CT Did Luke tap into the Dark Side?

I don't think it's the fact that he wears black so much as he's wearing the same colour his father wears (though it's not like he has much of a wardrobe to choose from)

 

Luke's robes are similar to Palpatine's and his wearing the glove on his hand is like how his father's was. The mere sight of the cybernetics is what breaks Luke's grip on the dark side as he realizes how similar he is to his father and it reminds him of the cave and what he saw.

 

i've seen this question posed before. He was fighting angry i suppose, but i'm not sure that qualifies as tapping into the dark side.

 

Anger is of the dark side. If a Jedi uses anger to fight, they are using the dark side.

 

Whole lot of people in this thread completely missing the point of one of the most pivotal scenes in the Star Wars saga.

Yes, Luke was tapping into the dark side when he used his anger and hatred to beat Vader, and it was bad. No one's saying it's evil to get mad once in a while, but you should never actively harness your rage to fuel your aggression against another human being.

 

Or at least - not if you're a Jedi and wish to avoid exposing yourself to the Dark Side's corruptive influence.

 

Well was Obi-Wan fighting angry in TPM ??

or how about when Luke shot the door controls just after Vader killed Obi-Wan. Was he tapping into the dark side when he blasted it ??

 

Obi-Wan was fighting angry when Maul managed to toss him down the shaft - then he calmed down and used the Force to propel himself out and slice Maul in half. That's the point.

As for Luke shooting the door controls - I don't think that raises any ethical issues, unless anyone's worried about any mouse droids that had an ongoing relationship with the control panel.

 

Yes to both. In fact, in the first case you can see there are clear negative consequences, as Maul is able to overpower Obi-Wan with a Force push and knock him over the edge. Obi-Wan only wins when he calms himself and focuses.

edit:

Ah, beaten! But yeah, I think Luke shot a few stormtroopers out of anger too, which wasn't the greatest thing in the world to do.

 

Said stormies were shooting at him and his friends, as well. While there's probably a few things a seasoned Jedi Knight might be able to consider in a combat situation when it comes to minimising loss of life on both sides (there's a great little monologue in the Batman comic The Dark Knight Returns where Bats has a gun pointed at his head and muses over the multiple options available to him within a split second - several involving killing, several disarming with minimal contact*), I don't think that applies to an utter novice like Luke Skywalker in SW/ANH. Palps or Vader could hardly use that perfectly normal reaction of Luke's to convince him of the superior power of the Dark Side of the Force.

The sudden use of the Dark Side by nearly-a-Jedi-Knight Luke Skywalker in ROTJ to defeat the great Darth Vader, however - that's a genuine temptation.



*He picks a different option - which hurts

 

There's a fundamental difference between Luke firing his blaster at some Stormtroopers and fighting his father in a Lightsaber duel.

LUKE: "But I can help them! I feel the Force!"

BEN: "But you cannot control it. This is a dangerous time for you, when you will be tempted by the dark side of the Force."

At this point in his life, Luke has yet to fully master his ability to use the Force. He has only been training in earnest for a short period of time and Luke will find that his fear, his anger and his hate will come upon him while trying to fight Vader and he will have trouble resisting. Vader realizes this which is why he keeps goading Luke into using his emotions to fight him. Luke must resist the urge to fight with his emotions and at this point, the Jedi worry that he cannot do it. When Luke lashes out at Obi-wan's death, he is not using the Force. He is reacting out of fear and anger, but he has not yet begun to experience the Force. Obi-wan realizes this and tells Luke to run, while unknowingly, Han tells Luke to shoot the controls to the blast doors so that they won't be killed or captured. Afterwards, Luke is no longer angry at Obi-wan's demise which is seen during the rest of Act III.

Obi-wan, as noted above, did use his emotions at first and then realized he was wrong. In letting go of his emotions at Qui-gon's death, is he able to defeat the Sith Lord and is allowed to become a Knight. He has faced himself while fighting Maul and he passed the test. It was not the trial that the Council would have put him on, but it fit the same parameters. The Council knows that Obi-wan didn't kill out of anger and hate. He was open and honest about the whole affair. This is why Obi-wan and Yoda tell Luke that he must face Vader again. He rejected Vader's offer once before and now that he's more aware of the dark side, they believe he can succeed now.

 

He did tap into the darkside but was able to pull himself out of it when he cut off vader's hand and saw himself becoming like Vader....by doing to Vader what Vader had done to him (cut off his hand)...THIS WAS EXACTLY WHAT THE VISION IN THE CAVE ON DAGABOH WAS ALL ABOUT!

 

I know this thread is about Luke and all, but it's erm ... interesting ... that the opening crawl in TPM says Obi-Wan is already a Jedi Knight, but the end of the film contradicts that.

Talk about a major mistake in a movie!

 

It's not a contradiction. When used in that context, it is a catch all. Meaning Obi-wan is considered a Jedi Knight in the broadest sense, but he's still a Padawan.

 

The enigmatic music in the background of that scene was meant to convey the fact that Luke was dangerously close to succumbing to the dark side. Granted, Luke attacked Vader out of righteous anger to protect Leia. However, because anger is so volatile, it cannot remain righteous forever. By remembering his failure at the cave when he saw Vader's mechanical arm, Luke overrode his anger and returned to the light side. In my strong opinion, this is what Anakin was supposed to do as the Chosen One: harness anger (dark side) for the sake of good (light side).

 

Which is why TCW never happened.

 

You don't like TCW? Wow I'm surprised Supreme Chancellor...

 

I think he taps into the dark side. It's clear he goes with option C at the end of the movie, niether the Jedi way nor the Sith. sure he says he's a Jedi, but only after he's gone apesith on Vader. He's surely powerful with the Force but he still doesn't understand what it truly means to be a Jedi. I think Episode VII is going to clear up a lot of the ambiguities, or at least pick up the threads and explore them in more depth.

 

^ This. Very nicely said HevyDevy. For a moment, Luke lost himself and quickly pulled back when he realized what that would mean. I love the visual cues posted too. That hammers it home so perfectly.

 

What do you mean by ''never happened'' ? TCW is canon as movies.

 

I supose that YES, Luke had "tapped the Dark Side".

But that means nothing...

Yoda said: "Do... Or do not... There is no try"...
Luke raised his X-Wing out off the swamp for a few moments, but couldn't really finish that work.
Which trophy had Luke acquired? The "DO" or the "DO NOT"??

I think the same applies to the Dark Side....
Luke let his rage to speak louder, but THEN WHAT?
He turned off his saber, threw it away and refused to kill Vader.

You either choose the Dark Side or not...
There is no tap.

 

lol Says who. The movies are a 6 part cohesive saga. TCW is a jumbled mess.

 

Guess who ? Lucasfilm, Disney, every other official source about Star Wars ...

 

Good thing I'm in charge of my own life. If I wasn't I might call Lucasfilm and ask them what religion to follow.

 

Consider the EU as canon, should we not to....

The Thrawn Trilogy has once been considered canon...
As the Young Jedi Series about Jacen and Jaina were canon...
Kyle Katarn, Yuuzhan Vong, Massassi Academy and Anakin Solo... ALL canons....

Hundreds of books, games and comics have followed restricted orders in order to be considered canon by Lucasfilm.
Now they are not canon anymore...

So what do we have learned about what is really canon? Just the 6 movies...