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2%% *** MODERATOR NOTICE ***
3%% As with all the Star Wars films, Legends material is irrelevant to the tropes presented in this article.
4%% Please discuss all EU material in the Franchise/StarWarsLegends article.
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10! Due to the sheer volume of spoilers, [[Administrivia/SpoilersOff all spoilers are unmarked]]. Administrivia/YouHaveBeenWarned!
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12[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/returnofthejedi_9.png]]
13[[caption-width-right:350:[-'''Luke Skywalker:''' I am a Jedi, like my father before me.-][[note]]Clockwise from top: Darth Vader, Luke Skywalker, Lando Calrissian, Wicket, Princess Leia, Bib Fortuna, and Jabba the Hutt.[[/note]]]]
14
15[[center:[[AC:Luke Skywalker has returned to \
16his home planet of Tatooine in \
17an attempt to rescue his \
18friend Han Solo from the \
19clutches of the vile gangster \
20Jabba the Hutt.\
21\
22[[LittleDidIKnow Little does Luke know]] that the \
23GALACTIC EMPIRE has secretly \
24begun construction on a new \
25armored space station even \
26more powerful than the first \
27dreaded Death Star.\
28\
29When completed, this ultimate \
30weapon will spell certain doom \
31for the small band of rebels\
32struggling to restore freedom \
33to the galaxy...]]]]
34
35''Return of the Jedi''[[note]]Also known as ''Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi''[[/note]] is the sequel to ''Film/TheEmpireStrikesBack'' and the third and final film in the ''Franchise/StarWars'' original trilogy. It is directed by Richard Marquand, with the screenplay written by Creator/LawrenceKasdan and Creator/GeorgeLucas and the story written by Lucas. It was released on May 25, 1983.
36
37The story opens a year after the previous film, with Luke Skywalker (Creator/MarkHamill), Leia Organa (Creator/CarrieFisher), and Chewbacca (Creator/PeterMayhew) on a mission to rescue Han Solo (Creator/HarrisonFord) from the alien crime lord Jabba the Hutt, alongside a repentant Lando Calrissian (Creator/BillyDeeWilliams). Returning victorious to the Rebel Alliance, they discover that the evil Emperor (Creator/IanMcDiarmid) is personally overseeing the construction of a new Death Star alongside Darth Vader (Creator/DavidProwse, with voice dubbing by Creator/JamesEarlJones).
38
39Seizing on the opportunity, the Alliance sends the heroes to lead a covert strike team on the moon of Endor and disable the Death Star's defenses, while the Rebel fleet prepares to assault the station itself in orbit. All the while, Luke wrestles with yet another revelation about his family's history and prepares for what is sure to be his last confrontation with his father...
40
41The film also stars Creator/AnthonyDaniels as C-3PO, Creator/KennyBaker as R2-D2 and Creator/FrankOz as Yoda.
42
43The film's story is followed in chronological order by ''Series/TheMandalorian'' (which begins five years later) and ''Film/TheForceAwakens'' (which takes places thirty years later). The film is followed in production order by ''Film/ThePhantomMenace''.
44----
45!!I am a troper, like my father before me.
46
47[[foldercontrol]]
48
49[[folder:Tropes # to B]]
50* TwoDSpace: During the space portion of the Battle of Endor, all of the participants operate under this principle. The Death Star, along with the Rebel and Imperial fleets, are arrayed on a narrow plane parallel to the surface of the moon of Endor. ''Nobody'' appears to consider the possibility of moving in any direction other than towards the Death Star or the Imperial fleet formation. Even lateral movement away from the two Imperial obstacles is seemingly unfathomable.
51%%* AbhorrentAdmirer: Jabba to Leia.
52* ActingUnnatural: During the approach to Endor in a stolen Imperial shuttle with a Star Destroyer watching their every move, Han tells Chewbacca: "I don't know... fly casual."
53* ActionFilmQuietDramaScene:
54** Luke and Leia's conversation about their mother where Luke reveals to her that they're brother and sister, and Vader is their father.
55** Vader and Luke's verbal duel on Endor. In that scene, Luke shows just how much he has matured in how he can fight with rhetoric against his father with as much skill as with his lightsaber to the point that ''Vader'' now has to fend off Luke's mind games.
56** Luke being brought before the Emperor is this up until Luke's rage at the Rebellion falling apart in the battle boils over and he draws his saber on the Emperor.
57** Luke and Vader's final conversation, followed the latter's funeral pyre at the end, establishing a sense of closure on Luke and his feelings towards his father before going on to the big celebration scene.
58* ActOfTrueLove: Vader fulfills his destiny and succeeds where both Yoda and Mace Windu failed in finally destroying the Emperor, free from hate and fear, as he was motivated by nothing but pure love for his son.
59* ActuallyPrettyFunny: Boushh demands double the listed bounty on Chewbacca from Jabba the Hutt. Jabba bursts out laughing and asks why. Boushh replies, [[AppealToForce "Because I'm holding a thermal detonator."]][[labelnote:i.e.]][[NukeEm a handheld fusion bomb]][[/labelnote]] Everybody in the throne room immediately panics... except Jabba, who [[NervesOfSteel laughs even harder and then coolly offers to meet Boushh halfway]].
60-->'''Jabba:''' This bounty hunter is my kind of scum: Fearless and inventive.
61* AerialCanyonChase: Flying into the Death Star, seeing as the ''Millennium Falcon'' is a rather skinny ship despite its width, whereas most Imperial fighters are as wide as they are tall.
62* AgainstMyReligion: Played with. C-3PO is mistaken by the Ewoks as one of their gods, so Han asks him to order the Ewoks to let them go. Threepio responds "It's against my programming to impersonate a deity." Later on, though, he ''does'' order the Ewoks to let them go, but they don't care... until Luke helps by using the Force to make Threepio "display" godly powers.
63* AgeGapRomance: Leia and Han Solo have consumated their bond by the start of this film, wherein Leia and Han Solo are twenty-three and thirty-six respectively
64* AggressiveNegotiations: When Leia (pretending to be a male bounty hunter) demands double the reward for bringing in Chewbacca:
65-->'''C-3PO:''' The mighty Jabba asks ''why'' he must pay fifty thousand. ''[Leia pulls out and arms a grenade]'' ''Because he's holding a thermal detonator!''
66* AintTooProudToBeg: When the Emperor tortures Luke with Force lightning and it has become clear that Luke has no way to fight back or even survive, he begs his father for help.
67* AirstrikeImpossible: Since the new Death Star's reactor is protected in such a way that an attack from outside won't work like it did on [[Film/ANewHope its predecessor]], the Rebels have to fly inside the station and blow up the reactor at close range.
68* AlasPoorVillain:
69** Vader's RedemptionEqualsDeath scene at the end.
70** The Rancor's death, with its handler weeping over its body. It even whimpers pitifully as it dies. The novelization expands on this, with Luke figuring that not only is the Rancor just an animal following its instincts, but that it's been malnourished, mistreated, and abused just so it will be more vicious when Jabba decides to feed people to it for entertainment. Luke rationalizes that the best way to deal with it would be to give it the means to put itself out of its misery, but that the beast can't comprehend that level of mercy, so Luke ''has'' little choice but to [[MercyKill kill it]].
71** The TIE Interceptor pilot that was following the ''Millennium Falcon'' as it flees the destruction of the death star. Normally, the TIE Interceptor is fast enough in sublight to easily overtake the ''Falcon'', but with no room to maneuver (and likely no plans loaded into the navigation), the poor pilot has no choice but to follow the much slower YT-1300 out of the Death Star... he doesn't make it.
72* AliceAllusion: The film's costume designer acknowledged the Caterpillar from ''Alice'' as an inspiration for Jabba the Hutt (although Creator/RogerEbert pointed out that Jabba's face looks more like the Cheshire Cat).
73* AlikeAndAntitheticalAdversaries: The movie has the multi-species Rebels and the [[PuttingOnTheReich implied in costume]] fascist Empire. EU material confirms the Empire to be speciesist, employing (mostly) only white male humans.
74* AllAccordingToPlan: TheEmperor is quite fond of this. He tells Luke that "everything that has transpired has done so according to my design."
75* AllegianceAffirmation: During their [[WeCanRuleTogether confrontation]] aboard the second Death Star, Luke Skywalker tells Palpatine [[ShutUpHannibal where to stick it]].
76-->'''Luke:''' You've failed, Your Highness. I am a Jedi, like my father before me.
77* AlliterativeName: Heroic Ewok warrior Wicket Wystri Warrick. Also, his siblings Weechee, Willy, and Winda.
78* AllThereInTheManual: Even though the names "Palpatine" and "Ewok" are widely known, they are never uttered once in this movie. Although Palpatine's name was first mentioned in the novelization of ''A New Hope'', it wouldn't be mentioned in the movies until the prequels. The word "Ewok" appears in ''Return of the Jedi''[='s=] end credits and in its novelization, despite it never being spoken onscreen. ''Jedi''[='s=] credits and novelization also specify that the Ewok whom Leia befriends (the one played by Creator/WarwickDavis) is named Wicket, which is also never mentioned in the film proper.
79* AlphaStrike: In the final battle, Ackbar orders a full assault on the Super Star Destroyer, taking out the most senior staff of the enemy Navy fleet above the forest planet of Endor.
80* AlreadyTheCase: Darth Vader, who has killed the Emperor and gotten zapped by Force Lightning in the process, asks Luke to remove his helmet so Anakin Skywalker can look on his son with his own eyes. Luke protests that Anakin will die, but Anakin points out he's already dying. Then, Luke says he must save his father, but [[RedemptionEqualsDeath Anakin says Luke has done that as well]].
81* AndIMustScream: In the novelization, Han describes the carbon freezing as "not just sleeping, but a big wide awake nothing." Also, if you get eaten by a Sarlacc, you are slowly digested for 1,000 years.
82* AndMissionControlRejoiced: Twice:
83** The Rebel Base's mission control celebrates the destruction of the Death Star, much like in ''A New Hope''.
84** The bridge of the ''Raddus'' does this after the Dreadnought is taken down.
85* AndroclesLion: Since Luke convinces his friends not to harm the Ewoks and surrender, they return the favor by saving the Rebels from the Imperials during the planetside part of the final battle.
86* AndStarring: The cast roll ends with "and Creator/AlecGuinness as Ben 'Obi-Wan' Kenobi".
87* AndThereWasMuchRejoicing: When the Emperor dies, we see no one mourn, but hundreds dancing and singing, including the NationsOfTheWorldMontage in the Special Edition.
88* AndYourLittleDogToo: In an attempt to rile Luke into turning bad, Vader starts to threaten his friends. He doesn't faze Luke until he discovers his love for Leia and starts to talk about what he'll do to her.
89-->'''Vader:''' If you will not turn to the Dark Side, then perhaps she will.\
90'''Luke:''' ''[[BigNever Never!]]''
91* AnimalMotifs: The director's commentary mentions that the window in Palpatine's room on the Death Star is designed to resemble a spider's web, because the Emperor is the plotter at the center.
92* AntiVehicle: The Ewoks employ, [[BewareTheSillyOnes among their arsenal of creatively improvised weapons and booby traps]], lassos and [[LowClearance clotheslines]] to snag Imperial speeder bikes and their riders.
93* AntlionMonster: The Sarlacc is a plant-like monster whose body is mostly buried underground, exposing only a beaklike mouth and a set of tentacles at the bottom of a steep pit.
94* AnyLastWords: Jabba the Hut gives our heroes the opportunity to grovel for mercy before being thrown to the Sarlacc. Han Solo replies for them all.
95-->'''Han:''' 3PO, you tell that slimy piece of worm-ridden...filth he'll get no such pleasure from us! ''(uncertain look at Chewbacca)'' [[VerbalBackspace Right?]]
96* AppealToForce: As Boushh demonstrates, armed hand grenades make great negotiation aids.
97* ArsonMurderAndAdmiration: Jabba and Boussh, after the latter threatens the former into giving him more money:
98-->'''Jabba:''' "[[EvilLaugh Hohoho!]] This bounty hunter is my kind of scum! Fearless and inventive!"
99* ArtisticLicenseGunSafety: While on Endor, Leia demonstrates terrible trigger discipline to the extent that she could have easily killed Wicket through a negligent discharge — all due to her having her finger in the trigger guard. She could have easily shot herself when holstering her weapon as well.
100* AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence: Yoda, and then Anakin, become one with the Force.
101* AsceticAesthetic: Like in ''Empire Strikes Back'', the Rebel flagship ''Home One'' is shown to share the clean regal asthetics of the ''Tantine IV''.
102* AsLongAsItSoundsForeign: Alien language examples abound in the movie. The Ewok speak Tagalog, a Philippine language. Huttese spoken by Greedo, Jabba, and others is bad Quechua, spoken in a variety of dialects. Lando's copilot Nien Nunb speaks the Tanzanian language of Haya.
103* AssuranceBackfire: When Han Solo prepares to ambush a group of Stormtroopers on the forest moon, he tells Luke and Leia, "Hey... it's me." They roll their eyes, telling the viewers succinctly that that's exactly what they're worried about.
104* TheAtoner: Lando Calrissian, after his deceptiveness led to Han being imprisoned in frozen carbonite, lends his aid on Tatooine as well as leading the Rebel fleet.
105* AttackItsWeakPoint: The Empire learns from the first Death Star when building the second. Instead of having a small number of exhaust ports big enough to shoot through, it has lots of tiny ones across its surface, all too small to be targeted. Unfortunately for them, the Battle of Endor takes place before the outer shell is finished, allowing the Rebels to fly starfighters straight into the reactor as soon as the planetside shield generator fails.
106* AttackOfTheMonsterAppendage: When Threepio is being led down into the dungeon, something's tentacle emerges from a cell and grabs his neck. One of the Gamorrean guards escorting him beats the thing back. ''Return of the Jedi'' also features the Sarlacc, which is only ever seen as a giant, tentacle-filled mouth (and in the Special Edition an inner mouth with a beak) that grab victims and drag them down into the mouth to eat.
107%%* AttackPatternAlpha: All over the place during the Battle of Endor.
108* AttemptedRape: After being entranced by his slave girl Oola's dance, Jabba the Hutt pulls on the chain around her neck with intention to perform sexual advances on her. But she starts fighting back, which (at first) only arouses Jabba even more. But when she has not surrendered, he grows very spiteful of her and drops her down the trapdoor to be eaten by the rancor.
109* AwLookTheyReallyDoLoveEachOther: There's a lot of tension between Leia and Han throughout the movie over Leia's love for Luke, but when Han sees Leia get one over on some Stormtroopers, he can't help but finally say he loves her.
110* BareMidriffsAreFeminine: When captured by Jabba, the male Luke gets to keep his usual clothes, but the female Leia is [[GoGoEnslavement forced to change into a very revealing metal bikini]].
111* BatheHerAndBringHerToMe: Implied. Jabba never orders Leia's change in wardrobe from BountyHunter to [[SexSlave odalisque]] on screen, but there is little question as to which of the two desired the change.
112* BatmanGambit: Emperor Palpatine. So the Rebel Alliance was willing to risk everything to destroy the first Death Star? Good...
113* BattleBolas: Makeshift bolas made of stones and ropes are among the primitive weapons used by the Ewoks. They're mostly used for incapacitating the Empire's ground troops during the Battle of Endor, with at least one random Ewok accidentally tangling himself with an ill-timed swing.
114* BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor: Out-of-universe example. Carrie Fisher complained about her costumes being boring. The costuming department promptly returned with a golden bikini.
115* BecauseDestinySaysSo:
116** Obi-Wan tells Luke he must face Vader again because they are fated to duel.
117** Palpatine tells Luke it is his destiny to join the Dark Side.
118* BewareTheSillyOnes: Ewoks. Little teddy bear-like aliens who beat Imperial troops to death with clubs and blow up [=AT-STs=] with [[RockBeatsLaser primitive traps made from ropes and logs]].
119* BeyondTheImpossible: Darth Vader lets Moff Jerjerrod know that the Emperor is not as ''forgiving'' as he is. As Vader is the TropeNamer for YouHaveFailedMe, Jerjerrod's reaction is an understated (but very definite) OhCrap
120* BigBad: Emperor Palpatine oversees the construction of the second Death Star and sets up a trap to eliminate the entire Rebel Alliance. The Emperor also plays off Luke's emotions and desires to try and turn him to the Dark Side.
