CT Yoda lifting the X-Wing... my problem with it.

Many fans cite this moment as one of those magical scenes in the entire franchise. The cinematography, the score, Yoda's incredible monologue about the force... I totally get it. It's a very well done scene on a technical level.

I have a small problem with it though, and it's something I don't usually see brought up.

It's redundant.

The problem is that the movie had already made it very clear that jedi can use the force to move objects with their mind. We'd seen Luke do it twice up until that point. First on Hoth with the lightsaber and then during his training with Yoda as he lifted the rocks off the ground. Sure we hadn't seen him move anything as large as an x-wing before... but then is that really such an awe inspiring reveal? "Oh wow I knew the force could move objects but not LARGE objects?"

From a storytelling perspective wouldn't it have made more sense to keep that ability a secret from the audience until it was time for Yoda to raise the ship out of the swamp? Wouldn't that have made for a much better scene?

 

sorry man but no. It's a beautiful scene.

 

Here's the thing about the X-wing. Luke has been able to use the force to lift things that he could also lift with his own physical strength. Luke had yet to experience using the force to lift something that was beyond his physical capabilities. It was another threshold that Luke had to cross.

 

This is a fair assessment I suppose.

 

Yoda tells Luke he must unlearn what he has learned. Luke knows he has the ability to touch this energy field known as the force, but he's having trouble truly imaging what is capable with it. And Luke will need that knowledge if he plans on facing the Emperor. In Luke's mind, the X-wing is too heavy. Yoda must prove him wrong.

It's the same thing that's going on in The Matrix when Neo has to jump from one building to another in his training for the first time. He sort of understands that it's possible (after all, Luke does nudge that X-wing a little) but ultimately he doesn't really KNOW it's possible yet. And both Neo and Luke fail at their first attempt.

 

Was just thinking of this scene the other day, and how Luke says "We'll never get it out now!". Made me think, what was his original plan for getting it out? It's not like there's a crane or other heavy lifting machinery on Dagobah. Which I guess means the X-wing needs to be able to use its repulsors to lift itself out? Were they damaged in the crash? Did Luke have a way of repairing them before the ship sank into the water?

 

... yes?

 

I don't think there was a plan. Had Luke been smarter he would have slowed down before landing in the first place. Instead he crashed through trees at full speed, having no clue what the ground was like and how far below. That part really bothered me. Luke was shown to be a good pilot before, but not even an idiot would fly through fog with zero visibility at that speed. His approach should have been MUCH slower, allowing him to find a safe place to land. Also no idea why he didn't activate the repulsors right after he crashed into the swamp. I don't think they were damaged. You would think a fighter like an X-Wing would be more robust and not be seriously damaged by a few tree branches. Also, why not use shields? I think Luke made lots of stupid mistakes on Dagobah. Any pilot with half a brain would have put down the ship safely first, THEN start unloading all that (unnecessary?) stuff, only take his weapons and explore the immediate surroundings first. I like the movie, but "landing" on Dagobah Luke acted like a moron. Without Yoda he would have been dead for sure.
The crew of the Nostromo did a much better job landing, and that ship had thousands times more mass and must have been much harder to maneuver.

 

Luke says that in response to his ship sinking. Before, it was just sort of hanging out on the surface.

I'm fairly certain that Yoda caused that crash with the force so that Luke would end up in a predetermined area under predetermined circumstances.

 

I'd say that the reason it is completely intact after being lifted out of the swamp - no obvious signs of damage anywhere - is that it did have the shields up when it went through those branches and wasn't damaged in any way in the crash.

 

I never even considered that possibility. Sure, it's thinkable. While I don't think Yoda actually made Luke crash, I do believe he somehow guided him. After all how would Luke know how to find Yoda on an entire planet? It's not that Obi-Wan's ghost gave Luke GPS coordinates, or that they have place names on Dagobah. But wouldn't Luke, or at least R2, have found it strange if the ship became uncontrollable and commented on it? At least you would expect an astromech droid to tell the pilot "hey, why are you going so fast? We can't see anything at all" or something like that. We also know that R2 is capable of flying an X-Wing by himself. He suggested as much after they left Hoth.
If Yoda was involved, it would have made more sense to let Luke land safely, without risking losing the ship. He could still have taught the lesson of lifting it from the ground. Or did Yoda still have that small ship somewhere that he used to get to Dagobah in the first place in ROTS? Without it even Yoda wouldn't have been able to get Luke off the planet.

