"It is you who are mistaken..."

"...about a great many things."

I saw EPVI the other night, for the first time since watching EpIII and this sentence from the Emporer really struck me as being a little odd.

Just what was he talking about here? About Luke's insistence that his father still dwelt within Vader (and could sense the good in him)? That Luke was convinced he himself couldn't be turned?

I remember thinking this could be explained in EpIII, that something that Luke believed in would end up to be false, but I dont think it was.

Any suggestions?

 

I always assumed it referred to (a) the Rebel assumption that the Death Star was only partially operational, (b) Luke's assumption that the Rebel strategy is proceeding well, and that the Death Star will be blown up shortly, (c) Luke's belief that he himself would not be converted to the Dark Side, and (d) Luke's belief that his father could be saved from the Dark Side. The Emperor knew/believed that a, b, c, and d were false. Fortunately for our heroes, of course, Luke was correct about everything except (a).

 

All this is is psychological warfare between the Chancellor and Luke. One way to turn Luke is get him to debate about the same thing where there are different opinions. Another way is to place some sort of doubt about what he believes to be the truth so Palpatine can plant seeds of what he believes to be the truth in Luke's mind. He's telling Luke that he's wrong about the Rebels abilities to blow up the Death Star, the Rebellion winning the Galatic War as well as Luke's belief that Vader can be turned away from the dark side. The Chancellor knows what Luke is thinking before he even enters the throne room. It's like a game Palpatine is willing to play.

 

I always thought it was about Luke's inexperience.

 

Just creepy Palpatine being his normal creepy self.

 

I think geo_gnosis wrapped it up very well. I'd also say that the Emp was referring to Luke's belief that he was fighting on the right side.

 

Who ever knows what the emperor is talking about.

 

I remember as a kid the first thing that entered my mind was that Vader wasn't really Luke's father after all. Dang, I was convinced. LOL.

 

It's just Palpy laying it down to Luke:
This battlestation is operational.
Your friends on the moon and in space are about to get ambushed.
I let you land on the moon.
Your father was stubborn and he still turned to the darkside...and so will you.

Well, that's more or less what I thought.