121* BigBadassBattleSequence: Two thirds of the finale are the Rebels on Endor trying to destroy the shield around the Death Star, and the Rebel fleet in space trying to last against the Imperial fleet until that shield goes down.
122* BigDamnHeroes: Ironically, the Ewoks are the ones who come from nowhere to save the day when the Rebels were ambushed by Imperial forces by the shield generator.
123* BigNever: When Vader threatens to turn Leia to the Dark Side instead of him, Luke jumps out of hiding yelling "Never" and acts his father.
124* BigNo: The new Blu-Ray edition of the film adds a "No...'''NO!'''" (a retroactive callback to ''Film/RevengeOfTheSith'' according to George Lucas) when Vader throws Palpatine to his death.
125* BilingualBonus:
126** Nien Nunb, Lando's co-pilot, speaks a Kenyan dialect called Haya. The lines were delivered by Kipsang Rotich, a Kenyan student living in the US, and are actually correct Hayan translations of the English text.
127** Some of C-3PO's Huttese dialogue is actually Polish (albeit ''very'' poorly pronounced). Specifically, during his conversation with the mechanical "eye" guarding Jabba's palace, he says "Tutaj mieszka Jabba the Hutt?" which means "Does Jabba the Hutt live here?"
128* BittersweetEnding: Luke's faith in his father is ultimately rewarded as Anakin saves him from Palpatine, but he dies of his injuries shortly afterward. It's made more bittersweet with hindsight -- though the Empire begins to collapse, it will reform generations later with a resurrected Palpatine pulling its strings.
129* BodyguardBetrayal: [[TheDragon Darth Vader]] turns against [[BigBad Palpatine]] himself upon seeing Luke gets tortured by him.
130* BodyguardingABadass: The Emperor has the impressive looking Imperial Guards, and as we see, is perfectly capable of effortlessly killing them all.
131* BondVillainStupidity:
132** Jabba's love of theatrics backfires with both the Rancor pit and the Sarlacc. In the Rancor's case, the concept is sound but the switch that controls the gate was left within reach of its victims. With the Sarlacc, he insists on executing Luke and company in the most dramatic way possible despite having just seen another GladiatorGames-style demise fail.
133** Palpatine plans his strategy around breaking the morale of the Rebellion before destroying them utterly, which he sees as a means to the end of turning Luke to the Dark Side. At no point does he take into account the possibility that the Rebels might defeat his inefficiently deployed fleet, nor that Anakin [[note]](who became Palpatine's apprentice in the first place because he was trying to protect his family, mind you)[[/note]] might not like seeing his son tortured to death in front of him.
134* BondingOverMissingParents: Luke and Leia talk on Endor about their real mother and Luke learns a little about her from what little Leia can remember.
135* BookEnds:
136** The first and last lightsabers de/activated onscreen in the original trilogy are both Luke's: Anakin's former lightsaber (the first ever activated onscreen) in ''Film/ANewHope'', and his own in this movie.
137** Linking ''Film/ThePhantomMenace'' and this film, a Sith Lord is defeated by a Jedi wielding a green-bladed lightsaber.
138* BoomHeadshot: Han scores one while fighting off the Stormtroopers at the Empire's bunker on Endor.
139* BossArenaIdiocy: Palpatine has a pit in his throne room leading all the way to the reactor, with seemingly no purpose other than for him to eventually get thrown in. A downplayed example, as Luke or Vader could conceivably kill him in other ways (although the [[TakingYouWithMe explosion when he dies might kill them as well]].)
140* BoulderBludgeon: The Ewoks toss large rocks down upon a squad of Imperial troops. Though their Imperial armor mitigates the damage, the impacts nonetheless knock them off their feet.
141* BreakThemByTalking: Palpatine tries to do this to Luke on the Death Star. He does a good enough job to goad Luke into trying to attack him, at which point Vader steps in.
142* BringHimToMe: The Emperor has Vader bring Luke to his throne room inside the new Death Star. Compounded by sending all the Emperor's [[PraetorianGuard usual guards]] out of the room. The Emperor really needs to see Luke in person to make a [[TheDragon new Sith]] of him, and plans to blast his morale by showing him the Rebel fleet getting trashed; on the other hand, that's the same young man who was responsible for wiping out the ''last'' Death Star... maybe showing him around the new one isn't such a great plan.
143* BrutalBrawl: The final lightsaber battle between Luke and Darth Vader is notably smaller and more intense than previous battles in the series, especially when Luke gives into his rage and viciously hammers with his lightsaber, cutting off Vader's hand.
144* BuildingSwing: An oft-talked about gaffe is that Luke and Leia's building swing off of Jabba's skiff involved a rope that could not physically be attached to either Jabba's skiff or the rescue speeder.
145* BurpOfFinality: After the bounty hunter Boba Fett slides into the Sarlacc's mouth, it burps to show he's started to (to quote Jabba the Hutt) [[FateWorseThanDeath "find a new definition of pain and suffering" as he's "slowly digested over 1,000 years"]]. Although it ultimately turns out to be not so [[Series/TheBookOfBobaFett final]].
146[[/folder]]
147
148[[folder:Tropes C to E]]
149* CadreOfForeignBodyguards: Jabba the Hutt relies on brutish Gamorrean guards for security. {{Justified}} because Hutts aren't exactly fit for combat, as shown by [[http://vignette3.wikia.nocookie.net/starwars/images/1/19/JabbaPromo.png/revision/latest?cb=20161110010925 this image of what passes for "fit" among the Hutts]].
150* CallBack:
151** "I love you." "I know."
152** In the last movie, after Han rescued Luke, he says "That's ''two'' you owe me, junior!" After he gets saved by Luke, he tells him "Now, I owe ''you'' one."
153** Luke successfully deflects several blaster bolts in the Sail Barge fight and at the end of the speeder bike chase.
154** Chewie is cuffed and led to a prison as part of a plan to rescue someone currently detained. Just like in ''A New Hope''.
155** At the beginning of the film, R2 is insistent that he deliver Luke's message to Jabba directly, just like in ''A New Hope''.
156---> '''[=C3P0=]''': "I'm terribly sorry. I'm afraid he's ever so stubborn about these sorts of things."
157** Also, the droid duo once again trek across the Tatooine sands.
158** A retroactive one. When Palpatine tortures Luke with Force lightning, Vader lets out a BigNo, just like he did in Film/RevengeOfTheSith.
159* CalmBeforeTheStorm: The night before the assault on the second Death Star, Luke and Leia have a moment where they have a talk about various things, Luke telling her he intends to go confront Vader personally, that he's Vader's son and that Leia is also his sister. He then leaves to surrender himself to the Imperials and the rest of the Rebel team makes preparations to attack the shield generator protecting the station.
160* CannotKillTheirLovedOnes: After confirming that Darth Vader is his father, Luke says he can't kill him. After Luke surrenders to Vader and Palpatine, he's determined to convince Vader to renounce the Dark Side, and when the two end up dueling, generally sticks to defense and trying to withdraw. He only outright attacks Vader when he threatens Leia.
161* CapturedOnPurpose:
162** Chewie pretends to be captured by a bounty hunter to get into Jabba's palace. It's unstated how many others in the rescue team got deliberately captured or were just adjusting the plan accordingly.
163** After realizing that Vader can sense his presence, Luke turns himself in on Endor, hoping that the Empire won't notice the rest of the team.
164* CargoCult: The Ewoks bowing down to worship C-3PO, due to him being a robot (though one with emotions).
165* CasualDangerDialogue: When Han and Luke are reunited for the first time since Cloud City, they have a nice chat despite being captives of Jabba with a death sentence hanging over their heads.
166-->'''Han:''' Together again, huh?\
167'''Luke:''' Wouldn't miss it.\
168'''Han:''' How we doing?\
169'''Luke:''' Same as always.
170* CatchAFallingStar: The Ewoks diving from far above ''in a hang glider'' to make a midair catch.
171* CaughtInASnare: Luke, Han, Chewie, and the droids get caught in a net trap set up by the Ewoks.
172* ChairReveal: It's not the first time the ''audience'' sees him, but when Luke is brought before the Emperor, the Emperor is [[ContemplativeBoss facing out of the observation window]] before turning his chair to face him.
173* CharacterDevelopment: At this point in the saga Luke has completed his training with Yoda. It shows; he's become a patient, disciplined warrior who can match Darth Vader physically and intellectually. One notable example goes to Luke using the Force to lift C-3PO after his inability to lift his X-Wing in the previous film.
174* ChaseScene: Luke and Leia are sneaking through the forests of Endor, looking to find the secret Imperial base, only to get caught by two Stormtroopers, who board hover-bikes and speed away to inform the Empire of the Rebels' whereabouts. From there, the two heroes board their own bikes and dodge hundreds of trees in their ways to take down the two Stormtroopers, although Leia ends up separated from Luke and the main Rebel group in the process.
175* AChatWithSatan: The Emperor tries to seduce Luke into joining the DarkSide by confronting him with the darkness inside himself. Luke, in turn, plays an inverted Satan for Darth Vader, confronting him with his own hidden goodness.
176* ChekhovsGun: Luke's mechanical right hand. After defeating Vader, Luke looks at his own right prosthetic limb, and then down to Vader's severed arm stump. This makes Luke realize he is becoming more like his father.
177* ChekhovsSkill: C-3P0's interpreter skills come in handy when the Rebels recruit the Ewoks to their side against the Empire.
178* ClarkesThirdLaw: Implied. [=C3PO's=] programming forbids him from [[GodGuise ever impersonating a deity.]]
179* ClimaxBoss: Jabba the Hutt, who serves as the ArcVillain for the heroes' Tatooine arc. The rest of the film is the Rebels' last stand against the Empire, led by TheReveal of their leader, The Emperor himself.
180* ClothingDamage: A non-fanservice example. During the final battle, Luke gets the collar of his black suit torn open, showing the light gray lining of his jacket underneath. This is to show us that [[ColorCodedForYourConvenience he's overcome the Dark Side that was building up since the beginning of the movie.]]
181* ColdBloodedTorture: Any droids that displease Jabba the Hutt are sent to be branded and burned as punishment. Don't ask how exactly the droids feel pain.
182* ColorMotif: The tradition of white clothes signifying good and black clothes signifying evil continues with Luke. For most of the film, he seems dangerously close to the Dark Side, and wears all black, but after he finally solidifies his identity as a Jedi, a flap on his suit opens to reveal a white inner lining.
183* ComeOutComeOutWhereverYouAre: The last part of Vader and Luke's duel sees Vader stalking through the shadows with his lightsaber out, reading the boy's thoughts and threatening his loved ones in a bid to get Luke to fight back with the power of the Dark Side.
184* ComicBookAdaptation: Creator/MarvelComics adapted the movie as a standalone miniseries.
185* ComplexityAddiction:
186** After becoming Emperor, Palpatine develops a frankly ridiculous plan due to SkewedPriorities, leaking schematics of the Death Star II and putting himself personally at risk in order to trap the Rebels and methodically destroy them with the Death Star II. This is highlighted by the fact that, per Vader, Imperial Intelligence ''knew where the Rebels were assembling their fleet''. A strike right then and there by a couple dozen battle squadrons from the local sector fleet could have crippled the Rebellion. But [[JustifiedTrope Palpy was more interested in seducing Luke to the Dark Side than in winning a military victory]], and kept pursuing his overcomplicated plan even after it became apparent the Rebels were not playing ball.
187** The plan to rescue Han from Jabba the Hutt at the beginning of ''Jedi'' is also ridiculously complex, to the point where there is still considerable debate among fans as to what the original plan was, and how much was planned and how much was improvised, or if there were possibly several different plans going on at once. First Lando infiltrates the palace as a guard, then Luke sends the droids to Jabba as a "gift", then Leia arrives disguised as a bounty hunter with Chewie as her prisoner, then Leia frees Han from the carbonite but is discovered and taken captive, then Luke arrives and attempts to negotiate only to be forced to fight the rancor, then Jabba gets mad and sentences everyone to death, then they're taken to the Sarlacc Pit, then they kill everyone and go home. One wonders why any step besides that last one was necessary. Luke does seem to want to give Jabba the opportunity to resolve things peacefully, but that still makes everything that happened before Luke arrived pointless.
188* ConnectedAllAlong: Luke and Leia turn out to be twins {{separated at birth}}.
189* ContrastingSequelSetting: The movie spends much of its time on the forest moon of Endor, contrasting both the barren wastelands of Tatooine and Hoth.
190* ConvenientCranny: Luke getting a breather from the Rancor... just long enough to plan his exit.
191* ConvenientWeaknessPlacement: The Emperor's throne room is surrounded by tantalizing bottomless pits. Oops.
192%%* CoolBike: The speeder bikes.
193* CookingTheLiveMeal: After capturing Luke, Chewie and Han Solo, the Ewoks carry them into their village [[TribalCarry tied to poles]] and place them over fire pits strewn with bones. As the Ewoks pile up wood beneath them, [=3PO=] (who is the only one to understand their language) informs Han that he is going to be the main course of the coming banquet. The Ewoks are about to kindle the fire under Han when Luke scares them into submission by use of the force.
194* CoolStarship: This entry in the series introduces several new ones; the Imperial Shuttle, the A-Wing, the B-Wing, and several new Mon Calamari capital warships in the Rebel fleet. Especially Admiral Ackbar's flagship, which based on size comparison to other ships is not only bigger than the average Mon Calamari cruiser but also at least twice the size of an Imperial Star Destroyer.
195* CoversAlwaysLie:
196** The film's promotional posters showed Luke with a blue lightsaber instead of the green one he wields in the film. It was originally supposed to be blue, but in post production they found that the blue was too difficult to see against the blue sky during the sail barge scenes, so they changed it to green, but the posters had already been created. And [[https://georgesjournal.files.wordpress.com/2011/06/film_poster_revenge_of_the_jedi.jpg one famous example]] had the film's scrapped title ''Revenge of the Jedi''; it showed Luke with a red lightsaber fighting Vader, who has a blue one.
197** [[https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--ICeD3Xzh--/19fjtndltvz25jpg.jpg The Polish poster]] for the film shows Darth Vader's head exploding. It's meant to foreshadow Vader's death, but his death wasn't nearly as extreme in the actual film.
198* CrazyEnoughToWork: Realizing that they won't have a second chance at destroying the Death Star, the Rebel Fleet closes to point blank range with the Imperials. In this case, they don't even think it'll work, it's just that they'll survive longer going toe to toe with the Star Destroyers than they will hanging out in the open for the Death Star to pick off. [[TakingYouWithMe And they'll take a few of the Imperials down with them.]] The novelization goes the extra mile to explain that this was, tactically speaking, a sound choice when compared to the alternative. Cruisers vs. Star Destroyers aside, either the Death Star will fire on the Rebel ships, risking hitting its own Star Destroyers and clearing a path for the Rebels to escape, or it will hold its fire, allowing the Rebels and Star Destroyers to fight in peace.[[note]] "Hugging the enemy" at point blank range when they have superior artillery power, so they can't bring it to bear without risking hitting their own troops, is actually a tried-and-true military tactic. The Soviets' superiority in artillery often forced the Germans to do this after the winter of 1941-2, the PLA did this against U.N. forces throughout The Korean War, and guerilla forces the world over (Vietnam, Algeria, etc. etc.) have done this ever since the 1950s and the proliferation of artillery. That's not to say it's automatically a ''winning'' tactic, but it does negate an enemy's artillery/fire-support advantages.[[/note]]
199* CreatorCameo:
200** Director Richard Marquand and co-producer Robert Watts portray the crewmen of the AT-ST that is captured by Chewie and some Ewoks.
201** Ben Burtt, the sound designer for the original trilogy and other ''Star Wars'' entries, has a cameo as Colonel Dyer, the Imperial officer Han kills by knocking off a balcony in the shield generator bunker. During Dyer's death, Burtt imitated the Wilhelm Scream he helped popularize in his sound design work.
202* CruelAndUnusualDeath: Leia kills Jabba by [[HoistByTheirOwnPetard strangling him with the chain he used to bind her to him.]] We get almost 30 seconds of him desperately gasping for air and trying to pull the chain off before he perishes. Even considering he [[AssholeVictim completely deserved it,]] it's still probably the most disturbing death in the whole original trilogy.
203* CryoSickness: When Han Solo is thawed out from the brick of carbonite, he's too weak to stand, and blind on top of it. It takes him all the rest of Act 1 to get better.
204* CurbStompBattle: Several.
205** Luke and his friends tear through Jabba's guards on the sail barge.
