CT Does Luke really choose death at the end of the duel in ESB ?

I've read this many times in books and other stuff.

Although it's not that clear-cut to me when watching the scene : he looks around and beneath him, just like he was studying the shaft (whirlwind and exhauts pipes) and contemplating an escape, before he lets himself fall.

The novel is really ambiguous about it, and it could be interpreted both ways actually.

Where does this notion comes from ? Has it ever been officially confirmed ?

 

I'm not sure that one could really see in enough detail to notice "Hmm, there's a tube down there, if I position my body correctly for the 200 meter drop, I should be able to slide down no problem"

However, I dunno, choosing death seems a little.... strange. I think Luke's decision was only a semi-conscious one. More like he just needed to escape and took the quickest route out without really thinking about the consequences outside of something like, "that's a really long fall if I let go now"

 

Given what had just happened and what he'd just learned, I'd say he decided that it was a combination of not being able to handle the situation and trying to rob Vader of a victory. Either way, he wanted to die.

The script of the scene in the TESB radio adaptation is a bit clearer in presenting this. Beyond that, in the movie itself, the look on his face when he's in the Falcon's cockpit afterwards is one of utter "Lord, take me now" despair.

 

I think he would have rather died and thats what he was doing. Watching that in the cinema as a 7 year old really shocked me as not only had we just had the father revelation, but Luke is now going to jump to his death. I thought it was really dark stuff as a kid. How was he to know that the exhaust vent would have sucked him in to it though?

 

He lets the Force decide his fate

 

I don't think it was about choosing death I think it was about conviction and demonstrating faith.

 

I agree with that.

 

I'm sure he was in shock, both emotionally and physically. That may have made it easier to surrender control and let go, trusting to the Force.

I really hated the scream that was added to and then removed from his fall. It totally undermined Luke's demonstration of calm and faith.

 

I'd say he decided to take his chances with death over the other option presented to him at the time.

 

He made the same choice he did in ROTJ, essentially. He chose the possibility of him dying in order to resist the dark side. It's possible he got a glimpse thru the Force of his surviving the fall, but most likely, he simply didn't want to forego his training and let Vader win so he did the only thing he really could do.

 

Looks to me as if he chose death over joining Vader and was lucky things turned out as they did in not only surviving the initial fall but being quickly rescued.

 

There was a thread about this not so long ago, and my own opinion remains the same - Luke didn't "choose death", i.e. attempt to commit suicide, he simply took the only other option available to him. He was aware that this might have resulted in his own death, but he regarded committing to the Dark Side as a fate worse than death. Surrendering himself to the void of Cloud City's ventilation shafts was yet another step to becoming a Jedi Knight - simply by realising that accepting his father's hand would have been a failure, AND trusting in the will of the Force.

As luck, excuse me, the Force had it, Luke didn't die - but that's not the point. Father or not, Darth Vader was the embodiment of what slavery to the Dark Side of the Force was, and Luke Skywalker was able to realise that, even before he tossed himself off that gantry. Luke's mentor and inspiration was Obi-Wan Kenobi, not the dark student that went wrong.

 

I agree. He's decided to not give in to the Darkside, and that he will die if he must. But he doesn't seem surprised to have survived, so my guess is he did exactly as you suggest, and let the Force decide his fate.

 

"Oooh...Maxibig the Force !"

 

i think sort of basically. he decided whatever happened was better than joining the dark side.

 

I don't think it was so much as "choosing death," but the possibility of it was still a better outcome than joining Vader.

Plus, dude just found out DV's his dad. He needs a moment.

 

Luke chose to escape as he was taking in the fact Vader was his father he knew he had to escape, he must have done a layout of cloud city to know the lower areas had a safer way to escape incase the duel went wrong. Yoda did warn him to stay but his caring for Han,Chewie & leia was his weakness. Remember Yoda had the same vision when he clashed with the emperor in TROS he saw Luke & Leia's birth plus their purpose was fulfilled.

 

Yes. He was choosing to kill himself rather than join forces with Vader.

Empire is the deepest and most grown-up episode of the series, and decisions like that are not likely to be understood by young audiences. It never occurred to me until I was an adult myself.

 

Yes he choses death.

 

This always bothered me growing up. Did Luke actually try to kill himself? As much as I always wanted to believe he didn't, most evidence just seems to point that way. I think he was still too inexperienced in the Force for him to simply think the Force would save him from his fall. And I don't believe he viewed a layout of Cloud City to know a vent would've saved his fall, as someone pointed out as a possibility.

I like to think it was a split second decision to escape Vader's clutches. If he dies, he dies. He simply was not going to join Vader and abandon his friends, who he obviously cared about. There was probably a lot going through his mind at that moment; his friends, and the warnings given to him by Yoda and Obi-Wan just before he left. Not only did he not want to join Vader because it just wasn't in his nature to be evil, but all the people he would be letting down had to be on his mind also. And the fact that Vader just revealed to him that he was his father, it was quite a bit to take in. I think he was also realizing that Yoda and Obi-Wan were right, he shouldn't have left to face him so soon. He took the chance on possibly dying because that was his only escape.

"Strong is Vader, mind what you have learned! Save you it can!"

 

That is what I always got from the scene. He did look around, realized there was really no obvious escape (I don't believe he knew he would survive the fall), smiled right at Vader, put his faith in the force and "let go".

Perhaps watching Obi-Wan during his dual with Vader in ANH gave him the conviction to put his full faith in the force?

I don't think he wanted to die but, he would rather die than join Vader and the dark side.

Coincidentally, this moment was a BIG step in his path to becoming a Jedi. It was a "Jedi or bust" moment. A lesser man would have seen no there was no escape, he was beaten (as Vader stated) and likely gave in to the dark side.

 

When watching that scene, there has never been any question in my mind that Luke jumped because he preferred to die rather than join Vader - note that doesn't mean he was suicidal per se, just that the revelation that Vader was his father was too much for him to handle, and he didn't want to follow in his father's footsteps & turn to the dark side.

That being said, obviously at the end when he's hanging on the weather vane?! below Cloud City, he still wants to live - which is why he calls to Leia, using the Force....

 

It strikes me that the scene in The Matrix where Morpheus is talking Neo through trying to get to the roof of his office building, with Neo not believing he can do it and thus surrendering to the agents, is an echo of this. I'm actually not sure what Luke was specifically thinking, just that he knew that his path was not with Vader (as Nub said).

 

Id say he trusts the force.

 

I believe he intended to commit suicide at first but then he found himself in a situation where he was safe for the moment and away from Vader. I would assume he had second thoughts when he entered that tube and was able to regain himself up until those doors opened up underneath him and sent him to the weather veins. There he was at his last chance. And he was able to tap into the force and it let him communicate to Leia.