MovieChat Forums > Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980) Discussion > Why did Luke try to commit suicide at cl...

Why did Luke try to commit suicide at cloud city?

posted 3 years ago by grhqofb5 (346)
8 replies | jump to latest

Just watched this one for the first time in like 15 years. It never really occurred to me during the famous I am your father scene that instead of just going with Darth Vader and avoiding death, Luke instead tried to kill himself. How does that fit into the storyline at all? He could not possibly have believed that he would survive that 10,000 ft fall. The more practical choice would have been to have accepted his help, gone with him, and then tried to make an escape attempt. Committing suicide would have helped nobody and was basically a cop out.

[–] Quasimodo (16388) 3 years ago

As much as Luke's diehard fans want to see him as the perfect hero Luke had a tendency to look for the easy way out at times.

[–] kukuxu (5409) 3 years ago

Luke is far from being a perfect hero. He's immature, spoiled and had too much drama. That's actually what makes him engaging. Perfect heros are boring. And that gives room to personal growth, which is an important part of a story.

[–] Fonz (638) 3 years ago

Cause Luke would rather die than join the dark side. At that point there wasn’t much of a choice.

[–] Otter (24464) 3 years ago

Duh!

Luke was cornered and beat, both physically and as a Force user. His choices at that point were limited to becoming Vader's prisoner or jumping, and if he surrendered then Vader's power and his own weakness would doom him to become a Sith. If he jumped he'd get a glorious moment of freedom and triumph before he died, at least, and a vague hope of surviving through a miracle. Which happened.

[–] Ace_Spade (9544) 3 years ago

You said it. 100%.

[–] Quasimodo (16388) 3 years ago

Right on cue...

[–] grhqofb5 (346) 3 years ago

Nope. He chose the easy path that Yoda cautioned him against.

[–] Otter (24464) 3 years ago

The easy path would have been to surrender, get medical treatment for his horrific injury, make alliance with his father and allow himself to become a monster, and convince himself that the fact that they were overthrowing the emperor meant he was doing the right thing. That would have ended with Luke becoming the new Dark Lord of the Galaxy.

But Luke threw himself into the void, choosing death over the easy path.