EMPIRE STRIKES BACK

Han saves Luke's ass ... again

Leaving the relative comfort of the ice cave, Luke stumbles out into drifting snow and falling temperature. Good idea, farmboy. Yet another good reason to question if he was ever even in a bloody ice cave, but we'll give him the benefit of the doubt here. Shock and bewilderment are enough to account for such a bad descision.

This is a busy day for Luke. While lost in the wilderness he finds he's telekinetic AND he's contacted by his SPIRIT GUIDE Obi-Wan Kenobi. Uh huh. So now we hear about Yoda, and his secret location. Secret because if the Empire knew they'd hunt his bony ass down and use his leathery hide as a doormat.

So who the hell is Yoda, anyway? Upon first seeing Empire we have no idea, except that Ben says he's the Jedi master who trained him. And that's all he says about him. However, the new trilogy gives us a lot of extra (and suspicious) information. Such as Yoda is the head of the JEDI COUNCIL! We also learn in Revenge of the Sith that Kenobi himself is eventually on the counsil as well. Really? REALLY?! Two little bits of info that are, of-fucking-course, NEVER even hinted at in the original trilogy.

So Luke is directed to the former head of the Jedi council, who is presumed dead by everyone else, and he's given the secret location by a ghost. Are you still buying this? This boy is setting himself up to be a religious leader. Or more accurately, religiously ordained. If he lives through the ice planet's night, that is.

Once again Luke's bacon is saved by Han Solo, who comes heroically charging up on his noble steed (who, for the purposes of consistency, we'll assume is named Dan). Noble Dan proptly freezes to death. Way to go, Han. But Han is a survivor, through and through. Without hesitating, he drags Luke to the dead tauntaun, slices open the tauntaun, stuffs Luke inside and starts building a shelter. Damn, son. We can all only hope to have such a competent friend rush to our rescue in our hour of need.

Luke is deleriously babbling about Ben and Dagobah, making Solo the only non-robotic witness to Luke ever mentioning that planet before they all split up.

It's here that we should look at another interesting 'legend' that has grown over the years; that only Jedi can weild lightsabers. Or, more generally, Force-sensitive individuals. It's never suggested that Han is Force-sensitive at all. For all his skill as a pilot (arguably the best in the galaxy), he is just a lowly commoner, not to be admitted to the ranks of the Jedi. When later in this movie it's hinted that there is another potential Jedi (a suggestion that arrises from a conversation between a ghost and a mushroom gnome), many thought Han was the new(er) hope because of his handling of the lightsaber. But no, Han was not even considered.

Far from being some magickal weapon yeilding its mysteries only to the initiated, the lightsaber is merely a piece of technology, a tool.

Speaking of tools, R2-D2 shows off yet another of his hidden devices while searching for Luke and Han. Do all astromechs have this much gear?

Actually, these Rebels have access to a lot of excellent tech. Like the 'shelter' Han puts up to keep him and Luke alive. We'll assume the Star Wars version of a cold weather shelter is somewhat better than a pup tent.