Two Jedi Funerals

[sunnyskywalker]

I watched Return of the Jedi a few days ago, and as I stared at Anakin's funeral pyre, I reflected how both the first and last movies (nearly) end with that image. In The Phantom Menace, it's Qui-Gon's funeral. A Sith killed him, and in a way his death is the end of an era: the Jedi have lost their maverick master of the Living Force, and after that, the Sith take over and the inflexible Order falls. With Anakin, it's reversed: he destroyed the Sith, and all the old Jedi and Sith hangups die with him, leaving the unconventional Luke (who won by using the good side of emotions instead of "burying them deep down") to start over.

I also thought of Obi-Wan's memorable statement to Anakin at Qui-Gon's funeral: "You will be a Jedi. I promise." Anakin spends the rest of the movies trying to become a Jedi, but he's always torn between being a Jedi and being something else (son, husband, father, Sith). At the second funeral, he still has other roles - especially that of father - but they are no longer in conflict. He finally has become a Jedi.





In other news, I've been sorting through my memories. Yikes, I have hundreds! I'm trying to weed out the broken links and things I saved only so I wouldn't forget to read them.

Comments

[fialleril.livejournal.com]

leaving the unconventional Luke (who won by using the good side of emotions instead of "burying them deep down") to start over

I could hug you for this. Really. I was beginning to think that no one else saw that. *happy sighs* Luke won in the end because he decided not to listen to his Jedi teachers. I love that about him. ;)

I also thought of Obi-Wan's memorable statement to Anakin at Qui-Gon's funeral: "You will be a Jedi. I promise." Anakin spends the rest of the movies trying to become a Jedi, but he's always torn between being a Jedi and being something else (son, husband, father, Sith). At the second funeral, he still has other roles - especially that of father - but they are no longer in conflict. He finally has become a Jedi.

Now that is very interesting. I hadn't thought of it in quite that way before. I like the idea, though. But I'd have to qualify: Anakin at the end of ROTJ becomes a Jedi not in the sense of the old Order, but in the sense that Luke is a Jedi. Which adds a nice touch of irony to Luke saying, "I am a Jedi, like my father before me." But it's really the other way around, isn't it? ;)

[sunnyskywalker]

Oh, yes, good point! Now you've got me imagining Blue Ghost Anakin explaining to Ben and Yoda, "I am a Jedi, like my son after me." I like that :D

[fialleril.livejournal.com]

I was thinking more along the lines of, "I am a Jedi, like my son before me." ;)

[sunnyskywalker]

Works for me!