Watching the ROTJ end celebration after seeing TFA

I mentioned this on a thread with a couple people complaining about Hans death and the big three not meeting in TFA.

I think it totally adds to ROTJ in a better way, instead of seeing the three of them at their "Victory celebration" and thinking that this isn't the end, now it does kinda make the scene feel like the end of an era of sorts.

 

Feels the same for me. The victory at Endor was something to celebrate and for a brief moment it seemed like the war and oppression of evil was over for good. It still fits perfectly, for me. The reality is that a moment to celebrate (a critical blow to the Empire) gave way to bringing people in the SWU back down to Earth for the struggle to rebuild during the peace and has turned out to be more of a struggle than anyone thought it might.

 

I feel sad.

 

I feel sufficiently "planted" in the original trilogy, that it does not so much effect me. It does remind me of the things I missed in The Force Awakens, such as those powerful melodies, that truly carry our emotions. The music in the background as Luke sets fire to the pyre. I enjoyed how George Lucas brought the characters together at the end of each film, where as The Force Awakens focuses almost solely on Rey. Ewoks are still ridiculously fun, and the celebration in The Phantom Menace always reminded me a bit of the end scenes from the first and last films.

 

It feels different without Han there.

 

It makes the celebration not feel "right."

 

When there is a loss like that no one is celebrating, they just can't.

 

Yet they still do...if only we could have told them

 

Let's not get too emotional; we have no idea who else gets spit roasted on Kylo's lightsaber...too soon? I kid, I kid! =P

 

The Endor celebration scene is now retroactively bittersweet, and the classic Greek dramatic sense of tragic irony is now well at play here, when we return to this scene, thanks to events circa The Force Awakens:

http://www.shakespeare-online.com/literaryterms/ironytragic.html

We know now, as of The Force Awakens, that their celebration at the conclusion of Return of the Jedi is to be relatively short-lived.

To know they could be together there for a while, sharing in their collective and hard-earned victory over the Empire, is comforting.

I think the characters, realistically in their minds, given how much they had witnessed and experienced over their past, must have known such peace would not be eternal. Not in this galaxy.

It would only be a matter of time before something such as the First Order would spring from the ashes of the Empire.

The seemingly endless cycle of suffering of "The Only War" (as Maz Kanata called it in The Force Awakens) is perennially destined to continue in such a battle-scarred galaxy, which barely has time to heal before other perils materialize, especially as relatively few of its most affluent and influential inhabitants seem least intent on learning from past mistakes.

But this is where I sense Luke Skywalker could be now, having witnessed firsthand both great success and failure: perhaps he is preparing not merely to vanquish the darkness once again on the rise but to put into place a sustainable legacy, perhaps by way of a boldly reformed Jedi Order or something else, such as a more generalized philosophy of living, which could be widely adopted and become the foundation for a new magnitude of symbiotic peace the galaxy could embrace and celebrate without the fear things would soon unravel just as before.

JediMasterRobert

 

The celebration feels good, their fate feels wrong.

 

Reminds me of the moment in TFA when they embraced before Han left to go on some damn fool idealistic crusade... it hurts *cries*

 

It feels way different. I always expected Leia and Han to have Twins. Luke to marry Mara Jade and have children as well as having a huge Jedi academy by now.

 

I had similar expectations and was, at first, broken-hearted to realize, as the movie progressed, so much had gone wrong in their lives.

Certainly, this was done from a storytelling perspective, to maximize dramatic intensity and to show the Star Wars galaxy is indeed still a very dangerous place, even for proven heroes.

But it did hurt to see the Original Trilogy Star Wars family was separated and denied the basic happiness many of us believed was safe to assume they would have enjoyed to a certain degree.

At first, I almost felt it was if the story, trying to be interesting and dark, went out of its way to betray the characters, their true natures and intentions, even what some of us might term their "rightful destinies," relative to what they worked for and seemed to have achieved at the end of Return of the Jedi.

These are not just characters. Leia and Luke were admirable persons, if not role models to some of us as well.

I hope with all my heart that the storytellers behind these edgy decisions really thought every last of these details through, because these characters were larger than life and meant a great deal to many of us. That, in and of itself, should not "protect" or "spare" those characters from grim realities, but they seemed to have suffer staggering more setbacks in the face of the First Order than the original Empire could ever muster.

Despite all these past observations of mine, I'm presently quite hopeful Episode VIII and IX will not continue to marginalize Luke and Leia, even as, The Force Awakens has proved no character is safe as paths are cleared to push through "the new."

I would like to know Luke and Leia could somehow attain some closure, happiness, and continued purpose in the future, long after everything is said and done, and I hope there is greater Light in their respective futures in this saga.

I believe they deserve that much.

JediMasterRobert

 

I wholeheartedly agree with everything you say. I will now listen to Luke and Leia's theme... *sighs* I cant wait to hear this theme again in VIII....Luke and Leia are my fave characters of the OT next to Darth Vader- brother and sister...finding each other after so much has happened leading them to that moment when Luke tells her that she's the only hope for the alliance and Leia tells him that he's wrong to say that he won't make it back because he has a power that she could never have...

"Your wrong Leia....you have that power too and in time, you will learn to use it as I have...the force is strong in my family. My father has it...I have it...and my sister...has it. Yes...it's you Leia." - Luke

"I know...somehow I've always known...." - Leia

I literally cried because it was a touching heartfelt moment between them. I always thought of Leia as more of a sister type to Luke and Luke as a brotherly type to her...and With Han learning all this...man, I know. It's a lot to take in. I think it makes me happy to know that Luke still looked up to Han as a brother because well...he understands that Leia loves Han more even though this was before he learned that she was his sister. And I am sure he felt relieved that despite how he initially felt for her, nothing else could come between their sibling bond that is far more stronger than ever no matter the odds they faced leading to that defining moment when things went wrong....

 

Big SIGH.

--- Double Post Merged, Feb 13, 2016, Original Post Date: Feb 13, 2016 ---

Right after watching TFA for the first time, I went and watched the OT again. It was plainly painful, yet comforting in some way to see them back in the days together again, but the victory celebration - yes, I do prefer the Special Editions theme, it feels more nostalgic for some reason - felt bittersweet. To see them happy celebrating defeating the Empire and looking ahead was quite emotional. Then afterwards I realised it might be quite tragic - "welcome to the Tragic Kingdom" - how their fates were shown in TFA but at the end of the day that's how life is, here or in a galaxy far, far away. So now watching it again is OK, it is still endearing and enjoyable as before.

 

I agree the memory of seeing them all together in that celebration moment was emotional & that their futures were decided 30 years on.

--- Double Post Merged, Feb 13, 2016 ---

Yep that's why I put this up, she never forgot he was her scruffy looking nerf herder & he had to go do his duty.

 

Wow thank you for posting that pic of them together. its quite the contrast to the other pic of them from ROTJ. Leia looked beautiful then and she still beautiful now. She is still royale to me. lol. Aww....