After 41 years, I still don’t know what Palpatine meant by 1 Key Return of the Jedi Line

I still do not know what one of Emperor Palpatine’s lines in Return of the Jedi Meant, even after the film was 41 this year. Although Return of the Jedi is often seen as the weakest entry in the original Star Wars trilogy, it’s my personal favorite Star Wars movie for a number of reasons, with Luke Skywalker, Darth Vader, and Emperor Palpatine’s scenes in the Death Star II’s throne room among the most resonant moments in the Star Wars Franchise. Jedi is not without flaws, of course, and one of Palpatine’s lines does not make much sense.

When Darth Vader brings Luke before the Emperor, Palpatine examines Luke’s confiscated lightsaber, noting its similarity to his father’s weapon. As he puts it:

“Ah, yes, a Jedi’s weapon, much like your father’s. Now you must know that your father can never be turned from the dark side. So shall it be with you.”

The problem with this line is that the wielding of Luke Skywalker’s iconic green bladed lightsaber is almost identical to that of Obi-Wan in A new hopeWith a design that is very different from the weapon Anakin Skywalker used during the Clone Wars and the red-bladed Sith weapon he uses as Darth Vader. I remember reading tongue-in-cheek comments on this line, with some suggesting that perhaps Obi-Wan is Luke’s real father, but there are potential explanations for this seemingly erroneous comparison.

It’s possible Lucas didn’t decide that Sith used lightsabers

One possible explanation for Palpatine’s line is that – at the time of Return of the Jedi’s writing –Star Wars Lore has not yet established that lightsabers are used by Sith Lords. the word “Sita” was never spoken in the original Star Wars trilogy and as far as average viewers knew, Darth Vader used a lightsaber because he was a fallen Jedi. In fact, many viewers most likely did not perceive Vader and Palpatine as part of a different Force-using tradition, which would make Luke and Vader’s use of lightsabers – exclusively Jedi weapons – the basis of Palpatine’s comparison.

The idea that the Sith lore didn’t exist before the prequels is wrong, however. The word Sith first appeared in A new hope Novelization and elements of Sith lore appear in some of the earliest Star Wars Non-film material, such as the classic Marvel Star Wars comics. The comics introduce Sith other than Vader and Palpatine, with Kharys, Flint and Lumiya all fighting Luke Skywalker at different points. Notably, all three Sith wield lightsabers (or a light, in Lumiya’s case). Since the comics were officially canon at the time, They established that lightsabers were not just Jedi weapons.

Star Wars Legends has a partial explanation for Palpatine’s line

One explanation for Palpatine’s line only works in these Star Wars Legends continuation. Steve Perry’s 1996 novel Shadows of the Empire Introduces synthetic lightsaber crystals to Star Wars Study. Although Jedi traditionally use natural lightsaber crystals to power their weapons, the Empire destroyed most sources of such crystals by the time Luke began constructing his lightsaber, leading him to create a crystal using the Force and machinery. Sith, on the other hand, traditionally use synthetic crystals, created with the dark side of the Force. Maybe Palpatine noted that both Luke and Vader’s weapons used synthetic crystals.

While I like the use of this Legends-era explanation, it’s not perfect. This explanation relies on lore established after Return of the Jedi’s Release, so This is certainly not what George Lucas and Lawrence Kasdan had in mind when writing the film. It also raises additional questions. How would Palpatine know that Luke’s lightsaber uses a synthetic crystal just by examining the heist? Did he come to this conclusion because his regime wiped out most of the natural crystal sources? Can he sense a difference between natural and synthetic crystals? The synthetic crystal comparison makes some sense, but it is convoluted.

What does Palpatine’s line mean in current canon?

The Star Wars Canon underwent a partial reboot in April 2014, rendering the Legends continuity – previously the official Star Wars Canon – an alternate and mostly-discontinued timeline, though Return of the Jedi is part of both continuities. With the modern Star Wars Canon rewriting lightsaber lore and rendering synthetic crystals unfit for use in lightsabers, this once-equal explanation doesn’t work in the newer continuity. Ultimately, I believe that neither explanation makes complete sense from Palpatine’s line in Return of the Jedi In each continuum. Palpatine is simply trying to manipulate LukeInvoking his fallen father, making Luke’s corruption appear inevitable.