{Spoilers (as always)}
Welcome back to my journey through Star Wars. Last time I took a look at the hope we had for Han Solo and Darth Vader. Now I’m taking a look at Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back.
Just two things come to mind in this movie before we move on to the next:
First, Lando betrayed his friend because he was afraid of Darth Vader and wanted to keep his business running. His first impulse was to protect what he had, but in the end, he very nearly loses something much more valuable. From a worldly point of view, its just not worth losing your livelihood and possibly dying to protect a distant friend. From a Christian perspective, cooperation with evil is never the right course of action. Lando nearly gets them killed and, what worse, puts one of the only hopes for the future of the Jedi at risk. Of course, it’s obvious to the viewer that this was the wrong course of action and Chewbacca nearly kills him for it. The only question I have is this: Did Lando intend all along to work with Vader but then turn on him when he saw an opportune moment to help the others? I doubt it because, if that was the case, he would have let them in on the secret sooner. As it stands, I’m inclined to believe Lando has a genuine moment of conversion after seeing how he has hurt his friends. That’s pretty cool.
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| “I have greatly sinned… in what I have done and what I have failed to do… and I firmly resolve… to do penance, to rescue you, and to avoid the near occasions of Vader” |
The other thing that stuck me: Luke’s decision to try to come to the rescue. Luke is obviously conflicted in deciding between completing his training and running to the rescue. On the one hand you have the future of the Jedi and possibly the galaxy to consider, on the other you have basic human loyalty and friendship, which is by no means an unimportant value. As far as I can tell, the lens which depicts the initial struggle doesn’t put a clear spin Luke’s decision – it’s seems to keep the viewer in the conflict. Of course, Luke follows the impulse to rush to the rescue because he seems to think he would be abandoning his friends by not going.
Well, what should a person do in such a conundrum? I’m not sure the movie is getting at this, but just underneath the surface of Luke’s struggle is a dangerous assumption – that he, Luke, is the only person who can help. He seems to assume that there is no one else who wants to come to the rescue. The irony of the matter is that, once he does arrive, he really doesn’t help the situation. He learns the truth about his father the hard way, he loses a hand, and he’s the one who ends up needing to be rescued. From this, it kind of seems to me that the lens is suggesting we should recognize Luke’s decision as a mistake, a well-intentioned one perhaps, but still wrong.
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| Yep, really helpful. |
Really, it was Lando’s conversion or plan or whatever that rescued Leia and the others. Had Luke simply trusted Yoda and ghost Obi-Wan, his friends would have survived and he could still rescue Han in the next movie. Really, Luke’s effort mirrors his father’s effort to save Padme, which ultimately turned Anakin to the Dark Side and actually caused the disaster he sought to prevent. This is probably the point behind the whole dream/vision he had on Dagobah where it was his face inside the Darth Vader helmet. His real struggle wasn’t against Vader in a light-saber fight, but against his own temptation to turn to the Dark Side just as his father had done. This temptation takes the particular form of relying on one’s own power to defeat or prevent evil. In the end, we are limited beings and we cannot do everything or save everyone ourselves. Part of humility, and of actually accomplishing something good, is recognizing and accepting that fact.
It was fortunate for Luke that he managed to survive but also got beaten so badly. Being humbled both by losing to Vader and by the fact that he didn’t help anyone seems to have been enough to keep him from turning to the Dark Side (at least as far as we know). It also allowed him to return to the training he needed to ultimately free the galaxy.
There’s more to say on this subject, but that brings us into the last of the old movies. So, I’ll see ya next time. Until then,
-The Ephesian