the subtext of star wars
A couple
friends and I recently engaged in a vigorous debate about Star Wars.
It's fertile territory. George Lucas created an entire galaxy of potential plot and populated
it with thousands of worlds. Even the first film, in which only limited details were revealed about
the expanded universe, the imagination could run forever with only what was available in 1977.
But let's ignore our larger debate for the time being and instead concentrate on one subject: the three-pronged theory of the original Star Wars trilogy. I call it "the subtext of Star Wars."
the subtext and its three prongs
The Subtext has three main points. Beware: if you are aware of them you might view the movies in a slightly different light. Let's start with the most solid point first:
1. As soon as Luke meets Yoda, the Emperor has a vision of his own death
It happens. Lucas doesn't spell it out for us, but we can be fairly sure that such a foretelling is contained in The Empire Strikes Back.
We know that the Emperor can see the future. His success in toppling the Republic in the first trilogy is chronologically the first example of this ability. Later, in Return of the Jedi, Palpatine says that he has forseen that Luke will come to Vader, and that Vader will bring Luke before the Emperor. So foretelling is par for the course.
As you'll see below, Vader also comments on Palpatine's foresight. At the end of The Empire Strikes Back he says that the Emperor "has forseen" that Luke can destroy him. What is this particular nugget of foresight? It's tantalizingly undetailed, yet if you look at the events Empire and Jedi you can more than scratch the surface of his vision. In a nutshell, Palpatine sees that if Luke becomes a Jedi, the Palpatine himself will die.
"There is a great disturbance in the Force." |
How do we know? As soon as Luke arrives on Dagobah his fate is sealed. Yoda will train him to become a Jedi. A mere two scenes after Luke encounters Yoda the Emperor contacts the fleet and speaks with Vader via hologram. The dialoge in this scene changed for the 2004 DVD edition of Empire, but all the basic points are the same:
EMPEROR: We have a new enemy: Luke Skywalker.
VADER: Yes, my master.
EMPEROR: He could destroy us.
VADER: He's just a boy. Obi-Wan can no longer help him.
EMPEROR: The Force is strong with him. The son of Skywalker must not become a Jedi.
VADER: If he could be turned, he would become a powerful ally.
EMPEROR: Yes. Yes. He would be a great asset. Can it be done?
VADER: He will join us or die, my master.
Clearly Palpatine does not like the idea of Luke becoming a Jedi - he stresses this point with specificity. The expanded interpretation of the Emperor's vision can be gathered by listening to Vader in Cloud City, after he defeats Luke:
"You can destroy the Emperor." |
VADER: Luke, you can destroy the Emperor. He has foreseen this. Join me and together we will rule the galaxy as father and son.
Catch that? He has forseen this. Vader understands Palpatine's foresight as well as Palpatine understands it himself. Of course, while the vision is perfectly accurate, they're both wrong in their interpretations. When Luke becomes a Jedi in the final film, the Emperor dies by Vader's hand, not Luke's. As with the Delphic oracle, the specifics were rather important, but were not clear in the foretelling.
Not that the Emperor didn't know Vader wanted to do him in. After all ...
2. Vader and the Emperor want to kill each other
|
They're cool enough with each other to stick with it for twenty-odd years, but in general they both want to kill each other. Neither would admit it if you cornered them in an argument, and in fact it's not worth cornering them because either would kill you instead of answer. But we know from their actions and words that they are plotting against each other and it's only a matter of time before one or the other dies. My guess is that Vader would be the first to go in a fight, and Palpatine, despite his age and severe forehead wrinkle problem, would prevail (see prong #3 below for more details on this).
First off, let's get the Lucas version of the story out of the way: we know they might eventually kill each other because of what Lucas has told us about the Sith. This doesn't count because it's not in the films, but it's worth mentioning anyway. According to StarWars.com, the Sith were originally an order of Dark Side Jedi, and they grew very powerful. But ...
With the promise of new powers attainable by tapping into the hateful energies of the dark side, it was only a matter of time before the order self-destructed. Internecine struggle by power-hungry Sith practioners dwindled their numbers. One Sith had the cunning to survive. Darth Bane restructured the cult, so that there could only be two -- no more, no less -- a master, and an apprentice. Bane adopted cunning, subterfuge, and stealth as the fundamental tenets of the Sith order. Bane took an apprentice. When that apprentice succeeded him, that new Sith Lord would take an apprentice.
