A Losing Battle: Luke VS. Vader Part 2

When we left off, we were in the midst of the battle between Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker in Star Wars: Episode V The Empire Strikes Back. Luke had just knocked Vader from the top of the carbon freezing chamber to a lower level.

But let’s pause a moment. When poking around the internet on this subject I came upon an interesting question: Why does Luke follow Vader? Luke’s objective is to save his friends, right? This moment seems, then, a perfect opportunity to split and find them. Perhaps Luke is worried that Vader will catch up to him and his friends before they can escape, and the situation could worsen.

I believe that Luke, having just been goaded to give into his anger, is now determined to finish him off. He’s made up his mind to see the duel through to the end.

At the start of the next bout, we see Vader approach and deliberately bring his second hand to his lightsaber. This is a great visual cue that Vader is now serious about this fight. Accompanied by another awesome music cue from our favorite composer and we know things are about to get real. Vader has realized that capturing Luke will not be “all too easy” and I see him settling into a kind of mode that is a key part of Anakin’s and Vader’s character: the determination to ‘do whatever must be done’ to accomplish his goal.

After ripping some (hopefully) unimportant pipes off the wall and throwing them at Luke, Vader moves in to exchange a few blows. But rather than continuing to engage Luke blade to blade, Vader instead decides to stand back and throw debris at Luke. He has realized that Luke’s defense is weak against this type of assault, and it becomes a clever tactic for Vader. If pushing Luke to the dark side is one of Vader’s goals (which we know it to be), then this is the perfect strategy to help Luke tap into his anger. What better way to make your enemy angry than to stand out of reach and throw debris at him?

But now we also see a potential hiccup in Vader’s execution. Never having been one to concern himself with collateral damage, Vader could have simply been too focused on Luke to realize the danger of smashing the window, accidentally or otherwise. We might surmise that Vader assumes that Luke should be able to handle the situation (there is that walkway right below anyway, right?). Or maybe he believes that increasing the threat would push Luke to unleash his anger. However, accidental or not, the window breaks from wayward debris and Luke is simply sucked out through it.

And thus, the last segment of the duel begins. Luke recovers and cautiously tries to find his way back inside. Vader ambushes Luke and it is clear that Lord Vader is done messing around. No more testing, no more pushing, no more thrown debris, and no words. With each blow Vader drives Luke backward onto the gantry. Gone is Luke’s earlier fury and brazenness. He scrambles for his life, even turning his back on his opponent in his desperation to escape Vader’s cold, driving assault. Quickly Luke is pushed to the floor, Vader’s blade mere inches from his face.

Darth Vader: “You are beaten. It is useless to resist. Don’t let yourself be destroyed as Obi-Wan did.”

Though the fight is lost, Luke’s desperation, determination, or some combination of the two refuses to accept defeat. Luke makes a last valiant effort to fight back, and Vader is forced to *ahem* disarm Luke. … …Okay, okay that was lame, but the truth is that even when Luke gets in a glancing blow on Vader’s right shoulder, Vader will not be deterred. Furious and unrelenting, Vader deftly envelopes Luke’s blade and slices his right hand clean off.  Both hand and lightsaber go tumbling into the chasm below. The speed and seeming ease with which Vader does so suggests that, if he’d chosen to, he could have ended the fight at any time.

Darth Vader: “There is no escape. Don’t make me destroy you. Luke, you have not yet realized your importance. You’ve only begun to discover your power. Join me, and I will complete your training. With our combined strength we can end this destructive conflict and bring order to the galaxy.”

Luke: “I’ll never join you!”

Darth Vader: “If you only knew of the power of the Dark Side! Obi-Wan never told you what happened to your father.”

Luke: “He told me enough. He told me you killed him.”

Darth Vader: “No. I am your father.”

Luke “No, no. That’s not true. That’s impossible!”

Darth Vader: “Search your feelings. You know it to be true.”

Luke: “Nooo! No!”

Having physically defeated Luke, Vader moves to seal his victory by convincing Luke to join him. Vader seeks to redirect Luke’s defiance away from the dark side and the Empire and offers him instead a path to power and peace. He discredits Obi-Wan and positions himself to become Luke’s new teacher – father, even – an idea he drives home with his next words:

Darth Vader: “Luke, you can destroy the Emperor. He has foreseen this. It is your destiny. Join me, and together we can rule the galaxy as father and son. Come with me. It is the only way.”

Luke is shaken to the core. We can see in his face that his whole world has been turned upside down. But Vader has made a gamble. By telling him that the Emperor has foreseen his own destruction by Luke’s hand, Vader hopes to garner Luke’s trust and use his opposition of the Emperor to his own advantage. However, the other side of this gamble is if Luke’s loyalty remains with the Rebellion, that knowledge could instead serve to strengthen his resolve and inspire hope. In that moment, it’s possible that knowledge helps Luke to find the alternative to death or submission. Luke looks down and seems to calculate that the vents below could save him from instant death should he jump. So Luke lets go – literally, but perhaps he also lets go metaphorically.  Perhaps then he finally gives up trying to control the situation and lets the Force guide him.

 

And so we come to the end of the duel. Check in next month for this fight’s wrap up, where I’ll go back and try to answer the question: “When did Luke lose the duel?”

Until then, Mata ne!

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The Cantina Cast

The wretched hive your Jedi Master warned you about!