Return of the Jedi: Star Wars OG #3
Analyzer: Jubilee Anderson
This post includes spoilers!
A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away….
The Imperial forces have begun constructing a new, bigger, and more powerful Death Star than the one Luke destroyed in A New Hope. After rescuing Han Solo from imprisonment, Luke flies back to the Jedi Master Yoda to complete his training. Yoda tells him that the only way for him to become a Jedi is to face his father and kill him. After the death of his beloved master, Luke joins his friends in their mission to destroy the new Death Star. But not far into the journey, he realizes his presence is severely jeopardizing his friends’ safety.
Return of the Jedi includes themes of good vs. evil, manhood, and loyalty. Luke not only faces hatred and overcomes it, but he brings someone else with him back to the Light Side.
My Thoughts
If the last movie did a good job of stirring up Luke’s internal conflict between hatred and love and giving in to his father’s request, this movie is even better. I have so many favorite scenes from this movie. The interaction between C3PO and the ewoks was so funny! It was really sweet when Luke reveals the truth to Leia about their identity, and I love the tension in the final scenes between Luke, Darth Vader, and Palpatine. This is the most touching of all the movies by far, and a neat wrap-up to the original Star Wars trilogy.
Content Labels: Mild violence, romantic tension including several instances of kissing. The beginning scenes show women scantily clad, with only a bikini on. This is the major reason I’d give Return of the Jedi a 3 star instead of 4, and while it was effective to the plot, it was also very distracting.
For Ye Writers!
Character Arcs
To recap, Luke’s Goal is to be a Jedi, and his Want is to be like his father. In the last movie, Luke overcame his pride and realized that he, too, could be subject to the Dark Side.
He also learned that his father was not actually the good man he had envisioned. But Luke still has this vision of what a good man looks like based upon who he thought his father was before he learned the truth. So let’s follow the major plot points through Luke’s character arc as he fully solidifies what it truly means to be a hero, and ultimately, a man.
In Return of the Jedi, the call to action happens when Yoda tells Luke that he must kill his father to become a Jedi. Luke doesn’t accept this call to action right away. He doesn’t want to kill his father.
With hope and yearning for his father to change to the Light Side, Luke eventually surrenders himself to the stormtroopers in order to try to convince Darth Vader to turn back. But Vader refuses, delivering Luke to Emperor Palpatine.
Palpatine places Luke by a window to watch the destruction of the Rebel forces and the deaths of his friends. This is Luke’s final chance to resist hatred, but Palpatine lures him in. Luke battles Darth, but then realizes that he’s falling to the Dark Side just like his father did. He throws down his lightsaber. Enraged, Palpatine electrocutes Luke, but Darth Vader steps in front, sacrificing his life for Luke and becoming the man Luke originally imagined his father to be.
While Luke is certainly changed, there is a larger contrast between Darth Vader at the beginning and Darthat the end of the movie. Darth Vader at the beginning is a tyrant, but also somewhat a slave, willingly obeying Palpatine’s command. At the end, he dies for his son, overcoming his hatred in love and defeating Palpatine.
As I mentioned in the analyzation of The Empire Strikes Back, there are three types of characters necessary to a positive change arc: the protagonist, a character stuck in the evil the protagonist wants to avoid, and a character already living the virtue the protagonist wants to achieve.
Last time we discussed several options for the vice in this movie and we decided upon either hatred or pride (RotJ seems to lean heavier on the hatred aspect whereas the TESB seemed to lean more towards the pride aspect).
At this point, Luke has already overcome his pride, and now he must face the temptation to hatred and overcome it. Again, he must choose; will he follow the path of Obi Wan and Yoda? Or will he fall to the Dark Side and join Palpatine and Darth Vader?
Luke not only overcomes this temptation, he brings his father along with him to the Light Side.
Plot Structure
Take a look at the more in-depth analyzation of The Empire Strikes Back here on K.M. Weiland’s website.
Characteristic Mom: Luke is back in Tatooine. They set out to rescue Han and succeed.
Inciting Event: On his deathbed, Yoda tells Luke that the only way to become a Jedi is to face his father.
Push Point: Luke joins his friends in their mission to destroy the Death Star’s shield, but regrets it when he realizes Darth Vader can sense him with the force.
Pinch Point: Han and Leia run into Storm Troopers on Endor. Emperor Palpatine sets a trap for the Rebel ships coming to blow up the new Death Star.
Midpoint: The Ewoks lead the Rebels to the shield generator on Endor. Luke reveals to Leia that Darth Vader is his father. He surrenders to the Empire and they take him to Darth Vader.
Pinch Point: Luke fails to convince Darth Vader to turn from the dark side. “You underestimate the power of the dark side.”
Lowpoint: Leia and Han are trapped by the storm troopers. Luke watches the Rebel ships being destroyed. He gives in to the temptation and fights his father. Luke cuts off Vader’s hand just like Vader cut off Luke’s hand. If Luke goes any further, he will become Darth Vader himself.
Climax: Luke resists the temptation to give in to his anger and ultimately the Dark Side. He almost dies, but Darth Vader kills the Emperor, sacrificing his life and saving Luke. When Luke defeats his temptation, he becomes a Jedi knight and figuratively he becomes a man.
Resolution: Everyone celebrates. Luke cremates Vader’s remains. He later sees his force ghost father Anakin beside his mentors Obi Wan and Yoda.
Closing
I hope this review/analyzation of Return of the Jedi has helped you see how plot, characters, and theme are tightly interwoven, and hopefully you can impliment some of these things in your own story. You can find the analyzations for movies 1 & 2 here and here.