Great RotS quote

[dangermousie]

Long reaction still coming later, but for now, a non-spoilery quote from the beginning of the novel:



"The dragon reminds him, every night, of how he held his dying mother in his arms, of how she spent her last strength to say I knew you would come for me, Anakin... The dragon reminds him, every night, that someday he will lose Obi-Wan. He will lose Padme. Or they will lose him...

If anyone can save Palpatine, Anakin will. Because he is already the best, and he's still getting better. But locked away behind the walls of his heart, the dragon that is his fear coils and squirms and hisses. Because his real fear, in a universe where even stars can die, is that being the best will never be quite good enough."

Anakin Skywalker? Meet Lord Vader. *gulp*

Comments

[ayn-rand-fan-13.livejournal.com]

This may be just me, but the whole Anakin Skywalker to Lord Vader thing reminds me of Harry Potter. Everything nowadays reminds me of Harry Potter, though.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

But I don't think Anakin is like Harry. Harry is a lot more like Luke. He will never turn, because for one, Voldie would never offer, and for another, he does not have Anakin's super-strong emotions, and for the last, he hates Voldie as he killed his parents. Palpatine has been nothing but good to Anakin.

[ayn-rand-fan-13.livejournal.com]

True. (nice icon, BTW)
As I said, everything reminds me of Harry Potter. I was writing a Holocaust Allegory for English (posted on my livejournal), and I managed to make all of my characters resemble Harry Potter characters.
I think something may come up in which Voldemort offers to Harry. In the fifth book, I saw a lot of Harry's emotion coming out after being sort of flat the first four books. It may also be the dragon.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

Yeah, Harry becomes a big angst machine (took me aback a bit actally). Still, I think he is essentially a Luke.

The dragon of RotS is purely metaphorical :)

[elvensapphire.livejournal.com]

*shivers* I've only read through the first chapter (ach! I hate having things to do! lol), but I don't want to put it down. So good. So tragic.

Btw, I glanced at the comments, and I agree - I do think Harry is more essentially a Luke. He does have some darkness within him, and a lot of pent up rage, but...in the end the light will win with him. The light in Anakin turned into a hellish sort of fire that couldn't be contained. Harry is a twinkle, not a flame.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

Of course, to be fair, Palpatine did not have years to work on Luke and figure out his buttons. Nor did he have anything he could offer Luke that Luke really wanted (he couldn't promise his friends' safety after all). The whole "join me, kill your Dad and be evil together" is a whole other level of less persuasive than what he offers Anakin (protecting those he loves). Not to mention Luke only knows Palpatine as evil guys who kills his friends, as opposed to a caring father figure.

[elvensapphire.livejournal.com]

Very good point. Luke sees Palpy as a murderer and a psychopath (which is exactly what he is), and never as a mentor. Anakin is persuaded and played and duped until he doesn't know which way is up. Still...I don't know that Luke could ever have been turned. There was something inherent in Anakin's personality that always pointed to tragedy.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

Oh, I think Luke could have been turned. I think anyone could, under the right right circumstances. Some easier than others (it would be harder to turn Luke than Anakin), but if they were brought up differently, who knows (even with their inherent personalities)...

[lazypadawan.livejournal.com]

Luke darn near almost turned, not because of Palpatine's promises of power or anything, but because Leia had been threatened ("If you won't turn to the dark side, then perhaps she will"). His hatred and anger for Vader the bad dude overshadowed his compassion for Anakin his father. Luke realized it before it was too late.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

Yes. That was a near miss. And that even with knowing that Palpy=evil and Vader is his father. The whole power of the Dark Side is that anyone can potentially turn. Anyone, if the persuasion is right. That is why a triumph over the Dark Side *is* such a triumph.

With all that cunning turned toward turning him, and with Anakin's youth and forthrightness, it's actually a testament to the strength of his will that he held out as long as he did. But isolated as he was, and passionate and desperate as he was (and yes, mishandled as he was by the Jedi), he really did not stand a chance.

Yes, Palpatine got Anakin to turn by certain means. But if Anakin's personality was different, he'd use a different method to bind him. Anakin was not the only one he manipulated after all. Luke is lucky that Palpatine did not know of him earlier. Just as many a Jedi from the Prequels is lucky that Palpatine was interesed in Anakin and not them.

[lazypadawan.livejournal.com]

Palpatine has the ability to see into people's hearts, discover their desires, and play them to his advantage. Perhaps he had a disadvantage dealing with Luke because he didn't know Luke very well. It took Vader to bring out that particular weakness in Luke because as Vader knew, the Skywalker apple doesn't fall far from the tree. It would've taken someone with Yoda's intestinal fortitude to resist Palpie; after all, Count Dooku had once been a powerful and highly regarded Jedi. Then he ended up being a throwaway pawn in Palpie's game.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

*Nods*

Of course, Yoda had 900 years of experience behind his belt, to Dooku's 80+ and Anakin 20+

[elvensapphire.livejournal.com]

I suppose you're right, anyone could be turned. With the proper conditions and circumstances. I do think it would have been much of an effort to turn Luke, though one of the one things that really prevents it is what happened to his father. He witnesses what the Dark Side does. And he also still senses good in Anakin, and that stops him from acting out of hatred.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

Yeah, it's not much of an inducement to become a Sith Apprentice when he sees what his father got as a reward: a mechanical support carparace instead of being a human, and a Master who betrays him without a second thought.

[elvensapphire.livejournal.com]

*sobs thinking about Anakin's fate*

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

To think of all that Anakin gave up for Palpatine: the good people who care for him (the Jedi, Obi-Wan, Padme), his inner peace and goodness.

And for what? To end up a lonely, wrecked failure full of inner torment, chained to a man who he loathes and who despises him, more of a slave and far more miserable than he was when he was a child belonging to Watto. Ugh.

[elvensapphire.livejournal.com]

*sobs more* All he ends up with is himself and an evil master he despises but cannot conquer, and he hates both with equal passion. Besides that, he's not really even human anymore. He's a shell. Albeit a powerful one, but a shell nonetheless.

I'm off to grab my book again!

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

When you first watch OT (before the PT) and see Vader, he is many things: Big Villain, Good Fighter, Luke's Father etc etc etc. But you never think "Failure." Yet, once you rewatch OT in the light of PT, that is exactly what he is...a horrendous failure. Until he turns at the end.

[elvensapphire.livejournal.com]

*nods* The prequels give another perspective. Especially after this last one. I'm sure most people will watch some of the events in the OT a bit differently now. I certainly will. Plus, when I'm sitting in the theatre watching ROTS, I'm going to have to keep ROTJ in mind - and the fact that Anakin's life doesn't end up a complete waste.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

I'm going to have to keep ROTJ in mind - and the fact that Anakin's life doesn't end up a complete waste.

I think that's the only thing that will make me feel better.

OTOH, I bawled at the end of RotK and Frodo was going to Paradise. So who knows.

P.S. Read faster!!!!! :D

[elvensapphire.livejournal.com]

OTOH, I bawled at the end of RotK and Frodo was going to Paradise. So who knows. That's a very good point. I'm going to bawl regardless of anything.

P.S. - I really am trying!! ;)

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

*loffs* :)

[lazypadawan.livejournal.com]

I made that point in one of my essays. Anakin begins the PT a slave and ends the PT a slave, only with a far crueler and malevolent master.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

*off to hunt that essay down*

Of course, the tragic thing is that Anakin did not choose to be born to a slave woman. But his final master, his final slavery he actually chose for himself.