None of this matters because the information is saddeningly absent from the films. Yoda only hints at it at the end of The Phantom Menace when he says that there are always two: a master and an apprentice. But while the details are missing from the saga itself, they are consistent with what we see in the films. The Sith are fundamentally bad people, and naturally they sometimes kill each other. Take Vader. He tempts Luke to help him take over Empire at the end of The Empire Strikes Back:
VADER: Luke, you can destroy the Emperor. He has foreseen this. Join me and together we will rule the galaxy as father and son.
You'll notice when re-reading the above line the complete absence of the phrase "along with my friend Palpy." There is no room for grandpa in the father-and-son Empire. Indeed, it is Vader who suggests that he and Palpatine court Luke instead of kill him. Clearly he has ideas.
And there is reason to believe that the Emperor wants Vader out of the way now that Luke is in town. After all, Luke still has one of his hands and he doesn't make as much noise when he breathes. Palpatine is pretty keen on getting Luke converted to the Dark Side once Vader brings it up:
EMPEROR: Yes. Yes. He would be a great asset.
"I can feel your anger." |
This is just a mild hint at what he's scheming, but at the end of Return of the Jedi the Emperor tells Luke he wants Vader gone in no uncertain terms:
EMPEROR: Good! Your hate has made you powerful. Now, fulfill your destiny and take your father's place at my side!
Clearly Vader is not in the picture in the Emperor's ideal galaxy. It makes you look at the hologram conversation in a whole new light. While plotting against Luke, they are really plotting against each other. It makes you wonder whether either suspects the other of this line of thinking. Vader probably doesn't pick up on it, but later events suggest that Emperor might understand Vader's plans. After all, he changes his mind pretty quickly when Vader suggests keeping Luke alive.
Still, let's guess that they don't suspect each other. We can see why Vader wants to court Luke to the Dark Side (family reasons), but why does the Emperor want to replace Vader? As you'll see, perhaps Vader had a hand in it ...
3. You need real hands to shoot blue lightning
The users of blue lightning |
This last prong of the subtext is admittedly more shaky, but in combination with the other two subtexts it provides tantalizing food for thought. What do you need to shoot blue lightning at your enemies? It's not just strong will. I know, because I've tried. So what is it?
We see two characters use blue lightning in Star Wars. Chronologically they are Count Dooku (Darth Tyranus) and the Emperor Palpatine (Darth Sidious). Others don't use it, including Darth Maul and Anakin (Darth Vader). We can understand that Maul is just an apprentice and that he lets his double-lightsaber do the talking, but it's rather odd that we never see Vader use it. Presumably he could make use of it any time from Episode III to VI. He is, after all, the chosen one, the most powerful user of the Force that Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan have ever seen, potentially more powerful than Yoda. So why no blue lightning?
My theory is that you need real hands to use Force lightning. In this regard Luke is in far better shape than his father, even after that incident at Bespin in Empire. Vader would probably short circuit if he used blue lightning, and indeed his exposure to the Emperor's lightning is partly what killed him at the end of Jedi.
Conclusions of the subtext
So there's a lot going on in Star Wars that's not stated on the surface. Some of this is in error; Lucas should have explained the background of the Sith more completely, and he never did say what the trade dispute in The Phantom Menace was about. (OK, we know the sinister background, but not the stated reason for the Trade Federation's invasion. A shipment of tuna that went bad before it reached Correlia? A bounced check from Queen Amidala? The world may never know.)
But some of the unwritten story makes the saga more interesting on closer inspection. Vader is obsessed with finding Luke even before the Emperor learns about the threat Luke presents, and Vader clearly wants Luke to rule as a Sith Lord in Palpatine's absence. Palpatine wants to replace Vader. Probably both suspect the other one of plotting against them. But the Emperor knows that without Luke, Vader cannot defeat him because he cannot use blue lightning. Vader knows this as well, and probably brings Luke to the Emperor reluctantly.
