EMPIRE STRIKES BACK

To: D.Vader, From: Emperor, Re: YOUR FUCKING KID

We get a little scene of more repair work going on aboard the Falcon. Threepio mentions the ship's computer has a "most peculiar dialect", often cited as evidence of the Expanded Universe contention that the ship has three astromechs working in conjuction. I don't really buy this because we never get any other suggestion to this affect. The ship is always refered to in a singular, and female, sense. Han doesn't say, "c'mon folks, hold together". He says, "ya hear me, baby? Hold together."

We also get another indication that Chewie is far from the master mechanic that he has come to be thought of as. For some reason, a lot of folks think of Chewbacca being Han's trusty handyman who keeps the ship running. Han is the one who directs Chewie's repairs, correcting him often.

Leia here gets frisky with her pirate bodyguard and is saved from getting really frisky by her trusty "protocol" droid. Makes me wonder if this is one of Threepio's functions, like Dot Matrix's 'virgin alarm' in Spaceballs.

All of that's small potatoes, Paradigm-wise. More importantly we then get to see the Emperor's video conference with Vader (after witnessing the death of a Star Destroyer commander during another video conference - wow)

This is a tense scene. A lot of careful wording on both sides. The Emperor is pissed. He's figured out that the kid that Vader's been keeping on Tatoonine all this time is missing. He's been sifting through the same reports Vader has (you can bet there were hearings and inquisitions regarding that whole blowing-up-a-battlestation thing). He's figured out the kid is gone, and he doesn't ask Vader if he knows what's goin' on, he bloody well tells our boy 'I consider YOUR SON to be an enemy'!

Vader knows better than to try to lie to the Emperor. He cops to it straight off. He basically admits he knows the kid is now with the Rebels. The fact that Kenobi was on the Death Star with Luke is what's saving Vader's ass at this point. The Emperor is scared shitless of this kid. Keeping Luke out of the action and damn well NOT trained in Jedi arts is no doubt a part of a long-standing deal between Vader and the Emperor.

This exchange is even more tense because Vader pulls a Jedi mind trick on the Emperor!. Palpatine's pissed (that's supposedly the Emperor's name. Oh, you're right - it's never uttered in the movies themselves) and afraid that Luke could, in his own words, "destroy us". Vader then suggests, "if he could be turned'...

Listen to the Emperor's voice at that point. "Yes...Yes..." Oh shit! Don't drop your guard when you're dealing with one of the most powerful Force users ever, dumb-ass!! (I think that's actually IN the Evil Overlord list, right between 'never get into a land war with Asia' and 'never make a bet with a Sicilian when death is on the line') As far as that goes, is the Emperor supposed to be a Force wielder? He talks about the Dark Side a lot in 'Return of the Jedi' but when he refers to Luke as a Jedi, he does so with a snide voice. He doesn't mention the Sith (again, no one ever does in the original trilogy) but we've already heard Vader refered to twice as a Jedi. WTF, mate? And his Force lightning? No. That's obviously some sort of personal defense weapon. Some sort of high-end tazer (he's a senior citizen, after all). Similar technology was used by the Jawas to capture R2 - these people are advanced, they have hand-held Tesla cannons!

How long has Vader waited to spring this trap? How intricate is his plan? Was he going to use Luke all this time? Vader constantly uses the ploy of letting his foes escape to lead him to bigger and bigger prizes. Is he doing this now? Somewhere along the line, a schism occurred between Palpatine and Vader. I generally assume this was with the Death Star itself, mostly because of Vader's outspoken derision of it. Vader now commands more and more of the galactic fleet, and he's a long way from headquarters defeating the only opposition to the Emperor. Palpatine better be worried.

But now he's foolishly agreed to allow Vader to bring the kid to him. Jesus, two Skywalkers in the same room?! You better hope they don't want anything you've got.