A New Perspective on Return of the Jedi

On Friday night, I watched Return of the Jedi. I wanted to examine Luke and Darth Vader’s interaction to see if my perspective changed a bit by what I saw in Episode III. And, I am surprised say, it has — and probably for the better. In Jedi, Darth Vader certainly seems like a reluctant apprentice to Palpatine. It kind of plays into what caused him to turn to the Dark Side in the first place: love. It’s love that drove him to the Dark Side and it’s love that pulled him back.

I think Anakin remained loyal to Palpatine out of guilt over Padme. I think he knew what he did was wrong. In The Empire Strikes Back, Vader tries to convince Luke to join him to overthrow Palpatine and rule the galaxy together. Episode III gives me two different ways of looking at this:

1) When Palpatine recounts the story of Darth Plaegus (sp?), he says that Plaegus’ apprentice killed him. Since the Dark Side is always concerned with gaining more power, I would have to say that this is not unexpected. All Sith Lords probably live in fear of being offed by their apprentices. So, with that being said, it is not surprising why Vader would want to join with Luke to kill Palpatine.

2) However, Vader probably wants revenge on Palpatine for seducing him to the Dark Side based on an empty promise, but he’s become so corrupted that he thinks the only way he can redeem himself is by corrupting his son in the process. I think he doesn’t want to be bad, but he knows no other way, so he probably hopes that more power would make him feel less guilty about Padme and all of the Jedi he betrayed.

I think Vader feels empowered (and maybe even a bit jealous) when Luke is able to resist Palpatine’s efforts to turn him. I think that, along with watching Palpatine fry Luke, is what finally brought Anakin back from the Dark Side. Up until then, Vader probably thought that “resistance is futile”. He finally came to his senses and figured out that he really is “The Chosen One”.

The prequels refer to Anakin as “The Chosen One”: The one that will bring balance to the force by destroying the Sith. In Return of the Jedi, he does finally fulfill the prophesy. Prophesies are a funny thing. It came true, but no one expected the path to fulfillment. The same can also be said of the prequels. I had to suffer through two sub-par movies to be rewarded with Revenge of the Sith. I certainly didn’t expect this path, but, in a way, it was worth it. The whole series is actually made better by the prequels. I can now look at Star Wars as one 6-movie series, rather than as two trilogies.