206** The Imperial navy curbstomps the Rebel fleet until the Death Star II's shield is brought down. In particular we see it use its superlaser (which, unlike the first Death Star's, doesn't take hours to recharge and has at least some aiming ability, allowing it to blow up several capital ships).
207** Luke holds back against Vader for a long time and tries to avoid fighting him, but finally get provoked into an UnstoppableRage and defeats him.
208** The Emperor in turn effortlessly defeats Luke, who doesn't land a single blow on him.
209* CyberneticsEatYourSoul: Obi-Wan calls Darth Vader "more machine now than man; twisted and evil", with the clear implication that his cybernetics have damaged his humanity. In the end, Luke stares at his father's cybernetic hand and his own; this triggers the realization that if he kills Vader, he will become just as evil.
210* DancePartyEnding: The movie concludes with the famous scene when the heroes party with their new Ewok friends. [[https://youtu.be/DXpmunmG5ss Yub Nub!]] The GeorgeLucasAlteredVersion (which replaced the original music for this) coupled this with a lot of other parties from various planets that have suffered under the Empire.
211* DangerousDrowsiness: When Yoda is on his deathbed, he's very lethargic and talks about wanting to sleep.
212* DarkReprise: Yoda's death music is a sad reprise of his theme and the Force theme.
213* DarkerAndEdgier:
214** A character example. Luke's entrance sees him Force-choking two guards to get them out of his way, just to emphasize how much he has changed since his first appearance in the saga. Though unlike his father and all his YouHaveFailedMe moments, Luke appears to only render the guards unconscious or temporarily stunned.
215** In a more traditional example for the narrative, while the film itself has definitive LighterAndSofter elements such as the Ewoks, it also has a much darker [[BigBad main villain]] in Palpatine, compared to Darth Vader and Tarkin, who [[CardCarryingVillain not only revels in his vileness openly]], [[KinSlayingIsASpecialKindOfEvil hoping for a father and a son to kill the other in order to solidify one's darker impulses taking hold]], but [[{{Sadist}} also enjoys torturing a young man in front of his father with Force-based electric torture]]. Another major villain [[FatBastard Jabba the Hutt]], a gluttonous, sadistic lech who runs an [[DecadentCourt equally sadistic court]] that enjoy sending villains to [[EatenAlive be eaten alive by monsters for entertainment]] and [[AndIMustScream a truly horrific, prolonged digestion for the latter]]. And the final conflict is much more personal for both parties and covers themes of redemption of the soul.
216** Of particular note is the inclusion of sexual assault on a major character. When Leia is captured at Jabba's palace, she is pushed uncomfortably close and he makes a licking gesture with his tongue at her face. When next we see her, she's dressed in the infamous bikini, restrained by a collar around her neck attached to a large chain, and is pulled up against Jabba repeatedly. It's clear she's been made a sex slave, with plenty of time for rape or worse before the rescue. She takes her revenge by personally strangling him in a rather protracted death scene, complete with death rattle.
217* DavidVersusGoliath: The Rebel Alliance in general, but in particular, A-wing vs. Super Star Destroyer. His squadron decimated and his own ship crippled, a courageous/desperate A-wing pilot [[ScreamingWarrior lets out a scream]] as he points his nose at the exposed bridge of the ''Executor'' and [[SuicideAttack plows right into it]] as other elements of the leviathan warship's bridge tower also burn. As Admiral Ackbar and his bridge crew watch the massive starship plummet into the Death Star with its bridge tower aflame, Ackbar just flops into his chair, jaw agape in disbelief, while everyone else cheers.
218* DeadlyForceField: Narrowly avoided. Palpatine lured the Rebels to Endor with the hope of getting most of their fleet to crash into the Death Star II's deflector shield, which the Rebels thought Han's team had brought down. Lando Calrissian and Nien Nunb deduce that the shield is still up with seconds to spare and order the fleet to break off. According to the novelization, not everyone pulled up in time.
219* DeadpanSnarker: Han Solo once again has his moments of sarcasm and snark:
220** "Good! I hate long waits" when C-3PO translates him that Luke and Chewbacca will be executed on Jabba's orders.
221** "Well, why don't you use your divine influence and get us out of this?" to C-3PO when they get captured by Ewoks.
222** Jabba himself also has his moments: "Oh, I am sure I will" Jabba says sarcastically to Leia after she says he will regret his actions before he kisses her.
223** Luke delivers this gem towards Palpatine: "Your confidence is your weakness".
224* DeadPersonConversation: Luke talks to the spirit of Obi-Wan on Dagobah after Yoda dies.
225* DeathbedConfession: Just before he dies, Yoda tells Luke that he must confront Darth Vader before he can become a Jedi and that there is another Skywalker. Yoda also confirms to Luke what the latter was told from Vader but struggled to believe: Vader is Luke's father.
226* DeathlyUnmasking: In the finale, Darth Vader, having been turned back to the Light Side of the Force by his love for his son Luke and mortally wounded in the process of defeating [[BigBad Emperor Palpatine]], asks Luke to help him remove his mask so he can see him with his own eyes before he dies. In this case, he's not just revealing his true face and finally reclaiming his former identity as Anakin Skywalker, but also cutting short what little remains of his life; without [[DarkLordOnLifeSupport his mask's life-support functions]], [[RedemptionEqualsDeath he will die]] -- though, as he points out, this would have happened anyway sooner or later thanks to his wounds.
227* DeathOrGloryAttack: Once the second Death Star is revealed to be both operational and capable of targeting individual ships, the Alliance leadership realizes that their only chance for survival -- slim as it is -- lies in attacking the ''Executor'' and its supporting fleet head-on.
228* DecapitationStrike: The Emperor lures the Rebel Alliance into attempting one against him as bait for a trap, which in turn would have let the Empire destroy most of the Alliance's military. Unfortunately for him, his foresight proves fallible, and the Rebels' strike is ultimately successful, taking out the Emperor and a number of high-ranking admirals and generals ([[TheDragon Darth Vader]] — the closest thing to a potential successor for Palpatine — also died, although [[RedemptionEqualsDeath only after his]] HeelFaceTurn and not due to the Rebel attack) and dealing the Empire a crushing defeat they never recover from.
229* DefeatEqualsExplosion: The Emperor explodes on impact after being thrown down the reactor shaft at the climax of the film.
230* DefensiveFeintTrap:
231** The attack on the second Death Star. The Rebels attacked because they believed the Emperor's Defensive Feint Trap -- that the station was incomplete and vulnerable. Instead, not only was the station fully operational, but the arriving Rebels were ambushed by the Imperial fleet behind Endor.
232** It's also done to a stormtrooper by the rebels on Endor; Han walks up to the guard, taps him on the shoulder, and runs around the corner. The guard follows, into a pack of rebels.
233** After that, C-3PO lures a squad of stormtroopers who went in to capture them, then the Ewoks ambushed them from behind.
234** Lastly, the Rebels trick the bunker into opening its doors with a false transmission claiming that they were retreating. Immediately after the bunker sends reinforcements to pursue, said reinforcements are surrounded by Ewoks and a smirking, shrugging Han.
235* DefiantToTheEnd:
236** Han to Jabba when the gangster demands [[KneelBeforeZod they beg for mercy]].
237** Jabba as well, though he doesn't take the threat Luke poses seriously. His mistake. That includes Luke's supposedly last statement to Jabba above the mouth of the Sarlacc, "Jabba, this is your last chance; free us or die!" Jabba laughs at the absurd thought of the Jedi being so defiant in the face of his own death as to threaten ''him''. However Jabba sees to his shock Luke beginning to carry out that threat with overwhelming force.
238** Luke to Vader and Palpatine, refusing to turn to the dark side, despite their persistent efforts.
239* DeflectorShields:
240** The new Death Star is protected by one, generated by a station on Endor.
241** Right before the ''Executor'' goes down: [[OhCrap "Sir! We've lost our bridge deflector shield!"]]
242* DenOfIniquity: Jabba's audience chamber, complete with conveniently-located Rancor pit.
243* DialogueReversal: In ''Film/TheEmpireStrikesBack'', Leia tells Han, "I love you," to which he answers (in an ad-libbed line), "I know." In this movie, Han tells Leia, "I love you," to which she replies, "I know."
244* DidYouActuallyBelieve: Palpatine mocks Luke for thinking he was ignorant of the Rebels attack on the Empire's greatest weapon.
245* DidntSeeThatComing: Yoda is briefly taken aback when Luke's questioning on his deathbed reveals he now knows Vader's true identity. Yoda admits this is unexpected; he and Obi-Wan didn't anticipate that Vader would tell Luke the secret.
246* DiedHappilyEverAfter: Anakin, Yoda, and Obi-Wan are all one with the Force. This is especially important for Anakin, who would have been lost to the Dark Side in death had he not turned back.
247* DiedInYourArmsTonight: Darth Vader dies in Luke's arms, shortly after he defeated Palpatine.
248* DiegeticSwitch: The movie ends with a celebratory song by the Ewoks, which blends into a glorious choral crescendo well out of the little aliens' vocal range. ([[GeorgeLucasAlteredVersion At least it used to]].)
249* DiscOneFinalBoss: Jabba the Hutt serves as the antagonist during the first third of the movie, being the one who originally ordered Han's capture and eventually order his (and the other characters') execution in the desert of Tatooine. Neither Darth Vader nor the Emperor make their moves (nor do the good guys think of them yet due to the bigger urgency they have at hand) until after Jabba is gotten rid of.
250* DiseaseBleach: While not directly mentioned, it is [[https://imgur.io/BsE2A8d obvious]] that the stress of being Darth Vader's fleet commander for just ''six months to a year'' has not been good for Admiral Piett.
251* DispenseWithThePleasantries: When Vader tells Jerjerrod to get right to business, as the construction of the base is falling behind.
252-->'''Vader:''' I'm here to put you back on schedule.
253* DistinctiveAppearances: The reason why Luke's lightsaber blade is green in the finished cut of the film. In the early stages of {{rotoscoping}}, Luke's saber had a blue energy blade. However, his blue lightsaber didn't show up well against the blue sky during the Tatooine sail barge battle. Changing the saber to green fixed the problem. The fact that the green blade is obviously brand-new (unlike the blue one, where it wasn't obvious) also allowed the deletion of an early scene in the film, where we would've seen Luke finishing work on his new lightsaber. Luke's blue saber can still be seen in the original trailers, plus all the poster art for the film, while the deleted scene later turned up [[AllThereInTheManual in Expanded Universe materials]].
254* DistractAndDisarm: In a close variant, an Imperial scout trooper has Leia at gunpoint. Wicket the Ewok sneaks up and smacks the trooper's leg with his spear. The trooper goes "What the--" and looks down, and Leia grabs a handy branch and brains the trooper with it, then grabs her gun back from him and kills his partner before he can escape.
255* DodgeByBraking: Luke does this during the speeder bike chase on Endor
256* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: Although the battle between the Stormtroopers and Ewoks was said by Lucas to be a subtle reference to the Vietnam War, from a more overt perspective the scenario of sophisticated colonial soldiers with British accents fighting a desperate battle against determined natives with spears, could be interpreted as being a reference to the Battle of Rourke's Drift that occurred during the Anglo-Zulu War in the late 1870s, most famously depicted in the movie ''{{Film/Zulu}}''.
257* DontMakeMeDestroyYou: In his hologram message, Luke tells Jabba "You can profit by this, or be destroyed." The [[ComplexityAddiction unusually convoluted]] plan to rescue Han from Jabba's palace can be explained by Luke wanting to keep violence to a minimum, but if Jabba keeps refusing to release Han, Luke and his friends have to keep escalating until they end up killing Jabba as well as everyone else on the sail barge and both guard skiffs.
258* DoubleMeaningTitle: The title could refer to Luke, who just became a Jedi Knight and is returning for the sequel; Anakin, who returns to being a Jedi when he redeems himself; or the return of the Jedi Order.
259* DownerBeginning: The disaster carried over from the previous film sees Han Solo a prisoner of Jabba the Hutt, and a new Death Star being built, although the scrolling text is more optimistic.
260* DramaPreservingHandicap: The plan is to stop the completion of the second Death Star. When it all goes to hell, it's revealed that the Death Star's [[WaveMotionGun superlaser]] is already operational, at which point it starts picking off the Rebel Alliance's capital ships one shot at a time. Lando Calrissian then suggests engaging the Imperial Fleet directly in ship-to-ship combat, correctly guessing that the Death Star would hold its fire to avoid destroying friendly ships.
261%% * DramaticIrony: In hindsight, the plot twist of Leia being Luke's twin sister becomes dramatic irony thanks to the prequel trilogy.
262* DramaticUnmask: Princess Leia reveals herself to Han Solo and to the audience early in the movie, as she'd been masquerading as a mysterious bounty hunter until then.
263* DressingAsTheEnemy:
264** Lando dresses as one of Jabba's guards to infiltrate the palace.
265** On Endor, Han wears an AT-ST commander's helmet and requests reinforcements to get the Imperial troops in the bunker to open the door.
266** Hard to see, but the bearded Rebel commando takes the captured scout trooper's armor.
267* DroneOfDread: The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TJoExzWnWeA theme]] for the Emperor becomes very creepy due to the droning chorus.
268* DueToTheDead: Luke gives Anakin a Jedi's funeral on Endor.
269* EarlyBirdCameo: The Special Edition added a scene with Coruscant as part of the new ending montage, which gave fans a good look at the Empire's capitol planet about two years before ''Film/ThePhantomMenace'' came out, with the Jedi Temple (the Imperial Palace at the time) prominently featured in the background. Later revisions of the Special Edition from 2004 onward gave audiences a look at Creator/HaydenChristensen's appearance as Anakin Skywalker in ''Film/RevengeOfTheSith'' months before that movie was released.
270* EarnYourHappyEnding: After much hardship throughout the movies (both the original and prequel trilogies), Palpatine and his Empire have been defeated and the Galaxy is now free from the tyranny of the Dark Lord of the Sith. Luke may have lost his father, Darth Vader/Anakin Skywalker, but he had managed to bring him back to the good side, and at the end he could see the spirits of Obi-Wan, Yoda, and Anakin again, smiling and giving him a happy farewell. ''Film/TheForceAwakens'' unfortunately shows that [[HappyEndingOverride it didn't last forever]], as the First Order took the Empire's place and managed to take over a significant amount of the galaxy, but legacy of the heroes that fought in this war is ultimately protected [[BittersweetEnding at great cost]].
271* EasilyForgiven: After telling Luke that he had to kill his father, who they believed to be beyond redemption, Obi-Wan and Yoda's Force Spirits seem to be surprisingly chill with Anakin suddenly joining them from beyond in spite of the fact that he was instrumental in the fall of the Jedi Order.
272* EndingMemorialService: The movie's ending shows Luke as the only attendee of [[spoiler:Darth Vader's funeral pyre]].
273* EnvironmentalSymbolism: Emperor Palpatine's throne room features muted colors and angular structures. The only splashes of colors, the red Royal Guards, were pointedly sent away. The only colors in the fight are the lightsabers and Luke's face.
274* EstablishingCharacterMusic: The first time we see the Emperor in person we hear first a bombastic take on the Imperial March as his forces are assembled in a grand spectacle as Vader kneels before his master, then as Palpatine descends his shuttle's ramp a [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wkp80PB4PkA low men's chorus]] takes over with a tune of quiet malice.
275* EveryoneComesBackFantasyPartyEnding: Anakin's shade is standing, smiling -- albeit reticently -- with Obi-Wan and Yoda.
276* EverythingIsAnInstrument: The Ewok celebration scene at the end of the movie shows one Ewok using sticks hitting stormtrooper helmets as a drum set.
277* EvilCannotComprehendGood: The idea the Vader still loves his son and can be redeemed, never occurs to the Emperor.
278* EvilIsNotWellLit:
279** Palpatine's [[EvilTowerOfOminousness observation tower]] has no visible lighting and every piece of architecture is black or gray.
280** Jabba's palace is quite dim and smoky.
281* EvilOverlordList:
282** Jabba forgot to check number 122 when he had his sail barge built: "The gun turrets on my fortress will not rotate enough so that they may direct fire inward or at each other."
283** Palpatine forgot many of them, but a key one would be 77: "If I have a fit of temporary insanity and decide to give the hero the chance to reject a job as my trusted lieutenant, I will retain enough sanity to wait until my current trusted lieutenant is out of earshot before making the offer." Not that [[ThePowerOfLove Vader turned on the Emperor]] [[PapaWolf because he didn't want to lose his job.]]
