CT Why didn't Luke attempt to kill the Emperor before electrocuting him?

if luke allows himself to be turned his friends are doomed anyway. he can't help them if he's a sith apprentice. if he fights the emperor he will lose. he will probably be turned as well.

even if he could kill the emperor that wouldn't help his friends on the endor moon. the ds2 and the empire wouldn't stop fighting. the battle would keep going the way it was.

imperials, "hey the emperor's dead! i guess we have to stop fighting now."

 

Again, yes. Luke in the CT was fearless.

 

It was the Will of the Force.

At the moment we're talking about, I believe Luke was more in tune with the Force than he had ever been before, more so than most Jedi ever achieve. He had just turned away from the dark side only moments earlier, and I don't doubt that the light was shining in him like a beacon for those that had eyes to see it. At that moment of sublime connection to life, the universe, and everything, he acted on the spiritual prompting of the will of the Force. (Obi-wan told him it sometimes controls your actions.) The Force wanted him to choose the way of peace and trust that all would proceed as it should. Luke acted in faith, stayed true to his best nature, and trusted in the higher power to set all right. And his faith was rewarded when his father followed his example and regained his own long-lost faith.

It's all very spiritual, far more spiritual than logical.

 

Not killing the Emperor didn't affect his friends on the Endor moon either, but if he did actually kill the Emperor, he would be helping his friends in that if they fail, their deaths wouldn't be in vain, for Luke had killed the Emperor anyway.

Do you think Luke knew that the Emperor was armed with some sort of Force power that would decimate him if he engaged him in a duel, and that's why he didn't even try? This question is genuine, not rhetorical. I want to know your opinion.

 

This point of view is very interesting... and I kinda like it. I want to wait and see if more people agree with this idea.

I already established that killing the Emperor wouldn't have turned Luke to the Dark Side because how can one give into his anger if he isn't even angry?

This theory states that Luke let the Force control his actions because the Force knew that if Luke disarmed himself, the Emperor would begin torturing him, prodding Vader into action.

 

In my mind.. Luke throwing away the Saber is his deciding to abandon violence in general. He is saying no to murder, to violence, to all of it. He's decided he would rather die pure of spirit than live and kill. Think about it. Have we seen him ever use his Saber since? Perhaps this is the first sign of a new approach to the jedi as well. He deciding in a similar war to batman and daredevil that killing is never justified. That's what I took from the film.. That he wouldn't pursue that slippery slope anymore.

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If a Jedi can't kill, how are they sopposed to get rid of such evil people then. Imagine if Vader wasn't there to save him. This so called "new approach" would've gotten Luke killed and the Rebellion crushed in the process. Sometimes killing is necessary because you can't reason with pure evil. The allies chose to enact WWII because there was no other diplomatic solution to Hitler's insanity.

The notion that Jedi can't kill even the most evil man in the galaxy is quite silly when you think about it. No offence.

 

Youre speaking of the merits of murder. Murder is murder, evil or not. I am not saying that such an idealism is correct or incorrect, but to respond.. MLK is a good example of this approach. You can achieve political aims without violence through the influence of positive action. The jedi at the time of RoTS are not well respected or liked.. And their ideals are somewhat hypocritical when examined with their actions. Someone as intelligent as Luke might realize this.. And also seek to reverse it. Passive resistance as it were.

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What would you propose that Luke should've done if Vader wasn't there to kill the Emperor? Was Luke just sopposed to sit there and reason with him?

LUKE: Hey, Palpatine, you're evil, so stop!

EMPEROR: What are you gonna do about it?

LUKE: Nothing... I don't believe in killing.

EMPEROR: *kills Luke and continues to be a tyrant*

This way of thinking doesn't seem to be very efficient.

 

You're missing my point. Luke decided that regardless of if he lived or not, he wouldn't stoop to violence and murder. Focusing forward.. You don't think he could've killed Ben solo when he started to destroy the other apprentices? What prevented him there?

I propose that Luke has decided that for him.. Killing is not a solution that will work.

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Ok then. All I can say is that was rather foolish of him. There was a good chance that Vader wouldn't have saved Luke, and the 2 most evil people in the galaxy would continue ruling with an iron fist.

Luke sounds pretty inconsiderate of all the lives that would be lost if the Emperor lived.

 

Luke is sopposed to a compassionate and caring person. That just doesn't sound in Luke's character to risk the lives of millions just because he doesn't support violence.

