27:22 that’s why I love the Gandalf quote, “Saruman believes it is only great power that can hold evil in check, but that is not what I have found. It is the small everyday deeds of ordinary folk that keep the darkness at bay. Small acts of kindness and love.”
That's one of my favorites, too. Gandalf drops so many good nuggets like that in the films that grant hope, not just for the outcome of the movie plot, but for real life for the audience to internalize.
The cave scene is obvious. When Luke asks what's in there, Yoda tells him "Only what you bring with you." Luke is bringing HIS fear, his anger, his hate, his impulsivity, his quickness to fight in there with him. He isn't confronting Vader. The figure of Vader is his fear and his object of anger and hate manifest. His real enemy is himself and the weaknesses and flaws he brought in there with him, hence seeing his own face in the form of his enemy.
100%, and the obvious corollary that anyone can become a villain if they are not careful not too. It's quite literally Nietzschean philosophy with the cave serving a literal role of the abyss: "Beware that, when fighting monsters, you yourself do not become a monster; for when you gaze long into the abyss, the abyss gazes also into you.”
I agree. The OP thinks very concretely rather than philosophically. His definition of being a Jedi is essentially being nice but knowing how to use a sword if necessary. It is actually very much about what you cultivate in yourself and use to fuel your efforts. It isn't about his father at all, but rather what path Luke could take himself. He says this isn't like any other Jedi training, but this is the first scene where we see any Jedi training at all. He violates his own admonishment to discard preconceived notions of what a Jedi is and consider it afresh. The training does indeed make perfect sense when you consider the nature of the tension between light and dark in each of us and the axiom of the Jedi that the light alone is desirable.
And this is why Luke wins in 6, he casts aside that anger and fear and chooses the love he has for his father. That love is such a powerful emotion that it allows Vader to overcome ALL the trauma he has endured (which we know from the prequels, obviously) in the most critical moment and Anakin is back baby. God the OT is so good.
There's also the literal foreshadowing that, if Luke overcomes Vader through pure violence, his fate is to "become" Vader. His weapons are not the solution to the final problem, and they only make him vulnerable in the confrontation.
Just started the video and already the analogy of “If you focus on how stupid a vinegar cupcake is, you forget how to make a good cupcake” calls out Star Wars discourse perfectly.
@@al112v4tf are you talking about? He’s explaining that “DISNEY STAR WARS BAD” is a shitty take itself, so people should talk more about what makes old Star Wars good if they want to properly analyze and learn what makes a show good
The funny part is a vinegar cupcake has potential, you just need to know how to use vinegar properly in baked goods like a proper rural grandmother. In Star Wars terms, setting up the state of the Jedi as having a reformation period 100 years before the Clone Wars after some particularly bad Jedi actions hurt their galactic image, that's a great idea. Because it shows that even when they fail terribly, they can bounce back and it foreshadows Luke bringing the Jedi back while also showing how the galaxy was primed against the Jedi just enough for Sidious to weaponize it. Anti-clericalism happens all across history and you can follow the trajectories even when steps were taken to prevent it. Shame what we got was an unironic "Jedi were always bad and the Dark Side is just misunderstood." And not even in the interesting Paradise Lost way where the author expects you to be smart enough to realize that Satan's POV is objectively deceptive and evil.
@@JonCrs10 That's not what we got. We actually got a lot of what you talked about and it was made in direct text of the show. The show did not say the Jedi were always bad, they give SO MUCH evidence to the contrary. They also don't say the Dark Side is misunderstood. And there is oodles of textual evidence making this clear. Instead, what the show is saying is that they're all PEOPLE, nuanced and complex and hypocritical. That institutions claiming to be infallible are the ones you should watch the MOST. And that part of resisting the Dark Side is that sometimes it CAN sound like it's making sense. It's not mustache twirling evil. If it was JUST that, there wouldn't be temptation. The only Jedi we see on screen actually being nefarious is Vernestra. And its because she has become a politician, just for the Jedi. For all their mistakes, none of the 4 Jedi on Brendok are BAD people. They're just PEOPLE, with ideals and worldviews, that caused a big problem with the best of intentions. And the Witches use the Force in unfamiliar ways, but they aren't just "of the Dark Side". They are shown as a community that has been hunted and persecuted, but maybe not entirely for no reason. And Qimir talks a good game, but we know he's not in this for noble reasons. We see his callousness and cruelty.
When Luke tries to look for Yoda, his expectations were to find a warrior, a powerful warrior, one who taught Obi-wan in his prime. Luke was expecting a champion, and found something what to his eyes was small, weak, aloof... too lost themselves to ever help him become a Jedi. Obi-Wan and Yoda showed the audience that being a Jedi, went much farther than being someone that could do amazing things with a sword. A lesson Luke failed in the cave, and only succeeded the moment he threw his sword aside to save his father. That was the moment Luke became a Jedi Master.
Ah but Bib Fortuna said that Jedi Fight. "Bargain rather than Fight? He's no Jedi!" That attitude shows that at this point the Jedi had lost their way. Luke went looking for a Great Warrior because That's what the Jedi were seen as in stories he'd heard up to that point. Hell Obi-an even said his father was a cunning Warrior.
@@Fenris30I agree. Most people in the galaxy never fully understood Jedi. They mainly had a Sith Lord show them who Jedi were - fighters and later tyrants of the Clone Wars. Had the Jedi been true to form and not become soldiers in the Clone Wars, their image could not be ruined. By the time they fought, in defense like true Jedi, no one could question who they were.
To be fair, that's not unexpected. Most people really can't vocalize why they like something. I don't think most people can go into a 40 minute analysis on jedi. They just know they like them, and maybe they know like 1-2 things. But saying why you don't like something is usually easier. You know Jedi are supposed to act like this and not like that. And the Jedi acted like that, which is out of character.
@@jmgonzales7701 maybe they are, maybe they aren't. I don't know. But we aren't talking about the EU. This video talks about the OT. 95%+ of people have no idea what the EU even is.
You can make a very good product with something that would ruin other things, but if you do it wrong people will be pretty quick to point out that you added something that would ruin it. Balder's gate 3 has a lot of things that in a less well made title would be touted as critical failure points, yet because they are done well it is praised for these things. It's not that some things are fundamentally bad it's that people just suck at making them work.
When I realised what you were getting at with the “Everything is the same” point, I actually paused the video and paced around my house for a few minutes, it blew my mind so much. If you can lift a rock, you can lift a plane. If Vader can turn to the dark side, you can too. Luke needed to learn That lesson, and when he didn’t, Yoda was terrified that he’d go to Vader and turn evil.
"If Vader can fail, you can, too." Yes, but the hope is also more powerful: if you can succeed, so can Vader. Also "If Vader fails, we all fail", if there's ultimate connection.
@@schnee1 I just want to say, your analysis so perfectly embodies my thoughts about the OT amd why those 3 movies are the only movies that I believe should be canon. I also believe Timothy Zahn is the only other writer who has been able to capture the lore of Star Wars so closely to what Lucas did with the OT. Great video.
Everything comes together in the end. Ben not being afraid of death. Yoda pulling the ship out of the swamp. Luke bringing his weapons with him into the cave and facing his fears of becoming Vader. It all comes together when he faces Vader for real and he finally gets it.
It's just annoying at this point because Disney is adamant about going from "flawed" to straight-up villainous. I'm beyond ready for a story where we're not being preached to that they're the real bad guys of the story. But The Acolyte tells me we're not course correcting yet
You're right ! Yoda pulling the ship out of mud as Luke believes it impossible - at first - to pull his father out of the muddy dark side he is plunged in, I just reflected on that
@@wandrillelamy5233 The ship pulled out of mud itself, it can fly. Joda just drive it via Force, brain-computer interface. There is at least three ways to communicate with smart machines in Star Wars universe, via android-translator like 3PO, on a deeper level via droid like r2d2, and on the deepest level via Force, which is brain-computer interface. That's why when r2d2 was hit Luke hear the voice of digitalized Obi-Wan through the Force "Use the Force, Luke!", so he can aim the target precisely.
Wh.. lol.. wha.. .. lol.. what? Lol I don't get this comment but it made me laugh... I must have missed the context... viscouse... sticky... lol vinegar?
@joesuchy1157 I don't think you understand the irony of... it's thin / viscous and sticky... lol vinegar is thin yes, probably the least viscous, and, dissolves sugars starches and proteins, so.... not sticky... lol... I was more... wondering what the person that made the statement... was trying to acctually say... just asking
Obiwan always struck me as "Powerful, wise, important, but understated and kind" which was something that I at the age didn't have and had never seen. No pomp, no dramatic lighting, just a kind greeting. I didn't realize it at the time, but i thought something akin to what you articulated so well here.
I think the best quote about Jedi is "I miss… the idea of it. But not the truth, the weakness. “. Obi Wan Kenobi represent the best version of this idea of it. But even he failed when he was younger. And that's ok. No one is that perfect as Jedi want to be.
And that's the point of it. You know you can never reach that perfect ideal but you still try. Because if you try, you'll still get closer to it than if you never tried at all.
YES, from an in-universe perspective absolutely. because if you were living in Star wars you'd absolutely wish that they were what they were supposed to be. from a storytelling perspective though, showing all the ways in which they were flawed was absolutely the right way to go imo
Okay, except we aren’t actually considering that Obi-wan was a failed Jedi Master. Trained Anakin Skywalker, whom fell to the dark side. While the video is looking at it from the OG trilogy, we can even take some new canon that definitely coincides with that point of view. Obi-wan’s flashback scenes definitely kind of highlight it for me; while he ultimately “teaches” Anakin a lesson in the duel that goes on to show Vader falling prey to the same weakness. They all saw in Anakin all of his flaws but instead of holding him back, forcing him to change, the rigors of war push them to elevate him.
Quick comment but in the OT (and PT as well actually) there isnt a single mention of the light side. The original vision is that The Force, is inherently balanced and Jedi serve rhe balance, the Darkside is distorting the force to your own goals and unbalancing it. Kinda wild that there was no light side for so long but we sorta assume and create dichitomies where none is found in the source
There is a mention of the light side. When Yoda first brings up the dark side, Luke asks "How will I know the good side from the bad?" Granted, Luke doesn't really know what he's talking about. But Yoda's response isn't to challenge this dichotomy, it's "You will know." Seems like he's implying there is a light side opposite the dark side.
@@eccentriastes6273 it's hard to say how reliable Yoda is as he's such an oddball and he later literally dies rather than answering a question so concise and clear answers aren't really his thing. But it's true and interesting that he does not reject good and bad as a dichotomy. Although it would still not appear that the force is balanced between good and bad. Definitely want more good than bad. The lightside if we use the term would be balance with the darkside being unbalance. Luke's question shows the right understanding by attributing 'bad' to the darkside showing he doesn't want any darkside, which would be why Yoda doesn't have any need to correct terminology. You will know is an interesting answer, it speaks to being your own authority on right and wrong as opposed to looking to external sources. I just think it's interesting how for most of my life I thought of the force as light and dark, when this is a vaguely implied dichotomy at best and none of the star wars media (6 movies) I grew up with contain any mention of the lightside. Kinda blew my mind a bit when I learned that
@@LordVader1094thats not what ying yang concept is. The important part is that ying has a part of yang and the other way. It tells us that there is no perfect good or bad and the balance is also inside of us.
@@eccentriastes6273 But I wouldn't expect Luke to be an authority to know what the force is about, particularly not at his point in life. Just that the Force is everything, and the dark side is only created out of evil. Just naturally Yoda doesn't really correct him as it's really just a tiny technicality that helps Luke follow him; because he will know Force from it's dark side when the time comes. Which is why Yin-Yang doesn't work when it comes to the force. The dark side was never apart of the natural cycle, it's the part created by immensely evil creatures who will warp destiny to satisfy it's endless hunger. The force is everything life is; therefore the only balanced force is the one where there is no Sith to manipulate destinies.
A Jedi is never lonely they live on compassion, and they live on helping people and people live them and they can love them back but when that person dies they let go those that cannot let go become miserable that the lonely place -George Lucas
It's kind of crazy the variance in how different stories use this fact to their own effects. You can have the nervous protagonist in over their head and rightly feel powerless because of it. They gain competence and by extension confidence and stability. Clash them against an able but uncontrolled antagonist, and they realize that keeping a cool head can overcome strength wielded inefficiently. The protagonist can face a villain that is truly powerful, that is so insurmountably composed that their own training breaks to the character they started as, and they have to come to terms with their failure. You can have the powerful, unshakable villain finally be overcome by a moment where they lose their control in the face of new adversity, showing they are no longer as powerful as the protagonist; or the villain cleanly defeated by the unshakable protagonist, they are shown as a great obstacle that is successfully overcome. It kind of ties back to the Super Saiyan example: Goku's best friend is killed, and instead of breaking down and getting lost in his emotions, he focuses up and is able to restrain his sorrowful rage enough to tell his son to get to safety and even offer to spare the man responsible for the murder. His head is clear enough to figure out that for as much as he wants to and literally can use his emotions as fuel to beat Frieza into paste, the worst wound he can inflict is making him live with failure. The whole arc, Frieza was confident in being the strongest in the universe, then Super Saiyan Goku forces him to realize that despite 100% strength being able to harm the hero he feared, he never had the control he thought he did and his lack of discipline wore him down enough to make one fatal mistake and get done in by his own attack.
@@wingsoffreedom3589 Boycotting Disney Star Wars means, do not consume any, i repeat, any Disney Star Wars created content. None, nada, no bueno. If you want change, boycott. Its your only hope.
First minutes and you're already extremely coherent. That's why you're one of my favorite analysis channels, schnee. Not only are your analysis good, but the way you frame and observe everything is really logical and empathetic.
I think for Yoda's perplexing teaching it would be helpful to consider some Zen-Buddhist philosophy / teaching methods. In the west, we operate on the assumption that everything can be taught and understood on an intellectual level, where this is not the case in Buddhism. That certain truths can only be gained through direct experiences, and often these experiences are impossible with our preconceived notions. Setting Luke up to fail, in this context, makes perfect sense. Luke is holding on to preconceived notions that need to be removed before he can experience the truth of the Force. Whatever the flaws of Last Jedi, this line is pure Yoda "The greatest teacher, failure is."
PLEASE, you, and EVERYONE, if you haven't already, embrace the One True Only God YHWH Jehovah, Only One Jesus Christ His Only Begotten Son and Lord and Savior of our souls and the Only One Holy Spirit. God is good. God is love. Jesus is Lord. Jesus IS coming. Your soul depends on it! I have seen God act in my life. He saved my soul, changed my heart, changed my mind, helped people through me, took care of people in my life, people I hurt before I found God. God is the only reason I was able to reconcile with my dad before he died. God worked through Jesus Christ to save our souls. Jesus Christ died on the cross for our sins. Believe in your heart and confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus, and that God raised Him from the dead and you will be saved. Be baptized in The Holy Spirit, and if He wills, water as well. Repent of your sins, accept God, Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit into your heart, that Jesus Christ died on the cross for your sins. For God so loved the world that He gave His only Begotten Son Jesus Christ, that all who believe on Him should not perish but have everlasting life. Jesus Christ is The Way, The Truth and The Life. No one comes to the Father Jehovah God but through Him. Not long after I got saved I prayed to God for help understanding the Holy Bible, and that same day someone knocked on my door asking me if I wanted to understand the Bible. The Holy Bible says, "love thy enemy", "turn the other cheek", "If your enemy is hungry, feed him", "if he is thirsty, give him a drink", "pray for those who persecute you", "do not repay evil for evil". LORD willing, all humans may commit sin of almost every kind (gay, straight), and that's wrong, and all humans sin, as God tells us through the The Holy Bible, "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus." The Holy Bible also says, "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness."
@@TheInfintyithGoofball PLEASE, you, and EVERYONE, if you haven't already, embrace the One True Only God YHWH Jehovah, Only One Jesus Christ His Only Begotten Son and Lord and Savior of our souls and the Only One Holy Spirit. God is good. God is love. Jesus is Lord. Jesus IS coming. Your soul depends on it! I have seen God act in my life. He saved my soul, changed my heart, changed my mind, helped people through me, took care of people in my life, people I hurt before I found God. God is the only reason I was able to reconcile with my dad before he died. God worked through Jesus Christ to save our souls. Jesus Christ died on the cross for our sins. Believe in your heart and confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus, and that God raised Him from the dead and you will be saved. Be baptized in The Holy Spirit, and if He wills, water as well. Repent of your sins, accept God, Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit into your heart, that Jesus Christ died on the cross for your sins. For God so loved the world that He gave His only Begotten Son Jesus Christ, that all who believe on Him should not perish but have everlasting life. Jesus Christ is The Way, The Truth and The Life. No one comes to the Father Jehovah God but through Him. Not long after I got saved I prayed to God for help understanding the Holy Bible, and that same day someone knocked on my door asking me if I wanted to understand the Bible. The Holy Bible says, "love thy enemy", "turn the other cheek", "If your enemy is hungry, feed him", "if he is thirsty, give him a drink", "pray for those who persecute you", "do not repay evil for evil". LORD willing, all humans may commit sin of almost every kind (gay, straight), and that's wrong, and all humans sin, as God tells us through the The Holy Bible, "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus." The Holy Bible also says, "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness."
