CT Your reaction to Palpatine's force lightning

For those who saw ROTJ in theaters or even later on - what was your first reaction to the use of force lightning?

 

RotJ was the first SW I saw I believe and it was terrifying.

 

Shocking...

 

sigh...

 

When I saw it for the first time at eight years old, it shocked me (no pun intended) because I remember thinking that the Emperor was this defenseless little old man that seemed to need Vader to do everything for him, then suddenly he unleashed this impressive deadly power. It came out of nowhere and it was pretty terrifying at the time.

 

Terrifying. I didn't ever see the Emperor as a defenceless old man. I knew he must have some kind of impressive power up his sleeve. But that didn't make the lightning any less scary. I've always felt that the Emperor, like Yoda, is most effective when he spends most of his time with his power concealed. It makes it all the more impressive when it's unleashed.

 

I read the book before I saw the film. It was cool to read, and cool to watch it happen. Nothing like a new Force power.

 

I don't think I was shocked, terrified or all that impressed. I didn't have that kind of reaction.

I did, however, feel very sorry for Luke, he just had no idea what was coming. Throwing away his lightsaber earned him quite a bit of pain (as it so often does), but thankfully it worked out in the end.

 

Being as I first saw ROTJ as a six-year-old, I just it as how evil the Emperor was.

 

I was 13 and up to this point, we never saw a Jedi/Sith power like this. It was scary but amazing.

 

Don't really remember my initial reaction to the FL. Still a bit terrifying watching the scene today though.

 

I remember finding it incredible and I thought it was some pure evil, elite force power that Palpatine had created himself. Honestly, what is the point of Palpatine wielding a lightsaber in ROTS? He can pretty much stop anyone with force lightning, force grip, or telekinetic abilities.

 

As a child I kept trying to figure out what exactly it was doing to Luke. It seemed ambiguous since even though Luke was writhing in pain, he did not appear to be physically wounded or altered by it. Even afterwards, he appeared to recover and be quite back to as we was before during his final intimate moment with his father...so its still an enigma to me.

 

I too thought it was something unique to Palpatine.

 

Dooku flinging it so casually in AOTC sucks.

 

This. I think Lightning is way to common among sith. It should be reserved for the terrible sit Like palpatine, bane, traya etc.


I don't remember honestly. I was so young when I saw ROTJ.

 

And that Obi-Wan and Yoda deflect it so easily. Then we get Luke................... Ugh.

 

I always liked the idea that this guy was so powerful in the force that he'd transcended lightsabre combat and that the only way he could be defeated was by human, rather than superhuman abilities. I've always really liked that message.

 

^This

 

The Emperor was toying with Luke. Not giving him enough volts to kill him, but he wanted to cause Luke pain. His plans were ruined, and he wanted Luke to live long enough to see his last hope destroyed.

 

Although we knew for a long time that Vader wasn't in command, it was he, for the most part, who set the benchmark for outward displays of power in the OT. He was dominant with the lightsabre. He force choked people and made things fly across the room. For Luke, it was always about confronting Vader, becoming strong enough to face Vader. When the Emperor unleashes his force lightning on Luke, we are suddenly faced with the grim realisation that everything we thought we knew about power up until that point was wrong and that this guy operates on a whole other level from everyone else. Now that he realises that he can't turn, and therefore use Luke, he's going to squash him like a fly! Chilling...

 

I remember I was afraid of the Emperor. When I was a little boy, we had our den refinished & my older brother had a futon down there & I'd stay up and watch movies with him. I loved ANH & think I was too afraid to watch ROTJ because of the Emperor. Because when we first watched ESB I asked him if the Emperor was in it & he explained only a hologram was.

 

I think my eyes must have gotten as big as dinner plates, and I thought, "Oh, no, I didn't know he could do that!" Yeah, it was shocking.

 

I was terrified, because even after having seen the Prequels, I didn't know, what the Emperor would do, if somebody didn't want to become his next apprentice at all. I only thought: Doesn't Luke have something like a cosmetical mirror, better two, to lead the force-lightning back to the sender? Ah, that was awful.