Luke has come to Cloud City to rescue his friends from the clutches of the Empire. Lead to the carbon freezing chamber he encounters Vader. And so begins what is possibly the most significant fight in the Star Wars saga. From the beginning, we're made aware that, while Luke has learned a lot from Obi-Wan and Yoda, he's still not even close to ready to take on Vader. This is made clear when Luke is the first to draw his lightsaber, and also, the first to attack. Luke is the one making all the attacks at first, with Vader easily countering each and every one of them. With one hand no less. Vader forces Luke into the carbon freezing pit and throws the switch, but doesn't see Luke leap to safety using the Force. Vader is caught off guard, and Luke briefly gains the upper hand, managing to force Vader to fall from the platform. He then turns off his lightsaber and walks down a corridor. Only to encounter Vader again in the next room, lightsaber already on. Luke activates his own weapon, but Vader doesn't move, instead using the Force to hurl various objects at Luke, before throwing a large pipe through a window. The sudden rush of air sucks Luke out and onto a small walkway. Luke walks along it until he comes to another room. He enters, and encounters Vader yet again, and is forced back out onto the walkway. Vader doesn't let up this time, attacking Luke with a barage of strikes, which Luke just manages to counter and dodge, even striking Vader on the arm. Vader then retaliates by severing Luke's own arm, before revealing to him that he is Luke's father, Anakin Skywalker. This fight is significant for so many reasons. It's a major turning point for Luke, as well as being the point when Vader chooses to tell Luke who he is. It also marks the first proper meeting between father and son since Luke was born. An interesting point is when Luke manages to get a hit in on Vader's arm. Luke's strike lands in almost exactly the same spot that Count Dooku's did years earlier (see Anakin Skywalker vs Count Dooku), although this is probably just a coincidence, it's interesting to see the parallels between the two fights. Although this fight is the most significant, and probably most iconic, of all of them, there are better looking fights, and there is one which has a little more emotion to it, which is why this one doesn't quite get top marks. It's damn close though.
9/10 |
