Did Luke ABSOLUTELY have to throw his lightsaber away in ROTJ?

After Luke convincingly gives pops an old fashioned butt kick, he tosses his lightsaber aside only to tell Palp "I'll never turn to the darkside." Dont want to turn to the darkside? Fine, I expect that, but is getting rid of your weapon just a cool way of proving your point? What the hell was he thinking? If he would have kept his weapon, would he have been savvy enough to parry off palps lightning like we've seen Mace and Obi Won do in the prequels? Of course nothing can beat the fact that HE THREW HIS LIGHTSABER AWAY!!! Apparently Obi Wan didnt tell Luke the whole line about how important a lightsaber is to a Jedi - as he did to Anakin in AOTC - or else he would'nt have pulled that crap. Your thoughts...

 

Dramatically speaking it was a brilliant moment, a gesture that rejects war and violence and hate and fear and greed and everything else that the dark side stands for. Realistically speaking, Luke, what **** are you doing?!?!?

 

Could it be that Luke knew that with or without sabre Palpy could've taken him out anytime he wanted?

Nah, he probably just wanted to be theatrical. Don't forget his mother's dress sense.

 

It was a powerful symbolic gesture, an in-your-face-fool gesture if you like, and many of my friends have asked me the same question.

But come on, how difficult would it be for Luke to get his lightsaber back if he needed it? All he had to do was use the Force and his saber would come flying back to him.

 

First, I have to agree that it is a gesture to show the Emperor that he has absolutely no influence on him.

Second, IMO he was ready to die together with his father and the Emperor on the Death Star when the Rebel Fleet would finally blow it up.

Third, I think it is a continuity problem. IMO nobody would complain about Luke throwing his lightsaber away if Palpatine and Dooku wouldn't have used Force Lightning in the PT.

 

yes that was a crazy decision by Luke. but i also think that he was prepared to die on that DS2. and there is a symbolic view of the rejection of war and all that.

 

It's not only symbolic. He can't win by fighting. Had he kept the saber or called it back to him he would have continued to fight and it would have led absolutely nowhere. He won by NOT fighting, which prompted the Chosen One to fulfill his destiny. Wouldn't have happened if he had stood there and parried everything Palpatine throws at him. No reason for Anakin to step in.

 

Yes he did...he had plans to construct a better, more awesome lightsaber so he needed to get rid of the one he had...Jedi's only use one lightsaber...the awesome ones anyway.

 

Yeah, he did. He was making a point.

 

This was an article that I was reading from:


"In a lengthy combat with his father, he [Luke] finally manages to disarm Vader, literally, just as Vader had earlier disarmed him. To his great credit, however, he then refuses the Emperor's offer to make his "hatred complete" by killing Vader and taking Vader's place at the Emperor's side. The Emperor even invites Luke to kill him, the Emperor, for that self-gratifying act would cost Luke?insofar as it is an act of aggression?his own soul. It is in this moment, finally, that Luke becomes a full-fledged Jedi, and he seems to know it. In a choice of solitary kenotic self-denial, and in full fidelity to the Force, Luke throws down his light saber and announces that he is "a Jedi, like my father before me." It is a gesture of faith, love, and sacrifice. Knowing that he has lost his chance to win Skywalker's soul, the Emperor executes Luke by sending wave after wave of lethal electrical current through him."

I thought this article described his decision pretty well...

http://www.christianitytoday.com/movies/commentaries/starwarspart3.html

 

Good post. Completely agreed.

 

He probably thought that using his lightsabre would do more harm than good at that point. Chucking it away meant he couldn't kill Vader or Palps, which would result in him falling to the Dark Side. He'd rather die as a Jedi than live as a Sith.

 

He'd rather die as a Jedi than live as a Sith.[/quote]
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thats it. bingo!

 

Luke realized what the emperor was doing and knew that if he didn't
follow his orders Palps would kill him. He also knew that would be the only chance to redeem his father whose was the only one that could overcome the Emperor.

