved the Emperor in the moment of crisis because of concerns on some hidden level Luke might even be able to walk away after that." The Emperor may well have suspected this, but I do wonder if he even would have got a dark kick out of the instant of his death in that moment, sure that "Vader taking a gamble" wouldn't have paid off anyway, and everything could go to pieces so far as he cared because he wouldn't be around for it. Perhaps by that point thoughts about "the Sith are supposed to be entirely selfish" are indeed a "personal theory."