it is your destiny.

Goodbye:

Bro, imagine sitting on that 8 inches- also, WHY IS IT SO GIANT LIKE THAT 🗣❕️❔️ IT'S LITERALLY STARING AT US.

Empire is not just my favorite Star Wars film, but very likely my favorite movie of all time. I've posted it before but I absolutely love this little scene. Quite eerie but with a sense of pathos, the full orchestra temporarily dying out from the grander scene of The Falcon escaping Bespin into these faint woodwinds as Vader calls out to Luke, macro to micro. Looking at the music: The Imperial March played on that tiny flute in the background is quite curious, because it is the softest and most emotionally resonant that the cue has in the entire film. It is usually played strongly with gravitas or with impending doom, quite Wagner-esque, so there is significance of it being so quiet and gentle - it is clear to me that Williams definitely believed that there was no lie, Vader was Luke's father, and this little sound was the connecting line that echoed what came before: if it were a lie, it would be stronger and more sinister, but this is gentle, somber, like a haunting lullaby.

George Lucas has stated that Luke losing his hand is specifically meant to be a castration analogy, where the man tries to prove his worth and fails and is cut back down to boyhood, having to start over in his quest. Which connects quite well with how this cue of The Imperial March is used in the film, the boy in Luke instinctively calling out for his father, despite his adamant and tearful denial only a few minutes prior.

We don't really get to see a ton of how the ramifications of all of this effects Luke in the movies; we are definitely told some and get hints but much of it happens off screen. We see Yoda confirm what he already knows to be true (although, imho, mainly for the audience) and some brief anger with Obi-Wan. We see that he has grown with a new demeanor and confidence. The 2020 comics go into it somewhat more, but on screen, I think that this is where we get to see some hints of that; the despair, pain, longing, and confusion. But also, this is one of the few times where we do get to see a hint of father and son speaking plainly to one another. The stakes are high in the overall scene but it is conversational and natural, a strange juxtaposition.

So, I feel like this is somewhat obvious for those who have followed me for awhile.. but Luke in his rebel fatigues in Empire will always be my favorite. Especially on the visual front. I feel like it is a very sleek and snug outfit, both utilitarian and stylish, that seems quite complimentary to his appearance in the first film: the flowing white tunic is bulkier and slimmer (toned down a bit, closer to a beige), the waist and legs visible and uncovered. It is more mature and confident, somewhere between lithe and strong. I think that his hair is also at its absolute peak in this movie, slightly less dated than the other two. In general, I think that everyone looks their best in Empire.

But speaking of strength, it also allows us to see Luke at his most vulnerable. The way that this outfit is ripped to shreds is actually magnificent to me, like, yes, it is flapping in the wind and dangling by individual threads but it looks so good and really captures Luke's resilience and the naïveté in his overconfidence. So, there is a fun little contrast in representation here: we see Luke at his most traditionally "masculine" and also at his smallest and most sensitive. It has always been a dream of mine to have this outfit for a cosplay or Halloween.

Luke: *blinks and walks on in anyways*