WheresBlackhawk said:
Here are my new questions for the week:
How should Jedi combat work?
I think this needs to be reinvented. As anyone who has read this thread knows, I HATE the idea of bada$$ Jedi. To me that goes against EVERYTHING from the OT (Ugh, Samuel L. Jackson? Obiwan swinging his sword like Conan?).
Yes, I think Luke's giant backflips and Vader's ESB prowess should be more or less the extent of Jedi Agility. All of the twirling in the PT is just way too over the top. And I like RedLetterMedia's assessment of the vertical traffic scene in AotC... once they fall 20 stories and comfortably land in a speeder giving chase at 100 MPH, who fears for their safety? Who feels any tension as they face "danger"?
So, if the force should only be used for knowledge and defense, then how DOES one succeed in battle? I really don't even like the "force push." If I walk up to you and "push" you across the room, to me, that speaks to "aggression," one of those naughty words Yoda spoke of. So we need to come up with something new, like the Jedi equivalent of judo. Jedi Judo? I'm so sorry, but PLEASE bear with me. How can the force weilder use the aggression, anger, and attack of the enemy to their advantage? That's what I'm looking for. Any ideas would be appreciated.
Here in lies the problem of the light side of the force. In my mind, this should be used to push people to the Dark Side. Because this logic essentially makes the Light Side of the Force usless. It's a gun that shoots no bullets.
Jedi carry lightsabres, but if they ever do anything with them, they are essentially forcing their will on someone who doesn't share their physical might. The old, "Might makes right" argument. Yoda argues that the Light Side of the Force is passive... but Jedi Warriors have to be anything but passive if they're going to be anything buy ineffective. QED.
All the Dark Jedi have to do to win the Light Jedi to their side is to draw them into battle. Once at battle, the Jedi are on morally shaky ground.
next...
"If you strike me down, I shall become more powerful than you can POSSIBLY imagine." How does Ben know this? How does he become "more powerful" in EP5and6? Is it because he is now PART of the force? Wouldn't it be cool, if the reason he defeats Vader in EP3 is because of a moment of pure power fed by the Jedi Vader himself helped destroy? Maybe the force was "strong" in Luke during the Death Star battle because Ben was WITH him at that moment. Of course this raises the question, why did Ben abandon Luke when he confronted Vader in Bespin. Why did Luke HAVE TO do it alone?
I think its much simpler than that. He became a matyr. Matyrs are often much more useful to their causes dead than they were alive.
Prior to this, Luke says, "It's not like I like the Empire- I hate it. But with the harvest coming in... you know, I've got stuff to do." Obviously, he's come a long away and killed a stormtrooper or two before Ben dies, but I think that moment cements everyone on the Millennium Falcon as a rebel.
Again any ideas to help connect the dots would be great.
Remember: if we want to make something cool for the NPT, it must not only fill in the blanks and the past of the OT, but it must also make us look at the OT in a new light. THEN i think it would be a successful story.
I agree with this, but very cautiously. The PT did make me look at the OT in a new light, but not a better one.