# The celebrations at the end of Return of the Jedi (Special Edition) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** movies\ **Created:** [January 7, 2024, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-celebrations-at-the-end-of-return-of-the-jedi-special-edition/995717 "2024-01-07T01:01:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2024, 8:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-celebrations-at-the-end-of-return-of-the-jedi-special-edition/995717/41 "2024-01-08T08:03:57Z")
> [@zbuzz](#): > > But I’d say it’s not really about time changing a person, it’s that Johnson’s Luke is a complete 180 from everything we ever knew about him. I don’t think it is - it’s the natural conclusion of his character path. Remember Yoda’s words in Ep I about the paths to the Dark Side - fear, anger, and hatred. Palpatine was driven by hatred. Ben was driven by anger. Anakin was driven by fear - and so is Luke, and specifically fear of losing those closest to them. It was fear of losing Padme that drove Anakin into Palpatine’s clutches. It was fear of losing his friends that made Luke rush off to confront Vader at Cloud City before he was ready, fear of Leia turning to the Dark Side that nearly drove him to kill Vader in the Emperor’s throne room, and fear of losing Ben that lead him to nearly strike him down as well. And so he exiles himself, because even if he found someone to pass the torch to, he’s afraid that he’d lose them as well. And in the end, he protects his friends by defeating his fear, the same way he did when he refused to strike down Vader. He doesn’t save the galaxy in ROTJ by defeating his father, but by redeeming him, and in TLJ he doesn’t save his friends by defeating Ben, but by showing him that aggression is not the path to victory. ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2024, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-celebrations-at-the-end-of-return-of-the-jedi-special-edition/995717/42 "2024-01-08T15:15:48Z")
> [@simster](#): > > > [@msmith537](#): > > > > IOW, cartoon villains designed to sell action figures. > > and you have your answer. Not for ANH. No one was prepared for how big the action figure market was going to be - Fox let George have the rights for next to nothing, he sold them to Kenner for even less, and Kenner didn’t have anything ready for Christmas and had to sell certificates that could be traded for figures when they were ready. > **[The Real Force Behind ‘Star Wars’: How George Lucas Built an Empire](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/general-news/george-lucas-star-wars-288513/)** > > The $20 billion in merchandise sold through the film series reveals the resonance of a simple good-versus-evil story — and the mastermind brushstrokes of the filmmaker. For ESB, sure, they were dipping their toes into “add characters we can sell at ToysRUs”, and by ROTJ it was in full swing. ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2024, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-celebrations-at-the-end-of-return-of-the-jedi-special-edition/995717/43 "2024-01-08T15:32:23Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > > [@Chronos](#): > > > > There used to be a Senate, and hence a Republic, but now there’s not, but the transition was recent enough that it’s only just now that the Emperor is open about seizing full power. > > Of course, if you came to that conclusion in 1977 as the result of watching ANH, you would’ve been wrong. The novelization, which was canon at the time, states that the Emperor was old, infirm, and unaware of what was being done in his name by power-hungry generals like Tarkin. The novelization says > …the ambitious Senator Palpatine caused himself to be elected President of the Republic. He promised to reunite the disaffected among the people and to restore the remembered glory of the Republic. > Once secure in office he declared himself Emperor, shutting himself away from the populace. Soon he was controlled by the very assistants and boot-lickers he had appointed to high office, and the cries of the people for justice did not reach his ears. Nothing about old & infirm, more like willing to be a puppet as long as he got to call himself Emperor. And it’s not really supported by the single mention of the Emperor in the movie, in the conference room scene. Tarkin announces the Emperor has just dissolved the Imperial Senate, and General Tagge replies “That’s impossible, how will the Emperor maintain control without the bureaucracy?” They could just been playing lip service to the fiction that the Emperor is actually in control, not being controlled by the governors, but the more obvious conclusion is that he’s really running things. And of course by the 53 minute mark in ESB, when the Emperor gives instructions to Vader, it’s clear the novelization was utterly wrong, and the Emperor is fully in control of the Empire. ---
**Author:** ![echoreply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/echoreply/32/3641_2.png) [@echoreply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/echoreply)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2024, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-celebrations-at-the-end-of-return-of-the-jedi-special-edition/995717/44 "2024-01-09T04:21:25Z")
> [@muldoonthief](#): > > For ESB, sure, they were dipping their toes into “add characters we can sell at ToysRUs”, and by ROTJ it was in full swing I can still remember the massive anticipation among us kids about new action figures pre-_Empire_. Boba Fett could only be obtained by mailing in proof of purchases from other action figures. Then it had to be redesigned before release so the the rocket didn’t shoot. 6-8 weeks ended up being much longer. Anybody who says the _Holiday Special_ was a failure is totally missing the frenzy around obtaining Boba Fett. Every kid had to have one, and the only way to get it was to buy four other figures. During this period there was also a stream of releases of background characters from the cantina, and droids from the Jawa crawler. ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2024, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-celebrations-at-the-end-of-return-of-the-jedi-special-edition/995717/45 "2024-01-09T14:15:50Z")
Oh yeah. I even remember carefully peeling back the sticker on the back of the Boba Fett package to see the original missile launcher instructions. But my point was that ROTJ was the first time they introduced characters with the main/sole intention of selling them as toys. I don’t think Boba Fett was introduced for that reason, he was more the inspiration for it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-celebrations-at-the-end-of-return-of-the-jedi-special-edition/995717.md?page=2)