284* EvilPlan: Everything that transpires before the final act does so according to the Emperor's design, as he is the one who allowed the Alliance to know the location of the shield generator so they would walk into a trap just when Luke is facing him.
285* ExplainExplainOhCrap: "But how they could be jamming us if they don't know . . . if we're coming."
286* ExplosiveInstrumentation: Inverted when an A-wing kamikazes into the bridge of a Star Destroyer, it causes explosions to break out in other parts of the ship.
287* EyeScream: Salacious B. Crumb nearly tore C-3PO's right eye out.
288[[/folder]]
289
290[[folder:Tropes F to I]]
291* FaceDeathWithDignity: Anakin would rather die more quickly while looking his son in the eyes than push it off a little longer to pass in the back of some Imperial ship.
292-->'''Anakin:''' ''(in Vader mask)'' Luke, help me take this mask off.\
293'''Luke:''' But, you'll die.\
294'''Anakin:''' Nothing can stop that now. Just for once, let me look on you with my own eyes.
295* FaceFramedInShadow: Luke Skywalker gets this while hiding during the duel with Vader, while Vader is taunting him about his sister. Presumably intended to demonstrate Luke being conflicted and tempted to give in to his anger.
296* FaceNodAction: Luke and a disguised Lando Calrissian nod heads just before Luke springs their escape plan.
297* FacingTheBulletsOneLiner: Han responds to Jabba's final ultimatum at the Sarlacc pit with a bitter insult.
298-->'''Han:''' Threepio, you tell that slimy piece of worm-ridden... ''[[LastSecondWordSwap filth]]'', that he'll get no such pleasure from us!
299* FailsafeFailure:
300** ''Executor'' is 19 kilometers long and has inhabitable space comparable to a major city. Yet destroying the main bridge, conveniently positioned prominently at the front of the highest tower on the ship, can apparently send the entire thing into a nosedive, with the many thousands of crew members aboard unable to do anything to stop it. Even worse, there is apparently no backup bridge, because Admiral Piett's reaction to being told that their deflector shield is down is to order increased firepower focused on defense, which technically ''might'' have stopped the incoming fighter had they reacted a bit faster, but would have done ''nothing'' to protect against turbolaser or ion cannon fire from Rebel capital ships. It is possible that the backups themselves were destroyed, given that Ackbar just ordered the entire Rebel fleet to fire on it.
301** In the EU, imperial engineers are aware of the vulnerability of Star Destroyer Bridges, and compensate with a more centrally located combat information center to serve as a backup. Unfortunately, it takes several minutes to transfer command of the Destroyer from the bridge to the CIC, which the Executor didn't have due to its close proximity to the Death Star when its bridge was destroyed.
302* FakeArmDisarm:
303** Luke is shot in the hand during the rescue operation for Han on Tattooine. Thankfully for him, it's his mechanical hand, which he got after Darth Vader [[LiteralDisarming cut off his hand]] in ''Film/TheEmpireStrikesBack''.
304** Luke [[LaserGuidedKarma cuts off Vader's arm]], but [[DarkLordOnLifeSupport almost all of Vader's entire body is machine]].
305* FanDisservice:
306** One of Jabba's dancing girls is quite lithe and lovely; the other is... ''not''.
307** Sure, Leia's slave outfit is {{Fanservice}} in and of itself, but also consider that she's forced to wear this outfit as part of her slave duties with the lecherous Jabba the Hutt. Even worse when you consider she has almost nothing between her and Jabba's slimy body.
308* {{Fanservice}}: Why else would you have Carrie Fisher laying around in a gold metal bikini?
309* FantasyCounterpartCulture: More than one writer has commented on UsefulNotes/TheVietnamWar parallels in the Battle of Endor, with [[RockBeatsLaser supposedly backwoods natives outsmarting a superior armed force]].
310* FatalFlaw: Luke accurately identifies the Emperor's over-confidence as being this, with his hubris ending up leading to his own death, along with that of much of the Imperial admiralty, the destruction of the Death Star II, and the end of the Galactic Empire itself. For his part, the Emperor claims that Luke's own fatal flaw is his faith in his friends; this turns out to be a case of EvilCannotComprehendGood, however, as not only does said faith turn out to be 100% justified, but so does Luke's faith that there's still some good left in Vader.
311* FedToTheBeast:
312** Jabba the Hutt was quite fond of feeding people to a rancor, including Twi'lek slave dancer Oola in a notorious KickTheDog moment. He isn't quite so successful in his attempt to do the same to Luke.
313** Once he's short one Rancor, Jabba tries it again with the sarlacc. This would have been a [[FateWorseThanDeath considerably worse fate than merely being eaten and killed]], as apparently sarlaccs [[AndIMustScream keep their prey alive for a thousand years while they're slowly and painfully digested]] (or at least [[GettingEatenIsHarmless that's what the locals believe]]).
314* AFeteWorseThanDeath: Han is spared this ONLY because Luke sets up C-3PO as a shiny, flying, wrathful god-being of his own (much to C-3PO's surprise) with a little help from Force-levitation and Force-shoves. It is noted that the Ewoks do get their feast at the end of the movie.
315* FinalBattle: In the a battle to decide whether the a galaxy will be free or continue to live under the Empire, the Rebels attack the Empire's shield base on Endor, launch an aerial offensive on the Death Star, and send Luke Skywalker to battle his evil father, Darth Vader, and the man behind all the wars in the galaxy, the Galactic Emperor himself.
316* FinalSpeech: Before dying, Yoda tells Luke more of the truth about his father, his destiny as a Jedi, and finally, that there is another Skywalker blessed in the Force as him.
317* FinishHim: When Luke has Vader at swordpoint, Palpatine practically hisses at Luke to finish the job.
318* FireworksOfVictory: In the extended editions, scenes featuring various planets around the galaxy celebrating the death of the Empire were added to the end of the movie, fireworks and all (despite the final battle taking place somewhere very isolated where no-one outside of the combatants should have known - however, an episode of ''Series/TheMandalorian'', released in 2020, shows that the destruction of the second Death Star was holo-recorded and broadcast across the galaxy).
319* FiveSecondForeshadowing:
320** The Rebel fleet arrives to find that the Imperials are already jamming their scanners.
321--->'''Lando:''' [[ExplainExplainOhCrap But how could they be jamming us if they don't know... we're coming?]] Break off the attack! The shield is still up!
322** Luke tells Jabba that trying to execute him and his friends is "the last mistake you'll ever make!" Jabba [[SmugSnake laughs it off]]. Minutes later, Leia [[KarmicDeath strangles him to death and he is incinerated in a fiery explosion]].
323* FlauntingYourFleets: One particular shot shows that the Imperial armada over Endor is positively gigantic. The Rebel Fleet is also treated to a number of establishing shots of their massed assortment of starships and fighters. Of note is the shot of the Fleet just before jumping to Hyperspace, and the shot of the Fleet arriving over Endor just before they realize it's a trap.
324* FloweryElizabethanEnglish: There's an odd use of the style ("What is thy bidding, my master?") by Darth Vader. His speech is formal and articulate, but these are the only occasions he speaks this particular way. Perhaps it's an ancient Sith greeting.
325* FluffyTheTerrible: According to [[http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Pateesa New Canon EU material]], Jabba's pet rancor was called 'Pateesa', Huttese for "friend". It was apparently a birthday present from Bib Fortuna.
326* ForcedToWatch: When Luke is taken to Palpatine's throne room the Emperor makes him look out the window and see the battle going on and watch his friend's ships being destroyed. All of this is done in order to [[TheCorruptor provoke Luke into acting on his hatred.]]
327* {{Foreshadowing}}:
328** When Threepio presents Luke's message to Jabba, his new lightsaber is visibly clipped to his belt. But when Luke finally enters Jabba's Palace himself, there's no sign at all of the weapon. This quietly sets up the reveal that Artoo's been carrying the weapon inside his storage compartment; it was a precaution if (and more likely ''when'') negotiations with Jabba broke down and they had to get Han out by force.
329** Subverted when Han is leaving for the Endor mission and says with great gravity as he stares at the ''Millennium Falcon'', "I just got this funny feeling, like I'm not gonna see her again." It ends up making it through the battle with just a few scratches! This may be related to rumors of alternate endings that were originally considered and not completely written out.
330** Played straight in the next scene when Vader and Palpatine are conferring in his Throne Room. Palpatine orders the Imperial flotilla detached to Endor to shift position to elsewhere in the system until called for. Vader also mentions reports of the Rebel Fleet massing near Sullust, but Palpatine isn't concerned and states the Rebellion will be crushed. These are all clues that Endor isn't just a construction site, but a trap for the Rebels that's about to be sprung.
331* ForgotAboutHisPowers: When Leia goes missing it never seems to even occur to Luke to try to reach her through the Force, the way that he did on Bespin in ''Film/TheEmpireStrikesBack''. Instead he recommends a physical search and the use of Artoo's scanners. Since he was half dead on Bespin when he did it, he may not even remember he's ''able'' to do it.
332* FragileSpeedster: The speeder bikes. Very fast. Also MadeOfExplodium.
333* FreezeFrameBonus: When Vader is shocked by the Force Lightning, not only can you see his skeleton, but also surgical rods and screws.
334%%
335%%Fridge tropes are subjective. Do not put them here.
336%%
337* FunnyBackgroundEvent:
338** When Jabba reveals himself while Leia tries to rescue Han, one of his minions can be seen covering Threepio's mouth to keep him from shouting a warning.
339** When Luke is being escorted back to the turbolift after his talk with Vader on Endor, a stormtrooper, who apparently overheard the conversation, can be seen turning to stare at him.
340** [[invoked]]When Threepio explains that the Ewoks think he is a god, Luke is seen trying not to laugh. Especially during the following exchange, where either Mark Hamill is {{Corpsing}} terribly, or Luke finds the whole situation hilarious:
341--->'''Han:''' Then why don't you use your ''divine'' influence and get us out of this?\
342'''Threepio:''' I beg your pardon, General Solo, but that just wouldn't be proper.\
343'''Han:''' ''Proper?!''\
344'''Threepio:''' It's against my programming to impersonate a deity.
345** When Admiral Ackbar is ordering the jump to hyperspace, an extra in the background is having trouble finding one of the monitors.
346** When Han and the strike team invade the shield generator compound, one of the rebels can be seen changing into the garb of one of the felled scout troopers. When the captured rebels are led outside, this character can be spotted among a group being held at gunpoint, still wearing the armor but without the helmet.
347** When Ackbar orders fire to be concentrated on the ''Executor'', one of the normal Star Destroyers in the background explodes into a giant fireball. (More of a MeaningfulBackgroundEvent, but it may count since absolutely nobody points it out.)
348* GateGuardian: Jabba the Hutt has a gatekeeper droid that threateningly scrutinizes Artoo and Threepio before letting them into his palace.
349* GenerationXerox: Palpatine makes the same mistake Yoda made with Luke in the last film (and while it was there in the original release, it's retroactively more evident thanks to the Prequels). Having corrupted Anakin decades ago, it's clear Palpatine thinks Luke is just Anakin 2.0 and that corrupting the Son of Skywalker will be no serious challenge. He doesn't realize that while Luke ''is'' like Anakin in many ways, he's also not a carbon copy of his father (and if anything, takes more after Padme).
350* GeoEffects: Darth Vader then learns from ''his'' experience: When Luke gains the high ground in their fight in the Emperor's throne room, instead of jumping up, Vader stays where he is and [[ThrowingYourSwordAlwaysWorks throws his lightsaber at him]], severing the walkway's supports and forcing Luke back to normal ground.
351* GeorgeLucasAlteredVersion:
352** For the Special Edition and onward: They added in a bizarre musical number in Jabba's palace in place of the original, which leads into the original scene of the Twi'lek dancer being fed to the rancor.[[note]] They also filmed a new scene with Oola in the pit as the rancor advances on her, even using the old actress, who didn't look as though she'd aged much over the last 14 years. [[/note]] The sarlacc was given extra tentacles and a beak. And the final musical number was replaced, playing over an extensive NationsOfTheWorldMontage that included Bespin, Tatooine, and Coruscant (the latter never visited in the original trilogy) celebrating the massive victory against the Empire.
353** For the DVD version and onward, Creator/HaydenChristensen was spliced into the footage where Anakin's Force spirit appears next to Obi-Wan and Yoda, replacing Sebastian Shaw. This same edit also burned off Anakin's eyebrows in his unmasking since he lost them in his immolation scene in ''Revenge of the Sith''. Shaw, however, still speaks and is seen in the unmasking in all versions. A shot of Naboo (like Coruscant, never visited in the original trilogy) was added to the NationsOfTheWorldMontage at the end.
354** For the Blu-ray version, Vader lets out a BigNo while saving Luke from the Emperor, as a callback to ''Revenge of the Sith''.
355* GhostReunionEnding: The most famous example. Luke steps away from the celebrations on Endor for a moment to smile at the "Force spirits" of Obi-Wan, Yoda and Anakin watching him.
356* GladiatorGames: The Rancor pit, which Jabba enjoys dropping people in and watching them be devoured.
357* GoBackToTheSource: Luke must return to his home of Tatooine in order to rescue Han Solo from Jabba the Hutt.
358* GodGuise: The Ewoks think 3PO is a god. Luke uses his Force powers to reinforce this idea.
359* GoGoEnslavement: The captured women at Jabba's palace are put in skimpy outfits. The usual form is a metal bra and either harem pants or thin strips of fabric that barely count as a skirt (Carrie Fisher joked that having her wear that outfit was just to get her to go to the gym more).
360* GoodLuckGesture: Before they embark on their respective missions, Lando gives Han the same two finger extended version that he and L3-37 exchanged in ''Film/{{Solo}}: A Star Wars Story''. Lando even accompanies it with an actual "good luck", which is returned by Han.
361* GrandFinale: Of the Original Trilogy. The vile Emperor has been defeated and Anakin Skywalker has been redeemed. Gets a HappyEndingOverride by ''Film/TheForceAwakens''.
362* GunshipRescue:
363** Just after hijacking it an AT-ST Scout Walker, Chewie started blowing away other Scout Walkers that had been chewing up the Ewoks pretty badly.
364** When Han and Leia manage to take care of a couple of storm troopers giving them trouble, only for a AT-ST Scout Walker to approach them. They give the OhCrap look, only to find out it was the one Chewbacca and the Ewoks hijacked earlier. And in the end they used the communications link in the walker to draw the base guards out rather than just blast open the doors.
365* GutFeeling: Justified with Luke and Vader, since they can both sense things through the Force.
366* HandSignals: Luke's salute to [=R2-D2=] as he is being made to WalkThePlank lets the robot know Luke is ready to have his weapon fired to him so he can begin the escape mission.
367* HangingByTheFingers: Lando is left hanging by his fingers onto a blaster rifle that Han Solo extended over a Sarlacc that would love nothing more than to consume Lando for dinner.
368* HardWorkHardlyWorks: Luke is able to hold his own against Vader, but Vader was already wavering in his resolve to convert Luke, as evidenced by the regret in his voice during his earlier conversation with Luke in the lift. Luke, however, did get at least several months of more grueling training under Yoda and he was dead set on killing Vader after being pushed off the edge. But he still refuses to kill Vader, and the latter sacrifices himself to kill the Emperor so that Luke might live. So, if anything, it showed that Yoda was right and that Luke was definitely not prepared to face either Vader or the Emperor, while Vader ended up being the one to defeat the Emperor and save the Galaxy.
369* HarmlessElectrocution: When the Emperor [[ElectricTorture tortures Luke with Force lightning]], he seems to recover from it just fine, although it's clear his life was in danger moments before. [[HeroicSacrifice Darth Vader, on the other hand, doesn't.]]
370* HeKnowsTooMuch: This is the reason why the speeder-bike chase happens. While infiltrating Endor near the bunker and the planetary shield, Han [[SoMuchForStealth steps on a dry twig]] behind a scout trooper, who tells his comrades to go for help. Chewie kills one, but Luke and Leia have to chase down the other two (and two more who join the chase).
371* HeroicLineage: Invoked when Luke tells Leia about their real relationship.
372-->'''Luke:''' If I don't make it back, you're the only hope for the Alliance.\
373'''Leia:''' Luke, don't talk that way! You have a power I don't understand and could never have.\
374'''Luke:''' You're wrong, Leia. You have that power too. In time you'll learn to use it as I have. ...The Force is strong in my family. My father has it. I have it. And... my ''sister'' has it. Yes. It's you, Leia.
