Oh Yeah, I Knew That. A Rant


unixknight
 Share

Recommended Posts

Ok guys, time for another rant.

Know what the second most irritating thing in the world is?  When you have an epiphany about something, you share with a friend, and they respond with "Oh yeah. I knew that already."

Know what the most irritating thing in the world is?  When the above happens, and they're lying.

A couple of years ago I was watching The Return of the Jedi and it came to that moment in the throne room atop the Death Star II.  Luke is standing at the window, watching the battle in space.  The Emperor is on his throne room, trying to provoke Luke into giving in to his anger and rage.  Vader is just standing there, silent.

The Emperor... "Gooood.  I can feel your anger.  I am defenseless.  Take your weapon.  Strike me down with all of your hatred and your journey towards the Dark Side will be complete."  

Luke turns away.  For a moment, it looks like he's kept his cool...  but no.  He turns, uses the Force, snatches the lightsaber and activates it and strikes... but Vader's lightsaber stops the blow.

For most of my life... from when I first saw that movie in the theater in 1983 until relatively recently, I believed that Vader deflected the blow out of loyalty to the Emperor... He wanted to see Luke turn and this was all part of the plan.  "The Emperor will show yo the  true power of the Force.  I MUST obey my master."

But then as I thought about it more deeply, with the perspective of a father, I saw it very differently.  Vader didn't act to save the Emperor from Luke.  He acted to save his son from the Dark Side.

I was very excited to share this new understanding with friends, so I went to one of my buddies whose level of Star Wars love rivals my love for Star Trek, and shared this with him.  HIs response.  "Oh yeah.  Totally."  In that "I already knew that" tone.

No, no you did NOT know that you doorknob.  We've discussed this scene over and over.  Never once did you mention it, never once did you say anything that even hinted at it, and now you're gonna stand there with that smug look and that irritating tone and talk to me like this is old news?  Is your ego so fragile that you can't handle somebody else realizing something about Star Wars that you didn't?  

In fact, nobody I have ever spoken to about this move has mentioned that perspective.  I could be completely wrong about it.  But as a general word of advice to people... If somebody is sharing with you the joy of a new idea that they just realized, and it truly hadn't occurred to you before, don't be a jerk.  Don't let your ego take it away from them.  If you agree and find it convincing, share the excitement.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

There was a time in my family that I banned the response, "I know.".  That rule lasted a few years - from the time the kids were about 5 years old to when they got baptized.  It was like my kids are too impatient for the answer so they say I know to stop me from talking.  Hah hah.

But in ROTJ - it wasn't that Vader didn't want Luke to turn to the dark side.  Rather, he wants Luke to join him in his quest to rule the galaxy as "Father and son".  When Luke gave in to the urge, Vader blocked him because Luke was not emotionally ready to join him.  His loyalty was still with his friends and so killing Palpatine wouldn't have started his journey to Vader's side in the same manner that his killing of Dooku started his journey to Palpatine (he already trusted Palpatine).  When Palpatine tried to kill Luke, Vader realized his salvation (bringing balance to the force) was not in ruling the galaxy.  His salvation was in saving his son.

-

-

-

-

Okay, okay, so these thoughts did not originate from me.  I read the book.  ;)

 

Anyway, that's another reason Episode 9 is going to suck if that was Palpatine laughing in the end.  The survival of Palpatine is going to mess with that established balance in the end of ROTJ which is the legacy of Anakin as prophesied.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest Mores
31 minutes ago, unixknight said:

Ok guys, time for another rant.

Know what the second most irritating thing in the world is?  When you have an epiphany about something, you share with a friend, and they respond with "Oh yeah. I knew that already."

Know what the most irritating thing in the world is?  When the above happens, and they're lying.

Yeah, I was going to make the very same post myself, actually.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, unixknight said:

 

But then as I thought about it more deeply, with the perspective of a father, I saw it very differently.  Vader didn't act to save the Emperor from Luke.  He acted to save his son from the Dark Side.

 

 

You just figured that out?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
 Share