Monday, June 12, 2006

Revenge of the Sith

Yup, i'm a Star Wars fanboy. Beat Pink in Star Wars Trivial Pursuit in one turn...she doesn't like to play with me very much. :)

Anyhoo, I just got done reading the novel for the movie adaptation, and dare I say, it's just as good as the movie. Granted, seeing the movie first help put some of the visualizations in my head, but the novel lets me see into the characters minds. And when you've got the Anakin/Darth Vader switch coming, mental state is key.

Some of the neat details I pulled out from the novel that I didn't remember from the movie:

Count Dooku was promised by Lord Sidious that Anakin Skywalker would be his new apprentice. The capture of Palpatine/Sidious was of course a ruse to brink Kenobi and Skywalker back to Coruscant. Dooku was instructed to take Kenobi out and to make Skywalker submit. However, as Skywalker and Dooku battled, Dooku realized that Skywalker was half Sith already, allowing his hate to channell into the battle. Once he figured that out, he knew Sidious had turned his back on him and Skywalker was his replacement. Off with Dooku's head!

Anakin, when he was appointed to the Jedi Council but was not given the rank of Master, REALLY went off on the Council. Far more than was in the movie. At this point, Anakin really didn't care about the rank itself, but the benefits he'd get in the Jedi Library. Specifically, Sith or Jedi holiocrons that might tell him how to save Padme.

Yoda knew he was going to loose by the time his battle with Sidious entered the Galactic Senete. He realized that while the Jedi were trying to remain true to the Jedi Masters before him, the Sith had been learning about the Jedi and retooled themselves, using the Jedi's unwavoring ideals against them. When the time was right, Yoda ran. He also knew the error of his was when asked what to do with Leia and Luke. The indoctrination they put into Younglings very early on didn't give them the taste of the lives they were protecting. So, rather than Yoda and Kenobi keeping Luke and Leia safe, Yoda decided to give Luke to the Lars family and Bail Organa offered to take Leia.

Alas, knowing this neat tidbit about Yoda admitting defeat makes the New Jedi Order series a lot more interesting to read. My favorite author kicked off the series, so I'll have to reread it and go from there.

1 comment:

scott said...

Good post, Doctor. I've only seen the new trilogy once. But the first one countless times. I'd love to challenge you to a game of SWTP sometime :D Maybe the girls can go off and paint toenails and we can have a marathon Mountain Dew, Taco Bell and Star Wars session!