375* HeroicRematch: After being systematically demolished and having his hand cut off by Darth Vader before [[LukeIAmYourFather learning that Vader is his father]] in ''Film/TheEmpireStrikesBack'', Luke Skywalker gets his rematch and defeats the dark lord in this movie. In a twist, Luke doesn't actually want to fight Vader, and his real victory comes in convincing his opponent to make a HeelFaceTurn.
376* HeroicSecondWind: Luke Skywalker's big counter-offensive during his fight against Darth Vader. In turn, Anakin Skywalker gets his own when he musters just enough energy left in him to hoist Palpatine and toss him to his death, at the cost of his life.
377* HeyCatch: Han Solo does this to an Imperial officer, tossing him one of the explosives the Rebels were bringing in, and the unprepared officer is knocked backwards [[RailingKill off of a catwalk]].
378* HighSpeedHijack: During the speeder bike chase, Luke rides second seat on Leia's bike as they pursue the scout troopers. He has her get up next to the trailing bike, whereupon he jumps to the other bike, throws the {{mook|s}} off, and takes the controls. [[MookHorrorShow The trooper smashes backwards and upside-down into a tree.]]
379* HistoryRepeats: Just like the start of ''Revenge of the Sith'' that heralded the fall of the Old Republic, the end of ''Return of the Jedi'' features a gigantic space battle with Palpatine, the brilliant mastermind orchestrating events to his advantage, sitting back on his throne and observing it all as his agents, now Darth Vader rather than Count Dooku, oppose the forces of good trying to hold back the darkness, now Luke Skywalker rather than Anakin Skywalker, and like his father before him, Luke is confronted with a choice, to spare the villain, though unlike his father, he chooses the right path and rejects the dark side, which leads to Vader's redemption and finally restoring peace to the galaxy and bringing balance to the Force.
380* HoistByHisOwnPetard:
381** The chain Jabba uses to control and humiliate Leia becomes the thing she uses to kill him.
382** As the Emperor tortures Luke with lightning blasts while the latter cries out for help, [[PrepareToDie "Now, young Skywalker, you will die,"]] the Emperor charges up a full blast to kill him once and for all; but Vader, seeing what is happening, can't stand to see his son in pain and hoists the Emperor into the air, causing the Emperor to zap himself with his own lightning, before being thrown to his death in the Death Star's reactor.
383** During the ground battle on Endor, Chewbacca hijacks one of the Imperial [=AT-STs=] and turns its guns on another walker and several squads of Stormtroopers, turning the tide of the battle in the rebels' favour. A few scenes later, Han uses the walker and an Imperial uniform to trick the garrison into leaving the bunker, giving them a chance to blow up the shield generator.
384* HologramProjectionImperfection: When Luke's message to Jabba (stored in R2-D2) plays, it starts off with a burst of static and ends with one too. During the movie's making, Lucas decided that since the signal had been bouncing halfway across the galaxy it'd be unbelievable for it not to have picked up some interference along the way. Though that doesn't explain why the recordings R2 carried, made by people standing right in front of him, suffered the same problem.
385* HopeSpot: Luke manages to carry and drag an injured Vader to a working ship to escape the crumbling Death Star, but Vader dies before he can get him proper medical attention.
386* HyperspeedAmbush: The Rebel fleet comes out of hyperspace en masse near the Death Star II in order to surround it and cover the attack squadrons that will fly inside the half-constructed space station to destroy it. Unfortunately, the station's shields are still active and the Imperial Fleet appears soon after to trap the Rebel fleet.
387* HypocriticalHumor: Han tells Threepio to hurry up and tell the Ewoks what they need, after interrupting him several times to add more things.
388* IAmXSonOfY: After Luke realizes that killing Vader would be a grave mistake on his part, he puts away his lightsaber and reminds the Emperor that he's a Jedi:
389-->'''Luke:''' Never. I'll never turn to the Dark Side. You've failed, your highness. I am a Jedi, like my father before me.
390* IconicSequelCharacter: In the original cuts of the movies, Jabba the Hutt was never seen until this one, though he was mentioned in the original. A scene with him was filmed for ''Film/ANewHope'', but never made it to the post-production phase until the Special Edition in 1997, which included a finished version of the scene with a CGI Jabba[[note]]the original plan, for those curious, was to depict Jabba with StopMotion[[/note]].
391* IfIDoNotReturn: Luke has a brief conversation with Leia before going off to face Vader. One of the things he tells her is, "If I don't make it back, you're the only hope for the Rebel Alliance." Luckily, thanks to a certain HeelFaceTurn, it doesn't come to that.
392* IfYouKillHimYouWillBeJustLikeHim: This what Palpatine is counting on when he tells Luke to take back his lightsaber and [[StrikeMeDownWithAllOfYourHatred strike him down with all of his hatred]] so his journey towards the Dark Side will be complete.
393* IKnowYoureInThereSomewhereFight: During Luke and Vader's lightsaber duel.
394-->'''Luke:''' Your thoughts betray you, father. I feel the good in you... the conflict.
395* ImaginaryLoveTriangle: The Luke/Leia/Han LoveTriangle is probably the TropeCodifier, at least by the time this movie rolls around. Once we find out Luke and Leia are siblings, their branch disappears, though Han doesn't know that until the end of the movie.
396* ImminentDangerClue:
397** Wicket senses an unusual scent in the air seconds before a stormtrooper begins shooting at him and Leia.
398** When Lando realizes that the Imperials are jamming their sensors, despite the fact that the attack ''should'' be a complete surprise, he immediately concludes that the shield is still up, allowing the fleet to narrowly avoid crashing headlong into it.
399* IncurableCoughOfDeath: Yoda's imminent death is heralded by his rather nasty cough in his last scene while alive, although he apparently dies of simple old age.
400* InescapableNet: The protagonists find themselves suspended in snare-nets laid by the Ewoks. They are able to quickly escape (thanks to [=R2D2=] producing a small circular saw from its many compartments) but not before the [[KillerRabbit Ewoks]] arrive in force to surround them.
401* InTheEndYouAreOnYourOwn: At the climax of the movie, Luke deliberately goes without the aid of his [[TrueCompanions comrades]] to confront Darth Vader and the Emperor. Though as the Emperor disdainfully pointed out, Luke had faith that his friends would succeed.
402* InternalReveal: The scene where Luke tells Leia that Darth Vader is his father (which [[LukeIAmYourFather he found out]] [[Film/TheEmpireStrikesback last movie]]) and she is his sister (which he figured out earlier in this one), as well as the scene later on when Leia tells Han are internal reveals.
403* IOweYouMyLife: Han Solo, after Luke rescues him from the Sarlacc pit:
404-->'''Han Solo:''' Hey, Luke, thanks. Thanks for coming after me. I owe you one.
405* IronicLastWords: The Emperor has Luke down for the count and decides to torture him while talking about the futility of defying him. This is just before Darth Vader's HeelFaceTurn where he tosses him to his death. All of his EvilGloating before it comes to a rather ironic conclusion with his demise.
406-->''"If you will not be turned, you will be destroyed! Young fool. Only now, at the end, do you understand. Your feeble skills are no match for the power of the dark side! You have paid the price for your lack of vision! Now, young Skywalker... you will die."''
407* ISurrenderSuckers: C-3P0 and R2-D2 dupe a pack of stormtroopers into walking into an Ewok ambush.
408* IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy: Han tells Leia that "when Luke comes back, [he] won't get in the way." Leia quickly corrects his mistake.
409* ImaginaryLoveTriangle: Han mistakenly thinks Leia is secretly in love with Luke, and is relieved to find out at the end that she was only upset from finding out they're twins and Vader is her father.
410* InescapableNet: The Ewoks' trap. [[SubvertedTrope The heroes DO manage to escape...]] [[DoubleSubversion only for the Ewoks to ambush them seconds afterwards.]]
411* InformedAbility: ZigZagged. The Emperor tells Luke that an entire legion of his best troops are waiting on the Endor moon for his friends. They are ultimately defeated by the Ewoks, who are armed with rocks and pointy sticks. That said, the stormtroopers actually are ''winning'' the battle up until the moment Chewie commandeers one of the AT-ST walkers and turns it against them, allowing the Ewok to gain the upper hand in the confusion.
412* IronicEcho: Vader does this to Luke during the IShallTauntYou portion of their duel.
413-->'''Vader:''' Yes. Your thoughts betray you. Your feelings for them are strong, especially for... ''sister''. So... you have a twin sister. Your feelings have now betrayed her too.
414* {{Irony}}: Vader never achieves the power to save others from death using the Force, like Plagueis reportedly had. However, when Vader saves Luke from Palpatine, he ends up dying in the process. In other words, in his final moments Vader had the power to save others, but not himself.
415* ItOnlyWorksOnce: The film doesn't directly state it, but the briefing room scene implies that the Exhaust Port weakness used to bring down the first Death Star isn't gonna work this time, forcing the rebels to make a daring suicide mission by having their starfighters fly directly inside of the unfinished space station to attack the reactor.
416[[/folder]]
417
418[[folder:Tropes J to O]]
419* JetPack: Boba Fett has one as part of his armor. He uses it to fly around during the protagonists' escape from Jabba the Hutt, and it's accidentally activated by Han Solo hitting it.
420* JoinOrDie: Palpatine aims to persuade Luke to join the Dark Side just as the latter is about to kill Vader. When Luke refuses (and also spares Vader), Palpatine warns him that refusing to join him will lead to death:
421-> '''Emperor Palpatine''': ''If you will not be turned, you will be destroyed!''
422* JungleWarfare: Endor, where the Ewoks make effective use of their knowledge of the jungle environment to lure Imperial troops into their traps.
423* JustBetweenYouAndMe: Just before the battle begins, the Emperor brags to Luke that there is an entire legion of his best troops on Endor who will handle his friends and the Imperial Fleet knows the Rebels are coming. There is absolutely '''''nothing''''' Luke can do to change the outcome. In addition, this serves to make Luke angry, upset, and hating enough for the Dark Side to kick in.
424* JustInTime: The Death Star II is destroyed just before it's about to destroy Endor.
425* KickThemWhileTheyAreDown: Palpatine orders Luke to strike down his father Vader, but he sorely [[EvilCannotComprehendGood underestimates Luke's willpower.]]
426* KidAppealCharacter: The Ewoks were intended to be these, even though they're willing to eat sapient life.
427* KillHimAlready:
428** Palpatine urges Luke to kill [[spoiler:Darth Vader]] after defeating him, [[IfYouKillHimYouWillBeJustLikeHim but he refuses.]]
429** A rare variation where Palpatine tries to persuade Luke to kill ''him'': [[StrikeMeDownWithAllOfYourHatred "Strike me down, and your journey to the dark side will be complete!"]]
430* KillSat: The Death Star II. Like its predecessor, it acts like a large artificial satellite capable of obliterating planets with a large energy projectile.
431* KlaatuBaradaNikto: Klaatu the Nikto and Barada of the planet Tatooine are two of Jabba's guards.
432* KneelBeforeZod:
433** Jabba tries to make the heroes kneel to him when they come to his palace requesting their friend's freedom.
434** Palpatine does this to Luke as well. "In time you will call ''me'' master."
435* KnowWhenToFoldEm: The surviving Imperial bunker personnel, realizing they're surrounded, are implied to give up without a fight (the novelization confirms they all surrender).
436* LecherousLicking: Jabba, a slug mobster, gives Princess Leia a slimy lick when she's captured by him.
437* LegFocus: Leia's GoGoEnslavement outfit has just two thin strips for a skirt, so they definitely weren't made for covering up her legs.
438* LeitmotifUponDeath:
439** After Vader saves [[TheHero Luke]] from [[BigBad The Emperor's]] attacks, his suit is badly damaged. [[RedemptionEqualsDeath When he is about to die]] a gentler, less sinister version of The Imperial March plays representing his return to the light side of the force.
440** Luke visits Yoda and in the scene his theme plays during it. At the end, he succumbs to his old age.
441* LethallyExpensive: "Many Bothans died to bring us this information." And even then, the Emperor let it happen.
442* LifeWillKillYou: After 900 years of adventures, fighting bad guys, and leading the Jedi Order through war and peace, what finally gets [[BigGood Master Yoda]] is just old age.
443--> '''Yoda:''' Now, will I rest. Yes, forever sleep. Earned it, I have.
444* LighterAndSofter: ''The Empire Strikes Back'' is strikingly dark in tone. This one has teddy bears.
445* LiteralDisarming: During the FinalBattle, Vader loses his hand (chronologically for the second time) to Luke, which allows the latter to win the duel between them through making Luke realize just how close to TheDarkSide he's coming.
446* LittleDidIKnow: The phrase appears in the OpeningScroll regarding Luke not knowing about the construction of the second Death Star. As it turns out, this would lead him to the final battle against the Emperor and Darth Vader.
447* LockedOutOfTheLoop:
448** Threepio is the only member of the team not briefed on the plan for Jabba's palace (as shown by his shock and horror when Luke "gifts" the droids to Jabba in his message). Justifed, as Luke knows Threepio can't lie or keep his vocoder shut if his life depended upon it.
449** Retoractive instance thanks to the Prequels when Obi-Wan and Luke speak on Dagobah. While coming clean about Anakin's transformation into Darth Vader, Obi-Wan does not tell Luke about the Prophecy of the Chosen One (nor does Yoda). In-universe, this can be justified by Obi-Wan and Yoda no longer believing in the Prophecy or that Anakin was the Chosen One (and that it was also irrelevant in the face of stopping Vader and Sidious). The real-life reason, of course, is that George Lucas (probably) hadn't developed that element of Anakin's backstory until he began pre-production on the Prequels a decade later.
450* LonelyFuneral: Luke is the only one at Anakin's pyre, since he's the only person who saw what happened in the Emperor's throne room and knows that Anakin [[DyingAsYourself died a good person.]]
451* LoneWolfBoss: Jabba the Hutt is a crime lord unaffiliated with TheEmpire. However, he's the main antagonist in Han Solo's personal story arc who plays a prominent role early in the film.
452* LookBehindYou: PlayedForLaughs. In the skiff battle, Chewbacca warns the still half-blind Han that Boba Fett is behind him. He's telling the truth, and when Han whirls around to check, he accidentally strikes Boba Fett's jetpack, causing it to misfire and send him flying off of the skiff.
453* LoveRedeems: What is it that finally destroys Darth Vader and brings Anakin Skywalker back to the light? His paternal love for his son, Luke.
454* LowClearance: A Storm Trooper falls victim to a rope strung between two trees on Endor, which violently snags him off of his speederbike.
455* LoyaltyMission: Han Solo is unable to commit fully to the Rebellion due to the bounty placed on his head by Jabba the Hutt. It's not until the debt is... rather ''forcibly'' cleared by Luke, Leia, and the gang that he's free and clear to kick Imperial ass and woo beautiful princesses.
456* LukeIAmYourFather: Leia was shocked to learn that Vader is Luke's father, but is more shocked when Luke tells her they're siblings. After he left to face him, Leia was in tears because: Darth Vader, the man who represents the evils of the Empire she's fighting against (and who has [[Film/ANewHope tortured her]] and [[Film/TheEmpireStrikesBack Han]]), is her father. [[BrotherSisterIncest And that the man she kissed was her brother.]]
457* LuredIntoATrap: Not only is the shield still up, and not only is the Imperial Fleet on the scene to pin the [[LaResistance Rebel Fleet]] down, but it turns out that the half-completed Death Star is [[SuperweaponSurprise quite operational when they arrive]]. Thanks to the efforts of the heroes, the Rebels win anyway.
458* MachineWorship: The Ewoks do treat to C-3PO as a golden god at first.
459* MadeOfExplodium:
460** Jabba's barge deck, since it takes only one shot at it to make the entire barge combust.
461--->'''Luke:''' Point it at the deck!
462** The AT-ST walker that is toppled by the Ewoks explodes when the cockpit hits the ground.
463** Also apparently the Emperor, who explodes for some reason when thrown down the reactor shaft.
464** Apparently [[EveryCarIsAPinto every speeder is a Pinto.]] It's practically a RunningGag that every speeder bike in the film crashes, and even the ''toy'' was made to "pop apart" to simulate exploding.
465* ManlyTears:
466** Luke sheds several as he exchanges parting words with Anakin after trying and failing to get him off of the Death Star alive. Anakin's eyes are also noticeably moist during this exchange.
