#heavily inspired by husborth’s magnificent thoughts

[sheepfulsheepyardinspace]

luke’s scene in rotj where he throws down his lightsaber and says, “I’ll never turn to the dark side. you failed, your highness. i am a jedi, like my father before me,” makes me more and more emotional each time i see it. it’s such a triumph and it’s such a brave stand—not only because luke is literally facing down death with no real expectations of escaping the death star ii, which on its own has such impact—but because he is more or less declaring himself a heretic. the only two jedi left alive do not believe vader can be saved. vader himself believes he is far past saving. palpatine is so poised for victory, so assured in his complete control over not only luke’s fall but also his control over vader, that he is happy to torture luke in front of vader, absolutely convinced that vader will do nothing to stop it. in light of the prequel trilogy, it’s made even more powerful: the jedi disavowed having children as an extension of attachments, a matter of course for the old jedi order. but when luke is in his moment of greatest need, he calls out to his father, and his father answers. ultimately, it’s their forbidden familial relationship that defines them as jedi—luke becomes a jedi in honor of his father, and his father turns back from the dark side (a feat thought impossible until that very instance) and recalls the jedi knight anakin skywalker, all for his son. and that’s all in defiance of what the jedi were told to be, what obi-wan and yoda believed, what palpatine never thought possible! luke redefines what a jedi is when he throws down his weapon. he trusts in the power of his connection to his father, their attachment to each other, and when he does that? luke skywalker topples the empire.