 

Just another thing to add. Given that we have now seen the prequels, we know:
a) Anakin vows at his mothers grave to never fail again.
b) In ROTS, he does fail, Padme dies and Palpatine leads Vader to believe that it was all Vaders fault.
c) In ROTJ,IMO, Vader sees his one last chance to make right all the wrongs he has done from his mother to Padme.

In hindsight, it makes complete sense what happened. However, the big question then would be, how much did Yoda and Obi-Wan tell Luke about his grandmother and mother.

 

Hmm, on a side note...does Luke ever get his lightsaber back afterwards? I mean, he's dragging his father off the Death Star, so I would imagine that he'd leave it behind.

 

yes, it is silly, Lucas just have to change that to the next version!

 

Really, it was stupid, but it proves just how badly Luke resented the Dark Side. How he could care less about any side for that matter. All he wanted was his father to be himself again, and him rejecting violence and the whole "give into your hate" shows just how passionate he was at what he wanted.

 

It is Luc's only play if he wants to fully accomplish his goal. If he keeps his lightsaber, then 2 things can happen that don't help. One, Palps goes [...] on Luc with HIS lightsaber and kicks him over the rail. Then, Palps grabs Vader and they split before the deathstar explodes. The Empire lives. Two, Palps fires his Sith lightning and Luke deflects it as did Windu. In this case, Vader doesn't feel the sympathy for Luke and watches as Palpatine realizes that he's going to need to lightsaber fight. Then it's the first scenario. Luke HAS to throw his lightsaber to the ground to win. It's a brilliant move.


TLJ Edit: Find ways to express yourself within our swearing rules, please.

 

Thought #1. It makes the point definitive. When Anakin took off Dooku's hand if he had put his lightsabre away and let Dooku's fall to the floor, odds are it would not have ended up with Dooku beheaded. A blade in the hand brings temptation to use it more intense. Luke holding his sabre meant that Luke may yet have been compelled to continue to use it. Tossing it out of the way emphatically states "I'm done with this thing." There will be no more coaxing by Sidious, Luke's decision has been made. Live or Die did not factor into it.

Thought #2. Luke forgot Yoda's words "Do not underestimate the Emporer". Surely he felt that the Sith Lord was strong in the force. Sids did tell him he was unarmed and he seemed to have enough reason to believe that. He had seen Vader chuck some debris at him in ESB, maybe he was ready for an attack of that sort and NOT lightning.

Thought #3. He felt the light side surge into himself and was able to clearly see the future - a future with his father saving him if he put himself in peril.

All of them work for me. At any rate, it was DAMN cool to see.

Carnage

 

It works on two levels: the symbolic of course, and the practical. Because we can't automatically assume that Yoda threw in lessons on how to use your lightsaber to absorb Force lightning in his Cliff Notes training sessions in ESB. Therefore, it would have been really pointless for Luke to keep the danged thing. How could he know those things are lightning rods, in addition to being advanced Ginsu technology?

 

i have a hard time believing that at the moment that George Lucas definitively makes Luke a Jedi Knight he would also have him forgetting Yoda's warning not to underestimate the emperor. I think the exact opposite is taking place. Luke is seeing just how seductive the emperor can really be, and he is dangerously close to the dark side after flipping out on Vader. Luke doesn't like how by taking down his father he is becoming his father and realizes he cant keep fighting the emperor like that, and so he throws away his lightsabre.

I dont think Luke was all knowing in that he figured his dad would save him from the emperor, but, i think that the light side of the force was moving through him and it told him to throw away his sabre and renounce the emperor and announce his Jedi Knighthood.

 

^agreed

 

Exactly. Luke wants to save his father, not kill him & it's obvious that he can't take on the Emperor (as he'll then zap Luke with Sith lightning). I don't think it was the Force that made Luke throw down his saber, but rather his love & hope of saving Vader.