Quote Originally Posted by Aeson View Post
It is perhaps worth examining what the Emperor's objective in this fight is, and asking yourself whether or not Luke killing Vader in the heat of the moment, so to speak, is sufficient for that purpose. Sure, Luke would probably regret killing Vader in a fit of rage during that fight for the rest of his life, and sure, someone like Palpatine could probably get some mileage out of throwing that in Luke's face whenever they meet, but it's the sort of thing that, upon reflection, would tend to reinforce the Jedi doctrine of being wary of your emotions and acting only when you're calm and in control of yourself.

What Palpatine really wants out of that fight isn't for Luke to kill Vader but rather for Luke to knowingly and deliberately violate his morals and choose to do (something he considers) wrong. It's one thing for Luke to beat Vader down in a fit of rage; it's something else entirely for Luke, having already beaten Vader in a fit of rage, to cold-bloodedly decide to kill Vader when he's no longer a clear threat. It's why Palpatine tells Luke he's unarmed and defenseless while prompting Luke to attempt to strike him down, it's why Palpatine and Vader keep pushing Luke to fight Vader despite Luke's obvious reluctance, it's why at the end of the fight Palpatine tells Luke to finish Vader off and take Vader's place, because in order for Luke to be well and truly fallen he needs to not only step into the darkness but embrace it.
Fair enough. I still think less would've been more.
The Dark Side being ultimatly self sabotaging isn't entirely inappropriate though.
I mean, how often did they try that whole "Deathstar" thing*? (What's the definition of insanity again?)

Spoiler: *Sequels
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Counting the fleet in Episode IX that would be four times, I think?
Probably even more if we look at the EU/Legends.
I can think of about five without checking, so higher double digits maybe?