 

Apparently he used parts from it for his hut after it began to degrade:

https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/E3-standard_starship_lifeboat

 

OK, in that case none of them would have had any hope of ever leaving Dagobah if Luke's X-Wing had been permanently damaged or Yoda failed to get it out of the swamp. Not really a pleasant situation. Sure, Yoda probably had planned to stay there in exile for the rest of his life, but Luke wouldn't have been that happy about it.
As for the article, I think it's not quite correct. I haven't seen the movie in a while, but I'm 90% sure we see Yoda's ship when he says goodbye to Chewie on Kashyyk. Am I wrong? I know Yoda landing on Dagobah is only in the deleted scene, but we do see him take off from Kashyyk in ROTS.
In any case, it would have been very selfish and unfair of Yoda to make Luke crash and force him to be stranded on Dagobah for the rest of his life. I mean, the X-Wing could have been damaged beyond repair by the crash plus being in a swamp for weeks (or months?). And I don't think Dagobah has that many spare parts shops to repair it.
Or did Luke have any means at all to contact the Rebels for help? I doubt it. Is that mentioned anywhere? Certainly not in the movie or novelization.

 

The one used in the escape from Kashyyyk is a different size as I recall.

https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/E3-standard_starship_lifeboat/Legends

This pod is one of two used by Yoda in Revenge of the Sith, and the art department ensured the two were visually different from one another.


The point made by the article is that the pod Yoda used to land on Dagobah is now useless due to the environment and Yoda having to dismantle it for parts.

 

It's one of my favorite scenes in the entire saga. Truly inspiring.

 

OK, I didn't know that. In any case Luke would have been stranded on Dagobah without his X-Wing. So it was vital for him to keep it intact. And getting it out of the swamp required Yoda's help. I'm not sure if R2 could have activated the ship somehow. We know he can operate under water. So maybe he could somehow have activated the repulsors to lift it to dry ground? Surely it was impossible for Luke to enter the cockpit under water. And Yoda was stuck anyway without his ship. Even considering his size, it would have been difficult for him to fit in the small cockpit of the one-man fighter, together with Luke.
Again, any sources that say Luke was able to contact the Rebels from Dagobah? Possibly from the X-Wing, but of course he couldn't get into it.

 

Hm, I've never once gotten any impression that Yoda influenced where or how Luke landed on Dagobah.

So then Yoda clouded him and the ship enough to cause him to crash just in case he needed to use the ship as an object lesson later??

 

Maybe he could've reached out to Leia through the Force and she could come pick him up? Or Ahsoka...or Ezra...or any of those other Order 66 survivors, lol.

lol, I was thinking of this as well. But while R2 might be waterproof, and so might the X-wing's outer hull...the X-wing's innards certainly wouldn't be. Once he opens up the maintenance hatch or whatever to get to work, water goes in and messes everything up.

 

I agree. I still recall how Luke had used much effort just to get his lightsaber, while being a captive inside that cave on Hoth.

 

If Yoda is powerful enough to manipulate physics in outer space and draw Luke's ship to his exact position, then there is no reason he shouldn't be playing a more active role in the fight against the empire. Training Luke can wait.

 

It’s the difference between using the Force to lift a TV remote vs lifting a car from the bottom of a lake. That was the entire point. The Force was just that powerful.

 

Sure, using the Force for communication might have been possible. But how many Force users were there who were not in hiding or otherwise out of reach? Leia was trapped inside an asteroid in a damaged ship that could just barely make it to Bespin for repairs, but only because it was close enough. Once on Bespin she soon became a captive herself and couldn't have done much. Even on Bespin, when Luke called out to her she only got a vague feeling Luke was in trouble, no specifics. So she wasn't really that strong with the Force. Maybe Vader could have tortured Han some more to find out where Luke was to get him himself. But then again I think neither Han nor Leia knew Luke was on Dagobah. And Vader himself sure had no clue, otherwise no need to get Luke to Bespin at all. If he could sense where Luke was, why not directly go to Dagobah and fight him there?
As for other Jedi survivors, in the OT they didn't exist. So even if Yoda knew them in the prequels, in ESB he didn't, and all we knew was that he was the last surviving Jedi. Maybe he could have asked Obi-Wan to appear to the Rebels and have them rescue Luke. But we don't know if Force ghosts can be called at all, or if they just appear and disappear whenever they feel like it.

 

I also felt it was a way for Yoda to teach Luke about his potential when he had the Force as his ally.
That’s why the quote “Judge me by my size” was very relevant to the lesson.

Great scene imho.....and JW amazing score!!!

Stay safe amigos!!!

 

As a kid I never understood why Luke wasn’t trying to get it out before it sank. Letting your X-Wing chill in a swamp didn’t seem like a great plan.