The Problem With The "Special Edition" Emperor in Ep. V

Greetings, Cantina. Recently, I was thinking about the various changes made to the Original Trilogy over the years, and found myself thinking about the revised Emperor Palpatine scene in The Empire Strikes Back. And the more I've thought about it, the more I've felt like it creates problems compared to the original.

The original exchange went like so:

Vader: What is thy bidding, my Master?
Emperor: There is a great disturbance in the Force.
Vader: I have felt it.
Emperor: We have a new enemy: Luke Skywalker.
Vader: Yes, my Master.
Emperor: He could destroy us.
Vader: He's just a boy. Obi Wan can no longer help him.
Emperor: The Force is strong with him. The son of Skywalker must not become a Jedi.
Vader: If he could be turned, he would become a powerful ally.
Emperor: Yes...yes. He would be a great asset. Can it be done?
Vader: He will join us or die, Master.

The revised version goes like this:

Vader: What is thy bidding, my Master?
Emperor: There is a great disturbance in the Force.
Vader: I have felt it.
Emperor: We have a new enemy: the young Rebel who destroyed the Death Star. I have no doubt this boy is the offspring of Anakin Skywalker.
Vader: How is that possible?
Emperor: Search your feelings, Lord Vader...You will know it to be true. He could destroy us.
...etc.

Alright, so in the original, Vader knew about Luke Skywalker, and it actually seemed like the Emperor was a little behind on things (see Vader's response: "Yes, my Master."). The exchange is short and to the point, and the purpose of the scene is to set up Luke's joining the Sith. In the revised version, the scene is made into a story exposition piece. There's two problems here to me:

1. Vader already knows Luke Skywalker's name, both in the movie itself and thanks to one of the Vader comics in the current canon. In Ep. V itself, Vader says about the Hoth base, "That's it. The Rebels are there. I'm sure Skywalker is with them." Logic dictates - as it did in the original version of the movie - that Vader was able to put two and two together and surmise, without the Emperor's help, that "Skywalker" was his son. He just seems slightly clueless in the revised version, since he had used Skywalker's name earlier in the movie. Unless his surprise is fake. But why bother changing it in the first place if his surprise isn't supposed to be genuine?
2. The Emperor seems even more "behind" than in the original version. In the original, the Emperor gathers that Luke Skywalker's a new enemy. Alright. Great. But he doesn't need to tell Vader the two are related. They both let the name imply what it will. By going the extra mile in the special edition, he makes himself look especially foolish.

Anyway, I just feel like the revised scene makes weird contradictions that the original version didn't. Add in the fact that McDiarmid looks like his Ep. III self, and I just think the special edition scene was a mistake.

 

I'd say it's meant to show that the Emperor is not as powerful as he seems. In ROTJ the Emperor is surprised that Vader could sense stuff regarding Luke Skywalker that he could not, and the "search your feelings, you will know it to be true" line suggests that Emperor may suspect that Vader already knows the truth. I'd argue that the whole scene is establishing that Vader wishes to overthrow his master. All he needs for this is his son.

Would you rather he looks like a woman with chimpanzee eyes?

 

Okay, that works for the Emperor, but I still don't see why they needed to include the supposed ignorance from Vader ("How is that possible?").

Nah, not necessarily. I wish they had done something like this, though. If a fan can put it together, I have faith Lucasfilm could do something equally good:

 

Sith Lords play a deadly game of cat and mouse. They always withhold information from each other. The master, so they can retain power, and the apprentice, so they can gain power.

I'm sure we would have gotten something like that eventually. In fact, we should have gotten that instead of Obi-Wan having a mental breakdown to scare off some Tusken Raiders .

 

I'm convinced some of these alterations are just meant to test the fans' patience... The Blu-Ray really might have been the straw that broke the camel's back.

 

Hmm, you're right, Highness. I had forgotten that the comic in question did in fact incorporate the "fake ignorance" into the scenario. Thank you for bringing that to my attention. And I agree that Ian McDiarmid is better for continuity's sake, I just wish they could have made him look more like the ROTJ version. The difference is big enough that it ends up being a tad jarring, in my opinion.

 

Careful what you read into things. There's plenty to criticize about the original versions, too... How did Vader spend so much time with Leia in ANH and not put their familial connection together? Why did blood stain the floor when Obi Wan cut the guy's arm off in the Cantina, since it was established by Ep. V that lightsabers cauterize open wounds? Why did ROTJ need Ewoks? How did the Empire build a second Death Star so fast, and why bother trying since the last one got destroyed?

The point is not that the original versions are immaculate. The point is, very often, initial writing instincts are correct and make for a more cohesive story. Altering things later on for the sake of exploring new story elements doesn't. Especially if remnants remain that contradict the change you've made.

 

@tm0910196 Blood comes out of Maul's chest in The Phantom Menace. I don't know the explanation for why blood sometimes does and doesn't come out.

 

I don't like the original Emperor's look, for one. I just wish they had made a greater effort to replicate the ROTJ look instead of using the obviously different Ep. 3 one. Would I need to absolutely have something to criticize about the original Empire Strikes Back in order to be credible for you? I'm not asking to be rude, either, but judging from posts you've made, I gather that unless people have a concrete and specific criticism of the OT while criticizing prequel or special edition elements, you just dismiss their arguments. I'm sure that's an unfair over-simplification on my part, but that's how things appear.