Shifting the Narrative

I have gone through an engaging narrative shift these last couple of days. There I was, minding my own business watching Star Wars: Return of the Jedi. It was May 4^th, so watching Star Wars was warranted. And apparently unavoidable as it is on all day. Which as a Star Wars fan, I think is fantastic. Still inevitable today too.

Anyway, I happened to catch a scene that I have watched a million times. What I heard this time was something that I had not heard before. Now I can’t unhear it. Nor can I unthink about it.

The Scene of Which I Reference

Luke goes back to the Dagobah system to finish his training with Yoda. A bit later in conversation with Obi Wan’s ghost (or whatever that is supposed to be):

Luke: I can’t kill my own father

Obi-Wan: you are our only hope

Luke: Yoda spoke of another

Obi-Wan: The one Yoda spoke of is your twin sister

The Realization

So, if Luke has a twin sister, how is he their last hope? Because he is a man? Like the universe can’t rely on a woman to win the day?

I did post my realization on social media. Hey, if my brain is going down this dark spiral of truth, I will share that. Well, okay then. A friend of mine responded. I thought about my response, and without further ado, here they are.

Further Thoughts

My very first thoughts, pre-coffee, mind you, was that, of course, they had to portray him as being stronger with the force than Leia because he is a man. You know, sexism and stuff. And men are stronger than women, so of course, they couldn’t have had a woman with the force stronger than her brother. And yes, you can’t have a woman with money and power. Lol.

THEN I HAD COFFEE. (sets the coffee down)

Leia is Less Powerful

I think Leia has the same level of power, if not more than Luke. I recall the conversation Luke and Leia had on the moon of Endor. Leia says that Luke has powers she will never understand and doesn’t have. Then Luke looks at her and says, “The force has always been strong in my family. My father had it. I have it. And my sister has it.” And he gives her that look.

Mm.  So, if the force is strong with his family, then it is strong with Leia too. So, the theory that Leia isn’t as strong with the force is out.

Hidden in Plain Sight

The next theory was that the Rebellion hid Luke because he was more powerful. But they were both kept hidden from the Empire. However, Luke wasn’t very well hidden by the Rebellion, as my husband and I discussed last night.

He went to live with his Uncle on the same planet that Anakin and Owen grew up on. I mean, seriously. Vader never thought to, you know, check in with his brother about the random baby he suddenly had? Hidden in plain sight, I guess.

On the other hand, Leia went to a republic senator’s family to be hidden away, also in plain sight but not in the same way. You really want to hide these kids, then don’t put them with family members or a family in the public eye.

Narrative Shift – Weaker Link

 Mm. So my next thought is that maybe Luke is the weaker link. Maybe Luke wasn’t as powerful as Leia with the Force. They “hid” him thinking that once Vader found him, which would have been easy to do, Vader would stop looking. Vader, thinking that he has his only child, would focus on Luke.

The distraction would provide Yoda the opportunity to focus on training Leia to harness her power and use it to defeat Vader. All without worrying about Vader finding out about her because she would be safe as long as Vader never knew about her. Leia was passionate but willing to listen and to learn. Right there, she was above and beyond where Luke was.

Much like future generation Rae, Leia wanted to understand the power she could wield before wielding it. Leia was a much better choice to go against Vader.

Sacrificial Lamb

But to keep her safe, they had to proclaim that Luke is THE ONE; it kept Vader’s attention on the weaker link. And if Luke dies, eh, whatever. I think they expected him to die because he never finished his training, and he never listens.  Well, until they tell him that the is their only hope. Poor guy really needed his ego boosted. So, they kept feeding him that lie to keep him going. All the while keeping Leia a secret.

So, Luke was the sacrificial lamb.

But he didn’t die. They had to keep focusing on him and his story. Let’s look at it like this, every man who the force was strong within was all conflicted somehow. They were rash, thought they knew more than they did, and did not listen to their elders. And Luke never seemed to learn.

He really was the weaker of the two siblings.

And just like that, the narrative shifts.