467** Malikili, the rancor keeper, breaks down sobbing after the death of his pet at the hands of Luke Skywalker.
468* MarsNeedsWomen: Jabba the Hutt's apparent sexual desire to chain scantily-clad human and [[RubberForeheadAliens humanoid]] females to him.
469* MeaningfulEcho:
470** Han and Leia reverse the famous "I love you," "I know," from ''Film/TheEmpireStrikesBack''.
471** At the end of ''Empire'', Vader cuts off Luke's hand, signaling Luke's defeat by the Dark Side. At the end of this film, Luke cuts off ''Vader'''s hand... signaling that Luke is [[IfYouKillHimYouWillBeJustLikeHim dangerously close to succumbing to the Dark Side]]. (For bonus symbolism points, [[CyberneticsEatYourSoul Vader's hand is already cybernetic.]]) It's also the same hand Vader cut off Luke, and Luke's wearing a black glove to cover damage to the covering of his prosthetic hand sustained in the barge fight earlier in the film, and Luke finds himself staring at the gloved prosthetic hand when he's got Vader at his mercy. Just in case anyone in the audience didn't get the point.
472** In ''Empire'' Vader tells Luke that he doesn't know the power of the Dark Side to tempt him with great strength. In ''Jedi'' he says it again, this time to tell Luke that he ''can't'' side with him and betray the Emperor because he doesn't stand a chance against the Dark Side's power.
473* MeaningfulFuneral: Returning to the light side, Anakin Skywalker sacrifices himself to save his son Luke. As Anakin's organic body disappeared into the Force after he died, Luke takes his armor to Endor and holds a Jedi funeral, cremating the armor. Luke carefully held the funeral well away others, knowing that the death of the man known as Darth Vader would be a cause for celebration and not mourning. ''Film/TheForceAwakens'' reveals that Vader's helmet was scavenged some time after the funeral and came into the possession of Anakin's grandson Kylo Ren.
474* MemorialForTheAntagonist: At the end of the film, Luke holds a traditional Jedi funeral for Darth Vader, burning his body on a pyre until it disappears to become one with the Force. It helps that Vader's death had been a HeroicSacrifice that doubles as RedemptionEqualsDeath to kill [[BigBad the Emperor]] and save Luke's life.
475* MenOfSherwood: Dozens of unnamed, barely appearing members of the Ewok tribe are primarily responsible for winning the surface portion of the Battle of Endor and only take one or two onscreen casualties.
476* MetaphoricallyTrue:
477** Obi-Wan's explanation of what happened to Luke's father; as far as he's concerned, Anakin and Vader literally are two separate people that shared the same body, and the good man that was Anakin Skywalker died when he betrayed the Jedi Order, so he was technically telling the truth.
478--->'''Luke:''' Obi-Wan? Why didn't you tell me? You told me Vader betrayed and murdered my father.\
479'''Obi-Wan:''' Your father was seduced by the Dark Side of the Force. He ceased to be Anakin Skywalker and became Darth Vader. When that happened, the good man who was your father was destroyed. So what I told you was true, from a certain point of view.\
480'''Luke:''' ''[[WhatTheHellHero A certain point of view?]]''\
481'''Obi-Wan:''' Luke, [[WideEyedIdealist you're]] going to find that many of the truths we cling to [[GreyAndGrayMorality depend greatly on our own point of view]].
482** Luke later uses this to Vader during the former's surrender as a last low blow, and it works, leaving Vader hurt that his son would think that way.
483* MiddleManagementMook: Moff Jerjerrod, the Imperial officer in charge of the Death Star. It sounds like an important job, but he's mostly a BeleagueredBureaucrat PunchClockVillain that gets relegated to the background once Darth Vader and the Emperor show up.
484* MillionMookMarch: Displayed when the Imperials greet Palpatine.
485* MirrorCharacter: Luke and Vader are moved fully into this position for each other during this film. The arc began way back in ''A New Hope'', when Luke expressed his desire to "learn the ways of the Force, and become a Jedi like my father." ''The Empire Strikes Back'' starts emphasizing the dichotomy of this goal: Luke can become [[WarriorMonk a Jedi]], and Luke can become [[FallenHero like his father]], but he cannot do both. This is then underlined in the Emperor's Throne Room in this film, emphasizing Luke's and Vader's parity: anything that is true of one, is true of the other. This is, in fact, the crux of the Emperor's plan: as Vader was seduced by evil, so Luke can too, by [[YouAreWhatYouHate both defeating and becoming what he hates]]. Anything Anakin did, Luke can too. But it's also the crux of Luke's plan: He TakesAThirdOption and, instead of defeating ''or'' becoming Vader, [[SheatheYourSword Sheathes His Sword]]... and becomes "[[TheParagon a Jedi]], like my father before me." Anything Anakin did, Luke can too... and, with this action, Luke reminds his father that anything ''Luke'' can do, [[LoveRedeems Anakin can too]]. See [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NvlWSsZwLn0 this YouTube analysis]] for detail.
486* MissionBriefing: Mon Mothma leads a briefing on the Rebel Alliance plans for their assault on the second Death Star.
487* MistreatmentInducedBetrayal: A third-person version when it is Palpatine slowly killing Luke with force lightning that eventually pushes Vader to betray him. Palpatine urging Luke [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness to kill his father and take his place as his apprentice]] probably helped him make up his mind too.
488* MoodWhiplash: A somewhat lighthearted moment in Jabba's palace with lots of music and dancing takes a much darker turn when poor Oola ends up in the rancor pit.
489* MookHorrorShow:
490** The moment Luke Skywalker and his lightsaber are reunited at the Pit of Carkoon, everything goes downhill fast for Jabba the Hutt's assorted gangsters as they are blasted, sliced, sent flying headlong into the Sarlaac's gaping maw, or all three. Jabba himself is strangled to death in the dark by Princess Leia. It doesn't go much better for the Imperial stormtroopers on Endor's moon once the Ewoks get into the fight as they go from having the "Rebel scum" dead to rights to being massacred by a swarm of waist-high teddy bears and their booby traps.
491** There's also the crew of the ''Executor'' after a kamikaze Rebel fighter crashes into their bridge and sends them plummeting into the Death Star II.
492* MotileVehicularComponents:
493** The B-Wing fighter-bomber has a pair of fold-away stabilizers, and the whole ship swings around the cockpit from a horizontal to a vertical configuration when they're deployed.
494** Imperial Shuttles have very long dorsal, port, and starboard stabilizers that give the ship an inverted "Y" shape. The two ventral wings swivel upwards when the ship lands.
495* MurderTheHypotenuse: Jabba captures Leia Organa at the beginning of the film and keeps her as his personal slave. He tries to have her love interest Han Solo fed to the Sarlacc not long afterward, intending [[ForcedToWatch to force her to watch]]. Then again, he wants Han dead or suffering regardless; getting rid of Leia's love interest is just a bonus.
496* MutualKill: Darth Vader throws the Emperor into a pit to his death, but ends up short-circuiting his suit and sealing his fate.
497* MySignificanceSenseIsTingling:
498** Luke and Vader can sense each other's presence when Luke arrives at Endor.
499** {{Inverted}} when the Death Star explodes and Leia doesn't sense anything wrong, meaning that Luke wasn't killed.
500* MyGodWhatHaveIDone:
501** So, Vader has finally captured his son and is ready to convert him to the Dark Side. As he gloats about the Emperor's victory, Luke replies "Then my father is truly dead." After Luke is escorted to a turbolift, Vader leans on a railing, conflicted over what to do next.
502** Luke also has one near the end when he snaps out of his UnstoppableRage and realises [[IfYouKillHimYouWillBeJustLikeHim just how close he came to killing Vader and falling to the Dark Side.]]
503* MyGreatestSecondChance: Done retroactively. The scene in which Vader chooses to save Luke for good reasons is [[PlotParallel almost identical]] to one where he chooses to save Palpatine for selfish reasons in ''Film/RevengeOfTheSith''. As such, when both films are taken into account Vader does what he should have done all along: kill Palpatine.
504* NationsOfTheWorldMontage: At the end of the special edition, with the planets of the galaxy celebrating the downfall of the Empire. Naboo's celebration was added with the DVD release.
505* NearVillainVictory: The Emperor says to Vader, "His [Luke's] compassion for you will be his undoing." [[EvilCannotComprehendGood Actually, it turns out to be his own undoing.]]
506* NeverRecycleYourSchemes: What's the plot of ''Film/ANewHope''? TheEmpire has constructed a super-weapon called the Death Star, and [[LaResistance the Rebel Alliance]] has to exploit a fatal flaw to destroy it. What's the plot of 'this film? The Empire has constructed a ''second'' Death Star ''without'' that fatal flaw, so the Rebel Alliance has to destroy it before it's complete or it will be basically unstoppable.
507* NiceJobBreakingItHero: A subverted example occurs when Chewbacca's hunger for a piece of dangling meat gets the Rebel party trapped by the Ewoks on Endor. It leads to the Ewoks agreeing to help the Rebels and without the Ewoks to bolster them by sheer numbers, there's no way the Rebel party would have made it past the Imperials guarding the bunker.
508* NiceJobFixingItVillain:
509** Darth Vader trying to provoke Luke by implying Leia would be more susceptible to turning to the Dark Side sends Luke into an UnstoppableRage that completely overwhelms Vader.
510** The Emperor encouraging Luke to be aggressive and kill Vader is ''not'' this trope. While killing his father in a moment of passion might have worked, to do so deliberately and knowingly would have been more effective. However, his gleefully telling Luke to finish him does cause Luke to have his HeelRealization - and Palpatine [[Film/RevengeOfTheSith had no problems tricking people into the Dark Side before]] anyway. The true mistake from Palpatine's side was believing Luke was like his father. Luke, while having some features of Anakin, was way more like Padmé. And seeing what Anakin had become helped Luke come into his senses. So truthfully, Sidious' attempt to turn Luke was doomed to fail from the beginning.
511** Emperor Palpatine attempting to torture Luke to death via Force Lightning is what finally got Vader/Anakin to redeem himself and turn away from the Dark Side, starting with hurling Palpatine to his DisneyVillainDeath.
512* NoAnimosityInTheAfterlife: After Darth Vader sacrifices himself to save his son Luke and destroy the Emperor, his redeemed self appears as a Force Ghost in the movie's final scene alongside Obi-Wan and Yoda. Neither of them seem to bear him any enmity, despite him having previously aided the Empire in slaughtering their entire order and [[ObiWanMoment sort of]] killed Obi-Wan. Although forgiving is part of the Jedi's way, and Anakin's redemption was genuine.
513* NoEndorHolocaust: According to George Lucas, popular Internet fan theories -- namely, that the destruction of the Death Star would have caused massive destruction on Endor as well due to the falling debris -- are not correct.
514* NoMoreLies: Obi-Wan has no choice but to at last tell Luke the real truth on Dagobah.
515* NoNameGiven:
516** The Emperor is referred to only as such in this and the previous two films; it takes until the prequels for both his true name, Palpatine, and his Sith moniker, "Darth Sidious," to be used.[[note]]In the films, that is. The name "Palpatine" debuted in the novelization for ''A New Hope''. Of course, that was the same novelization that said he was a PuppetKing.[[/note]]
517** The Ewoks are never actually referred to as such in the film itself.
518* NonProtagonistResolver:
519** Zigzagged. While Luke does go to face the Emperor, it is Vader who throws the Emperor to his death by redeeming himself. Now, that only qualifies for the movie alone. For the entire saga, it is clear Anakin is the protagonist, and the final resolver of the conflict.
520** The Death Star isn't destroyed by any of the main characters; that honor belongs to Lando Calrissian and Wedge Antilles (though Han, Leia and Chewie's group helped by disabling its energy shield).
521* NonActionBigBad: Subverted with Palpatine. While the previous movie established him as a Force user, he's an old man who moves slowly and needs a cane to walk, which would make the audience think he wouldn't do well on a battle, and keeps Vader around to do the actual fighting. Then he "shocks" both Luke and the audience when he nearly kills Luke with Force Lightning, an extremely powerful never seen before Dark Side ability.
522* NoodleIncident:
523** Lando credits his promotion to Alliance General and Gold Leader thanks to a little manuever he pulled at the Battle of Tanaab.
524** Mon Mothma doesn't elaborate on how exactly they got the intel about the Second Death Star, other than to mention that it involved the deaths of many Bothans. She looks particularly distraught when she brings it up.[[note]]It is explained in the CanonDiscontinuity ''Literature/ShadowsOfTheEmpire'' series that the rebels took the plans from an Imperial Freighter called the Suprosa. A Diamond Boron Missile was fired from the freighter into a Bothan Y-Wing squadron resulting in their deaths.[[/note]]
525* NoOSHACompliance: Zig-zagged. The Emperor's throne room does have railings over the 90km chasm. On the other hand, superlaser control still has two guys standing next to the planet-destroying laser without a railing. Similarly, Jabba's sail barge has a gun that can be aimed at the barge itself, something that mounted gun design has avoided since people started putting guns on things.
526* NoPlansNoPrototypeNoBackup: Averted in that it is heavily implied that the Empire figured out how Luke managed to destroy the first Death Star and redesigned the second one with thick anti-fighter defenses and no two-meter wide exhaust port. However, these advances are negated by tricking the Rebels into attacking when the superstructure is still open enough to allow ships into the interior of the station. All part of the plan. The Death Star and the Emperor himself were the bait to lure the Rebel fleet into a position where it could easily be destroyed. The Death Star had to be vulnerable enough for the Rebels to think they had a realistic shot at destroying it.
527* NoSell: Luke's mind powers do not work on Jabba.
528* TheNotSoHarmlessPunishment: Jabba sentences Luke and Han to be fed to the Sarlaac. Han quips that it doesn't sound so bad, until [=C3PO=] translates the bit about, "in his belly, you will find a new definition of 'pain and suffering' as you are slowly digested over a... thousand years."
529-->'''Han:''' On second thought, let's pass on that, huh?
530* NotSoHarmlessVillain: What has been said about the Emperor so far makes it clear he's very evil, and this film makes it clear that he's a terrifying competent planner; but he doesn't ''look'' threatening, he looks like a harmless old man. He's not, he's terrifying powerful, and effortlessly defeats Luke. Yoda even warns Luke "Do not underestimate the powers of the Emperor".
531* OffTheShelfFX: At least one of the X-wings seen in the Battle of Endor was an officially licensed model kit from MPC.
532* OhCrap:
533** Moff Jerjerrod in the beginning.
534--->'''Jerjerrod:''' [The Emperor] asks the impossible! I need more men!\
535'''Vader:''' Then perhaps you can tell him when he arrives.\
536'''Jerjerrod:''' (''shocked'') The Emperor's coming ''here?!''\
537'''Vader:''' That is correct, Commander. And he is ''most displeased'' with your apparent lack of progress.\
538'''Jerjerrod:''' We shall double our efforts!\
539'''Vader:''' I hope so, Commander, for your sake. [[BadBoss The Emperor]] is not as forgiving as I am.
540** "I know that laugh."
541** Leia when she realizes what [[GoGoEnslavement Jabba has planned for her]]
542** Luke when the Rancor emerges.
543** A subtle one from Yoda on his deathbed when Luke asks if Vader is his father. Realizing Luke now knows the secret, Yoda tries to quietly weasel his way out of it before resignedly confirming it.
544** Downplayed example with Luke on Endor when he surrendesrs and reunites with Vader. Luke's confident Vader's internal conflict means he won't kill him or hand him over to the Emperor. He turns away...and then Vader ignites Luke's lightsaber. The young Jedi unsurprisingly gets visibly nervous for a few moments. He's gambling ''everything'' on his father being redeemable, but he also clearly fears he just overrplayed his hand. However, Vader's reponse is thankfully more thoughtful and observational rather than angry.
545** Lando's "[[ExplainExplainOhCrap Well, how could they be jamming us if they don't know ... (dawning realization) ...if we're coming?]] Break off the attack! The shield is still up!"
546** "It's a ''trap!''"
547** Luke as the Emperor shows that he has predicted the entire Rebel plan and outlines how easily he ought to be able to defeat it decisively.
548** "That blast came from the Death Star! ''[[FromBadToWorse That thing's operational!]]''"
549** Han when the AT-ST walker approaches him. Subverted; Chewbacca's hijacked the walker.
550** "Intensify forward firepower!" "TOO LATE!"
551** While we obviously can't see Vader's reaction, he clearly has one of these when Luke taps into the Dark Side at the thought of Leia being corrupted and turned and comes after him, determined to kill him.
