Why Vader Stopped Luke From Killing the Emperor (Not Why You Think) - Star Wars Explained

the throne room duel in Return of the Jedi has massive repercussions not only for those present in there dueling for the very soul of Anakin Skywalker but for the Galaxy as a whole the emperor has made his move not only against the Rebellion but in the form of The Returned Jedi in Luke Skywalker but beyond this Vader and Luke are finally together in in a climactic seemingly triumphant moment when Luke attempts to strike down the emperor Vader does something that to many of us seems out of character as Luke attempts to kill the emperor Vader is the one that directly blocks this stopping his son from killing Palpatine in this critical moment so why exactly would Vader do this when on the surface it would seems that this would Ally perfectly with his goals with the emperor out of the way Vader would assumed the role as lord of the Sith his greatest obstacle now conquered his son striking down another man in anger and out of hatred taking his critical steps towards the dark side of the force on paper this would have worked out brilliantly for Vader he would have had his greatest threat eliminated and his son would have been well within his grasp so why exactly did Vader stop Luke from striking down Palpatine in this moment where Luke's lightsaber comes mere inches from Palpatine's head why does he stop the young Jedi from cleaving through clean ending it all there and seemingly stopping his own ascendancy to the throne of Lord of the Sith well today my friends we have a few explanations that we'd like to break down down including behind the scenes material from The Return of the Jedi behind the scenes book as well as from the official novelization for Return of the Jedi where we luckily get a look inside Vader's head and we get to hear his thoughts and his own surprising reasoning for why he stopped his son from killing Palpatine in this particular moment even though that was his plan all along to begin I would like to debunk something very important many believe that Vader stops him out of a moment of righteousness not wanting his son to Venture down a dark Path of Revenge as Anakin once had done sparing Luke by striking down the emperor in pure hatred after he gos the young Jedi to do so unfortunately according to the novelization and Lucas this is not the case Vader has not yet embrace the path of the Jedi that he once was as Anakin and he does not stop Luke from killing Palpatine for righteous intentions that moment does come but not here it will come much later in the duel after Vader realizes that the the emperor is attempting to go him into killing his own father the same way that the emperor manipulated the very emotions of Anakin but instead Luke resolves to throw away his lightsaber in this critical moment refusing to turn to the dark side and seek revenge on the man before him something the Anakin was incapable of doing it is this critical moment that speaks to Vader Luke showing Mercy to an enemy at his will that Enemy being himself and as he proclaims himself a Jedi like his father before him Anakin takes his step towards Redemption but back to the very beginning of the duel let's first examine this critical moment from the in Universe perspective and here directly from Vader why he stopped this is from the novelization for Return of the Jedi Luke's face was contorted reflecting his Spirit Vader watched him carefully as he did the emperor the lightsaber began to shake by the emperor's resting place the young Jedi's hand was trembling his lips pulled back in a gise his teeth grinding the emperor smiled good I can feel your anger I am defenseless take your weapon strike me down with all of your hatred and your journey towards the dark side will be complete he laughed and laughed Luke was able to resist no longer the lightsaber rattled violently on the throne then flew into his hand impelled by the force he ignited it a moment later and swung it with his full weight down downward towards the emperor's skull in that instant Vader's blade flashed into view parrying Luke's attack an inch above the emperor's head this is a very critical moment to explore because it does in fact confirm to us then when Luke attacked the emperor he did so out of anger he was not attempting to strike down an enemy righteously as other Jedi would have Luke Skywalker indeed was going to take a step down the dark path and Vader and Palpatine didn't want him to take this step but Vader's reason is very specific and it has nothing to do with Luke not embracing the dark side rather Vader believes that this critical moment is not advantageous to him Vader will reveal in the next chapter that he wants Luke to embrace the dark side but he believes that murdering the emperor here will ultimately not serve his goals and this is why Vader counter pared let the impact direct his sword towards Luke's throat but Luke met his repost and stepped back the first blows traded without injury again the two circled Vader was impressed with Luke's speed pleased even it was a Pity almost that he couldn't let the boy kill the emperor yet Luke wasn't ready for that emotionally there was still a chance Luke would return to his friends if he destroyed the emperor now Luke needed more extensive tutelage first training by both Vader and Palatine before he'd be ready to assume his place at Vader's right hand ruling the Galaxy Vader had to Shepherd the boy through periods like this stop him from doing damage in the wrong places or in the right places prematurely before Vader could gather his thoughts much further though Luke attacked again much more aggressively so here it is revealed something very important Vader believes that if Luke strikes down the emperor right here that he could still have Allegiance towards the Light Side Anakin Skywalker knows quite well that one dancing with the dark side and one embracing it are two very different things things Anakin has had moments where he is struck out in Rage and with pure anger and fury and yet remained a Jedi knight in this moment he is worried that his son will do the same Vader desires something far more concrete of the boy and he believes that he must break him down further show him pain suffering destroy his friends fully for Luke to turn to the extent that he needs him to there will come a time where Luke can strike down the emperor but it is not that time but this goes further he also believes that Palpatine has much wisdom and tutelage to impart upon Luke Vader doesn't want to keep his master around but he still finds his knowledge in the dark side very valuable and with the combined might of cyas and Vader they can create somebody truly powerful it's likely Vader also needs to keep the emperor around for political reasons but it's clear here that his main motivation is that Luke needs more training and as Vader puts it within his own mind he doesn't want Luke to do damage in the wrong place prematurely there is much to learn even from Palpatine but what did George Lucas have to say about the construction of this scene in the behind the scenes books well Lucas paints a little bit of a different picture he says that Vader knows that the emperor is toying with Luke he has been told by the emperor when he starts to strike you're going to have to take him out he knows that if he gets into a laser fight with the emperor that he will not win he knows that his son can't win either neither one of them can beat the emperor together they might be able to but this is not the right time the whole time the emperor is in control the whole plot of the emperor is to get Luke to turn to the dark side he wants to do this by getting him to kill Vader Vader though doesn't quite understand that he's on the chopping block yet until he gets into this duel the emperor is playing the two of them against one another it's not until Luke Cuts Vader's arm off that he realizes what is going on according to Lucas the emperor had everything in place even to the point where he would be able to kill Luke if he got too close likely using his Force lightning on the young boy Vader has learned that Palpatine clearly has something up his sleeves always literally and figuratively so Vader here refuses to strike down the emperor more so out of fear of The Emperor's plans but now I would love to hear from you what are your thoughts and which version do you prefer do you prefer the version proposed to us by the novelization for Return of the Jedi the fact that Vader wants Luke to have more training and more tutelage before he Embraces the dark side fully that he doesn't allow Luke to strike down the emperor out of fear that he will return to his friends and that his training as a Sith will be incomplete or do you prefer what Lucas has proposed the fact that Palpatine was always in control the fact that no matter if Vader knew it or not he always had a way out always an ace up his sleeve and even if Luke had gotten close enough Palpatine would have never allowed him to kill him that he always had a backup plan and that it was only once it was turned around once Luke had an opportunity to kill his father and did not that Anakin was redeemed as always my friends if you've enjoyed today's holocron it would help us out immensely if you could leave a like as well as consider subscribing if you haven't yet as always May the force be with you

Channel: The Stupendous Wave

Views: 50,982

Keywords: Luke vs Vader, Luke Skywalker, Darth Vader, Luke Return of the Jedi, Anakin Skywalker, Luke Lightsaber, Emperor Palpatine, George Lucas, Why Vader Stopped Luke From Killing the Emperor

Id: 2oWCokKNP9Y

Length: 9min 22sec (562 seconds)

Published: Thu Mar 07 2024