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CT When you first saw ROTJ, what did you think was the status of the Empire at the end?

Discussion in 'Classic Trilogy' started by darklordoftech, Mar 12, 2020.

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When you first saw ROTJ, did you think the Empire still existed at the end?

  1. I thought the Empire was gone (I saw the original version first)

    56 vote(s)
    56.6%
  2. I thought the Empire was gone (I saw one of the versions with celebrations around the galaxy first)

    19 vote(s)
    19.2%
  3. I thought the Empire still existed (I saw the original version first)

    18 vote(s)
    18.2%
  4. I thought the Empire still existed (I saw one of the versions with galaxy-wide celebrations first)

    6 vote(s)
    6.1%
  1. Dark Ferus

    Dark Ferus Chosen One star 8

    Registered:
    Jul 29, 2016
    Before I knew about the EU stories, I assumed it was all gone. And I originally saw the theatrical release on VHS without Coruscant or any other planets.
     
  2. Bazinga'd

    Bazinga'd Saga / WNU Manager - Knights of LAJ star 7 Staff Member Manager

    Registered:
    Nov 1, 2012
    I thought there were significangt remnents of the empire still in existence.
     
  3. devilinthedetails

    devilinthedetails Fiendish Fanfic & SWTV Manager, Interim Tech Admin star 6 Staff Member Administrator

    Registered:
    Jun 19, 2019
    Wonder if any of it has to do with the age when people first saw ROTJ. I first saw ROTJ when I was like five years old, so that might have been why I assumed a happy ending type scenario where the Empire ended with Vader and Palpatine's deaths, but perhaps people who were older at their first viewing were more likely to assume the Empire endured in some form.
     
    YT-2400, Fin McCool and Triad Moons like this.
  4. cratylus

    cratylus Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    May 9, 2001
    I figured the remaining Imperial forces would give up easily with the Emperor dead and yet another Death Star down the tubes. The fireworks seemed to signify a completed revolution.
     
    EHT likes this.
  5. MrDarth0

    MrDarth0 Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Oct 3, 2015
    I thought the Empire still existed (I saw the original version first).

    I even wrote a fan "script" as a kid for Episode 7 where the Rebels kept fighting the Empire.
     
  6. Oissan

    Oissan Chosen One star 7

    Registered:
    Mar 9, 2001
    Hard to say exactly, as it happened a very long time ago, but I don't think I assumed that the Empire was just gone like that. Even when the Special Edition came out and the ending changed, I didn't get the opinion that it was somehow entirely gone at that point.

    Turning into a mess with a bunch of squabbling warlords that tried to gain as much control as possible always seemed the most likely thing to happen. Then the Thrawn trilogy happened, and it seemed to fit to that idea. Erroded Imperial might that could still be a threat, though not nearly as much as it would have been if under proper leadership, with the tide turning somewhat once a new powerful leader emerged and took over.
     
  7. Hernalt

    Hernalt Force Ghost star 4

    Registered:
    Jun 29, 2000
    The Great Ewok Line is a useful tool when studying star wars consumption. Some chunk of an individual's experience, on average, can be approached by looking at their developmental age when they first encountered the, uh, demands upon suspension of disbelief inherent in ROTJ. Or ESB, for that criteria. ROTJ is a stronger filter for that criteria, for reasons that are generally quantitative. Objecting to ESB space worm is endothermic; it requires effort, dedication, single minded focus to have a problem with ESB space worm. ROTJ Ewoks can prove to be exothermic. It requires no effort, dedication or single minded focus to have a problem. This matter here, to pull a measure out of thin air, is about halfway between ESB space worm and ROTJ Ewoks in terms of mass of disbelief that has to be suspended.
     
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  8. Valiowk

    Valiowk Chosen One star 6

    Registered:
    Apr 23, 2000
    Hm, I have no problem with ROTJ Ewoks and lots of problems with ESB space worm from a physics POV... [face_dunno]
     
  9. Darth Dnej

    Darth Dnej Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Apr 27, 2013
    I thought the Empire was finished. The movie doesn't say so, but hey I was a kid. I know it's a novelization (and Legends continuity) but the Return of the Jedi novelization says that the Empire is finished and long live the Alliance. Obviously, that's not true in either Legends or canon.
     
    Emperor Ferus likes this.
  10. Sarge

    Sarge Chosen One star 10

    Registered:
    Oct 4, 1998
    Even if it was not the end of the Empire, it was the major turning point of the rebellion, the beginning of the end of the Empire.
     
    EHT, Shadao, Darth Dnej and 1 other person like this.
  11. Force Smuggler

    Force Smuggler Force Ghost star 7

    Registered:
    Sep 2, 2012
    Iron Fist
     
    Last edited: Mar 29, 2020
    Sarge likes this.
  12. themoth

    themoth Force Ghost star 5

    Registered:
    Dec 5, 2015
    That they were defeated, and the remnants were just scattered and irrelevant. Luke, Leia and the gang smiling made it seem like closure.
     