@Dagenspear I agree with what Jesus believed/believes in (ie: world piece, helping people, based off the Bible verse you commented it seems he believes in non-violence as well) if I'm being honest I'm kinda scared of what some sects of Christianity have done in the past "in the name of God"... I prefer to have my journey with God in private... and sometimes I worry that donations to certain churches are used more for (🤢) selfish wealth than to spread good around the world... I DON'T BELIEVE ALL SECTS OF CHRISTIANITY ARE LIKE THIS but I've learned what goes on behind the scenes of say... the prosperity gospel I just... sure I've been baptized but I still have alot to figure out before I'm sure what... I'm not even sure how to end this sentence 😂 Honestly for alot of people they believe they can carry on Jesus's teachings of compassion and piece without being part of a specific church or religion and I atleast semi agree... I believe in God but I kinda... don't like to retrain my beliefs to what certain pastors say... because though Jesus's followers well... FOLLOWED him I think that his followers then and his followers now can still make mistakes so I kinda just keep to myself about the whole... "thing"? PS: is this because I said "Hell"? 🤭
I love obi wan’s hut. I love his line about how the Jedi were the guardians of peace. The second they are gone someone gets to work on a mobile super weapon.
@@HOTD108_ I wouldn't go that far. I enjoyed the prequels to a point, but I think Lucas severely missed some golden opportunities. One would have been to show Anakin cheat to win the pod race by choking Sabulba or something like that to make him crash, instead of making Sabulba out to be the cheating, mean creature. You could have kept seeing Anakin and his anger issues/manipulation methods instead of making him out to be the innocent little slave boy. In the later ones he just didn't do enough to show his bad side. Now in The Clone Wars series, at least you saw him kill some people unnecessarily and push boundaries way more than the 3 movies ever did. They just seemed on the mental capacity level of adolescents instead of adult material, so I guess it's silly to nitpick.
Honestly that whole spiel he gave luke. For a performance that Alec Guiness was honestly kinda phoning in. You could feel the weight and presence of something greater. "For over a thousand generations the jedi knights were the guardians of peace in the galaxy"
I'm thinking about Andor now, because it's the only post-OG Star Wars that I can unhesitatingly say I love, and I think the key to that is: it's an entirely different story. It's set in the same universe, but thematically Andor is its own thing. [only light spoilers for Andor below] And the complete lack of Jedi in it highlights this. The basic thematic question of Andor is "why do ordinary people get involved in revolution?" but not just that, "why do people who don't have magic or destiny or legacy, who are weak and scared, who have other priorities, people they care about, who care about their own lives more than the ideal of heroism... why would they join a blatantly impossible fight that will almost certainly kill them?" And this is where Andor being a prequel, surprisingly, works: we know Cassian will die in this fight before it's over, so why does it matter anyway? The story explores this through all of its characters. None of them are at ease with the Rebellion. Cassian doesn't care. Luthen is tormented. Mon Mothma is afraid and estranged from her family. Lonnie wants to quit. Vel's scared for her girlfriend. And we see this mirrored with our antagonists, why these normal people choose to fight for the Empire. The setting establishes the challenge: the Empire is more obviously omnipotent than in Luke's time. We see how small our characters are, the Rebellion barely even exists, a small squad of rent-a-cops is enough to endanger our heroes, they can get imprisoned for just walking down the street. And we ground all this in very real nightmares from our own world (the prison industrial complex, colonialism, the everyday creep of totalitarianism) that we so often feel helpless to stop. There is no outside of the Empire, there's nowhere at all to run. All this gives us a setup very different from the OG Star Wars. You don't get to choose the fight based on your own ambition and recklessness, you're born into this nightmare with everyone else. There's no clear path to empowerment, there's just running from the fight until you admit to yourself that you can't escape it at all. And it's very unclear yet if your moral choices matter on a cosmic scale at all, all you have right now is a feeling. But that feeling is enough. That's the thing I find so beautifully inspiring about Andor (why Kino is maybe my favorite character) is that deep feeling that's created that it does matter. Not because of eventual success and galactic liberation, tho we know that with the efforts of many many people that will happen. But in the act of choosing to resist, in accepting the fight, running towards our fear rather than away from it, we liberate ourselves. We can love authentically and feel connection and fight together for however many moments we have, at peace with our eventual demise, because we've chosen not survival but life. And maybe that is a thematic connection with the OT, but it arrives there by a very different path. I love them both (and this video was beautiful, helped me continue to reignite my love of the old movies and understand why they matter), but the time I've found them both does feel apt developmentally for me. The OG movies were aspirational when I was young, the Jedi were a beautiful ideal of peace and justice I could look forward to developing in myself. And I have grown, and I still find that ideal valuable. But Andor, I relate to on a more visceral and adult level. Because it *feels* like our world today, in its overwhelming terror and faint yet necessary hope. It doesn't feel like I can change the whole world, and reaching for that can actually be damaging for me at times. But choosing to fight, choosing peace with the horror of the world as it is and facing it the best I can, not because of any guaranteed outcome but because it's the best way to live... yeah, that is what Luke chooses too, but down in the mundane dirt of Andor, it's easier for me to feel.
I love this! The original trilogy gave me hope that through emotional labor I can change the world. Andor presented characters that have many versions of that hope, and who maybe challenge those ideas. Yet ultimately the show still gives us the emotional catharsis and encouragement to continue to hold on to those original trilogy ideals.
@@ReivaxDralla "through emotional labor" omg I love that. another commenter framed yoda's lesson to luke on lifting the x-wing as "it's not a physical task, it's a spiritual task" which i really liked, but "spiritual" as a concept can be vague to the point of uselessness, so I really like the idea of grounding it w/ the idea of emotional labor. facing your inner darkness, opening yourself to connection with the universe, these aren't just primitive actions we can *do* by pure virtue, they take practice, emotional labor. but that's a hopeful thing because it is something real that can be taught and learned, not something esoteric hopelessly beyond most of us.
At the end of the video All of this, unironically, is exactly what made the EU special to me: the lessons from Kreia in Kotor 2, Luke's progress with the New Jedi Order after the events of Return of the Jedi, and many other stories about connection. Thank you for putting into words what I and many others could not for so long. And for even articulating things I never considered as well.
It's crazy how I can love a story like Star Wars so much, for reasons I can't really explain. Then I watch a schnee video and I realize why I love these stories so much.
I hate how so many people assume that Luke used the Force to telekinetically curve the proton torpedoes. Maybe he used the Force in a purely "mental", zen way. The use of the Force was knowing when to pull the trigger, and even just mastering his stress.
This is something that is reinforced within the prequels when we first meet Anakin and learn he's one of the few or only human that can podrace. He has higher perception and reflexes than the average human through the force. Also arguably foreshadowed during Luke's first training session blocking blaster bolts through foresight.
That's what I've always thought. In fact I'm positive that you're right about this because if Luke physically moved the bolts with his mind, that would mean none of the other pilots ever stood a chance of making the shot, which I will never believe was the point of that scene.
People actually thought that? I always thought it was just him using the force to know when to make the shot, not physically manipulating the torpedoes. Even as a kid I intuitively knew this.
Okay, ngl, I got really nervous when I first saw this video's title, lol! I'm a huge Star Wars fan (both new and old) and the fan discourse has been terrible, especially online. That being said, I think you broke down what I love so much about the OT and especially the Jedi: the kindness and restraint. It showed what the Jedi were meant to be from the beginning: peace keepers. It never shied away from showing how flawed they were (especially now in canon), but I think what makes characters like Luke, Ahsoka, Obi, and Kanan resonate with me the most is that they get back up and pursue that ideal anyway. Great video! I'm still a little nervous about your other Star Wars vids but I've also been watching your content for years since Arcane came out, lol! I can't wait!
What frustrates me the most about it is that, the moment I say I don't like Disney's trilogy in certain communities, there's a swarm of people who try to beat me down through social manipulation. "Oh, you're one of _those people!_ You must listen to XYZ! You can't think for yourself!" and that sort of thing. I've just given up on trying to reason with people. I'm just going to carve out a new community in my own little corner of the internet.
@@PsychicAlchemy And then someone comes along and says they like Disney's trilogy in certain communities and get called a communist or a DEI hire or some shit like that. Sometimes, you can't win with star wars fans one way or the other.
A lot of online discourse about Star Wars does not come from people who value kindness and restraint. That's a pretty interesting thing to consider when analysing the discourse in general
Obi-Wan Kenobi takes Luke Skywalker to a Chinese restaurant for lunch. Obi-Wan is deftly manipulating his chopsticks and eating his food elegantly. Luke, on the other hand, is making a mess, keeps dropping his food and chopsticks everywhere, it's embarrasing. Obi-Wan looks kindly at Luke and says: "Use the forks, Luke."
This video came out at the perfect time. I rewatched the OT recently and I didn’t realize just how much I missed how the Jedi used to be portrayed. Thank you for this!
His species clearly evolved opposable thumbs, eyes in the front, intelligence/language. Not to mention the longevity and slow development of his species. If you are prey to something else, you don't get away with having 50 year old toddlers.
Luke’s family situation isn’t “…uncaring.” (05:20) His aunt and uncle raised Luke from infancy; Owen is worried for his beloved nephew. He believes keeping Luke close is the best way to protect him. He comes across as harsh (though hardly unusually so) and he has very good reasons to be concerned.
Yeah for real, Owen loves Luke like a son and the entire reason he's dismissive about the Jedi stuff is because he doesn't want Luke to turn out the way Anakin did
Yeah. Factoring in Disney canon, he also doesn't want Luke used as a weapon for the agenda of the powerful people who don't give a crap about working class people. He knows that the Jedi treated his stepmother like crap, and his stepbrother was also used for war and discarded. He didn't want Luke to end up like them.
A kind family would trust the person they raised. Thinking that not talking about something is the height of 1940's/1950's America home life, may not uncaring, but most certainly unkind. We are also shown that Luke becomes the man he does because of the connections he makes after he leaves his family.
@@1MHCS , I appreciate your perspective, and I’m forced to agree that, broadly speaking, “not talking about something” is almost begging for a cornucopia of problems to thereafter arise. But any ~ 19 year old is very, very far from a blank slate. In fact, by 19, most of us are very far along establishing the personality, values, and physicality that are the foundations of our adult selves. I think you must right that for some people, those foundations come to reflect an opposition to parental influence. But that’s almost certainly not the case with Luke. One could readily argue many of Luke’s most admirable qualities were modeled by his aunt and uncle: loyalty, concern for others, modesty, reflection, persistence, empathy, independence… His adoptive parents love and care for him. He’s not rebelling against them, he’s rebelling against the life he happened to be brought up in - farming. His aunt and uncle, like all parents, are torn between wanting to protect him and letting him live his life. Trusting him, an aspect you’re right to bring up, is a process…letting go is a process. I would argue then that the “man he becomes” incorporates elements taken from the whole of his life, most of which was spent with his parents, not Obi-Wan or Yoda. Those Jedi mentors helped build on a foundation laid on Tatooine.
At the end of the day, a Jedi is someone who can face the worst the galaxy has to offer, but when everything has calmed, this would be a person you would trust to leave your kids with.
@@Allronix that's the beauty of what it means to be a Jedi. It's that absolute mental fortitude combined with maintaining a kind heart. Something only someone who's force sensitive can achieve
@@SirRulean1223 No. I would argue that mental fortitude and kindness does not require being conscripted from birth or touched by the divine. The most generous and kind person in the whole Prequel trilogy was Shmi. A live in slavery takes a hell of a lot of fortitude. And raising a good little boy (as good as the circumstances can make) also needs a kind heart, as did sheltering a Jedi and his charge in their time of need when she had nothing. So where was her favor from the Force? The Jedi were nothing more than a police force for the Republic, enforcers for their favored members of the political class like Padme. Again, do not leave your children with them and do not trust them. They will take your child away, never to be seen again, for the "good of the Republic," and they won't really care about little people like you.
@@Allronix I don't think you understand what a Jedi is then. You seem to know what the Jedi Order was, but not what I'm talking about. And at the end of the day, a child that has their emotions turned up to 11 and able to wield great power IS something that needs to be found, nurtured, and trained. The Jedi Order was rotted from the inside out unfortunately and nowhere near resembled what the Ancient Order did. Jedi like Luke, Yoda, Obi-Wan, or Plo-Koon really showed what a True Jedi looked like. At the end of the day, a child who is capable of great evil will need to be taught how NOT to follow down the easier, more satisfying path. The unfortunate truth is that the Jedi Order originally was capable of this, but lost their way some time during the Old Republic / High Republic. And a Jedi cares about the little people. That's rule #1.
I really resonate with the ideas in your video. It was well made and well articulated. Something that I think really goes to show it is the scene in star wars battlefront campaign where Luke saves an imperial and this leaves the soldier very confused. "Why would you help me" "Because you asked" Luke goes on to tell him at the end of their conversation that there is a choice. Not a choice to join the rebellion, but simply, a choice to be better. This moment both validates your argument that the jedi and the lessons in jedi teachings stem from connectivity and the concept that the jedi through the force, don't see all the artificial differences that other people can't see past. The scene feels like the pinnacle of what Luke's character stands for. The fact your analysis of the movie matches up with this scene leads me to feel like this is an incredible video essay that absolutely nails the message.
Dude, I watched the very first movie in theatres when I was around 10. It changed my life. I watch the current shows and know that ... they are just ... missing something?? But I couldn't put my finger on it. THIS is what the franchise lost. The profound wisdom that the spiritual journey is about coming to a deeper understanding of our unity with all of existence. The Jedi were basically Taoists. Now, they're another type of generic Avenger power hero. Or whatever the hell they were on The Acolyte. I miss the Taoist Jedi. In fact, I've done a bit of a dive into the je'dai (I think that's how it's spelled) and they strike me as more what Obi-Wan and Yoda were. Great video. Thanks for clarifying and offering me back something that I had lost.
It feels so strange that this is what it used to be and how it has been changed later. Being connected to the universe and seeing that everything is the same and everyone is you. I don't think that the low framerate Vader was only representing the actual father, but anyone you consider an enemy. This sense of unity sounds very appealing and aspirational
Yeah this video is my first time hearing someone talk about cave Vader like that. I would've said the cave was to show that what Luke thought was a threat was his father, but that the real threat was Luke's own mindset (part of which is to be reckless, ready for violence). So literally, inside the mask of his father was Luke. Not that complicated, I thought. He ended up using his weapon because he insisted on taking it with him, and was confronted by a vision wielding... the same weapon. It just shows how far his thinking is from where it needs to be, especially when Luke himself doesn't get the point. I find Schnee to be generally very insightful so it threw me when he described his initial confusion and distaste for the scene.
I'm writing my own star wars show and your content really helped with a lot of hard things that it involved. It's so cool to see you now doing videos on my favourite franchise.
Schnee's comments on Yoda as a teacher reminded me of something a teacher told to us in my second year in college: "I need you to stop being *alumns* and become *students.* What I mean by that its that an alumn is someone who passively receives knowledge (because that's what 'alumn' means etymologically, 'someone who is in the dark and needs to be enlightenen'). That how you learned in highschool and as children but you're adults now and need to start to actively study what your carreer is about. For now in college and for the rest of your lives as professionals you need to be scholars, you need to search more knowledge on your own, to investigate, to always be reading and lesrning more" ... going back to Luke and _Star Wars,_ Yoda knows that he doesn't have years to teach Luke how to be a proper Jedi, so what he really needs is to teach Luke how to learn the ways of the Force by himself so not only can Luke deffeat Vader but also become a master himself and teach the spiritual values of the Jedi Order to others
The editing is so creative and deep. Love the Spider-Man clips while you're talking about attainability of the "hero" narrative. Brilliant addition, which really solidifies the point you're making
Great presentation. It really meshes with the ep2 &ep3 Obi that Ewan shows us. We get to see him use his calm as a skill, including both successes (battle with Grievance) and failures (final battle with Anakin). I think that seeing his struggles as a younger jedi makes the master we meet in ep4 so much more poignant. He truly walked through his own hell, and came out the other side as a master of peace.
So talking about Yoda a bit. Yoda is very different than Obi-wan Kenobi. To start, Obi-wan has a first and last name like most of us. Yoda does not, he uses a mononym, or rather a mononym is applied to him and he accepts it. He's erratic and hard to understand. Theres a theory he was a shapeshifter and the snake you see replaced by yoda is the same being. Hes kinda Goblin-y, he's more like a spirit or demi-god. A lot like the strange beings Aang meets in the spirit realm. Yoda is distinctly not like us. People look up to Obi and Luke and want to grow up to be like them but nearly no-one says they want to become like Yoda. Yoda is unique being and no one can match his form or philosophy, i think what we learn from that is all Jedi, and by extension all enlightened people are unique. You can't reach that necessary enlightened stage by copying someone else, you have to find and be true to who you really are. And Yoda is a weird little goblin guy, who accepts himself with no shame. So you can accept yourself too.
"You can't reach that necessary enlightened stage by copying someone else, you have to find and be true to who you really are." You've just explained the whole theme behind Herman Hesse's book Siddhartha. Govinda follows the Buddha's way. Siddhartha finds his OWN way. He became the Buddha. I'll bet Lucas read that book as well and was inspired by it.