552** "Now, young Skywalker ... ''[[ColdBloodedTorture you will die]].''"
553** While Luke demands that Jabba free his friends, C-3PO noticed Luke was standing on the trap door to the Rancor's Pit and tried to warm him. But was interrupted by Jabba. Notice that Luke's eyes drifted to 3PO, then back to Jabba.
554--->'''C-3PO:''' Master Luke, you're standing on--\
555'''Jabba:''' ''(in Huttese)'' There will be no bargain, young Jedi!
556* OnlyAFleshWound:
557** Luke gets a blaster bolt to his cybernetic hand during the melee over the Sarlacc pit, but apparently covering it up with a glove was sufficient treatment.
558** Leia gets pegged in the shoulder by an ([[ImperialStormtrooperMarksmanshipAcademy unusually lucky]]) Stormtrooper blast.
559** R2-D2 takes a hit as well and is momentarily deactivated, which for a droid is probably the equivalent.
560* OutOfFocus: Han is much less important to the overall narrative than in the previous two films, and has no real arc other than being rescued.
561* OutOfTheInferno: The Death Star explosion blows out the exit first, but the ''Millennium Falcon'' emerges from it.
562* OutrunTheFireball:
563** The heroes escaping from Jabba's exploding sail barge on a skiff.
564** The ''Millennium Falcon'', piloted by Lando, while outrunning the explosion from the reactor destroying the Death Star.
565[[/folder]]
566
567[[folder:Tropes P to T]]
568* PalatePropping: Luke braces the Rancor's jaws open with a large bone from the floor of its pit. This buys him a few seconds, but not much, as the Rancor's bite is powerful enough to snap it in two.
569* PapaWolf: Vader kills Palpatine to protect his son, Luke, from being electrocuted to death.
570* ParadisePlanet: The forest moon of Endor appears to be one of these, particularly by the end of the film, consisting mainly of tranquil forests and villages of cuddly Ewoks.
571* ParallelConflictSequence: The Battle of Endor takes place on three fronts: the ground battle to destroy the second Death Star's shield generator, the space battle to destroy the DS II itself, and the lightsaber battle between Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader.
572* PassedInTheirSleep: Defied. Yoda heads to bed to try to avoid Luke's questions, then fights to stay awake to give him some last words of advice before (literally) [[EverythingFades fading off]] [[KilledMidSentence mid-sentence.]]
573* PetTheDog: The Rancor keeper's inconsolable reaction to Luke killing the monster, although more played for laughs, managed to garner a bit more sympathy than expected. As Creator/RogerEbert said, "Everybody loves somebody." Think about it: the Rancor is just an animal; it doesn't have any choice in whom it fights. Like if Luke was thrown into a lion pit and had to kill it.
574* PlanetEngland: The movie doesn't make it clear if Endor is the name of the forest moon or the planet it orbits. According to the ExpandedUniverse, they're both called Endor.
575* PleaseDontLeaveMe: Inverted. As he's dying, Anakin/Vader ''tells'' Luke to leave him (which Luke initially refuses to do).
576* PleaseWakeUp: During the battle on Endor, an Ewok is shot dead and another one comes up to it, crying and pushing the dead one to wake up.
577* PlotIrrelevantVillain: Jabba is a minor obstacle that the heroes have to deal with before getting back to the war against the Empire.
578* PokingDeadThingsWithAStick: PlayedWith. Wicket, the Ewok, certainly ''thinks'' Leia might be dead when he discovers her unconscious body and pokes her with his spear to check on her status. He is immediately startled when Leia wakes up.
579* PostDefeatExplosionChain: The second Death Star is destroyed when the Rebels' attack on its main reactor initiates a chain reaction of explosions that quickly spread through the battlestation before culminating in a larger detonation that destroys it.
580* ThePowerOfLove: This is how Luke helps his father Darth Vader get out of the Dark Side and become Anakin Skywalker again.
581* PrecisionCrash: During the final battle, an A-Wing is hit, loses control, veers off quite a ways, and crashes into the bridge of the ''Executor'', which then crashes into the Death Star and explodes.
582* PreExplosionGlow: The second Death Star in flashes lights, minor explosions and gouts of flame all over before it blows up.
583* PrepareToDie: When Luke refuses to give in to the Emperor's demands to succumb to the Dark Side and disarms himself, the Emperor decides to ''kill him'' instead.
584-->'''Emperor:''' If you will not be turned, you will be destroyed. ''(zaps Luke with lightning)'' Young fool. Only now, at the end, do you understand. ''(zaps him again)'' Your feeble skills are no match for the power of the Dark Side! You will pay the price for your lack of vision. ''(zaps him some more as he cries out for help)'' Now, young Skywalker... you will die.
585* PraetorianGuard: The Emperor's Imperial Guard, dressed in blood red robes and armed with "force pikes". They mostly serve as set dressing, looking scary in the background but never actually doing anything.
586* ProphecyTwist:
587** The Emperor has it right when he foresees that [[ExactWords Skywalker's compassion will be his undoing]]. His error is in misinterpreting [[PapaWolf which Skywalker his foresight referred to]].
588** There's also a retroactive instance here thanks to the Prequel Trilogy. The Prophecy of the Chosen One stated he or she would destroy the Sith. After Anakin became Vader, Obi-Wan and Yoda believed the Prophecy was wrong... until now. Anakin ''does'' destroy the Sith when he turns back to the Light Side. He tosses Palpatine down the reactor shaft and succumbs to his injuries, thereby taking the Sith teachings with him and ending their line. Of course, this is only within the context of George Lucas' films (as the Disney Canon invalidates this).
589* ProstheticLimbReveal: Near the end of the Sarlacc pit rescue, one of Jabba's goons manages to shoot Luke's lightsaber hand, which makes him flinch but otherwise doesn't slow him down. After the rescue, a close-up reveals that the hand has wires and metal under the skin that got shot off, a reminder of how he lost his real hand at the end of ''Film/TheEmpireStrikesBack'' and had to get a replacement.
590* ProtagonistCenteredMorality: Luke and his friends blowing up Jabba's sail barge to facilitate their escape can seem a bit extreme considering that Jabba is already dead and many of Jabba's servants and underlings are openly depicted as enslaved and thus having to serve Jabba and his entourage against their will. But no effort is made to free Jabba's slaves and captives beyond Han, Leia, and the droids, and the slaves and servants who were brought on the sail barge were all presumably killed in the explosion. As well as presumably innocent civilians such as Max Rebo's band who really just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.
591* PsychicStrangle: Luke, [[AllLovingHero of all people]], does this non-fatally to a pair of Jabba's Gamorrean guards to get them out of his way.
592* PsychoStrings: High-pitched violins are heard when Luke reaches his RageBreakingPoint.
593* PullTheTriggerProvocation: In the climax, Luke is hiding from Vader, refusing to fight him or be goaded anymore. When Vader susses out his sister's existence and brags that they can just turn her instead, Luke flies into a rage, starts channeling TheDarkSide (which Yoda and Kenobi both told him was a point of no return,) and brutally curb stomps Vader. Fortunately, after cutting off Vader's hand, Luke manages to regain control of himself and pull back to the light side.
594* PunchClockVillain: Ackbar sees the Imperials this way. While the other rebels are cheering in celebration, he watches the explosions and sits silently with no joy. It's entirely possible that some of the Imperials were people Ackbar fought alongside during the Clone Wars.
595* PunctualityIsForPeasants: The novelization reveals that Jerjerrod (the commander of the second Death Star) is an arrogant bully who wholeheartedly subscribes to this school of thought. As he sees it, important people, such as himself, don't hurry for others, other people hurry for them. However Jerjerrod does have enough common sense to know that the meeting with Darth Vader from near the start of the film is something he needs to be on time for, even if he tries to appear unconcerned and unhurried. When Vader announces that the Emperor will be coming to the station, however, Jerjerrod basically decides to temporarily ditch the attitude, because there are times when even very important men have to hurry, and trying to make sure he doesn't disappoint [[BadBoss The Emperor]] is one of them.
596%%* APupilOfMineUntilHeTurnedToEvil: Inverted. By Darth Vader himself of all people!
597* PuttingTheBandBackTogether: Twice, actually. The gang reunites on [[GoBackToTheSource Tatooine]] to save Han, and later they formally get back together for Han's planned strike against the shield generator on the forest moon of Endor.
598* PuttingOnTheReich: The shot of thousands of troops lined up to welcome the Emperor. Ironically, Creator/GeorgeLucas stated in the commentary that that scene in particular was actually intended to reference the May Day Parades of what was at the time the Soviet Union.
599* QuizzicalTilt: The Ewok whom Princess Leia befriends headtilts at her when she tries to talk to him. The child actor (Creator/WarwickDavis, in fact) who played the Ewok stated that he purposefully modeled this behavior from his own pet pooch.
600* RageAgainstTheMentor: {{Downplayed}}. Luke is clearly miffed at Obi-Wan for not telling him the whole truth about Vader, but he's also had a year to process the revelation from the last movie, and he gives Obi-Wan a chance to explain himself in a fairly civil conversation.
601* RageBreakingPoint: Luke really tries not to let his anger get in the way when he's confronting Vader, but Vader then threatens to take the last of his family from him.
602-->'''Vader:''' If you will not turn to the Dark Side, then perhaps she will.\
603'''Luke:''' (''[[ShutUpHannibal igniting his lightsaber]]'') ''[[BigNever NEVER!]]''
604* RammingAlwaysWorks: A lone A-Wing manages to slip through the Super Star Destroyer ''Executor'''s defensive fire and smash into its momentarily unshielded bridge, causing it to lose thruster power after the engineering control was lost and crash into the Death Star before anybody on board could react. The pilot, Arvel Crynyd, had been hit seconds before by defensive fire and had a critically damaged fighter. He thus decided to take as much down with him as he could, which ended up being quite a lot.
605-->'''Bridge officer:''' Sir, we've lost our bridge deflector shield.\
606'''Admiral Piett:''' Intensify the forward batteries. I don't want anything to get through...\
607''[sees an out of control fighter coming right at them]''\
608'''Admiral Piett:''' ''Intensify forward firepower!!''\
609'''Crynyd:''' [[DefiantToTheEnd RHAAAAAAAAA]]!!!!\
610'''Commander Gherant:''' '''''[[OhCrap TOO LATE!!]]'''''
611* RealityHasNoSubtitles:
612** When C-3PO talks with Bib Fortuna, Jabba the Hutt's Twi'lek majordomo, C-3PO makes an introduction in an untranslated language. After this, everything he says is in English and Bib Fortuna's responses are in the same language, also untranslated.
613** When Luke Skywalker arrives at Jabba's palace, he talks with Bib Fortuna in English, and Fortuna responds in an untranslated language to him.
614** The Ewoks are incomprehensible to all but some of the characters who share the screen with them. (Their language is actually the Jawa language reused for the film.)
615* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: The Emperor scornfully condemns Luke for his "feeble skills" and "lack of vision" as he burns him with his lightning.
616* RecognizableBySound: Leia has just freed Han from carbon-freeze, but before they can get anywhere, they hear a slow, low-pitched EvilLaugh. Han mutters, "I know that laugh." Cue Jabba the Hutt.
617* RecycledSoundtrack: Music/JohnWilliams reused some of his battle music from ''A New Hope'' for the Battle of Endor. The attack on the ''Executor'' is reused from when the TIE Fighter deployed in the Battle of Yavin.
618* RedAndBlackAndEvilAllOver: The [[http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Emperor%27s_Royal_Guard Emperor's guards]] wear these colors, which reference their alignment with the Emperor (a Sith himself).
619* RedGreenContrast: The movie does this twice, but in opposing ways.
620** On the one hand, Rebel ships fire red laser bolts, while Imperial TIE fighters and Star Destroyers fire green ones. Ground troopers on both sides use red blaster bolts, however.
621** On the other, the Sith exclusively use red lightsabers while the Jedi use a variety of colors, most notably green (such as Luke's lightsaber in this movie) and light blue.
622* ReestablishingCharacterMoment: Luke Skywalker is introduced entering Jabba's palace wearing a black hooded cloak, and easily dealing with his guards with Force chokes and a Jedi mind trick. His effortless entrance demonstrates that he's grown more skilled since his defeat in ''Film/TheEmpireStrikesBack'', but also, by using the signature power of Darth Vader, that he's grown closer to the Dark Side.
623* RefugeInAudacity:
624** A bounty hunter barges into Jabba's presence with a chained Chewbacca and threatens to [[TakingYouWithMe blow everyone up with a thermal detonator]] unless paid the price ''he'' wants. Jabba finds this ActuallyPrettyFunny, and even Boba Fett gives the bounty hunter a respectful nod. Even more so when you find the bounty hunter is Leia in disguise.
625** You have to give Luke credit, he told Jabba he would die unless he let them go...
626* RelativeButton:
627** Luke lost most of his family, either dead or turned evil. His sister is all he has left, so attempting to threaten her is the one thing that sets him off.
628** Palpatine attempting to kill Luke is what finally drives Vader to send him falling to his death.
629* RemovedAchillesHeel: The Second Death Star is planned to be built without the weakness of the first one. Instead of a single thermal exhaust port large enough for a pair of proton torpedoes to enter, its reactor would instead dissipate heat through millions of millimeter-sized heat dispersion tubes, which would render it immune to that tactic. Fortunately, it is destroyed before it gets fully completed, when there are still many openings in its superstructure leading to the reactor.
630* RequestForPrivacy: When Darth Vader brings Luke to Emperor Palpatine's throne room on the Death Star, Palpatine orders the guards to leave. His StrikeMeDownWithAllOfYourHatred ploy to turn Luke to the dark side would presumably have been less effective with the heavily armed Imperial Guardsmen present.
631* RescueArc: Following the abduction of Han Solo at the end of ''Film/TheEmpireStrikesBack'', the beginning of this movie revolves around rescuing him and eventually escaping from their planned execution in Tatooine.
632* RestrainedRevenge: Vader is not pleased with Moff Jerjerrod's lack of progress in constructing the second Death Star when he arrives and urges his crew to hasten their efforts since Emperor Palpatine is even less tolerant of failure than Darth Vader is. Later depictions of The Emperor make it clear how serious of a threat this was. Vader merely killed those that displeased him; his Master made them ''[[FateWorseThanDeath suffer]]''.
633* {{Retcon}}: Obi-Wan reveals that his claim in ''Film/ANewHope'' that Darth Vader betrayed and killed Luke's father was only MetaphoricallyTrue. As originally written, the line was meant to be the literal truth; this change set up additional ambiguity about Obi-Wan and Anakin/Vader's mental states on the subject, which would go on to be used in the prequel era.
634* RetroactiveIdiotBall: Leia kissed Luke in ''Film/TheEmpireStrikesBack''. Then this film has her reveal that she's [[{{Retcon}} always known they were siblings]].
635* TheReveal:
636** Obi-Wan revealing that Luke and Leia are brother and sister.
637** Also, a confirmation of the reveal in the previous film when Yoda tells Luke (and the audience) the Vader is indeed his father.
638** Darth Vader's full name prior to turning was Anakin Skywalker.
639* RhetoricalQuestionBlunder: Between C-3PO and R2-D2.
640-->'''C-3PO:''' Artoo, what are you doing here?!\
641'''R2-D2:''' [beeping noises]\
642'''C-3PO:''' Well, I can ''see'' you're serving drinks...
643* RoboticReveal: Granted we'd heard earlier that Vader is "more machine now than man," but it's still a shock when Luke slices his hand off and we see it was ''already'' cybernetic.
644* RockBeatsLaser: The Ewoks, armed with slingshots and batter rams, defeat the Empire's troops, even with all their lasers and walker robots, through booby traps, ambushes and one captured walker manned by Chewbacca. The fact that they had that giant log-based trap set up and ready to go also means they had been preparing something for ''weeks'' at a bare minimum, so they would have had a lot of stuff stockpiled.
645* RocketRide: The speeder bikes are low-slung hover vehicles that travel at dangerously high speeds, causing them to somewhat resemble rockets as they're going on by any onlookers.
646* SamusIsAGirl: The "bounty hunter" who brings Chewbacca to Jabba the Hutt turns out to be Leia.
647* SapientEatSapient: The Ewoks nearly try to cook and eat most of the main characters, other than C-3PO (assumed to be a god) and Leia, before Luke convinces C-3PO to convince them he'll use his "magic" (actually Luke employing Jedi Force-manipulation techniques) on the Ewoks unless they free them.
