List of Fives Part Five
Five Scary Moments in the Star Wars Saga:
1. Order 66 – In Revenge of the Sith, after Anakin’s fall and the death of Mace Windu, Palpatine reveals himself to be Darth Sidious. With his newly named apprentice at his side, Palpatine makes the final move in his game of galactic chess. Contacting the clone commanders across the galaxy, Palpatine murmurs these simple words, “Execute Order 66.” And, with that command, the clones turn on their Jedi comrades. The following sequence is frightening. The Jedi had, prior to this, enjoyed a super-human status in pop culture. But now, we see that even the strongest of these Knights can still fall prey to being shot in the back by friends.
2. Vader’s Skull – There is a brief moment in The Empire Strikes Back where Captain Needa walks in to Vader’s private chamber aboard the Star Destroyer Executor. Unannounced, he catches a glimpse of Vader sans his helmet. And what Needa sees—what we see—is that Vader is not some evil robotic machine but a scarred human. And that makes him even more frightening. The first time I saw this shot, it made Vader into even more of a villain. And, as everyone knows, this is only the beginning of the nightmare.
3. Vader’s Skull Part Two – Continuing the theme of revealing to our hero, Luke Skywalker, who Darth Vader really is, The Empire Strikes Back contains a scene in which Luke, during his Jedi training, wanders into a cave and is confronted by the specter of Vader himself. Luke fights bravely and seemingly vanquishes his foe, decapitating him swiftly and cleanly. But, to Luke’s (and ours) horror, when the helmet lands and the face plate blasts away, we do not see the horrific wounds of a man scarred by hate and lava. No, we see Luke’s face. And Luke is not the only one scared by this image.
4. Anakin’s Immolation – Of all the terrifying images in Revenge of the Sith, this is the one that has been postulated upon the most. What happened to Anakin that put him in that iconic armor? Now we know. At the climax of a furious lightsaber duel with friend and mentor Obi-Wan Kenobi, Anakin makes one last attempt to thwart his foe. Leaping over Obi-Wan’s head, he hopes to strike his former master down. But Obi-Wan is ready for him and slices the remainder of Anakin’s limbs away from his body. Anakin falls to the ground in agony. Unable to climb away from the encroaching lava, Anakin’s thighs burst into flame. Screaming his hatred at Obi-Wan, his eyes stained yellow, we watch Anakin burn, the fire a metaphor for the power he craved, a power that has consumed him utterly.
5. The Younglings – This scene from Revenge of the Sith shows just how far Anakin has fallen in his quest for power. After leading the 501st Legion of Clone Troopers into the Jedi Temple to begin the massacre, Anakin enters the Jedi Council chamber. There, several young children, younglings being trained as Jedi, come out of hiding to face someone they believe to be a friend. A young boy asks Anakin what they are to do; there are so many troopers around. Anakin says nothing but lowers his eyes. The next shot shows the children react to the igniting of Anakin’s lightsaber. We do not see what happens next. We do not need to. The scene is meant to frighten us. It does.
1. Order 66 – In Revenge of the Sith, after Anakin’s fall and the death of Mace Windu, Palpatine reveals himself to be Darth Sidious. With his newly named apprentice at his side, Palpatine makes the final move in his game of galactic chess. Contacting the clone commanders across the galaxy, Palpatine murmurs these simple words, “Execute Order 66.” And, with that command, the clones turn on their Jedi comrades. The following sequence is frightening. The Jedi had, prior to this, enjoyed a super-human status in pop culture. But now, we see that even the strongest of these Knights can still fall prey to being shot in the back by friends.
2. Vader’s Skull – There is a brief moment in The Empire Strikes Back where Captain Needa walks in to Vader’s private chamber aboard the Star Destroyer Executor. Unannounced, he catches a glimpse of Vader sans his helmet. And what Needa sees—what we see—is that Vader is not some evil robotic machine but a scarred human. And that makes him even more frightening. The first time I saw this shot, it made Vader into even more of a villain. And, as everyone knows, this is only the beginning of the nightmare.
3. Vader’s Skull Part Two – Continuing the theme of revealing to our hero, Luke Skywalker, who Darth Vader really is, The Empire Strikes Back contains a scene in which Luke, during his Jedi training, wanders into a cave and is confronted by the specter of Vader himself. Luke fights bravely and seemingly vanquishes his foe, decapitating him swiftly and cleanly. But, to Luke’s (and ours) horror, when the helmet lands and the face plate blasts away, we do not see the horrific wounds of a man scarred by hate and lava. No, we see Luke’s face. And Luke is not the only one scared by this image.
4. Anakin’s Immolation – Of all the terrifying images in Revenge of the Sith, this is the one that has been postulated upon the most. What happened to Anakin that put him in that iconic armor? Now we know. At the climax of a furious lightsaber duel with friend and mentor Obi-Wan Kenobi, Anakin makes one last attempt to thwart his foe. Leaping over Obi-Wan’s head, he hopes to strike his former master down. But Obi-Wan is ready for him and slices the remainder of Anakin’s limbs away from his body. Anakin falls to the ground in agony. Unable to climb away from the encroaching lava, Anakin’s thighs burst into flame. Screaming his hatred at Obi-Wan, his eyes stained yellow, we watch Anakin burn, the fire a metaphor for the power he craved, a power that has consumed him utterly.
5. The Younglings – This scene from Revenge of the Sith shows just how far Anakin has fallen in his quest for power. After leading the 501st Legion of Clone Troopers into the Jedi Temple to begin the massacre, Anakin enters the Jedi Council chamber. There, several young children, younglings being trained as Jedi, come out of hiding to face someone they believe to be a friend. A young boy asks Anakin what they are to do; there are so many troopers around. Anakin says nothing but lowers his eyes. The next shot shows the children react to the igniting of Anakin’s lightsaber. We do not see what happens next. We do not need to. The scene is meant to frighten us. It does.
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