There are many temptations along the movies of the Trilogy, The attraction of the Dark is a increase of power promised, and that the empire is being over thrown. The decision to join the Dark Side could seem appealing to characters depending on their situation. One example of this is Lando deciding to betray his long friend Solo, when Solo and the crew make it to Bespin, Darth vader arrives to bespin and threatens to take over unless lando tells the whereabouts of Solo. Calrissian is put in a horrible situation, the people of Bespin or his best friend, betraying his old friend Han Solo and turning him over to Boba Fett seemed to be his only choice. Unwilling to leave the city in the hands of the Empire, Calrissian reluctantly does so, but his conscience gets the better of him when Vader doesn't honor their deal and takes the whole crew as prisoners.
Luke is also tempted by the dark force when he faces his father Darth Vader in a battle on Cloud City. The two showcase their light Saber abilities in a duel between good and evil. The climax of this battle is Luke losing his light saber and failing to defeat Vader. Vader then invites Luke to join the Dark side with him and rule the empire as Father and son. Luke loses his hand in this battle, which handicaps him, leaving him without the power of the force in the process. Luke is faced with the decision of joining the Dark Force or death at this point but he escapes through the an air shaft that allows him to cling for his life to an antenna and eventually be saved by his comrades. The force was not victorious in this battle as they were able to sway Lando into betraying the empire. 
The third temptation of the dark side is the in the Original Trilogy when Han Solo loyalty doesn't lie with the Empire quite yet. Solo agrees to help Obi- Wan and Luke reach Alderan for the big pay off, once the crew realize that Alderan is destroy Solo sticks around to rescue Princess Leia from Death Star. The reason why Solo is still present is because he is promised even a greater reward for his services, once the task is complete Han Solo doesn't stick around. Han collects his reward and seems to leave back for his home land, this was a hit to the Empires moral in terms of Luke and Leia who believed he would stay. The mission to recapture the galaxy for the good of her People didn't stop there, the Empire decided to attack Death Star. Luke joins the flightier pilots in this mission to destroy Death Star. However, Solo has a change of heart and returns to save Luke's life during the mission, which was on the verve of becoming a filed operation. Han Solo return to action ultimately enables Luke to destroy the Death Star.
I don’t think Luke’s temptation to join the Dark Side is limited to his relationship with Darth Vader, since the closest he comes to submitting is his desire to kill the Emperor in Return of the Jedi. He finds himself consumed by rage and hate due to his desire to protect his friends, which gives him a taste of the power of the Dark Side as he is able to overcome Vader and chop off his hand. At that point, the Dark in Luke is winning, but when he decides to have mercy on Vader, it displays the light winning out, just as Vader having mercy on Luke in The Empire Strikes Back was indicative of the small amount of light in Vader. At the climax of Return, it could have gone either way, with Luke joining the Dark, or Vader joining the Light, so in reality, they were both being tempted.
ReplyDeleteIt is interesting seeing the progress of Han’s conflict as well. Since the first film, we see him struggling between caring for a cause greater than himself and his solitary nature, until finally in Return he attempts to sacrifice his own desires for Leia’s benefit.