#sw:rots

[skitskatdacat63]

This is my personal crossover event of the century

[ms-gallows]

Obi-Wan Portrait Patreon linked!

[catofadifferentcolor]

Revenge of the Sith (2005)

So this is how liberty dies... with thunderous applause.

I cannot remember when I first watched the original trilogy - sometime in third or fourth grade, I think, but possibly earlier. I grew up watching Star Trek, and, though I enjoyed Star Wars, I never quite had the same love for it. And then the prequels were announced.

Revenge of the Sith is the first SW movie I have clear memories of seeing for the first time. I was in HS and in the middle of one of the most intense exam weeks of my educational career when it was released... and so I didn't see the movie until some weeks later, after the school year had ended. I didn't anticipate much - TPM disappointed me and, while AotC was a solid move in the right direction, it wasn't enough to have me lining up at midnight for the sequel.

RotS was - and is - the movie that makes the prequels worth it. All of the problems of TPM and growing pains of AotC are bearable because of this movie. It's not perfect by any means (Padme's role largely being reduced to an incubator being one of many things a wilier script writer would have handled better) but close enough that I can't help but love and adore it.

Rewatching it's movie, it's clear that's it's not perfect - every second Padme is on scene is a second wondering where all her brain cells have disappeared to (who honestly agrees to run away with anyone after learning that he's helped to betray the Republic you swore to serve and lead a massacre of his entire order, from the eldest to the babes in arms?) and Dooku's quick death feels disingenuous to a fascinating character - but it's by far the best Star Wars movie of this century. It stands right up there with Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi and, arguably, surpasses of A New Hope with ease.

The pacing is spot on. The dialogue is only occasionally trite and/or clunky. Everything works in a way that the sequel trilogy proves is hard to manage even with all the power of Disney behind you. The battle with General Grievous is everything I wanted from the battle with Jango Fett in AotC. The Revenge of the Fates is the lightsaber battle, and a worthy heir to the Dual of the Fates. Anakin feels less of a whiny teenager than a soldier with valid points - even if he's so mixed up in the head that he manages to betray every one of them by the end. And Obi-Wan continues to be practically perfect in every way.

...I could probably go on about how the older I get, the less I seem to respect Padme as a character. RotS highlights that these types of movies never know what to do with female characters, beginning with the fact she's the only female with a speaking role in this movie and ending with the fact that on her deathbed this supposedly strong, capable, stubborn, passionate politician chooses to ask if her treasonous, child-murdering husband is okay rather then what will happen to her children. (Or maybe she felt, being Obi-Wan, she didn't have to ask if they'd be taken care of. Maybe it was understood. IDK.)

...I could also argue about expecting someone to bring balance to the force and then largely treating someone as if they're incapable of basic tasks is probably not the way to go about doing things. The Council means well, but Anakin's slave upbringing for nine years outside of the Temple always meant he'd have different feelings and reactions to things than anyone else in the Temple. Understandably he has problems with attachment, but no one ever gave him an healthy way to deal with that - and though Obi-Wan obviously tried, his clear attachment to Qui-Gon and grief over losing him likely meant that the one example of healthy cooping mechanisms really wasn't all that healthy.

...Not that it's all the Jedi's fault. Anakin's habit of doing things and then expressing regret - meaningful or not - about them while the body's still cooling is hardly healthy. His inability to take responsibility for his own actions is peculiar for someone who wants so desperately to be recognized for his abilities, but understandable. Hell, the first thing he does as an adult is jump into an ill-advised marriage with Padme, who seems to make every decision in their relationship until she suddenly loses the ability to think at all with her pregnancy.

But all that said, that's why RotS is so powerful - it's a jumble of human problems and human emotions that just happens to be playing in the context of a galactic war. It's why the movie works. (It's why, when it took me three vodka gimlets to make it through TPM, even fast forwarding through the pod race, and one to make it through AotC, today's drink was largely forgotten.)

TPM gave us the setting. AotC gave us the plot. But RotS made us care, and empathize.

[simshay]

Padmé Amidala in Star Wars:Revenge Of The Sith(2005) dir. George Lucas

[croose]

I have this theory that Baby Yoda uses the dark side of the force, mostly based on three things:

1. How much he seems to genuinely enjoy the death of random jawas and stormtroopees

2. That his force healing reminds me a lot of The Tragedy of Darth Plagueis The Wise

and lastly, 3. His force choking Cara.

[emrysdrawsshit]

how did anakin get any sex education if he joined a monastery at 9 years old

[happyeyesandsunshine]

Not to mention both Anakin and Bucky have a thing for choking their opponents.

[nunanuggets]

Me every time i see a Torrent Company trooper

[sterekorgtfo]

Poe: How could you be so reckless with BB-8!?

Rey: How could you be so reckless with the Falcon!?

Poe: Why weren’t you with us?

Rey: Why are you difficult?

Finn: Why are my spouses like this?

Me: This is the trio content I’m here for.

[onceinabluemoon13]

My reylo feels have awakened lmao

[sevdrag]

Ok So

I’ve been watching the SW prequels (not the first one I hate it) to sort of re-orient myself with what buttfuckery they’re up to.

And I’ve just started RotS and I’m like

Watching this initial battle and thinking even with these big fuckin ships they didn’t have any other way except to fight in tiny personal ships against each other?? Like land masses vs ants???

No wonder they came up with a Death Star this is far too slow and far too off-scale for anything major for fucks sake

why was everyone surprised

[simshay]

Padmé's funeral in Revenge Of The Sith(2005)dir.George Lucas

[childshlandino]

who let these two in an elevator 

[longbottomneville]

#anakin he’s actually evil

[variousgifs]

Hayden Christensen as Anakin Skywalker and Natalie Portman as Padmé Amidala in selected scenes from Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith.

[hearteubeateu]

i have taught you everything i know.