StarkillerAG said:
Anakin Starkiller said:
But why? Does it really need to be an ability unique to him?
Yeah, I don’t really see how the OT implies that only Palpatine can use force lightning. It feels like Tantive just made some personal assumptions about how things work after seeing the OT for the first time, and then got mad at the prequels for “contradicting the OT” when they really just contradicted his own personal headcanon.
First of all, he didn’t even say that. He just expressed a perfectly normal preference that people have, the same way many editors cut Yoda fighting altogether or limit it to the one strike he makes during order 66.
It doesn’t imply anything either way. No one knew to call it “force lightning” yet either. This was before all the “force powers” were codified into limited video game/RPG spells. (Nothing against the games of course.)
As of ROTJ we have no idea what masters of the Force are capable of. For all we know, Palpatine could have been throwing fireballs or breathing poison gas or causing nightmare visions or raising up stormtrooper zombies. Technically according to expanded universe canon he probably could have done all of that.
Force lightning doesn’t have to be a unique ability to Palpatine, but it would be more interesting if other characters used other abilities. As it stands with the prequels, apparently the only direct visible appearance of the Force is with force lightning, and that seems a little disappointing.
There’s no reason anyone’s particular headcanon has to be worse than the actual movies. That’s what this whole website is about.