@@jonathanswift2251 I read Herman Hesse's Siddharta a long time ago and haven't thought about it since. Id bet money George Lucas has read it, given his generation and interest in East Meets west philosophy, I understand Siddharta was the thing to read and talk about if that was your jam for quite some time. Good call.
Whenever I get great deep dives like this, I am always compelled to highly recommend the Star Wars Radio Drama. It's criminal how overlooked it is! On the surface it's nothing special, it's a radio program that follows the exact same story as the 3 movies. It has all new voice actors (except Mark Hamill because he is a legend) and some stellar work done there. But the interesting part is that they aren't just going over the plot of the movies that you already know, in almost every possible scenario they are going through the exact same story but from the perspective of a different character than what we got on the big screen. So much gets added to the story! I highly highly recommend giving it a listen, if nothing else it will give you some interesting appreciations for the characters
When you came to the ultimate conclusion on the themes of the Force and sameness and how it relates to the plot of Star Wars and said "if I can choose good, he can chiose good", it literally made me want to cheer and applaud. That's how powerful that theme is. God I love the original trilogy.
Wonderful video Schnee! Truly inspiring! I would love a deeper dive on the "connectivity" aspect of the Jedi. One of the most pivotal themes I've noticed while listening to you is that the Jedi strive to partner with the Force and therefore strive to build harmonious connections with others. That's a very unique relationship even in our world and in fiction b/c the chosen one or hero's journey becomes a lot about the one person overcoming on their own merits, by dominating their adversaries. Ironically, this "domination" theme seems similar to the Sith, who seek to dominate the Force so as to use it as a tool instead of partnering with the Force. Lastly, that dominating element seems to produce a sense of "separation", when it comes to building healthy relationships, which is the opposite of the Jedi. Sorry for the long message, but I'd love to hear more about Jedi and the "connectivity" theme. It's so relevant in America where we applaud the individual who achieved success single handedly while ignoring the persons who helped that individual along the way.
There's a lot that I love about the post-Original Trilogy Star Wars movies and stories, including their depiction of Jedi characters. That said, I found this a wonderfully insightful and thought-provoking analysis. Even if I don't agree with other portrayals of the Jedi being bad, I can appreciate your reflections on how the Jedi come across and what we can infer about them in the original three movies. Thanks for making this. (Personally, I never found the Dark Side cave sequence confusing or out of place. Yes, it foreshadows the Vader reveal, but in it's own context, it symbolizes so much about Luke's struggles with evil; his limitations in that regard; and his need to realize that evil is not something wholly external to himself, that he, too, is at risk of falling to the Dark Side if he isn't careful to guard his moral actions.)
Let me explain the cave scene: Two clues from Yoda. Luke asks him: "What's in there?" Yoda: "Only what you take with you." Then Yoda tells him not to take his weapons. But he does. So he takes conflict fear and physical violence in, and that's what he finds. When he sees his own face in Vader's mask. that's a CLEAR indication Luke is afraid of his potential to become Vader. I'm surprised you didn't get this, because in your opening you said the Hero is afraid of attaining the power to save the world. Because it could come with the potential to destroy it... this theme.. of Luke basically struggling with the lure of the Dark side, is clearly played out in the finale of ROTJ... Vader says he feels the conflict in Luke. Luke is lit red on one side of his face and blue on the other.. when he sees Vaders hand cut off and looks at his own replacement robot hand, it says he has equalled the ability of Vader had but also the that he has the potential of the Dark side in him. as we know he stops there and chooses to throw away his weapon. ['your weapons, you will not need them]. That's what changes everything and completes his journey. The Cave scene is great. Star Wars can be condensed down to one word: compassion.
You explained why I've always wanted to become a Jedi even though I've never believed in the magical side of the Force. You put all of these intuitive feelings into words and that was beautiful
Something your analysis made me think of... when Obi Wan says that striking him down will make him more powerful than ever before, it's funny how even in what's been added on to Star Wars that gets interpreted as "ascending to a power beyond life". But you made me think, maybe what he's getting at there is that Obi-Wan knows he could have never defeated Vader... but that Luke could, because in Luke he sees how Anakin once was. And he recognizes that if Vader strikes him down, it will be the catalyst to Luke embracing fully the lessons of the Jedi to stop Vader. Vader sees it in terms of "I will defeat you in combat, and I will have won." But Obi-Wan maybe sees and embraces the greater harmony, what his death will set in motion, and knows that by striking him down Vader is setting his own downfall in motion. In other words, the connection Obi-Wan formed with Luke in kindness and friendship was more powerful and galaxy-changing than any lightsaber duel could ever be... and he smiles, because he realizes he has already won. And he lets go. Interesting food for thought.
That emotional progression discussion at the end was fascinating, it's what really makes Luke's journey so memorable and inspiring. I'd love to see your take on She-Ra (2018) regarding the magical warrior trope, I believe Adora's journey as the main protagonist shares very similar ideas to Star Wars and the concept of the Jedi. Great video as always!
Does this mean that the Sith, as a corruption of the Jedi, are the pinnacle of "the possible"? That choosing the dark path means you have surrendered to reality and its limits? We constantly hear this rhetoric that Jedi are more powerful than Sith, and we believe it I guess, but then we watch Sith in these movies being the strongest, most badass people around and we wonder. If we use what you discussed about Jedi in this video to inform an impression on the Sith, then the Sith are the very height of power one can achieve with the force within the bounds of the possible. They can do incredibly awesome things with the force, but the emotions that govern them make them incapable of achieving the "impossible" described in this video, and thus, make them weaker than the Jedi. The Jedi can do impossible things, since without fear of loss or supplication to rage, they can achieve that emotional state that you described.
20:17 I can't help but think about Robot Chicken: "Just some dude, he was! The reason I told you no weapons, this is!" "To be fair, you phrased that more like a suggestion!"
Fundamentally, the Jedi of the original trilogy are Taoists. You work around problems, you adapt, you appear useless or pointless and then you are free to do things in unexpected ways. Power is not as useful as awareness and ability to meet the moment. It is why Return of the Jedi has Luke achieve victory by simply not fighting. ("non-action" in Taoist terms). The sharp contrast, for the comparison for the prequels, is that the Jedi there, are the Catholic Church. They're tied into politics, they're controlling, they have lots of hierarchies and literally lead a slave army to fight a war.
So true. Though, I would compare the prequel Jedi more to Buddhism, which also made political connections in eastern countries. That's where Lucas got the "no attachments" rule from.
Ehh nah you were right in the first paragraph, dead wrong in the second. Tbf I can't blame you, since the franchise itself has been pushing that silly idea of the Jedi for 10+ years now. But the prequels themselves do not support it.
I'm gonna say you just nailed both points. Well said! The prequel Jedi are so weird about family and love and sexual encounters. VERY Catholic Church. Looks like you may have touched a nerve with a few people with that statement though haha.
@@1MHCSbecause he is attacking a people right now borderline racism. I don’t expect a black person to take black people being called this and not say something. Why should Catholics being called something bad just sit back and take it?
Yoda says 'My ALLY is the force' and both him and Obi Wan put emphasis on how life creates it and connects all things in the universe. Luke asks 'How will I know the good from the bad?' Yoda: 'You will know when you are CALM' You can understand the entire purpose of the Jedi from these explanation's. If life creates the force and the force has allied itself with living beings known as Jedi - The Force GIVES a Jedi its power, they do not own it, the Jedi do not CONTROL THE FORCE as people seem to think. The Jedi can access the force when they become more in tune and harmonious with nature. 'Size matters not' because you aren't the one lifting the rock or the ship the FORCE is lifting it. Luke cant lift the ship because he thinks its a feat of strength, when really it is a request for the force to aid you. He believed it could not be done, he becomes imbalanced, he cannot lift the ship. The Dark Side of the force, is about bending the force to your will, this of course hurts the force because when you use the Dark Side you do so by harming life, not only that of others, but also yourself. If you HARM LIFE - you HARM THE FORCE that is created by it and so you diminish the force overtime through harming it. That is why the Dark Side is EASIER, FASTER, but not more powerful. This makes the role of the Jedi very obvious. The force has allied itself with the Jedi and their role is to PROTECT and nurture LIFE.
I remember how defeated my dad was the first time he forced me to sit down and watch the original trilogy. He was an absolute Star Wars nerd. It was sometime during the second movie that I pulled out my gameboy and started playing Pokemon Red. When we finally finished it, he was like "what'd ya think?" and I said "it was kinda boring", which made him look like his dog died, and made my mom scurry out the room trying not to bust out laughing. It wasn't until The Phantom Menace came out that I became an addict. He was career military and had suprised us with his return, as he had been out to sea for three months or something. He kept me home from school that day, and we went to see it in theatre. The prequel trilogy had a massive impact on me. There was
PLEASE, you, and EVERYONE, if you haven't already, embrace the One True Only God YHWH Jehovah, Only One Jesus Christ His Only Begotten Son and Lord and Savior of our souls and the Only One Holy Spirit. God is good. God is love. Jesus is Lord. Jesus IS coming. Your soul depends on it! I have seen God act in my life. He saved my soul, changed my heart, changed my mind, helped people through me, took care of people in my life, people I hurt before I found God. God is the only reason I was able to reconcile with my dad before he died. God worked through Jesus Christ to save our souls. Jesus Christ died on the cross for our sins. Believe in your heart and confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus, and that God raised Him from the dead and you will be saved. Be baptized in The Holy Spirit, and if He wills, water as well. Repent of your sins, accept God, Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit into your heart, that Jesus Christ died on the cross for your sins. For God so loved the world that He gave His only Begotten Son Jesus Christ, that all who believe on Him should not perish but have everlasting life. Jesus Christ is The Way, The Truth and The Life. No one comes to the Father Jehovah God but through Him. Not long after I got saved I prayed to God for help understanding the Holy Bible, and that same day someone knocked on my door asking me if I wanted to understand the Bible. The Holy Bible says, "love thy enemy", "turn the other cheek", "If your enemy is hungry, feed him", "if he is thirsty, give him a drink", "pray for those who persecute you", "do not repay evil for evil". LORD willing, all humans may commit sin of almost every kind (gay, straight), and that's wrong, and all humans sin, as God tells us through the The Holy Bible, "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus." The Holy Bible also says, "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness."
Thank you. I enjoy most of your videos for their interesting view into writing and character and everything else. This one dived to a deeper level with its insightful breakdown of the Jedi. Summarising the philosophy of their spiritual quest with such clarity.
The plane scene always made perfect, sometimes teachers need to show not tell. I train martial arts and one of the simplest things they will do is just show you what they mean. Explaining to you "Faster" "keep your chin tucked and your hand up at and turn your hips but all at the same time" isn't enough. They need to show you just how fast fast can be. Then you can imitate it because you can imagine it. Because you couldn't even imagine how fast fast is until you saw it. And I feel like this isn't just a martial arts thing. It also makes sense within the framwork of the Jedi. They are very much like Christian Monks or ascetic monks more specfically, hermits, focusing intensely on "internal progression" and emotional growth then the Joda lifting the plane scene is like a Miracle. A manifestation of the inner growth that isn't visible externally.
OT Jedi are Warrior Monks, as grounded in being a relaxed chiller at one with the universe as they are in being a bad enough dude to rescue the president, and I think what happened is that the prequels showed the Jedi order in a state where they’d become to involved in and complacent with the republic, and everyone took the Jedi order that was so bound up in the political world that something like Anakin’s fall became an inevitability as the baseline from which other considerations of the Jedi would originate
Tbf Prequel Jedi are also Warrior Monks. They also are pretty relaxed and chill, but can rescue the president. They're just rescuing the president on the regular, being the guardians of peace and justice in the Republic. It's only the last decade or more of material that's consistently tried to twist the Jedi into being complacent or "too involved" with the Republic (what does that mean anyway? They have to be involved, they're the literal guardians of peace and justice in the Republic, many simultaneously argue the Jedi's flaw is not being involved enough in Republic politics) rather than accepting that most of it was just the Sith hiding out and manipulating affairs for a very long time. Reading the prequels EU pre-2008 TCW gives a picture of the Jedi much of those in the OT and their grounded, logical philosophy and spiritualism. Furthermore, they're far from complacent or too involved, they oftentimes make decisions counter to the Senate or do things as required rather than within the strict laws of the Republic. And most of all, they come within an inch of actually discovering Palpatine's entire plot in Labyrinth of Evil which causes him to launch the assault on Coruscant to cover wiping out the investigation team. The prequel era Jedi Order (as depicted in the material originally tying-in to the movies like the CWMMP) is insanely underrated.
@@LordVader1094 They're not Warrior Monks in the Prequels, they're more like Monk Cops tbh, at that point the Jedi Council is so arrogant and tunnevisioned on politics that they don't even follow most Jedi doctrine outside of their facade. The Prequel Jedi Council was probably one of the worst moral representations of the Jedi we've seen and their lackings is (by the media's own accord) what lead to the birth of Darth Vader, this is obvious since the Prequels released and didn't need any extra material to be made clearer, although the novelizations say it outloud. This is exactly what The Acolyte's entire point is, that the Jedi doctrines can't coexist with the council having a political influence at all, the detachment from greed and desire can't be present when they need to be aware of their every move and outwards appearance since they're politically attached to the government
@@Sheoll6Exactly, the Jedi were supposed to be serving the people of the galaxy (outside of political bodies) and the will of the force. The Jedi had become too close to the politics of the senate, essentially they were nothing more than enforcers for corrupt senators.
Also in the prequels, the jedi have this weird hang up on not loving or even thinking about your family, where the first 3 movies are all about how connections make you stronger. Should have kept them as rare and needed to be sought out instead of the jedi discount training academy.
This helped me understand why Strawberry Shortcake feels like a jedi to me. She's just a regular person without any powers, but she has an uncanny ability to connect with everyone and everything. Everyone she meets ends up becoming a better person just from spending time with her. And that makes her a very compelling character.
This is actually hilarious because when I was a kid in the early 90's my parents got me a used Strawberry shortcake castle from a garage sale and I would play with my star wars action figures around the strawberry shortcake castle model lol I wish I could show you that I'm not bullshitting you with this. I really did have an Absurd mismatch of kids toys in the early 90's. Random I know but your comment brought back a core memory lol
Slavoj Zizek introduced me to the idea of 'the id machine', a science fiction trope where a character enters a vessel (such as a cave, and indeed, it's usually a cave) where all the base fears held deep within their heart is revealed. The cave on Dagoba is indeed Luke's id machine where his base fears are revealed.
that's amazing ! i never tried to understand the Force more than that and this video is amazing to lead us through understanding it. Also, if Squircle did explain why Yoda might be an Apex predator i wanna hear it-
Yoda picking swamp as place to live + Baby Yoda eating all the creatures that would definitely live in a swamp + Yoda being an insanely powerful master of the force = entire planet being terrified of the apex predator in the hut
This is brilliant. One of the most eloquent expressions of transformative power...transcending self in the most personal way...teaching reflexively. This was a special experience for me.
Man, I feel like Schnee has enough of a backlog to make a video about why watching his videos feel so good. I always leave these with a sense of settled “knowing” almost. Like, there’s a catharsis to put to words exactly how I feel about the different media he covers, and then made more settled at knowing why I feel that way. This channel always brings me back because of that simple, but difficult to execute idea, put to words how and why I feel a way about these things.
WoW! This discussion was great! I am subscribed and will be passing this on to friends! "True strength is a selfish man making the decision to help out a friend." And the #3 idea of Obi-wan's 'Strike Me Down' speech! This discussion resonated with me and I've been examining the OT since 1977. Thanks for sharing this, all involved!
Yes, yes, yes! Brilliant analysis! I was 12 years old in 1977 when I first saw Star Wars and it altered my life completely. My whole spiritual/emotional life was shaped by the mystic warrior values set up in the first three movies and all content after left me feeling like something was missing. I've struggled to put it into words but I think you hit on at least some of the reasons. Thank you! I have something to point people to now in way of explication.