 

You're still not getting the point. And you're speaking in absolutes. You seem to believe the only way to resolve the situation is to kill them. This isn't true, and Luke doesn't seem to believe it either. He's content with allowing the force to decide their fates. Trusting it to. Resolve things as it sees fit.

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As far as Luke knows, his battle with the Emperor would end in 2 seconds as Luke still believes that the Emperor was unarmed. 2 seconds wouldn't be enough time for Luke to become angry again. Also, the Emperor wouldn't be taunting him this time as he would be fighting for his life, not trying to get himself killed.

 

So your argument is the same as Sarge's? The Force told him to throw his saber?

And killing him is the only logical option if Luke wasn't sure that his dad would save him.

If Vader wouldn't have saved Luke, his "anti-violence approach would have gotten everyone killed. And considering Luke had no idea that Vader would save him, it seems to me that Luke just doesn't care about the lives of others.

But hey, thats just me.

 

EZRA: "Master Yoda, you're powerful. You must know a way to destroy Vader and his Inquisitors."

YODA: "Padawan, thousands of Jedi once there were. Then came war. In our arrogance, join the conflict swiftly we did. Fear, anger, hate. Consumed by the dark side the Jedi were."

EZRA: "Was it wrong for the Jedi to fight? Is it wrong for me to protect my friends?"

YODA: "Wrong? Hmm. A long time, fought I did. Consumed by fear I was, though see it I did not."

EZRA: "You were afraid?"

YODA: "Yes, afraid. Hmm, surprised are you? A challenge lifelong it is, not to bend fear into anger. There's still a way."

EZRA: "Yeah, but Master Yoda, how are we supposed to win if we don't fight back?"

YODA: "Win? Win, hmm. How Jedi choose to win, the question is."

Luke made a conscious and rational choice to not fight anymore. He had already did what he needed to do, which was not turn to the dark side. That was what Yoda and Obi-wan wanted Luke to do. To confront his father as part of his Jedi trial and Luke had passed by realizing the darkness that existed within himself and choosing to let go of it. Luke had won his battle and when he realized what was happening to himself, he knew that to fight anymore would invite the dark side. So he stops fighting. Luke choice to stop fighting is not that he opposes fighting, but that he knows the consequences for doing so. He knows that Palpatine will again goad him into fighting and using the dark side if he challenges him. He would rather die than fight him. He was willing to let go of his friends and accept whatever fate would befall them. That's why when he threw down his saber, Palpatine became incensed. He knew that Luke would never fight him, nor Vader. That he wouldn't turn. He recognized the completion of his Jedi trial. So he chose to kill him.

 

Okay. I can agree with that. But for Luke to become angry whilst fighting the Emperor, the Emperor would need to taunt him to make him angry. The Emperor was using Vader as bait. He needed a second person for Luke to kill WHILE angry for him to turn. He would never risk taunting Luke in a one-on-one duel, would he?

 

Okay. You asked why Luke didn't do it. I feel like that's been adequately explained.. I don't necessarily agree with the logic and obviously you do not.. But do you understand it?

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wrong.

the only way luke could have gotten close to beating the emperor was using his anger and then he would've kicked luke's ass and turned him to the dark side. nobody could beat palps except anakin. mace, maul and yoda couldn't do it. luke had no chance.

 

Thank you!

Thanks to everyone else who helped me understand.

I'm now enlightened.

 

Also what episode is that? I might start watching Rebels again.

 

Now that you mentioned it, I can't help but notice some allusions to Jesus Christ. He also accepted the prospect of death, was killed (let's say Luke got very close to that) and then resurrected (saved by his father). Just as Jesus put his faith in God, Luke put his faith in the Force (which IMHO is just another name for the Holy Ghost, but I'm getting off-topic).

Nevertheless, the one thing still irking me is this:

Moments earlier Luke didn't care much about his well-being but first and foremost the well-being of his sister. Moments later the well-being of his sister apparently doesn't even register in his mind anymore.
Now, you could say that personal attachment leads to the dark side of the Force, Luke realized this and consciously severed his umbilical cord with Leia.

The part that I find still unsettling is that this may have been good for his soul, but nothing good or productive would have came out of this attitude for his sister, his friends, his comrades and everybody else in the galaxy.

As the guardians of peace and justice in the Old Republic, I cannot imagine that the Jedi settled everything exclusively by mediating.