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  13. JEDI-RISING

    JEDI-RISING Chosen One star 6

    Registered:
    Apr 15, 2005
    i thought they were defeated . i was a kid and that's what the movie showed.
     
    Emperor Ferus likes this.
  14. themoth

    themoth Force Ghost star 5

    Registered:
    Dec 5, 2015
    Indeed, and it was the final episode with no new films for decades.
     
  15. Jaina's Boyfriend

    Jaina's Boyfriend Jedi Youngling

    Registered:
    Mar 15, 2020
    I saw the 2004 DVD version and assumed the Empire was gone. When I got into the EU, I first thought it was really a bit weird that it continued to exist after that. But now, I prefer the EU version. Just because Palpatine was dead doesn't mean all other Imperials would just surrender immediately.

    Many Roman emperors fell on the battlefield or were murdered by traitors, yet never ever did the entire Roman Empire just cease to exist because of that.
     
    Sarge likes this.
  16. Force Smuggler

    Force Smuggler Force Ghost star 7

    Registered:
    Sep 2, 2012
    The Eastern Roman Empire survived for centuries after the fall of the Western Roman Empire.
     
    Jaina's Boyfriend likes this.
  17. Jaina's Boyfriend

    Jaina's Boyfriend Jedi Youngling

    Registered:
    Mar 15, 2020
    If I remember the timeline correctly, Palpatine ruled his Galactic Empire for about 25 years between its founding at the end of the Clone Wars and his death at Endor. 6 years later "he" (was it really him?) returned as a clone and ruled the Dark Empire for like 2 years. The Empire continued to exist in various forms for over 2-3 decades years after Endor, until its remnants became part of the Galactic Federation of Free Alliances during the Yuuzhan Vong war.
     
    Last edited: Apr 2, 2020
  18. ThePhilistineCritic

    ThePhilistineCritic Jedi Padawan star 1

    Registered:
    Apr 1, 2020
    My first exposure to the Trilogy was through the 1995 VHS release, and I figured they were gone. Sure, there might’ve been a few stragglers, similar to the Japanese after World War II, but for the most part, I figured they were gone.
     
    Beautiful_Disaster likes this.
  19. Force Smuggler

    Force Smuggler Force Ghost star 7

    Registered:
    Sep 2, 2012
  20. Beautiful_Disaster

    Beautiful_Disaster Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    May 12, 2005
    I saw the original version first. I figured there might be a few small factions, but without Vader or Palpatine I figured it was basically gone.
     
  21. OridgeTridge

    OridgeTridge Jedi Knight

    Registered:
    Feb 13, 2016
    A good vs. evil saga in the style of the OT would not fit the setting of what we are led to believe happened after ROTJ. EU has its ups and downs; Disney is not my canon, kthx. I believe the Mando fits the bill closely, however.

    My conception is that the New Republic faces numerous smaller threats rather than a single monolithic one. That's overwhelming in a different way from a plucky band of Rebels versus the looming darkness of the Empire. Unsavory crime bosses, opulent ex-Senators, Imperial loyalist regional governors, these are the villains I envisioned facing the NR in the new trilogy.

    As for the Jedi element, I always figured one of Luke's apprentices could strive so intensely to fight against extragalactic invaders that s/he goes Dark in the process.
     
    Last edited: Apr 5, 2020
  22. Bob Effette

    Bob Effette Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Dec 20, 2015
    Well I was just nine in 1983 when I saw it in the cinema, and it felt like it was all over. The Emperor and Darth Vader were dead, the Death Star was destroyed, Anakin Skywalker (the real one, not that Hayden imposter) was a Force Ghost and the Ewoks played Yub Nub on Stormtroper helmets. No more Empire. No more anything, back then.
     
    Last edited: Apr 5, 2020
    EHT likes this.
  23. darklordoftech

    darklordoftech Force Ghost star 6

    Registered:
    Sep 30, 2012
    I think that if Lucas wanted the Empire to survive ROTJ, he would have made Vader’s dark side Master a separate character from The Emperor and made The Emperor a non-Force-user. I think Lucas made The Emperor Vader’s dark side Master because he wanted to wrap up the Galactic Civil War in ROTJ.
     
  24. Jake Starkiller

    Jake Starkiller Jedi Padawan star 1

    Registered:
    Apr 6, 2020
    Although I first saw ROTJ on Home Video, without the Galaxy wide celebrations (having found the tape in the depths of my grandmother's attic), I was still only 5 years old, and if I couldn't understand that Vader was dead, I sure as hell didn't think about such thing as an Imperial Remnant. So yeah, I thought the Empire was dead and gone.

    I think that by ESB, the concept of the Emperor being Vader's Master and a darksider was pretty locked in. He outright says "what is thy bidding, my Master?"
     
  25. darklordoftech

    darklordoftech Force Ghost star 6

    Registered:
    Sep 30, 2012
    I was talking about Lucas’s thoughts when planning ESB.