Interesting to note that Luke comes close to the lesson about harmony before the Battle of Yavin, where he is able to think of a wamp rat and the exhaust port of a moon sized battle station as being the same thing, albeit in a simplistic way (ie physical dimensions)
Genuinely this is my third or fourth watch over the last 4 months and stuff. This probably is one of my favorite videos on youtube right now (top 10 certainly) value alone. It's so well edited and organized to allow the ideas to flow; not that the editing is so perfect I got it the first time. But the information in this video is always here for me. Its a really good lesson. There's so much to take away about who I want to be in this and you've made it really accessible. Thank you
The 2 Yoda moments are pretty easy to understand. Yoda as you put it is the guide on the path of Jedi not the end of the path. Its all about training Luke. Yes Luke used the force to save the day in Hope but can he tap into it when needed again? Not likely. That is what Yoda is trying to pass on. The first part, lifting the X-Wing is supposed to teach Luke to not listen to his doubt. His doubt will tell him "it can't be done" before he even really tries. Luke must get over this hurdle if he is ever to be a Jedi. Showing Luke it could be done by a tiny feeble old man illustrates to Luke how little he actually understands about what it is to be a Jedi. Only from overcoming his own doubt can he grow. The second part the cave Vader scene isn't just a simple "foreshadow to daddy Vader" thing, it's a leason on balance and how it's achieved. Despite being new to the concept of Jedi, Luke could easily become the same as Vader if he doest master his emotions. This is crucial for 2 major reasons. One the self evident. Having control over your emotions means you can act precisely how you intend to despite instigation from external forces. Jaba and others mock and ridicule Luke in Jedi and Luke is calm and collected the entire time, he won't let himself be manipulated into acting out of anger. It also allows him to actually tap into his anger as a benefit without becoming Darkside. Because he can call on his anger for the power boost but all rope in his anger when it's no longer needed, used to great effect at the end of Jedi when in anger Luke dominates Vader in a fight and before delivering a final blow, steps back, collects himself and throws down his weapon. It was so unbelievably important for Luke to learn to control his emotions, because without it he could end up just as bad if not worse than Vader. But it also taught Luke one other great thing that ties into Luke's prominence as a Jedi, what he is most known for and what you started out this video in highlighting "is the Jedi way" and that's Empathy. Luke seeing himself in Vader gives Luke the understanding that it could be anyone, anyone could be made to do terrible things and if no one reaches out a hand how can they be redeemed. Teaching Luke to find empathy in an "enemy" is what saved Vader, redeemed Anakin, and defeated Palpatine bringing an end to the Empire. If Luke had not been taught to control his emotions and had not seen himself in the Vader in the cave he would not have been able to see the good in Vader and would not have been able to save Vader, nor redeem Anakin, and thus fulfill prophecy by Anakin defeating Palpatine once and for all. These Yoda moments are the absolute most important moments are are the foundation for Luke's entire success as a Jedi, more so than Ben. Ben opened the door to Jedi for Luke and gave him a weapon, Yoda literally taught him how to walk the path so that Luke could continue to walk it alone in the future.
Fuck I just realized that yoda telling luke that he won't need his weapons foreshadows luke not killing vader and instead saving him through love (not violence) Damn the First 6 movies are crazy artistic.
The symbology in the cave scene and when trying to lift the ship may well be deeper than you think. Remember when Luke says he can't do it, 'you ask the impossible'. Then later when Yoda lifts the ship and he says 'I don't believe it' Yoda replies 'that is why you fail'. The clear theme here is that Luke needs to let go of his preconceptions about what he thinks being a hero is. A Jedi needs ot be more than that. Up until that point it's been all about Luke's progression and Luke's powers and Luke's ambition. All very self centered. Yoda is trying to teach him that he needs to let go of this focus on self and trust in a greater power. In this case, the force. Yoda even lists off all the things a Jedi doesn't crave that we usually associate with heroes. When you think about it they're all about our own experience and not about the greater good. When Yoda tells him not to take his weapons into the cave, Luke ignores him and takes them anyway. He tries to overcome what's before him by his own strength trusting in his lightsaber over the force. As such he fails and only succeeds in defeating himself. As is demonstrated symbolically. When Luke doesn't feel he can lift the ship because it's too big Yoda tells him that the size of the object doesn't matter 'judge me by my size do you?'. Luke 'tries', again under his own strength, to take on this approach depsite Yoda's other advice 'do or do not there is no try'. He starts to succeed but again becomes fixated on his own perceived strength vs the size and weight of the ship and fails. If he just did, allowing the force to work through him rather than 'trying' to use the force he would have succeeded. Which Yoda then demonstrates. When he says 'I don't believe it' Yoda says 'that is why you fail' because he's still focused on his own strength and his own perceptions of what's possible rather than rejecting self and trusting in the force. To truly be powerful a Jedi must reject their sense of self, their desire for power and their own ambitions of heroism, they must give themselves to something greater than they are. This aspect of the Jedi draws inspiration from Christian theology. Yoda's training is much higher level than Obi Wan's hence Yoda being introduced as the Jedi master that trained Obi Wan.
That scene where Luke looks from his hand to Vaders missing hand, then back; that always took me back to Empire, in the cave. And then, he throws away his lightsaber, because he didnt need his weapon to stand against the emperor, not in the end. Its that good "rhyming" that Lucas was good at.
00:00 🎬 The video aims to explore what made the original Jedi compelling, using episodes 4-6 for analysis. 00:06 🌌 The goal is not to criticize new Star Wars but to understand the original appeal of the Jedi. 00:18 🍰 The cupcake analogy: Comparing good and bad doesn't teach you what makes something good. 01:11 🎥 Approach: Pretend new Star Wars doesn't exist and analyze the original Jedi from scratch. 01:40 👴 Obi-Wan's first scene introduces him in a mundane yet significant way, highlighting his kindness. 02:42 🌟 Obi-Wan's kindness contrasts with the chaotic and hostile environment of the first scenes. 03:50 ✨ The first act of the Jedi is not forceful but compassionate and calm. 04:18 🧙♂️ Uncle Owen's dismissiveness highlights the contrast with Obi-Wan's gentle nature. 05:48 🕊️ Obi-Wan's calm and kindness are emphasized by the chaotic and hostile surroundings. 06:05 🛡️ The Jedi faction trope in adventure fiction is about making heroism feel attainable. 07:04 🏰 Being part of a faction makes heroism feel more achievable than being a lone legendary hero. 09:04 💫 The introduction of the lightsaber is more about connecting with one's father than grand heroism. 09:59 ⚔️ The lightsaber scene and Obi-Wan's normalcy suggest that heroism doesn't require losing one's identity. 10:11 🌌 The Force is described as an energy field created by all living things, making it feel universally attainable. 11:18 🌀 The Force taps into universal experiences, making it feel real and achievable. 12:54 🌍 The Force feels familiar because it is connected to emotions and universal human experiences. 14:02 🛡️ Obi-Wan's death and his statement about becoming more powerful is a significant moment for Jedi lore. 14:24 🧠 "Use the Force, Luke" and Obi-Wan's death are crucial scenes that go beyond the theme of attainability. 15:24 🧙♂️ Yoda's introduction as the second Jedi further guides the understanding of the Jedi path. 16:03 🪄 Yoda's scene with Luke lifting the ship is about believing in the Force and overcoming doubt. 17:00 🧩 The cave scene with Luke seeing his own face under Vader's mask is a test of self-confrontation. 18:18 🔄 Parallels between Obi-Wan and Yoda show Yoda as a super Obi-Wan, breaking expectations further. 19:05 🧙♂ Yoda's reluctance to train Luke initially breaks the pattern and expectations set by Obi-Wan. 20:02 ❌ Being a hero feels unattainable, as evidenced by Luke's failure in his training. 20:15 🎓 Luke's failure in training serves as a clue to understand the profound Jedi philosophy. 20:33 🧩 Yoda's teaching style and Luke's failure highlight gaps in trust and communication. 20:56 🤔 Yoda's extensive teaching experience raises questions about his methods and effectiveness. 21:19 🥖 The story provides a breadcrumb trail to understanding Yoda's philosophy. 21:37 🧠 Yoda changes his mind about training Luke after Luke shows dedication and commitment. 22:06 🏆 Yoda's educational goal is to ensure Luke completes his training for transformative learning. 22:25 🎂 Completing training is likened to the final step in a recipe, critical for overall success. 22:54 🔍 Luke's training has a qualitative endpoint crucial for his success as a Jedi. 23:23 💡 The transformative final lesson Yoda aims to teach Luke is pivotal for his Jedi training. 24:01 🛠️ Luke's failures in specific scenes are key to understanding the big idea Yoda is teaching. 25:01 🌌 Through the Force, all differences are illusory, highlighting the ultimate connection. 26:09 🧩 Luke's mission to turn Darth Vader back to the Light Side is seen as impossible but essential. 27:25 🌟 The biggest cosmic events are shaped by small moral decisions of individuals. 29:21 💬 Obi-Wan provides Luke with connection and agency, essential for his growth. 30:00 🔄 Harmony and connection are central to the Jedi philosophy, transcending politics and war. 32:31 📈 Emotional growth and resilience are seen as a form of attainable power. 34:03 🧘 Jedi's focus on emotional and spiritual development makes their power relatable. 36:12 🔑 Attuning to a deeper reality brings peace and empowerment, reflecting Jedi philosophy.
When I first watched AOTC, I noticed Obi Wan treats Anakin the way Owen treats Luke. He was very dismissive and downplays Anakin's thoughts and accomplishments. That's why Anakin is always seeking approval and tries to show off.
I think that overall this analysis points at the idealized vision for what makes Jedi great, and I appreciate your take a lot! But a few plot point in the OG Trilogy make me hesitate to accept that ideal vision. I think about Luke leaving his training with Yoda in Empire Strikes Back. He's not arrogantly assuming he has all he needs in order to defeat Darth Vader when he leaves. He leaves because he senses that his friends are in danger and he feels an obligation to try to help them even if he isn't fully prepared. Yoda in that scene also seems aware of the danger but encourages Luke to just leave his friends behind, accept their fates, and finish his training instead. I also think about how in Return of the Jedi Obi Wan and Luke have multiple conversations about Darth Vader and Obi Wan consistently denies that Darth Vader can be redeemed. Instead he advocates that the only path to victory is destroying Darth Vader and the Emperor. Given those scenes, it seems to me that there is an inherent goodness in Luke that embodies the Jedi philosophy described in this analysis, but that goodness is fully realized in spite of the guidance of Jedi in Luke's life, so attributing the goodness to the Jedi philosophy seems odd. And like I said at the beginning of this comment, I would like to fully agree with this analysis. Maybe I am misinterpreting those scenes from Empire and Jedi, it's been a while since I last sat down and watched the OG trilogy so maybe some details have faded with time, and people will correct my thinking (or roast me for my interpretation) in the replies.
At 17:00 , you seem to not understand a few things. The lifting rocks was meant to show Luke learning the connection of all things, including the earth/stones. His failure to lift the x-wing was due to his lack of belief in himself and the force. His failure in the cave was due to his eagerness for confrontation, his meeting the unknown with his saber drawn, Vaders appearance as being met with his own fears. His own face appearing wasn't just foreshadowing, it symbolized what he was truly fighting,....himself, and his own internal darkness. About Luke entering the cave with saber at the ready; Homer said "the sword itself incites to violence". That seems like a valuable lesson for a Jedi to learn.
This is why I like Gundam. The original, from 1979, and its sequels, not the spinoffs. The super power of the show, something that, in the final episode, every one of the main characters obtains in some way, is often described as being thus: The capability to communicate with one another without misunderstanding. An innate ability within people to choose to live without war. The two characters who have been at odds for the entirety of the show finally find themselves out of their giant shells, face to face, and they are able to understand one another. To choose not to fight one another. That's it, that's the super power, and it's something anyone can have.
We like the Jedi because they’re the good guys in a fairytale. SW is a fairytale not sci fi. If Disney did what they’re good at, they’d be raking it in. But they forgot what they’re best at selling, happy endings where the good guys win.
35:10 NGL, this description of true Jedi made me a bit teary… I was a Solo fan as a kid in 1977 but today Kenobi resonates with me. This is one of the best SW videos and interpretations I’ve ever watched. 👏
I feel for Yoda because sometimes it's really not the teacher's fault. Sometimes, the student really isn't ready to put in the demands it takes to actually be one of the best at something and thats not about teaching Adventure? Heh. Excitement? Heh. Luke didn't really care about bringing balance to the Force. He couldn't comprehend what it meant. He just wanted to make friends and fight bad guys
Damn! I love your analysis. It made me look with fresh eyes on one of my favorite stories of all time and appreciate it on a completely different level. I'm usually against thorough analysis of art pieces (In my opinion it often kills the joy of experience), but your take on it somehow combines logic and methodological thinking with passion. Thank you!
For some reason people never seem to get the cave scene with yoda, it’s literally just luke confronting his shadow self, it’s one of my favourite scenes in the movies, Yoda told luke he won’t need his weapons but out of fear he brought his blaster and light sabre, due to that fear his shadow self manifest itself in the form of Luke as Vader, luke could’ve easily went down the same path as Anakin & basically was until the last moment, luke failed to confront his shadow self just because he brought his weapons.
This is a great video! I think it perfectly explains what made the Jedi compelling! However, I would like to point out that both Obi-Wan and Yoda fail the "there are no differences" lesson. They do not want Vader redeemed, they think that's impossible. Their whole goal is to get Luke to kill Vader. Obi-Wan even lies to Luke about who Vader really is to get him to do it. Luke does learn that lesson, making him a greater Jedi than either of them ever were, paving a bright future for the Jedi. This is why I don't like where they took Luke's character, but do really like pre-Empire Jedi. The reason the Jedi got wiped out, is because they failed to live up to their philosophy. They became dominated by fear of the dark side and matters other than the Force. Because of this, they didn't see the dark side growing right under their nose until it was too late. Luke is supposed to have learned from that mistake (that was basically his arc), but in TLJ it shows he didn't and the Order fell again. Forcing us to go through the same story again
Yoda's speech about the nature of the Force is to this day one of the most inspirational descriptions of genuine enlightenment I've ever seen in a movie. The idea that everything is connected, how everyone is unified and the same despite all the percieved differences is *inspiring* and plays to the message so well. If Vader can fall, then so can Luke. But if Luke can also choose good, then so can Vader.
![[#2024MAMA] G-DRAGON - 무제(Untitled, 2014)+POWER+HOME SWEET HOME+뱅뱅뱅+FANTASTIC BABY | Mnet 241123 방송](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/Ox29z5Nf1Uk/mqdefault.jpg)
27:22 that’s why I love the Gandalf quote, “Saruman believes it is only great power that can hold evil in check, but that is not what I have found. It is the small everyday deeds of ordinary folk that keep the darkness at bay. Small acts of kindness and love.”
YES! ☝🏾✨ There are parallels here to examine
Beautiful!
I thought the same thing when I watched this video. The idea comes up a lot in epic “fantasy” which is the most similar genre Star Wars has.
👍
That's one of my favorites, too. Gandalf drops so many good nuggets like that in the films that grant hope, not just for the outcome of the movie plot, but for real life for the audience to internalize.
The cave scene is obvious. When Luke asks what's in there, Yoda tells him "Only what you bring with you." Luke is bringing HIS fear, his anger, his hate, his impulsivity, his quickness to fight in there with him. He isn't confronting Vader. The figure of Vader is his fear and his object of anger and hate manifest. His real enemy is himself and the weaknesses and flaws he brought in there with him, hence seeing his own face in the form of his enemy.
100%, and the obvious corollary that anyone can become a villain if they are not careful not too. It's quite literally Nietzschean philosophy with the cave serving a literal role of the abyss:
"Beware that, when fighting monsters, you yourself do not become a monster; for when you gaze long into the abyss, the abyss gazes also into you.”
I agree. The OP thinks very concretely rather than philosophically. His definition of being a Jedi is essentially being nice but knowing how to use a sword if necessary. It is actually very much about what you cultivate in yourself and use to fuel your efforts. It isn't about his father at all, but rather what path Luke could take himself.
He says this isn't like any other Jedi training, but this is the first scene where we see any Jedi training at all. He violates his own admonishment to discard preconceived notions of what a Jedi is and consider it afresh. The training does indeed make perfect sense when you consider the nature of the tension between light and dark in each of us and the axiom of the Jedi that the light alone is desirable.
And this is why Luke wins in 6, he casts aside that anger and fear and chooses the love he has for his father. That love is such a powerful emotion that it allows Vader to overcome ALL the trauma he has endured (which we know from the prequels, obviously) in the most critical moment and Anakin is back baby. God the OT is so good.
Imagine writing a 40 minute video essay and not being able to understand the cave scene.
There's also the literal foreshadowing that, if Luke overcomes Vader through pure violence, his fate is to "become" Vader. His weapons are not the solution to the final problem, and they only make him vulnerable in the confrontation.
Just started the video and already the analogy of “If you focus on how stupid a vinegar cupcake is, you forget how to make a good cupcake” calls out Star Wars discourse perfectly.
Yep, one minute in for the fastest like I ever gave a TH-cam video.
Except it adds nothing to the conversation lol like, what it's supposed to mean? Another "DISNEY STAR WARS BAD" take?
@@al112v4tf are you talking about? He’s explaining that “DISNEY STAR WARS BAD” is a shitty take itself, so people should talk more about what makes old Star Wars good if they want to properly analyze and learn what makes a show good
The funny part is a vinegar cupcake has potential, you just need to know how to use vinegar properly in baked goods like a proper rural grandmother. In Star Wars terms, setting up the state of the Jedi as having a reformation period 100 years before the Clone Wars after some particularly bad Jedi actions hurt their galactic image, that's a great idea. Because it shows that even when they fail terribly, they can bounce back and it foreshadows Luke bringing the Jedi back while also showing how the galaxy was primed against the Jedi just enough for Sidious to weaponize it. Anti-clericalism happens all across history and you can follow the trajectories even when steps were taken to prevent it.
Shame what we got was an unironic "Jedi were always bad and the Dark Side is just misunderstood." And not even in the interesting Paradise Lost way where the author expects you to be smart enough to realize that Satan's POV is objectively deceptive and evil.
@@JonCrs10 That's not what we got. We actually got a lot of what you talked about and it was made in direct text of the show. The show did not say the Jedi were always bad, they give SO MUCH evidence to the contrary. They also don't say the Dark Side is misunderstood. And there is oodles of textual evidence making this clear.
