Luke Skywalker

This man was my number one hero growing up. He was everything I wanted to be, and everything I felt I couldn't be.

He was the HERO of the series. It was his DESTINY to help the rebel alliance overthrow the evil Galactic Empire. It was his DESTINY to fight against the father who abandoned him as a babe. And, right there we cut a little too deep. Lol.

I have the greatest dad in the world. I really do. But, I don't know the man who donated his genetics for my existence. I know his name, but I've never seen him. I've never even seen a picture of him. I tell myself that's fine and dandy, that I don't need to know him or anything about him to know how well my life is going to turn out, but there's always that little voice in the back of my head. The one that whispers how unwanted I am.

I am wanted though. I am needed. By my mom, by the man I call dad, by my wife, and by every other member of my family. I am needed and I am happy.

I don't need to know a sperm donor to be happy.

So, back to Luke Skywalker...

I got nothing. Lol.

He's the first to become a Jedi after the bulk of the Jedi Order was obliterated by the Sith lord, Darth Sidious, at the end of the Clone Wars. He's trained by both Obi-wan Kenobi and Yoda, two of the primary figures in the Jedi Order, and they were the only ones to survive the culling of the Jedi.

Luke successfully uses the force to destroy the Death Star... and good God Almighty! After basically worshiping him through my early teens (I read my first Star Wars novel in the 6^th grade, and I'd seen the movies before that), you would think I'd have more to say about him.

He's a hero archetype, and one of the ones everyone wants to see. Luke Skywalker has nothing at the beginning of the story. Even the characters around him don't have any reason to find something special in him. This is part of the underdog, the unexpected hero. He's a regular Joe, so far as the casual movie goer cares to know. Then he's taken out of his natural environment and thrown into extraordinary circumstances.

That experience works to harden him, inside and out, as he goes through different trials. Luke is not the same Luke he was at the beginning of the story. He's not the same Luke that sneaked the droids past Stormtroopers. He's not the same Luke who rescued Princess Leia. He's not the same Luke as when Darth Vader murdered Obi-wan Kenobi. Each experience compounds on the last, driving him forward, until the moment when he destroys the first Death Star. That moment is when he stops being a child, when he stops relying on toys, and takes comfort in the power of the force.

Luke “becomes” a man when he chooses to use the force over the targeting computer. He grew because he stepped out of his comfort zone and realized, yes, I am small, but I destroyed the Death Star. I can take on the Empire. I can make a difference. That was the real climactic point in the movie. Not when the Death Star was destroyed, but when he relied on the force. The climactic point of both the inner struggle and the physical/exterior struggle should come at the same time for the greatest effect on the audience.

And, I don't remember what I was talking about now. I should really find some way to organize these things so they make more sense.

I dunno.

Ryan

6-17/18-14

Darth Vader vs. The Silence

So, I’ve had a depressing day, and instead of talking about that I’m going to talk about the thing mentioned above. Yes, I didn’t want to write about being depressed and that’s the first topic that Melanie suggested. She made other suggestions, but that’s the one that got lodged in my mind, and thus is going to be today’s topic.

Now, I’m a big Doctor Who fan, but not to the extent that I’ve watched every episode ever televised. In fact I’ve seen very little about the Eleventh Doctor and The Silence were one of his major villains. I saw the 2013 Christmas Special (The Time of the Doctor…and there will be a post about that at a later date.) in which they were featured as an ally of the Doctor in his fight to keep the time war from starting for a second time, but that’s a little off topic.

Anyway, what I know about the Silence is pretty simple. They’re manipulative aliens with psychic abilities (who remind me of Mind Flayers from Dungeons and Dragons) with an even better ability. They have the power to make a person forget they ever saw the Silence as soon as they look away from the alien. It’s a killer ability, but I don’t think it would be enough to topple Vader.

What I know about Darth Vader is a little bit more intensive, lol. He’s a Dark Lord of the Sith with all the rights and responsibilities therein. He can manipulate the force, bending its will to his own and making it into a weapon to use against those who oppose him. Obi-wan Kenobi comment once that Darth Vader was more machine then man and it was Obi-wan who saw to that on the volcanic planet of Mustafar.

I did have a question for Melanie though. Which version of Vader would the Silence be facing off with. By that I meant were they going to be facing the Darth Vader coming out of Revenge of the Sith, or the Darth Vader going into Return of the Jedi. Revenge of the Sith Vader is still a hotheaded child, locked in a deep depression, with no real focus as to what was going on in the world around him. He was also just beginning to get used to his new body and the lack of mobility the life saving machinery created. Return of the Jedi Vader was the penultimate Sith lord. He was seasoned in the ways of the Force and the world, and had had two or more apprentices in the thirty years between Revenge and Jedi. He had become a master of his own maneuverability and was prepared to do anything and everything necessary to win. Facing off with that Vader would just be stupid.

But, Melanie said she wanted the Vader coming straight out of Revenge. So, we’ve got a manipulative violent man-child (comes really close to being exactly like the Doctor during his fight with the Silence) that’s not paying much attention to anything, except for his own sorrow. And, we’ve got a multitude of the Silence itching for a chance to put Vader in his place.

But…

But… the Force surrounds and binds all things… all living things. The Silence are as much a part of the Force as Vader is, and through the Force Vader would detect he Silence without forgetting about them.

Now, I don’t know about you, but I don’t think the Silence stand much of a chance against Vader’s lightsaber. It’s just a little bit more dangerous than the Doctors sonic screwdriver… just a little.

I picked Vader, but who would you pick?

Darth Vader versus the Silence: who would win? Let me know in the comments below.

Ryan