Part of what made the original Star Wars trilogy so influential was the simplicity of its narrative. It was the classic hero’s journey. The first three movies told the story of Luke Skywalker’s progression from a simple farm boy to a heroic and powerful Jedi Master.
The prequel trilogy tells the opposite story. It is the tragic tale of Anakin Skywalker’s rise to power and fall from grace. Some of the most poignant moments of Revenge of the Sith are dark reflections of similar scenes from the culminating film of the original trilogy, Return of the Jedi.
Throughout Revenge of the Sith, Anakin has trouble seeing the line between good and evil. Both Chancellor Palpatine and Mace Windu are willing to kill to accomplish their goals, and encourage him to kill to further their purposes. Throughout Return of the Jedi, Luke sees clearly the delineation between good and evil. He can see the good left in his father through the evil. He knows that his conscience will not allow him to kill, in spite of the fact that the evil Emperor Palpatine is encouraging him to do so for seemingly good reasons.
The story of the first six episodes of Star Wars are also the story of Anakin Skywalker’s fall and redemption. The motif of this plot line is the mask of Darth Vader. At the end of Revenge of the Sith, Anakin’s descent into darkness is complete, and he puts on the mask for the first time. At the end of Return of the Jedi, his redemption is sealed when he takes of the mask for the last time. (I am interested to see how the motif of Darth Vader’s mask is used going forward in the new trilogy).
Whether or not you like the Star Wars prequels, it is very interesting to see how they mirror the plot of the original series, and provide a background against which its story of redemption truly shines.
Keep on glowing in the dark,
Elora
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