Instead, what the show is saying is that they're all PEOPLE, nuanced and complex and hypocritical. That institutions claiming to be infallible are the ones you should watch the MOST. And that part of resisting the Dark Side is that sometimes it CAN sound like it's making sense. It's not mustache twirling evil. If it was JUST that, there wouldn't be temptation.
The only Jedi we see on screen actually being nefarious is Vernestra. And its because she has become a politician, just for the Jedi. For all their mistakes, none of the 4 Jedi on Brendok are BAD people. They're just PEOPLE, with ideals and worldviews, that caused a big problem with the best of intentions. And the Witches use the Force in unfamiliar ways, but they aren't just "of the Dark Side". They are shown as a community that has been hunted and persecuted, but maybe not entirely for no reason. And Qimir talks a good game, but we know he's not in this for noble reasons. We see his callousness and cruelty.
When Luke tries to look for Yoda, his expectations were to find a warrior, a powerful warrior, one who taught Obi-wan in his prime. Luke was expecting a champion, and found something what to his eyes was small, weak, aloof... too lost themselves to ever help him become a Jedi. Obi-Wan and Yoda showed the audience that being a Jedi, went much farther than being someone that could do amazing things with a sword. A lesson Luke failed in the cave, and only succeeded the moment he threw his sword aside to save his father. That was the moment Luke became a Jedi Master.
Ah but Bib Fortuna said that Jedi Fight. "Bargain rather than Fight? He's no Jedi!" That attitude shows that at this point the Jedi had lost their way. Luke went looking for a Great Warrior because That's what the Jedi were seen as in stories he'd heard up to that point. Hell Obi-an even said his father was a cunning Warrior.
Funny how much of current Star Wars fandom is searching for “a great warrior”, too.
And that is why they fail.
@@tmdblya Can you blame them when the games have been so much better at having you be that?
@@Fenris30I agree. Most people in the galaxy never fully understood Jedi. They mainly had a Sith Lord show them who Jedi were - fighters and later tyrants of the Clone Wars.
Had the Jedi been true to form and not become soldiers in the Clone Wars, their image could not be ruined. By the time they fought, in defense like true Jedi, no one could question who they were.
@@notfromhere8889 You don't understand the Jedi, they did nothing wrong during the war except get tricked
That vinegar analogy sums up most media “deconstruction” online, most people don’t even know what what the standard is they just know the extreme
💯
To be fair, that's not unexpected. Most people really can't vocalize why they like something. I don't think most people can go into a 40 minute analysis on jedi. They just know they like them, and maybe they know like 1-2 things. But saying why you don't like something is usually easier. You know Jedi are supposed to act like this and not like that. And the Jedi acted like that, which is out of character.
@@Notsogoodguitarguyin the EU the older jedi were warmongerers. Yeah we dont know they are suppose to act.
@@jmgonzales7701 maybe they are, maybe they aren't. I don't know. But we aren't talking about the EU. This video talks about the OT. 95%+ of people have no idea what the EU even is.
You can make a very good product with something that would ruin other things, but if you do it wrong people will be pretty quick to point out that you added something that would ruin it. Balder's gate 3 has a lot of things that in a less well made title would be touted as critical failure points, yet because they are done well it is praised for these things.
It's not that some things are fundamentally bad it's that people just suck at making them work.
When I realised what you were getting at with the “Everything is the same” point, I actually paused the video and paced around my house for a few minutes, it blew my mind so much.
If you can lift a rock, you can lift a plane. If Vader can turn to the dark side, you can too. Luke needed to learn That lesson, and when he didn’t, Yoda was terrified that he’d go to Vader and turn evil.
It definitely draws the zen and dao influences that Lucas seems to have intentionally included.
also because this literally is what happened with anakin. he was supposed to save the galaxy but then he turned to the dark side
"If Vader can fail, you can, too." Yes, but the hope is also more powerful: if you can succeed, so can Vader. Also "If Vader fails, we all fail", if there's ultimate connection.
"If he can become a Jedi like his father, then his father can become a Jedi like him."
If you can dodge a X-Wing you can dodge a rock
…but you're so vinegary, like a cupcake
LOL
@@schnee1 literally LOL.. League of Legends😂
Snap back to reality wups there goes gravity.
Like this is such a good line
Really made my day thank you
@@schnee1
I just want to say, your analysis so perfectly embodies my thoughts about the OT amd why those 3 movies are the only movies that I believe should be canon. I also believe Timothy Zahn is the only other writer who has been able to capture the lore of Star Wars so closely to what Lucas did with the OT.
Great video.
@@undisclosedmusic4969 I would've made the analogy with salt.
Everything comes together in the end. Ben not being afraid of death. Yoda pulling the ship out of the swamp. Luke bringing his weapons with him into the cave and facing his fears of becoming Vader. It all comes together when he faces Vader for real and he finally gets it.
Ben was not being afraid of death because he's already dead and he wasn't there at all, hence empty robe.
It's just annoying at this point because Disney is adamant about going from "flawed" to straight-up villainous. I'm beyond ready for a story where we're not being preached to that they're the real bad guys of the story. But The Acolyte tells me we're not course correcting yet
You're right ! Yoda pulling the ship out of mud as Luke believes it impossible - at first - to pull his father out of the muddy dark side he is plunged in, I just reflected on that
@@wandrillelamy5233 Wow!
@@wandrillelamy5233 The ship pulled out of mud itself, it can fly. Joda just drive it via Force, brain-computer interface.
There is at least three ways to communicate with smart machines in Star Wars universe, via android-translator like 3PO, on a deeper level via droid like r2d2, and on the deepest level via Force, which is brain-computer interface. That's why when r2d2 was hit Luke hear the voice of digitalized Obi-Wan through the Force "Use the Force, Luke!", so he can aim the target precisely.
I don't like vinegar. It's thin, and viscous, and sticky, and it gets everywhere. Not like here. Here everything's soft...and smooth
Wh.. lol.. wha.. .. lol.. what? Lol I don't get this comment but it made me laugh... I must have missed the context... viscouse... sticky... lol vinegar?
You underestimate my vinegar!
@@gustymaat7011"I don't like sand its course rough and gets fucking everywhere " Anakin Skywalker
@joesuchy1157 I don't think you understand the irony of... it's thin / viscous and sticky... lol vinegar is thin yes, probably the least viscous, and, dissolves sugars starches and proteins, so.... not sticky... lol... I was more... wondering what the person that made the statement... was trying to acctually say... just asking
@joesuchy1157 "thin, and viscous...... " not compatible ideas, was just pointing that out.. lol .. soft and smooth... like....... boooooooobbbss
Obiwan always struck me as "Powerful, wise, important, but understated and kind" which was something that I at the age didn't have and had never seen. No pomp, no dramatic lighting, just a kind greeting. I didn't realize it at the time, but i thought something akin to what you articulated so well here.
It was reading this comment I realized Yogurt from spaceballs was a composite of Yoda and Obi Wan.
I think the best quote about Jedi is "I miss… the idea of it. But not the truth, the weakness. “. Obi Wan Kenobi represent the best version of this idea of it. But even he failed when he was younger. And that's ok. No one is that perfect as Jedi want to be.
And that's the point of it. You know you can never reach that perfect ideal but you still try. Because if you try, you'll still get closer to it than if you never tried at all.
YES, from an in-universe perspective absolutely. because if you were living in Star wars you'd absolutely wish that they were what they were supposed to be. from a storytelling perspective though, showing all the ways in which they were flawed was absolutely the right way to go imo
There is a Japanese philosophy that is about the pursuit of perfection even though perfection can never be obtained. sm
@@Obi-Wan_Kenobido or do not there is no try
Okay, except we aren’t actually considering that Obi-wan was a failed Jedi Master. Trained Anakin Skywalker, whom fell to the dark side. While the video is looking at it from the OG trilogy, we can even take some new canon that definitely coincides with that point of view.
Obi-wan’s flashback scenes definitely kind of highlight it for me; while he ultimately “teaches” Anakin a lesson in the duel that goes on to show Vader falling prey to the same weakness. They all saw in Anakin all of his flaws but instead of holding him back, forcing him to change, the rigors of war push them to elevate him.
Quick comment but in the OT (and PT as well actually) there isnt a single mention of the light side. The original vision is that The Force, is inherently balanced and Jedi serve rhe balance, the Darkside is distorting the force to your own goals and unbalancing it.
Kinda wild that there was no light side for so long but we sorta assume and create dichitomies where none is found in the source
There is a mention of the light side. When Yoda first brings up the dark side, Luke asks "How will I know the good side from the bad?" Granted, Luke doesn't really know what he's talking about. But Yoda's response isn't to challenge this dichotomy, it's "You will know." Seems like he's implying there is a light side opposite the dark side.
@@eccentriastes6273 it's hard to say how reliable Yoda is as he's such an oddball and he later literally dies rather than answering a question so concise and clear answers aren't really his thing.
But it's true and interesting that he does not reject good and bad as a dichotomy.
Although it would still not appear that the force is balanced between good and bad. Definitely want more good than bad. The lightside if we use the term would be balance with the darkside being unbalance.
Luke's question shows the right understanding by attributing 'bad' to the darkside showing he doesn't want any darkside, which would be why Yoda doesn't have any need to correct terminology.
You will know is an interesting answer, it speaks to being your own authority on right and wrong as opposed to looking to external sources.
I just think it's interesting how for most of my life I thought of the force as light and dark, when this is a vaguely implied dichotomy at best and none of the star wars media (6 movies) I grew up with contain any mention of the lightside. Kinda blew my mind a bit when I learned that
Functionally, it is a very cool concept instead of the usual generic Yin/Yang balance of good and evil, but that the light side IS balance.
@@LordVader1094thats not what ying yang concept is.
The important part is that ying has a part of yang and the other way.
It tells us that there is no perfect good or bad and the balance is also inside of us.
@@eccentriastes6273 But I wouldn't expect Luke to be an authority to know what the force is about, particularly not at his point in life. Just that the Force is everything, and the dark side is only created out of evil. Just naturally Yoda doesn't really correct him as it's really just a tiny technicality that helps Luke follow him; because he will know Force from it's dark side when the time comes.
Which is why Yin-Yang doesn't work when it comes to the force. The dark side was never apart of the natural cycle, it's the part created by immensely evil creatures who will warp destiny to satisfy it's endless hunger. The force is everything life is; therefore the only balanced force is the one where there is no Sith to manipulate destinies.
A Jedi is never lonely they live on compassion, and they live on helping people and people live them and they can love them back but when that person dies they let go those that cannot let go become miserable that the lonely place
-George Lucas
What?
Bro was getting it right and then had a stroke at the end
@@LordVader1094 yeah, looks like it... man, poor George Lucas!
@@unvergebeneidso funny to think he said it like that, so close George!
You gotta edit this
"Why is this a more compelling way to do power progression?"
Andor: "Power doesn't panic."
Andor remains the goat of star wars tv
It's kind of crazy the variance in how different stories use this fact to their own effects. You can have the nervous protagonist in over their head and rightly feel powerless because of it. They gain competence and by extension confidence and stability. Clash them against an able but uncontrolled antagonist, and they realize that keeping a cool head can overcome strength wielded inefficiently. The protagonist can face a villain that is truly powerful, that is so insurmountably composed that their own training breaks to the character they started as, and they have to come to terms with their failure. You can have the powerful, unshakable villain finally be overcome by a moment where they lose their control in the face of new adversity, showing they are no longer as powerful as the protagonist; or the villain cleanly defeated by the unshakable protagonist, they are shown as a great obstacle that is successfully overcome.
It kind of ties back to the Super Saiyan example: Goku's best friend is killed, and instead of breaking down and getting lost in his emotions, he focuses up and is able to restrain his sorrowful rage enough to tell his son to get to safety and even offer to spare the man responsible for the murder. His head is clear enough to figure out that for as much as he wants to and literally can use his emotions as fuel to beat Frieza into paste, the worst wound he can inflict is making him live with failure. The whole arc, Frieza was confident in being the strongest in the universe, then Super Saiyan Goku forces him to realize that despite 100% strength being able to harm the hero he feared, he never had the control he thought he did and his lack of discipline wore him down enough to make one fatal mistake and get done in by his own attack.
@@wingsoffreedom3589 F Andor. Never will watch.
@@maximuscryptosx9424 everybody is wrong sbout something Andor is up there with breaking bad and early game of thrones for writing quality.
@@wingsoffreedom3589 Boycotting Disney Star Wars means, do not consume any, i repeat, any Disney Star Wars created content. None, nada, no bueno. If you want change, boycott. Its your only hope.
First minutes and you're already extremely coherent. That's why you're one of my favorite analysis channels, schnee. Not only are your analysis good, but the way you frame and observe everything is really logical and empathetic.
I think for Yoda's perplexing teaching it would be helpful to consider some Zen-Buddhist philosophy / teaching methods. In the west, we operate on the assumption that everything can be taught and understood on an intellectual level, where this is not the case in Buddhism. That certain truths can only be gained through direct experiences, and often these experiences are impossible with our preconceived notions. Setting Luke up to fail, in this context, makes perfect sense. Luke is holding on to preconceived notions that need to be removed before he can experience the truth of the Force. Whatever the flaws of Last Jedi, this line is pure Yoda "The greatest teacher, failure is."
HELL TO THE YES.
PLEASE, you, and EVERYONE, if you haven't already, embrace the One True Only God YHWH Jehovah, Only One Jesus Christ His Only Begotten Son and Lord and Savior of our souls and the Only One Holy Spirit. God is good. God is love. Jesus is Lord. Jesus IS coming. Your soul depends on it!
I have seen God act in my life. He saved my soul, changed my heart, changed my mind, helped people through me, took care of people in my life, people I hurt before I found God. God is the only reason I was able to reconcile with my dad before he died.
God worked through Jesus Christ to save our souls. Jesus Christ died on the cross for our sins. Believe in your heart and confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus, and that God raised Him from the dead and you will be saved. Be baptized in The Holy Spirit, and if He wills, water as well. Repent of your sins, accept God, Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit into your heart, that Jesus Christ died on the cross for your sins.
For God so loved the world that He gave His only Begotten Son Jesus Christ, that all who believe on Him should not perish but have everlasting life. Jesus Christ is The Way, The Truth and The Life. No one comes to the Father Jehovah God but through Him.
Not long after I got saved I prayed to God for help understanding the Holy Bible, and that same day someone knocked on my door asking me if I wanted to understand the Bible.
The Holy Bible says, "love thy enemy", "turn the other cheek", "If your enemy is hungry, feed him", "if he is thirsty, give him a drink", "pray for those who persecute you", "do not repay evil for evil".
LORD willing, all humans may commit sin of almost every kind (gay, straight), and that's wrong, and all humans sin, as God tells us through the The Holy Bible, "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus." The Holy Bible also says, "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness."
@@TheInfintyithGoofball PLEASE, you, and EVERYONE, if you haven't already, embrace the One True Only God YHWH Jehovah, Only One Jesus Christ His Only Begotten Son and Lord and Savior of our souls and the Only One Holy Spirit. God is good. God is love. Jesus is Lord. Jesus IS coming. Your soul depends on it!
I have seen God act in my life. He saved my soul, changed my heart, changed my mind, helped people through me, took care of people in my life, people I hurt before I found God. God is the only reason I was able to reconcile with my dad before he died.
God worked through Jesus Christ to save our souls. Jesus Christ died on the cross for our sins. Believe in your heart and confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus, and that God raised Him from the dead and you will be saved. Be baptized in The Holy Spirit, and if He wills, water as well. Repent of your sins, accept God, Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit into your heart, that Jesus Christ died on the cross for your sins.
For God so loved the world that He gave His only Begotten Son Jesus Christ, that all who believe on Him should not perish but have everlasting life. Jesus Christ is The Way, The Truth and The Life. No one comes to the Father Jehovah God but through Him.
Not long after I got saved I prayed to God for help understanding the Holy Bible, and that same day someone knocked on my door asking me if I wanted to understand the Bible.
The Holy Bible says, "love thy enemy", "turn the other cheek", "If your enemy is hungry, feed him", "if he is thirsty, give him a drink", "pray for those who persecute you", "do not repay evil for evil".
LORD willing, all humans may commit sin of almost every kind (gay, straight), and that's wrong, and all humans sin, as God tells us through the The Holy Bible, "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus." The Holy Bible also says, "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness."
@Dagenspear I agree with what Jesus believed/believes in (ie: world piece, helping people, based off the Bible verse you commented it seems he believes in non-violence as well)
if I'm being honest I'm kinda scared of what some sects of Christianity have done in the past "in the name of God"...
I prefer to have my journey with God in private... and sometimes I worry that donations to certain churches are used more for (🤢) selfish wealth than to spread good around the world...
I DON'T BELIEVE ALL SECTS OF CHRISTIANITY ARE LIKE THIS but I've learned what goes on behind the scenes of say... the prosperity gospel
I just... sure I've been baptized but I still have alot to figure out before I'm sure what... I'm not even sure how to end this sentence 😂
Honestly for alot of people they believe they can carry on Jesus's teachings of compassion and piece without being part of a specific church or religion and I atleast semi agree... I believe in God but I kinda... don't like to retrain my beliefs to what certain pastors say... because though Jesus's followers well... FOLLOWED him
I think that his followers then and his followers now can still make mistakes
so I kinda just keep to myself about the whole... "thing"?
PS: is this because I said "Hell"? 🤭
TLJ is the purest SW since ROTJ
I love obi wan’s hut. I love his line about how the Jedi were the guardians of peace. The second they are gone someone gets to work on a mobile super weapon.
That weapon was under construction while the Jedi existed. It was under construction during the clone wars.
@@francischambless5919Yeah I know, and this is merely one out of millions of reasons that the prequels were a mistake.
@@HOTD108_ I wouldn't go that far. I enjoyed the prequels to a point, but I think Lucas severely missed some golden opportunities. One would have been to show Anakin cheat to win the pod race by choking Sabulba or something like that to make him crash, instead of making Sabulba out to be the cheating, mean creature. You could have kept seeing Anakin and his anger issues/manipulation methods instead of making him out to be the innocent little slave boy. In the later ones he just didn't do enough to show his bad side. Now in The Clone Wars series, at least you saw him kill some people unnecessarily and push boundaries way more than the 3 movies ever did. They just seemed on the mental capacity level of adolescents instead of adult material, so I guess it's silly to nitpick.
Honestly that whole spiel he gave luke. For a performance that Alec Guiness was honestly kinda phoning in. You could feel the weight and presence of something greater.
"For over a thousand generations the jedi knights were the guardians of peace in the galaxy"
I'm thinking about Andor now, because it's the only post-OG Star Wars that I can unhesitatingly say I love, and I think the key to that is: it's an entirely different story. It's set in the same universe, but thematically Andor is its own thing. [only light spoilers for Andor below]
And the complete lack of Jedi in it highlights this. The basic thematic question of Andor is "why do ordinary people get involved in revolution?" but not just that, "why do people who don't have magic or destiny or legacy, who are weak and scared, who have other priorities, people they care about, who care about their own lives more than the ideal of heroism... why would they join a blatantly impossible fight that will almost certainly kill them?" And this is where Andor being a prequel, surprisingly, works: we know Cassian will die in this fight before it's over, so why does it matter anyway?
The story explores this through all of its characters. None of them are at ease with the Rebellion. Cassian doesn't care. Luthen is tormented. Mon Mothma is afraid and estranged from her family. Lonnie wants to quit. Vel's scared for her girlfriend. And we see this mirrored with our antagonists, why these normal people choose to fight for the Empire.
The setting establishes the challenge: the Empire is more obviously omnipotent than in Luke's time. We see how small our characters are, the Rebellion barely even exists, a small squad of rent-a-cops is enough to endanger our heroes, they can get imprisoned for just walking down the street. And we ground all this in very real nightmares from our own world (the prison industrial complex, colonialism, the everyday creep of totalitarianism) that we so often feel helpless to stop. There is no outside of the Empire, there's nowhere at all to run.
All this gives us a setup very different from the OG Star Wars. You don't get to choose the fight based on your own ambition and recklessness, you're born into this nightmare with everyone else. There's no clear path to empowerment, there's just running from the fight until you admit to yourself that you can't escape it at all. And it's very unclear yet if your moral choices matter on a cosmic scale at all, all you have right now is a feeling.
But that feeling is enough. That's the thing I find so beautifully inspiring about Andor (why Kino is maybe my favorite character) is that deep feeling that's created that it does matter. Not because of eventual success and galactic liberation, tho we know that with the efforts of many many people that will happen. But in the act of choosing to resist, in accepting the fight, running towards our fear rather than away from it, we liberate ourselves. We can love authentically and feel connection and fight together for however many moments we have, at peace with our eventual demise, because we've chosen not survival but life.
And maybe that is a thematic connection with the OT, but it arrives there by a very different path. I love them both (and this video was beautiful, helped me continue to reignite my love of the old movies and understand why they matter), but the time I've found them both does feel apt developmentally for me. The OG movies were aspirational when I was young, the Jedi were a beautiful ideal of peace and justice I could look forward to developing in myself. And I have grown, and I still find that ideal valuable. But Andor, I relate to on a more visceral and adult level. Because it *feels* like our world today, in its overwhelming terror and faint yet necessary hope. It doesn't feel like I can change the whole world, and reaching for that can actually be damaging for me at times. But choosing to fight, choosing peace with the horror of the world as it is and facing it the best I can, not because of any guaranteed outcome but because it's the best way to live... yeah, that is what Luke chooses too, but down in the mundane dirt of Andor, it's easier for me to feel.
We need a Schnee Andor breakdown.
I love this! The original trilogy gave me hope that through emotional labor I can change the world. Andor presented characters that have many versions of that hope, and who maybe challenge those ideas. Yet ultimately the show still gives us the emotional catharsis and encouragement to continue to hold on to those original trilogy ideals.
@@ReivaxDralla "through emotional labor" omg I love that. another commenter framed yoda's lesson to luke on lifting the x-wing as "it's not a physical task, it's a spiritual task" which i really liked, but "spiritual" as a concept can be vague to the point of uselessness, so I really like the idea of grounding it w/ the idea of emotional labor. facing your inner darkness, opening yourself to connection with the universe, these aren't just primitive actions we can *do* by pure virtue, they take practice, emotional labor. but that's a hopeful thing because it is something real that can be taught and learned, not something esoteric hopelessly beyond most of us.
@@cassiopeiasfire6457 I Know! like I'm so amazed that all this depth can still be found in this franchise 47 years later
Powerful. This stuff hits bro
omg the visual gag of the others’ input transcribed through the opening crawl is so fucking funny 🤣
I really appreciate you taking this concept in a positive light than a negative one. Thank you.
Starwars video be catching me off guard
LUZ NOCEDA CATCHING ME OF GUARD OMG
Was Hailee Steinfeld in any of the Star Wars movies?
@@FunkatronicGeek must be if Schnee's making a video on it😂
@@hazza4954 Has to be. He doesn't cover anything sans Steinfeld
@@FunkatronicGeekREAL 😂
At the end of the video
All of this, unironically, is exactly what made the EU special to me: the lessons from Kreia in Kotor 2, Luke's progress with the New Jedi Order after the events of Return of the Jedi, and many other stories about connection. Thank you for putting into words what I and many others could not for so long. And for even articulating things I never considered as well.
Also the Jedi as portrayed in the prequel-era EU, like pre-2008 TCW. They still felt like the Jedi who both came before and after.
Exactly the expanded Universe was beautiful
KOTOR 2 just in general is fantastic, with the Exile being a broken person who can manage to find meaning again alongside her companions
It's crazy how I can love a story like Star Wars so much, for reasons I can't really explain. Then I watch a schnee video and I realize why I love these stories so much.
I hate how so many people assume that Luke used the Force to telekinetically curve the proton torpedoes. Maybe he used the Force in a purely "mental", zen way. The use of the Force was knowing when to pull the trigger, and even just mastering his stress.
I think this is far more likely.
This is something that is reinforced within the prequels when we first meet Anakin and learn he's one of the few or only human that can podrace. He has higher perception and reflexes than the average human through the force. Also arguably foreshadowed during Luke's first training session blocking blaster bolts through foresight.
That's what I've always thought. In fact I'm positive that you're right about this because if Luke physically moved the bolts with his mind, that would mean none of the other pilots ever stood a chance of making the shot, which I will never believe was the point of that scene.
I always saw it this way. He used the force to know what to do on such a sensitive high-skill mission
People actually thought that? I always thought it was just him using the force to know when to make the shot, not physically manipulating the torpedoes. Even as a kid I intuitively knew this.
Okay, ngl, I got really nervous when I first saw this video's title, lol! I'm a huge Star Wars fan (both new and old) and the fan discourse has been terrible, especially online.
That being said, I think you broke down what I love so much about the OT and especially the Jedi: the kindness and restraint. It showed what the Jedi were meant to be from the beginning: peace keepers. It never shied away from showing how flawed they were (especially now in canon), but I think what makes characters like Luke, Ahsoka, Obi, and Kanan resonate with me the most is that they get back up and pursue that ideal anyway.
Great video! I'm still a little nervous about your other Star Wars vids but I've also been watching your content for years since Arcane came out, lol! I can't wait!
What frustrates me the most about it is that, the moment I say I don't like Disney's trilogy in certain communities, there's a swarm of people who try to beat me down through social manipulation. "Oh, you're one of _those people!_ You must listen to XYZ! You can't think for yourself!" and that sort of thing.
I've just given up on trying to reason with people. I'm just going to carve out a new community in my own little corner of the internet.
@@PsychicAlchemy And then someone comes along and says they like Disney's trilogy in certain communities and get called a communist or a DEI hire or some shit like that.
Sometimes, you can't win with star wars fans one way or the other.
@SetreeAnimus because why else would you like the trilogy that shits all over Lucas star wars?
@@espo221b You can like or dislike something without being a walking self report actually
A lot of online discourse about Star Wars does not come from people who value kindness and restraint. That's a pretty interesting thing to consider when analysing the discourse in general
Obi-Wan Kenobi takes Luke Skywalker to a Chinese restaurant for lunch.
Obi-Wan is deftly manipulating his chopsticks and eating his food elegantly.
Luke, on the other hand, is making a mess, keeps dropping his food and chopsticks everywhere, it's embarrasing.
Obi-Wan looks kindly at Luke and says:
"Use the forks, Luke."
Dad, is that you?
@@alexroselle 😅
@@ticijevish*stage whispers* no no your line is, "I am your father" ;D
A succulent Chinese meal?
Effing boo.
This video came out at the perfect time. I rewatched the OT recently and I didn’t realize just how much I missed how the Jedi used to be portrayed. Thank you for this!
Squircle's mom being in this felt like the "I am your father" moment in star wars and I am all for it
And she quotes Obi-Wan almost word by word.
A true believer.
"Have you ever considered the fact that Yoda might be an apex predator?" 🤣🤣🤣
I want to watch that video.
WHHAAT??! hahahah
WHHAAT??! hahahah
His species clearly evolved opposable thumbs, eyes in the front, intelligence/language. Not to mention the longevity and slow development of his species. If you are prey to something else, you don't get away with having 50 year old toddlers.
Dude’s got pointy teeth, claws on hands and feet, and agile as hell even in old age. And carnivorous.
Luke’s family situation isn’t “…uncaring.” (05:20) His aunt and uncle raised Luke from infancy; Owen is worried for his beloved nephew. He believes keeping Luke close is the best way to protect him. He comes across as harsh (though hardly unusually so) and he has very good reasons to be concerned.
Yeah for real, Owen loves Luke like a son and the entire reason he's dismissive about the Jedi stuff is because he doesn't want Luke to turn out the way Anakin did
Agreed, his take was surprising
Yeah. Factoring in Disney canon, he also doesn't want Luke used as a weapon for the agenda of the powerful people who don't give a crap about working class people. He knows that the Jedi treated his stepmother like crap, and his stepbrother was also used for war and discarded. He didn't want Luke to end up like them.
A kind family would trust the person they raised. Thinking that not talking about something is the height of 1940's/1950's America home life, may not uncaring, but most certainly unkind. We are also shown that Luke becomes the man he does because of the connections he makes after he leaves his family.
@@1MHCS ,
I appreciate your perspective, and I’m forced to agree that, broadly speaking, “not talking about something” is almost begging for a cornucopia of problems to thereafter arise. But any ~ 19 year old is very, very far from a blank slate. In fact, by 19, most of us are very far along establishing the personality, values, and physicality that are the foundations of our adult selves. I think you must right that for some people, those foundations come to reflect an opposition to parental influence. But that’s almost certainly not the case with Luke. One could readily argue many of Luke’s most admirable qualities were modeled by his aunt and uncle: loyalty, concern for others, modesty, reflection, persistence, empathy, independence…
His adoptive parents love and care for him. He’s not rebelling against them, he’s rebelling against the life he happened to be brought up in - farming. His aunt and uncle, like all parents, are torn between wanting to protect him and letting him live his life. Trusting him, an aspect you’re right to bring up, is a process…letting go is a process.
I would argue then that the “man he becomes” incorporates elements taken from the whole of his life, most of which was spent with his parents, not Obi-Wan or Yoda. Those Jedi mentors helped build on a foundation laid on Tatooine.
At the end of the day, a Jedi is someone who can face the worst the galaxy has to offer, but when everything has calmed, this would be a person you would trust to leave your kids with.
After the PT? Do NOT leave your kids with them.
like me lol
@@Allronix that's the beauty of what it means to be a Jedi. It's that absolute mental fortitude combined with maintaining a kind heart. Something only someone who's force sensitive can achieve
@@SirRulean1223 No. I would argue that mental fortitude and kindness does not require being conscripted from birth or touched by the divine. The most generous and kind person in the whole Prequel trilogy was Shmi. A live in slavery takes a hell of a lot of fortitude. And raising a good little boy (as good as the circumstances can make) also needs a kind heart, as did sheltering a Jedi and his charge in their time of need when she had nothing. So where was her favor from the Force?
The Jedi were nothing more than a police force for the Republic, enforcers for their favored members of the political class like Padme. Again, do not leave your children with them and do not trust them. They will take your child away, never to be seen again, for the "good of the Republic," and they won't really care about little people like you.
@@Allronix I don't think you understand what a Jedi is then. You seem to know what the Jedi Order was, but not what I'm talking about. And at the end of the day, a child that has their emotions turned up to 11 and able to wield great power IS something that needs to be found, nurtured, and trained.
The Jedi Order was rotted from the inside out unfortunately and nowhere near resembled what the Ancient Order did. Jedi like Luke, Yoda, Obi-Wan, or Plo-Koon really showed what a True Jedi looked like.
At the end of the day, a child who is capable of great evil will need to be taught how NOT to follow down the easier, more satisfying path. The unfortunate truth is that the Jedi Order originally was capable of this, but lost their way some time during the Old Republic / High Republic.
And a Jedi cares about the little people. That's rule #1.
I really resonate with the ideas in your video. It was well made and well articulated. Something that I think really goes to show it is the scene in star wars battlefront campaign where Luke saves an imperial and this leaves the soldier very confused. "Why would you help me" "Because you asked" Luke goes on to tell him at the end of their conversation that there is a choice. Not a choice to join the rebellion, but simply, a choice to be better. This moment both validates your argument that the jedi and the lessons in jedi teachings stem from connectivity and the concept that the jedi through the force, don't see all the artificial differences that other people can't see past. The scene feels like the pinnacle of what Luke's character stands for. The fact your analysis of the movie matches up with this scene leads me to feel like this is an incredible video essay that absolutely nails the message.
Dude, I watched the very first movie in theatres when I was around 10. It changed my life. I watch the current shows and know that ... they are just ... missing something?? But I couldn't put my finger on it. THIS is what the franchise lost. The profound wisdom that the spiritual journey is about coming to a deeper understanding of our unity with all of existence. The Jedi were basically Taoists. Now, they're another type of generic Avenger power hero. Or whatever the hell they were on The Acolyte. I miss the Taoist Jedi. In fact, I've done a bit of a dive into the je'dai (I think that's how it's spelled) and they strike me as more what Obi-Wan and Yoda were. Great video. Thanks for clarifying and offering me back something that I had lost.
The actual Jedi philosophy drawed its inspiration mostly from buddhism
It feels so strange that this is what it used to be and how it has been changed later.
Being connected to the universe and seeing that everything is the same and everyone is you. I don't think that the low framerate Vader was only representing the actual father, but anyone you consider an enemy.
This sense of unity sounds very appealing and aspirational
Yeah this video is my first time hearing someone talk about cave Vader like that. I would've said the cave was to show that what Luke thought was a threat was his father, but that the real threat was Luke's own mindset (part of which is to be reckless, ready for violence). So literally, inside the mask of his father was Luke. Not that complicated, I thought. He ended up using his weapon because he insisted on taking it with him, and was confronted by a vision wielding... the same weapon. It just shows how far his thinking is from where it needs to be, especially when Luke himself doesn't get the point. I find Schnee to be generally very insightful so it threw me when he described his initial confusion and distaste for the scene.
I'm writing my own star wars show and your content really helped with a lot of hard things that it involved. It's so cool to see you now doing videos on my favourite franchise.
Schnee's comments on Yoda as a teacher reminded me of something a teacher told to us in my second year in college: "I need you to stop being *alumns* and become *students.* What I mean by that its that an alumn is someone who passively receives knowledge (because that's what 'alumn' means etymologically, 'someone who is in the dark and needs to be enlightenen'). That how you learned in highschool and as children but you're adults now and need to start to actively study what your carreer is about. For now in college and for the rest of your lives as professionals you need to be scholars, you need to search more knowledge on your own, to investigate, to always be reading and lesrning more" ... going back to Luke and _Star Wars,_ Yoda knows that he doesn't have years to teach Luke how to be a proper Jedi, so what he really needs is to teach Luke how to learn the ways of the Force by himself so not only can Luke deffeat Vader but also become a master himself and teach the spiritual values of the Jedi Order to others
The editing is so creative and deep. Love the Spider-Man clips while you're talking about attainability of the "hero" narrative. Brilliant addition, which really solidifies the point you're making
Great presentation. It really meshes with the ep2 &ep3 Obi that Ewan shows us. We get to see him use his calm as a skill, including both successes (battle with Grievance) and failures (final battle with Anakin).
I think that seeing his struggles as a younger jedi makes the master we meet in ep4 so much more poignant. He truly walked through his own hell, and came out the other side as a master of peace.
So talking about Yoda a bit. Yoda is very different than Obi-wan Kenobi. To start, Obi-wan has a first and last name like most of us. Yoda does not, he uses a mononym, or rather a mononym is applied to him and he accepts it. He's erratic and hard to understand. Theres a theory he was a shapeshifter and the snake you see replaced by yoda is the same being. Hes kinda Goblin-y, he's more like a spirit or demi-god. A lot like the strange beings Aang meets in the spirit realm. Yoda is distinctly not like us. People look up to Obi and Luke and want to grow up to be like them but nearly no-one says they want to become like Yoda.
Yoda is unique being and no one can match his form or philosophy, i think what we learn from that is all Jedi, and by extension all enlightened people are unique. You can't reach that necessary enlightened stage by copying someone else, you have to find and be true to who you really are. And Yoda is a weird little goblin guy, who accepts himself with no shame. So you can accept yourself too.
"You can't reach that necessary enlightened stage by copying someone else, you have to find and be true to who you really are." You've just explained the whole theme behind Herman Hesse's book Siddhartha. Govinda follows the Buddha's way. Siddhartha finds his OWN way. He became the Buddha. I'll bet Lucas read that book as well and was inspired by it.
@@jonathanswift2251 I read Herman Hesse's Siddharta a long time ago and haven't thought about it since.
Id bet money George Lucas has read it, given his generation and interest in East Meets west philosophy, I understand Siddharta was the thing to read and talk about if that was your jam for quite some time.
Good call.
Yoda’s first name is Minch
Whenever I get great deep dives like this, I am always compelled to highly recommend the Star Wars Radio Drama. It's criminal how overlooked it is!
On the surface it's nothing special, it's a radio program that follows the exact same story as the 3 movies. It has all new voice actors (except Mark Hamill because he is a legend) and some stellar work done there. But the interesting part is that they aren't just going over the plot of the movies that you already know, in almost every possible scenario they are going through the exact same story but from the perspective of a different character than what we got on the big screen. So much gets added to the story!
I highly highly recommend giving it a listen, if nothing else it will give you some interesting appreciations for the characters
When you came to the ultimate conclusion on the themes of the Force and sameness and how it relates to the plot of Star Wars and said "if I can choose good, he can chiose good", it literally made me want to cheer and applaud. That's how powerful that theme is. God I love the original trilogy.
I LOVE that you include all these other voices. It really shows how much of a dialogue the process for making this video was
Wonderful video Schnee! Truly inspiring! I would love a deeper dive on the "connectivity" aspect of the Jedi. One of the most pivotal themes I've noticed while listening to you is that the Jedi strive to partner with the Force and therefore strive to build harmonious connections with others. That's a very unique relationship even in our world and in fiction b/c the chosen one or hero's journey becomes a lot about the one person overcoming on their own merits, by dominating their adversaries. Ironically, this "domination" theme seems similar to the Sith, who seek to dominate the Force so as to use it as a tool instead of partnering with the Force. Lastly, that dominating element seems to produce a sense of "separation", when it comes to building healthy relationships, which is the opposite of the Jedi. Sorry for the long message, but I'd love to hear more about Jedi and the "connectivity" theme. It's so relevant in America where we applaud the individual who achieved success single handedly while ignoring the persons who helped that individual along the way.
There's a lot that I love about the post-Original Trilogy Star Wars movies and stories, including their depiction of Jedi characters.
That said, I found this a wonderfully insightful and thought-provoking analysis. Even if I don't agree with other portrayals of the Jedi being bad, I can appreciate your reflections on how the Jedi come across and what we can infer about them in the original three movies. Thanks for making this.
(Personally, I never found the Dark Side cave sequence confusing or out of place. Yes, it foreshadows the Vader reveal, but in it's own context, it symbolizes so much about Luke's struggles with evil; his limitations in that regard; and his need to realize that evil is not something wholly external to himself, that he, too, is at risk of falling to the Dark Side if he isn't careful to guard his moral actions.)
Let me explain the cave scene: Two clues from Yoda. Luke asks him: "What's in there?" Yoda: "Only what you take with you." Then Yoda tells him not to take his weapons. But he does. So he takes conflict fear and physical violence in, and that's what he finds. When he sees his own face in Vader's mask. that's a CLEAR indication Luke is afraid of his potential to become Vader. I'm surprised you didn't get this, because in your opening you said the Hero is afraid of attaining the power to save the world. Because it could come with the potential to destroy it... this theme.. of Luke basically struggling with the lure of the Dark side, is clearly played out in the finale of ROTJ... Vader says he feels the conflict in Luke. Luke is lit red on one side of his face and blue on the other.. when he sees Vaders hand cut off and looks at his own replacement robot hand, it says he has equalled the ability of Vader had but also the that he has the potential of the Dark side in him. as we know he stops there and chooses to throw away his weapon. ['your weapons, you will not need them]. That's what changes everything and completes his journey. The Cave scene is great. Star Wars can be condensed down to one word: compassion.
Old Jedi; your wise, kind father.
New Jedi: your bratty siblings.
You explained why I've always wanted to become a Jedi even though I've never believed in the magical side of the Force. You put all of these intuitive feelings into words and that was beautiful
Something your analysis made me think of... when Obi Wan says that striking him down will make him more powerful than ever before, it's funny how even in what's been added on to Star Wars that gets interpreted as "ascending to a power beyond life". But you made me think, maybe what he's getting at there is that Obi-Wan knows he could have never defeated Vader... but that Luke could, because in Luke he sees how Anakin once was. And he recognizes that if Vader strikes him down, it will be the catalyst to Luke embracing fully the lessons of the Jedi to stop Vader.
Vader sees it in terms of "I will defeat you in combat, and I will have won." But Obi-Wan maybe sees and embraces the greater harmony, what his death will set in motion, and knows that by striking him down Vader is setting his own downfall in motion.
In other words, the connection Obi-Wan formed with Luke in kindness and friendship was more powerful and galaxy-changing than any lightsaber duel could ever be... and he smiles, because he realizes he has already won. And he lets go.
Interesting food for thought.
That emotional progression discussion at the end was fascinating, it's what really makes Luke's journey so memorable and inspiring. I'd love to see your take on She-Ra (2018) regarding the magical warrior trope, I believe Adora's journey as the main protagonist shares very similar ideas to Star Wars and the concept of the Jedi. Great video as always!
Okay. Quite possibly one of my favorite Star Wars videos ever.
Does this mean that the Sith, as a corruption of the Jedi, are the pinnacle of "the possible"? That choosing the dark path means you have surrendered to reality and its limits? We constantly hear this rhetoric that Jedi are more powerful than Sith, and we believe it I guess, but then we watch Sith in these movies being the strongest, most badass people around and we wonder.
If we use what you discussed about Jedi in this video to inform an impression on the Sith, then the Sith are the very height of power one can achieve with the force within the bounds of the possible. They can do incredibly awesome things with the force, but the emotions that govern them make them incapable of achieving the "impossible" described in this video, and thus, make them weaker than the Jedi. The Jedi can do impossible things, since without fear of loss or supplication to rage, they can achieve that emotional state that you described.
20:17 I can't help but think about Robot Chicken: "Just some dude, he was! The reason I told you no weapons, this is!"
"To be fair, you phrased that more like a suggestion!"
Fundamentally, the Jedi of the original trilogy are Taoists. You work around problems, you adapt, you appear useless or pointless and then you are free to do things in unexpected ways. Power is not as useful as awareness and ability to meet the moment. It is why Return of the Jedi has Luke achieve victory by simply not fighting. ("non-action" in Taoist terms).
The sharp contrast, for the comparison for the prequels, is that the Jedi there, are the Catholic Church. They're tied into politics, they're controlling, they have lots of hierarchies and literally lead a slave army to fight a war.
So true. Though, I would compare the prequel Jedi more to Buddhism, which also made political connections in eastern countries. That's where Lucas got the "no attachments" rule from.
Ehh nah you were right in the first paragraph, dead wrong in the second. Tbf I can't blame you, since the franchise itself has been pushing that silly idea of the Jedi for 10+ years now. But the prequels themselves do not support it.
I'm gonna say you just nailed both points. Well said! The prequel Jedi are so weird about family and love and sexual encounters. VERY Catholic Church. Looks like you may have touched a nerve with a few people with that statement though haha.
@@1MHCSbecause he is attacking a people right now borderline racism. I don’t expect a black person to take black people being called this and not say something. Why should Catholics being called something bad just sit back and take it?
@@tjmcfadden5137 Catholics aren't a race...
Yoda says 'My ALLY is the force' and both him and Obi Wan put emphasis on how life creates it and connects all things in the universe.
Luke asks 'How will I know the good from the bad?'
Yoda: 'You will know when you are CALM'
You can understand the entire purpose of the Jedi from these explanation's. If life creates the force and the force has allied itself with living beings known as Jedi - The Force GIVES a Jedi its power, they do not own it, the Jedi do not CONTROL THE FORCE as people seem to think. The Jedi can access the force when they become more in tune and harmonious with nature. 'Size matters not' because you aren't the one lifting the rock or the ship the FORCE is lifting it. Luke cant lift the ship because he thinks its a feat of strength, when really it is a request for the force to aid you. He believed it could not be done, he becomes imbalanced, he cannot lift the ship.
The Dark Side of the force, is about bending the force to your will, this of course hurts the force because when you use the Dark Side you do so by harming life, not only that of others, but also yourself. If you HARM LIFE - you HARM THE FORCE that is created by it and so you diminish the force overtime through harming it. That is why the Dark Side is EASIER, FASTER, but not more powerful.
This makes the role of the Jedi very obvious. The force has allied itself with the Jedi and their role is to PROTECT and nurture LIFE.
Finally a Star Wars video, LET’S GOOO! 😭🎉
I remember how defeated my dad was the first time he forced me to sit down and watch the original trilogy. He was an absolute Star Wars nerd. It was sometime during the second movie that I pulled out my gameboy and started playing Pokemon Red. When we finally finished it, he was like "what'd ya think?" and I said "it was kinda boring", which made him look like his dog died, and made my mom scurry out the room trying not to bust out laughing.
It wasn't until The Phantom Menace came out that I became an addict. He was career military and had suprised us with his return, as he had been out to sea for three months or something. He kept me home from school that day, and we went to see it in theatre.
The prequel trilogy had a massive impact on me. There was
Amazing video, great points, well structured but also so much fun too.
The new format with the inclusion of the discussions and other points of view is really good, I like it! Keep it up!
PLEASE, you, and EVERYONE, if you haven't already, embrace the One True Only God YHWH Jehovah, Only One Jesus Christ His Only Begotten Son and Lord and Savior of our souls and the Only One Holy Spirit. God is good. God is love. Jesus is Lord. Jesus IS coming. Your soul depends on it!
I have seen God act in my life. He saved my soul, changed my heart, changed my mind, helped people through me, took care of people in my life, people I hurt before I found God. God is the only reason I was able to reconcile with my dad before he died.
God worked through Jesus Christ to save our souls. Jesus Christ died on the cross for our sins. Believe in your heart and confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus, and that God raised Him from the dead and you will be saved. Be baptized in The Holy Spirit, and if He wills, water as well. Repent of your sins, accept God, Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit into your heart, that Jesus Christ died on the cross for your sins.
For God so loved the world that He gave His only Begotten Son Jesus Christ, that all who believe on Him should not perish but have everlasting life. Jesus Christ is The Way, The Truth and The Life. No one comes to the Father Jehovah God but through Him.
Not long after I got saved I prayed to God for help understanding the Holy Bible, and that same day someone knocked on my door asking me if I wanted to understand the Bible.
The Holy Bible says, "love thy enemy", "turn the other cheek", "If your enemy is hungry, feed him", "if he is thirsty, give him a drink", "pray for those who persecute you", "do not repay evil for evil".
LORD willing, all humans may commit sin of almost every kind (gay, straight), and that's wrong, and all humans sin, as God tells us through the The Holy Bible, "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus." The Holy Bible also says, "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness."
Lol I love your stuff so I'm so excited to see your POV on this particular subject.
This is why Himmel from Frieren hits different as well! He is a hero that is relatable and a "power" everyone can achieve!
Thank you. I enjoy most of your videos for their interesting view into writing and character and everything else. This one dived to a deeper level with its insightful breakdown of the Jedi. Summarising the philosophy of their spiritual quest with such clarity.
The plane scene always made perfect, sometimes teachers need to show not tell. I train martial arts and one of the simplest things they will do is just show you what they mean. Explaining to you "Faster" "keep your chin tucked and your hand up at and turn your hips but all at the same time" isn't enough. They need to show you just how fast fast can be. Then you can imitate it because you can imagine it. Because you couldn't even imagine how fast fast is until you saw it. And I feel like this isn't just a martial arts thing.
It also makes sense within the framwork of the Jedi. They are very much like Christian Monks or ascetic monks more specfically, hermits, focusing intensely on "internal progression" and emotional growth then the Joda lifting the plane scene is like a Miracle. A manifestation of the inner growth that isn't visible externally.
OT Jedi are Warrior Monks, as grounded in being a relaxed chiller at one with the universe as they are in being a bad enough dude to rescue the president, and I think what happened is that the prequels showed the Jedi order in a state where they’d become to involved in and complacent with the republic, and everyone took the Jedi order that was so bound up in the political world that something like Anakin’s fall became an inevitability as the baseline from which other considerations of the Jedi would originate
Tbf Prequel Jedi are also Warrior Monks. They also are pretty relaxed and chill, but can rescue the president. They're just rescuing the president on the regular, being the guardians of peace and justice in the Republic.
It's only the last decade or more of material that's consistently tried to twist the Jedi into being complacent or "too involved" with the Republic (what does that mean anyway? They have to be involved, they're the literal guardians of peace and justice in the Republic, many simultaneously argue the Jedi's flaw is not being involved enough in Republic politics) rather than accepting that most of it was just the Sith hiding out and manipulating affairs for a very long time.
Reading the prequels EU pre-2008 TCW gives a picture of the Jedi much of those in the OT and their grounded, logical philosophy and spiritualism. Furthermore, they're far from complacent or too involved, they oftentimes make decisions counter to the Senate or do things as required rather than within the strict laws of the Republic. And most of all, they come within an inch of actually discovering Palpatine's entire plot in Labyrinth of Evil which causes him to launch the assault on Coruscant to cover wiping out the investigation team.
The prequel era Jedi Order (as depicted in the material originally tying-in to the movies like the CWMMP) is insanely underrated.
@@LordVader1094 They're not Warrior Monks in the Prequels, they're more like Monk Cops tbh, at that point the Jedi Council is so arrogant and tunnevisioned on politics that they don't even follow most Jedi doctrine outside of their facade. The Prequel Jedi Council was probably one of the worst moral representations of the Jedi we've seen and their lackings is (by the media's own accord) what lead to the birth of Darth Vader, this is obvious since the Prequels released and didn't need any extra material to be made clearer, although the novelizations say it outloud.
This is exactly what The Acolyte's entire point is, that the Jedi doctrines can't coexist with the council having a political influence at all, the detachment from greed and desire can't be present when they need to be aware of their every move and outwards appearance since they're politically attached to the government
@@Sheoll6Exactly, the Jedi were supposed to be serving the people of the galaxy (outside of political bodies) and the will of the force. The Jedi had become too close to the politics of the senate, essentially they were nothing more than enforcers for corrupt senators.
Also in the prequels, the jedi have this weird hang up on not loving or even thinking about your family, where the first 3 movies are all about how connections make you stronger. Should have kept them as rare and needed to be sought out instead of the jedi discount training academy.
This video is really a breath of fresh air. Just analyzing the good ole' days of star wars :)
This helped me understand why Strawberry Shortcake feels like a jedi to me. She's just a regular person without any powers, but she has an uncanny ability to connect with everyone and everything. Everyone she meets ends up becoming a better person just from spending time with her. And that makes her a very compelling character.
Because of the cupcake thing at the start, it took me a moment to realize you meant the character and not the literal cake. XD
I was not expecting Strawberry Shortcake to pop up in a Star Wars discussion, but hell yeah, she'd make an awesome jedi!
This is actually hilarious because when I was a kid in the early 90's my parents got me a used Strawberry shortcake castle from a garage sale and I would play with my star wars action figures around the strawberry shortcake castle model lol I wish I could show you that I'm not bullshitting you with this. I really did have an Absurd mismatch of kids toys in the early 90's. Random I know but your comment brought back a core memory lol
@@benmcreynolds8581 Perhaps unconsciously you knew these characters were living the same story.
Also made without vinegar.
Slavoj Zizek introduced me to the idea of 'the id machine', a science fiction trope where a character enters a vessel (such as a cave, and indeed, it's usually a cave) where all the base fears held deep within their heart is revealed. The cave on Dagoba is indeed Luke's id machine where his base fears are revealed.
that's amazing ! i never tried to understand the Force more than that and this video is amazing to lead us through understanding it. Also, if Squircle did explain why Yoda might be an Apex predator i wanna hear it-
👀
@squircleworks42 HEY, go
Yoda picking swamp as place to live + Baby Yoda eating all the creatures that would definitely live in a swamp + Yoda being an insanely powerful master of the force = entire planet being terrified of the apex predator in the hut
@@squircleworks42 Yoda is Nibbler
@@squircleworks42 Well now I see it x)
This is brilliant. One of the most eloquent expressions of transformative power...transcending self in the most personal way...teaching reflexively. This was a special experience for me.
Man, I feel like Schnee has enough of a backlog to make a video about why watching his videos feel so good. I always leave these with a sense of settled “knowing” almost. Like, there’s a catharsis to put to words exactly how I feel about the different media he covers, and then made more settled at knowing why I feel that way. This channel always brings me back because of that simple, but difficult to execute idea, put to words how and why I feel a way about these things.
WoW! This discussion was great! I am subscribed and will be passing this on to friends! "True strength is a selfish man making the decision to help out a friend." And the #3 idea of Obi-wan's 'Strike Me Down' speech! This discussion resonated with me and I've been examining the OT since 1977. Thanks for sharing this, all involved!
Thank you so much @schnee for providing some kind and thoughtful context to such a toxic space.
oh this 100%
The space isn't toxic star wars is toxic the fans reacting with negativity isn't toxic don't conflate the two.
But Disney keep putting vinegar in the cupcake each release
More like urine than vinegar.
@@jamesbellefeuille2926vinegar urine
This is a good attempt to move the discourse forward. Obi-Wan ia a sample of one, I would like to have seen that addressed.
Yes, yes, yes! Brilliant analysis! I was 12 years old in 1977 when I first saw Star Wars and it altered my life completely. My whole spiritual/emotional life was shaped by the mystic warrior values set up in the first three movies and all content after left me feeling like something was missing. I've struggled to put it into words but I think you hit on at least some of the reasons. Thank you! I have something to point people to now in way of explication.
Interesting to note that Luke comes close to the lesson about harmony before the Battle of Yavin, where he is able to think of a wamp rat and the exhaust port of a moon sized battle station as being the same thing, albeit in a simplistic way (ie physical dimensions)
The best written video essay I've seen in months and a refreshingly non toxic take on Star Wars. TH-cam needs so much more of this.
This video is truly brilliant and so thought provoking. I absolutely cherish every one of your uploads.
Genuinely this is my third or fourth watch over the last 4 months and stuff. This probably is one of my favorite videos on youtube right now (top 10 certainly) value alone. It's so well edited and organized to allow the ideas to flow; not that the editing is so perfect I got it the first time. But the information in this video is always here for me. Its a really good lesson. There's so much to take away about who I want to be in this and you've made it really accessible. Thank you
1:27 the fact you acknowledged she ra brings joy to my heart
The 2 Yoda moments are pretty easy to understand. Yoda as you put it is the guide on the path of Jedi not the end of the path.
Its all about training Luke. Yes Luke used the force to save the day in Hope but can he tap into it when needed again? Not likely. That is what Yoda is trying to pass on.
The first part, lifting the X-Wing is supposed to teach Luke to not listen to his doubt. His doubt will tell him "it can't be done" before he even really tries. Luke must get over this hurdle if he is ever to be a Jedi. Showing Luke it could be done by a tiny feeble old man illustrates to Luke how little he actually understands about what it is to be a Jedi. Only from overcoming his own doubt can he grow.
The second part the cave Vader scene isn't just a simple "foreshadow to daddy Vader" thing, it's a leason on balance and how it's achieved. Despite being new to the concept of Jedi, Luke could easily become the same as Vader if he doest master his emotions. This is crucial for 2 major reasons. One the self evident. Having control over your emotions means you can act precisely how you intend to despite instigation from external forces. Jaba and others mock and ridicule Luke in Jedi and Luke is calm and collected the entire time, he won't let himself be manipulated into acting out of anger. It also allows him to actually tap into his anger as a benefit without becoming Darkside. Because he can call on his anger for the power boost but all rope in his anger when it's no longer needed, used to great effect at the end of Jedi when in anger Luke dominates Vader in a fight and before delivering a final blow, steps back, collects himself and throws down his weapon.
It was so unbelievably important for Luke to learn to control his emotions, because without it he could end up just as bad if not worse than Vader.
But it also taught Luke one other great thing that ties into Luke's prominence as a Jedi, what he is most known for and what you started out this video in highlighting "is the Jedi way" and that's Empathy.
Luke seeing himself in Vader gives Luke the understanding that it could be anyone, anyone could be made to do terrible things and if no one reaches out a hand how can they be redeemed. Teaching Luke to find empathy in an "enemy" is what saved Vader, redeemed Anakin, and defeated Palpatine bringing an end to the Empire. If Luke had not been taught to control his emotions and had not seen himself in the Vader in the cave he would not have been able to see the good in Vader and would not have been able to save Vader, nor redeem Anakin, and thus fulfill prophecy by Anakin defeating Palpatine once and for all.
These Yoda moments are the absolute most important moments are are the foundation for Luke's entire success as a Jedi, more so than Ben.
Ben opened the door to Jedi for Luke and gave him a weapon, Yoda literally taught him how to walk the path so that Luke could continue to walk it alone in the future.
Fuck I just realized that yoda telling luke that he won't need his weapons foreshadows luke not killing vader and instead saving him through love (not violence)
Damn the First 6 movies are crazy artistic.
Man this is a good channel. It's so good to hear some a perspective on star wars in a world that feels torn in the conflict of the dark side.
The symbology in the cave scene and when trying to lift the ship may well be deeper than you think. Remember when Luke says he can't do it, 'you ask the impossible'. Then later when Yoda lifts the ship and he says 'I don't believe it' Yoda replies 'that is why you fail'. The clear theme here is that Luke needs to let go of his preconceptions about what he thinks being a hero is. A Jedi needs ot be more than that. Up until that point it's been all about Luke's progression and Luke's powers and Luke's ambition. All very self centered. Yoda is trying to teach him that he needs to let go of this focus on self and trust in a greater power. In this case, the force. Yoda even lists off all the things a Jedi doesn't crave that we usually associate with heroes. When you think about it they're all about our own experience and not about the greater good.
When Yoda tells him not to take his weapons into the cave, Luke ignores him and takes them anyway. He tries to overcome what's before him by his own strength trusting in his lightsaber over the force. As such he fails and only succeeds in defeating himself. As is demonstrated symbolically. When Luke doesn't feel he can lift the ship because it's too big Yoda tells him that the size of the object doesn't matter 'judge me by my size do you?'. Luke 'tries', again under his own strength, to take on this approach depsite Yoda's other advice 'do or do not there is no try'. He starts to succeed but again becomes fixated on his own perceived strength vs the size and weight of the ship and fails. If he just did, allowing the force to work through him rather than 'trying' to use the force he would have succeeded. Which Yoda then demonstrates. When he says 'I don't believe it' Yoda says 'that is why you fail' because he's still focused on his own strength and his own perceptions of what's possible rather than rejecting self and trusting in the force. To truly be powerful a Jedi must reject their sense of self, their desire for power and their own ambitions of heroism, they must give themselves to something greater than they are. This aspect of the Jedi draws inspiration from Christian theology.
Yoda's training is much higher level than Obi Wan's hence Yoda being introduced as the Jedi master that trained Obi Wan.
That scene where Luke looks from his hand to Vaders missing hand, then back; that always took me back to Empire, in the cave.
And then, he throws away his lightsaber, because he didnt need his weapon to stand against the emperor, not in the end. Its that good "rhyming" that Lucas was good at.
00:00 🎬 The video aims to explore what made the original Jedi compelling, using episodes 4-6 for analysis.
00:06 🌌 The goal is not to criticize new Star Wars but to understand the original appeal of the Jedi.
00:18 🍰 The cupcake analogy: Comparing good and bad doesn't teach you what makes something good.
01:11 🎥 Approach: Pretend new Star Wars doesn't exist and analyze the original Jedi from scratch.
01:40 👴 Obi-Wan's first scene introduces him in a mundane yet significant way, highlighting his kindness.
02:42 🌟 Obi-Wan's kindness contrasts with the chaotic and hostile environment of the first scenes.
03:50 ✨ The first act of the Jedi is not forceful but compassionate and calm.
04:18 🧙♂️ Uncle Owen's dismissiveness highlights the contrast with Obi-Wan's gentle nature.
05:48 🕊️ Obi-Wan's calm and kindness are emphasized by the chaotic and hostile surroundings.
06:05 🛡️ The Jedi faction trope in adventure fiction is about making heroism feel attainable.
07:04 🏰 Being part of a faction makes heroism feel more achievable than being a lone legendary hero.
09:04 💫 The introduction of the lightsaber is more about connecting with one's father than grand heroism.
09:59 ⚔️ The lightsaber scene and Obi-Wan's normalcy suggest that heroism doesn't require losing one's identity.
10:11 🌌 The Force is described as an energy field created by all living things, making it feel universally attainable.
11:18 🌀 The Force taps into universal experiences, making it feel real and achievable.
12:54 🌍 The Force feels familiar because it is connected to emotions and universal human experiences.
14:02 🛡️ Obi-Wan's death and his statement about becoming more powerful is a significant moment for Jedi lore.
14:24 🧠 "Use the Force, Luke" and Obi-Wan's death are crucial scenes that go beyond the theme of attainability.
15:24 🧙♂️ Yoda's introduction as the second Jedi further guides the understanding of the Jedi path.
16:03 🪄 Yoda's scene with Luke lifting the ship is about believing in the Force and overcoming doubt.
17:00 🧩 The cave scene with Luke seeing his own face under Vader's mask is a test of self-confrontation.
18:18 🔄 Parallels between Obi-Wan and Yoda show Yoda as a super Obi-Wan, breaking expectations further.
19:05 🧙♂ Yoda's reluctance to train Luke initially breaks the pattern and expectations set by Obi-Wan.
20:02 ❌ Being a hero feels unattainable, as evidenced by Luke's failure in his training.
20:15 🎓 Luke's failure in training serves as a clue to understand the profound Jedi philosophy.
20:33 🧩 Yoda's teaching style and Luke's failure highlight gaps in trust and communication.
20:56 🤔 Yoda's extensive teaching experience raises questions about his methods and effectiveness.
21:19 🥖 The story provides a breadcrumb trail to understanding Yoda's philosophy.
21:37 🧠 Yoda changes his mind about training Luke after Luke shows dedication and commitment.
22:06 🏆 Yoda's educational goal is to ensure Luke completes his training for transformative learning.
22:25 🎂 Completing training is likened to the final step in a recipe, critical for overall success.
22:54 🔍 Luke's training has a qualitative endpoint crucial for his success as a Jedi.
23:23 💡 The transformative final lesson Yoda aims to teach Luke is pivotal for his Jedi training.
24:01 🛠️ Luke's failures in specific scenes are key to understanding the big idea Yoda is teaching.
25:01 🌌 Through the Force, all differences are illusory, highlighting the ultimate connection.
26:09 🧩 Luke's mission to turn Darth Vader back to the Light Side is seen as impossible but essential.
27:25 🌟 The biggest cosmic events are shaped by small moral decisions of individuals.
29:21 💬 Obi-Wan provides Luke with connection and agency, essential for his growth.
30:00 🔄 Harmony and connection are central to the Jedi philosophy, transcending politics and war.
32:31 📈 Emotional growth and resilience are seen as a form of attainable power.
34:03 🧘 Jedi's focus on emotional and spiritual development makes their power relatable.
36:12 🔑 Attuning to a deeper reality brings peace and empowerment, reflecting Jedi philosophy.
Thank you sir
When I first watched AOTC, I noticed Obi Wan treats Anakin the way Owen treats Luke. He was very dismissive and downplays Anakin's thoughts and accomplishments. That's why Anakin is always seeking approval and tries to show off.
I think that overall this analysis points at the idealized vision for what makes Jedi great, and I appreciate your take a lot! But a few plot point in the OG Trilogy make me hesitate to accept that ideal vision.
I think about Luke leaving his training with Yoda in Empire Strikes Back. He's not arrogantly assuming he has all he needs in order to defeat Darth Vader when he leaves. He leaves because he senses that his friends are in danger and he feels an obligation to try to help them even if he isn't fully prepared. Yoda in that scene also seems aware of the danger but encourages Luke to just leave his friends behind, accept their fates, and finish his training instead.
I also think about how in Return of the Jedi Obi Wan and Luke have multiple conversations about Darth Vader and Obi Wan consistently denies that Darth Vader can be redeemed. Instead he advocates that the only path to victory is destroying Darth Vader and the Emperor.
Given those scenes, it seems to me that there is an inherent goodness in Luke that embodies the Jedi philosophy described in this analysis, but that goodness is fully realized in spite of the guidance of Jedi in Luke's life, so attributing the goodness to the Jedi philosophy seems odd.
And like I said at the beginning of this comment, I would like to fully agree with this analysis. Maybe I am misinterpreting those scenes from Empire and Jedi, it's been a while since I last sat down and watched the OG trilogy so maybe some details have faded with time, and people will correct my thinking (or roast me for my interpretation) in the replies.
Yes you are correct
Best Star Wars vid since Plinkett
The vinegar analogy...
That was great.
At 17:00 , you seem to not understand a few things. The lifting rocks was meant to show Luke learning the connection of all things, including the earth/stones. His failure to lift the x-wing was due to his lack of belief in himself and the force. His failure in the cave was due to his eagerness for confrontation, his meeting the unknown with his saber drawn, Vaders appearance as being met with his own fears. His own face appearing wasn't just foreshadowing, it symbolized what he was truly fighting,....himself, and his own internal darkness.
About Luke entering the cave with saber at the ready; Homer said "the sword itself incites to violence". That seems like a valuable lesson for a Jedi to learn.
"For over a thousand generations the Jedi were guardians of peace and justice, before the dark times." - Obi wan Kenobi
This is why I like Gundam. The original, from 1979, and its sequels, not the spinoffs. The super power of the show, something that, in the final episode, every one of the main characters obtains in some way, is often described as being thus: The capability to communicate with one another without misunderstanding. An innate ability within people to choose to live without war. The two characters who have been at odds for the entirety of the show finally find themselves out of their giant shells, face to face, and they are able to understand one another. To choose not to fight one another. That's it, that's the super power, and it's something anyone can have.
We like the Jedi because they’re the good guys in a fairytale. SW is a fairytale not sci fi. If Disney did what they’re good at, they’d be raking it in. But they forgot what they’re best at selling, happy endings where the good guys win.
35:10 NGL, this description of true Jedi made me a bit teary… I was a Solo fan as a kid in 1977 but today Kenobi resonates with me. This is one of the best SW videos and interpretations I’ve ever watched. 👏
I feel for Yoda because sometimes it's really not the teacher's fault. Sometimes, the student really isn't ready to put in the demands it takes to actually be one of the best at something and thats not about teaching
Adventure? Heh. Excitement? Heh. Luke didn't really care about bringing balance to the Force. He couldn't comprehend what it meant. He just wanted to make friends and fight bad guys
Damn! I love your analysis. It made me look with fresh eyes on one of my favorite stories of all time and appreciate it on a completely different level. I'm usually against thorough analysis of art pieces (In my opinion it often kills the joy of experience), but your take on it somehow combines logic and methodological thinking with passion. Thank you!
For some reason people never seem to get the cave scene with yoda, it’s literally just luke confronting his shadow self, it’s one of my favourite scenes in the movies, Yoda told luke he won’t need his weapons but out of fear he brought his blaster and light sabre, due to that fear his shadow self manifest itself in the form of Luke as Vader, luke could’ve easily went down the same path as Anakin & basically was until the last moment, luke failed to confront his shadow self just because he brought his weapons.
Fantastic analysis! Never really looked at the Jedi this way. I understood some of the concepts but never got to this full picture.
This is a great video! I think it perfectly explains what made the Jedi compelling! However, I would like to point out that both Obi-Wan and Yoda fail the "there are no differences" lesson. They do not want Vader redeemed, they think that's impossible. Their whole goal is to get Luke to kill Vader. Obi-Wan even lies to Luke about who Vader really is to get him to do it. Luke does learn that lesson, making him a greater Jedi than either of them ever were, paving a bright future for the Jedi.
This is why I don't like where they took Luke's character, but do really like pre-Empire Jedi. The reason the Jedi got wiped out, is because they failed to live up to their philosophy. They became dominated by fear of the dark side and matters other than the Force. Because of this, they didn't see the dark side growing right under their nose until it was too late. Luke is supposed to have learned from that mistake (that was basically his arc), but in TLJ it shows he didn't and the Order fell again. Forcing us to go through the same story again
The Jedi didn't fail because of any flaws on their part. It's because Sheev had a superpower that clouded their vision
@@allowableman2 While Palatine did cloud their vision, they definitely had huge flaws that didn't help the situation
Yoda's speech about the nature of the Force is to this day one of the most inspirational descriptions of genuine enlightenment I've ever seen in a movie.
The idea that everything is connected, how everyone is unified and the same despite all the percieved differences is *inspiring* and plays to the message so well.
If Vader can fall, then so can Luke.
But if Luke can also choose good, then so can Vader.