648* SayingTooMuch: Palpatine, mastermind of two sides of a galactic war, commander of TheEmpire… and yet can't resist gloating like a third-rate comic book villain when Luke is about to finish off Vader, which causes Luke to realize just how close to TheDarkSide he's going and stop himself.
649* SchizoTech: The Ewoks, despite being apparently stone-aged primitives managed to have come up with a hang-glider and quite sophisticated-looking catapults.
650* SchmuckBait: Chewie paws at a hanging slab of meat, triggering an Ewok trap net which entangles himself, Han, Luke, R2-D2 ''and'' 3PO. Outstanding.
651-->'''Han:''' [[SarcasmMode Great, Chewie! Great!]] Always thinking with your stomach!
652* ScrewThisImOuttaHere: Once the Endor Shield array is destroyed and the Emperor is killed, Imperial crewmen, guards, stormtroopers, officers, and pilots begin to flee the doomed Death Star. They are seen running to evacuate the station when Luke and Anakin make it to the escape shuttle.
653* SeanConneryIsAboutToShootYou: Han is facing his blaster directly at the audience in the poster.
654* SecretCompartment: Artoo and Threepio were donated to Jabba the Hutt as goodwill gifts. Nobody thought much of Artoo, a lowly astrodroid repair 'bot. However, when it seems that Luke Skywalker is about to be fed to the sarlacc, Artoo opens a compartment in his head, from which it ejects a lightsaber. Luke grabs it with the Force to start cutting up Jabba's mooks.
655* SeeTheWhitesOfTheirEyes: Lando orders the Rebel fleet to close with the Imperial fleet, figuring their odds of surviving a knife fight with the Star Destroyers are much better than their odds of surviving being {{Sitting Duck}}s for the [[SuperWeaponSurprise Death Star.]]
656-->'''Lando:''' Yes, I said ''closer''! Move as close as you can, and engage those Star Destroyers at point-blank range!\
657'''Ackbar:''' At that range, we won't last long against those Star Destroyers!\
658'''Lando:''' We'll last longer than we will against that Death Star! And we might just take a few of them with us!
659* SeparatedAtBirth: Luke and Leia discover that they were twins who were sent to live on different planets to protect them from their father, who helped to maintain the Empire's tyrannical rule and served as the main villain of the last film.
660* SeriesFauxnale: Long believed to be the final chronological chapter of the ''Star Wars'' saga, or at least the films. Up until three decades later with Creator/{{Disney}}'s acquisition of Lucasfilm in 2012, leading to production of the Sequel Trilogy and ''Series/TheMandalorian'' which continued the story in live-action.
661* SheatheYourSword: Luke attempts to do this during his fight with Vader as Palpatine reminds him that as he becomes more aggressive he shifts more towards the Dark Side.
662* ShockAndAwe: This is the first movie to introduce the dangerous Force Lightning, in this case performed by the Emperor onto Luke when the latter refuses to join the Dark Side. The zapping is so harmful that the target is unable to make a comeback for a long time (and the Emperor has no intention of restraining except when gloating about Luke's failure and "lack of vision"). It takes Vader's interruption to save Luke; and even then, because the lightning also ends up harming Vader himself (since the Emperor never stopped casting it even after being interrupted), it ends up costing his life.
663* ShockingDefeatLegacy: The Battle of Endor was supposed to be a coup de grace to the weakened Alliance to solidify the Empire's control over the galaxy, which utterly backfired. After falling into the Emperor's trap, the Rebels destroyed the Second Death Star, smashed the Empire's best fleet, and, most importantly, killed the Emperor and Darth Vader, causing the collapse of the Empire's chain of command. The resulting power struggles caused the Empire's forces to splinter to the point the badly outnumbered Rebel Alliance could take over much of the galaxy and proclaim the New Republic.
664* ShootTheMessenger: Jabba thumps Threepio whenever he translates a response he doesn't like. Also implied in the earlier comment: "We have been without an interpreter since our master got angry at our last protocol droid and disintegrated him."
665* ShootTheRope: Han does shoot the tentacle trying to drag Lando into the Sarlacc's mouth on the first try while nearly blind. While his near-blindness at the time makes the accuracy quite implausible, the fact that it's a tentacle rather than a rope means severing it wasn't necessary; merely inflicting pain was enough to make it release its grip.
666* ShoutOut:
667** Lucas stated that the scene depicting Palpatine's arrival is based on the May Day military marches in Soviet Russia.
668** The novelization and merchandising note that among Jabba's guards are a [[KlaatuBaradaNikto Klatoonian named Barada and a Nikto named Klaatu]].
669** The Ewoks blow their horns similar to the scene where the Hebrews blow their horns after the Pharaoh frees them in ''{{Film/The Ten Commandments|1956}}''. A horn sound from that film was even recycled.
670** Chewbacca does a VineSwing with the obligatory Franchise/{{Tarzan}} yell.
671* ShutUpHannibal: Just before Luke falls to the Dark Side in his final duel with Vader, he realizes what he's about to do (largely thanks to Palpatine goading him on) and pulls himself back, telling Palps to shove it once and for all.
672-->'''Luke:''' Never. ''(tosses his lightsaber)'' I'll never turn to the Dark Side. You've failed, Your Highness. [[IAmXSonOfY I am a Jedi, like my father before me.]]\
673'''Palpatine:''' ''(smile twists into an angry frown)'' So be it...''Jedi''.
674* SidekickExMachina: Chewbacca hijacks an Imperial walker and rescues Han and Leia from Stormtroopers during the Battle of Endor.
675* SidingWithTheSuffering: In one of the most famous HeelFaceTurn scenes of all time, Darth Vader turns on Emperor Palpatine and kills him ([[RedemptionEqualsDeath fatally injuring himself in the process]]) [[EvenEvilHasLovedOnes after seeing his son, Luke Skywalker, being slowly tortured to death]] by the Emperor's Force lightning attacks.
676* SilenceIsGolden: The speederbike chase scene has about one line of dialogue and, unusually for the series, no music; only the sound effects.
677* SimultaneousArcs: The movie takes place around the same time as the ''[[VideoGame/StarWarsBattlefrontII2017 2017 Battlefront game]]'', ''[[Literature/StarWarsBladeSquadron Blade Squadron]]'', ''[[Literature/TheLeversOfPower The Levers of Power]]'', and ''[[Literature/StarWarsLostStars Lost Stars]]'' for the Battle of Endor, in addition to Emperor Palpatine's visit to the Death Star II in the latter.
678* SingleEpisodeHandicap: [[TheLancer Han Solo]] is blind for the first third of the movie due to hibernation sickness.
679* {{Slimeball}}: Jabba the Hutt is a literal example, being both a total sleazebag and dripping with slime.
680* SmashTheSymbol: In the finale, the Ewoks are using Stormtrooper helmets for percussion. In the Special Edition, we get a view of Coruscant where a statue of the Emperor is pulled down.
681* SolemnEndingTheme: In Anakin's final moments a [[DarkReprise slowed down quieter version]] of the Imperial March plays as Luke peels of his mask and has Anakin slumps to the floor dead, symbolizing the end of Vader and the end of the Empire. When Luke cremates Vader's [[NoBodyLeftBehind empty armor]], a solemn reprise of "Binary Sunset" (AKA the Force theme) from ''Film/ANewHope'' plays.
682* SoProudOfYou: As the unmasked Vader dies, he tells Luke, "You were right about me. Tell your sister... you were right." His smile says this trope more plainly than words ever could. This sentiment can also be seen in the faces of Obi-Wan, Yoda and Anakin's force ghosts when they show up at the celebrations on Endor. None of them say a word, but the way they watch Luke, they don't need to.
683* SpaceBase: The second Death Star is another massive space station for the Empire. The big difference here is that it also comes with a throne room for the Emperor, with a control pad switched him allowing him to directly control the station's planet-destroying laser.
684* SpannerInTheWorks: The Emperor would have gotten away with destroying the Rebel fleet and the ground troops on Endor if it weren't for those meddling Ewoks, and Chewie's brilliant idea to hijack one of the [=AT-ST walkers=]. That's the real turning point of the ground battle (which trickled down [up?] to the space battle when the generator went up in flames). Now, as far as Luke was concerned, a total victory over the Alliance probably would not have been enough to save The Emperor from a DisneyVillainDeath anyway.
685* SpectacularSpinning: Luke does a gratuitous front-flip at the beginning of the sail barge fight.
686* SpikesOfDoom: The Sarlacc Pit has spikes around its edges.
687* {{Spinoff}}: This movie introduced the Ewoks, who became the focus of television spin-offs in ​the mid-'80s. These consisted of the live-action MadeForTVMovie duology ''Film/StarWarsEwokAdventures'' and the animated TV series ''{{WesternAnimation/Ewoks}}''. The Ewok spin-offs are now considered non-canon.
688* SpiritualAntithesis: George Lucas was involved with the production of ''Film/ApocalypseNow'' and at one point was tapped to direct it. Four years after the release of that dark, brooding film about the madness of venturing into a hostile foreign land, Lucas made his own film about primitive jungle dwellers worshiping outsiders as gods and wrecking a technologically superior foreign force but played it all as unambiguously heroic and positive.
689* StandYourGround: As Lando convinces Ackbar the rebels have to do until the team on Endor gets the Death Star's DeflectorShields down.
690* StandardStarshipScuffle: The Battle of Endor starts out more as a Battle of Midway-style melee, with snub fighters attacking the enemy capital ships, but once the Death Star cranks up its superlaser the Rebel cruisers have no choice but to go in and engage the Imperial Star Destroyers toe-to-toe so that at least the Death Star can't get a clear shot at them - a move that is somewhat reminiscent of the Battle off Samar but could be compared to a lot of different surface ship engagements.
691* StateVisit: Emperor Palpatine travels to the Death Star II's construction site, officially to personally oversee the final stages of construction. The visit is secretly part of a BatmanGambit to lure the Rebel Alliance to attack and try to kill him along with the Death Star, so that he can wipe them out with its WaveMotionGun and drive Luke Skywalker to fall to the dark side via the DespairEventHorizon in the bargain.
692* StockFootage: The activation sequence of the Death Star's superlaser is recycled from ''Film/ANewHope'', albeit with new sound effects to make it clear that this weapon is far more powerful.
693* StopWorshippingMe: It's against C-3PO's programming to impersonate a deity.
694* StormingTheCastle: In this case, Storming The Shield Generator. A third of the climax is dedicated to the Rebels led by Han, Leia, and Chewbacca trying to take control of the Imperial facility projecting the Death Star's shields from the forest moon below it.
695* StrikeMeDownWithAllOfYourHatred: The Emperor says this to Luke, as Luke doing that thing would turn him to the Dark Side.
696* SuicidalGotcha: Luke is willing to jump off a plank directly above a giant monster to fool the guards. With his Jedi reflexes, Luke has no problem grabbing the plank at the last second, jumping several feet in the air, grab his lightsaber as R2-D2 fires it at him, and land on the ship ready for a fight.
697* SuicideAttack: The A-Wing of Rebel pilot Arvel Crynyd is critically damaged during the battle over Endor and he happens to be close to the Executor's command bridge, so what does he do? Crashes his ship into said command bridge, causing the gigantic Star Dreadnought to crash on the new Death Star, which turns the tide of the battle as a result.
698* SuperpoweredEvilSide: It's possible for a Jedi to temporarily become stronger by tapping into TheDarkSide, but with the [[PowerAtAPrice consequence]] that it can become permanent. It's also not guaranteed to work since it can backfire and lead to their making stupid mistakes due to being DrunkOnTheDarkSide. For example, this is how Luke Skywalker defeats Darth Vader in this movie after being provoked into an UnstoppableRage by Vader's use of the RelativeButton. Palpatine even says it: "Your hate has made you powerful." Luke refuses to kill Vader after defeating him, though he comes very close, and if he had that would have led to [[IfYouKillHimYouWillBeJustLikeHim becoming the new Vader]].
699* SurpriseIncest: Luke did not know. Leia apparently "always knew" on some level... yet she still kissed him, even if it was to tick off Han.
700* SurpriseMultipleBirth: Obi-Wan tells Luke that he has a twin sister, and Luke senses that Leia is that sister. As Kenobi explains, they were separated at birth in order to protect them both from Darth Vader's reach.
701* SwissCheeseSecurity: The heroes manage to get past the Empire's security using one of their ships and outdated clearance codes. While Vader gives the ultimate go ahead because he can sense Luke onboard, the commanding officer, Admiral Piett, was about to do so anyway despite the codes being out of date[[note]]Piett specifically says "It's an older code, sir, but it checks out", which could imply that it's still valid, just not the ''newest'' code[[/note]].
702* SwordOverHead: After Luke defeats Vader, he notices his father's mechanical hand (much like his own) and [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone realizes how close he's coming to suffering the same fate.]]
703* SymbolicWeaponDiscarding: Rather than listening to the Emperor and falling to the dark side by killing Vader, Luke chooses to turn off his lightsaber and toss it away.
704-->'''Luke:''' Never. I'll never turn to the dark side. You've failed, Your Highness. I am a Jedi, like my father before me.
705* SympathyForTheDevil: Luke Skywalker to Darth Vader, which is made stronger because of his relationship to him.
706* {{Tableau}} The movie's ending features the main cast gathered around an Ewok campfire.
707* TactfulTranslation: C-3PO translates Jabba the Hutt's discussion with a disguised Princess Leia in a friendlier tone than either party is using.
708* TakingYouWithMe:
709** The Emperor mocks Luke for counting on their mutual destruction aboard the Death Star II, as he'd [[DefiedTrope already anticipated the Rebels' plan of attack]] and ensured the battle station's protection.
710** The doomed A-wing pilot flying his own ship into the bridge of the ''Executor''. He succeeds in taking down the ship and taking fleet Admiral Piett with him (Piett is the last of the major villains in the film to lose; he barely outlives Anakin's redemption and the Emperor, though Anakin/Vader is the last villain to physically die, doing so after the ''Executor'' has already plowed into the Death Star and finished Piett off. No word on Moff Jerjerrod's fate). A few scenes later, Lando's optimism proves true with some much-needed interest for the Rebels courtesy of the aforementioned A-Wing fighter, piloted by Arvel Crynyd, going kamikaze on the ''Executor's'' bridge in its final moments, leading to a decisive blow against the Death Star itself.
711** Lando's reasoning for engaging the Star Destroyers at close range after it's revealed that the Death Star's main weapon is operational.
712-->'''Lando:''' Yes, I said closer! Move as close as you can, and engage those Star Destroyers at point blank range!\
713'''Ackbar:''' At that close range, we won't last long against those Star Destroyers.\
714'''Lando:''' We'll last longer than we will against that Death Star! (''ship rocks'') And we might just take a few of them with us!
715* TalkingIsAFreeAction: Luke turns this trope around by [[IKnowYoureInThereSomewhereFight trying to convince Vader to return to the Light Side]], while Vader tries to do the opposite to him. Ultimately, Luke is successful.
716* TastesLikeFriendship: Leia and Wicket bond over food Leia shares with the little Ewok.
717* TaughtByExperience: Chronologically, Darth Vader shows this during his fight against Luke. In ''Film/RevengeOfTheSith'', we see Anakin falling into an [[GeoEffects "I have the high ground"]] trap by Obi-Wan, which leads to his defeat and relying on [[DarkLordOnLifeSupport Life Support]] and ArtificialLimbs to survive. Come this movie, Luke gets the high ground on Darth Vader to try and finish him quickly, but an OlderAndWiser Vader simply destroys the platform, robbing Luke of his advantage.
718* TellMeAboutMyFather: Luke asks Leia about her 'real' mother, hoping to find out more about the woman who gave birth to them. Unfortunately their mother died when Leia was very young (''extremely'' young, according to ''Film/RevengeOfTheSith'') and so she only has very vague memories of her, to Luke's disappointment.
719* TemporaryBlindness: Han Solo is temporarily blinded after being freed from the carbonite, and takes part in the battle against Jabba almost completely blind, just proving what a badass he is.
720* TemptingFate:
721** Han commenting "I hate long waits" and "That doesn't sound so bad", before being told he's up for an incredibly long and excruciating death by Sarlacc.
722** During the initial stages of the battle, Lando comments that only the TIE fighters were attacking and the assembled Star Destroyers weren't really doing anything. A few minutes later it becomes clear why the Star Destroyers were holding back.
723** Lando promises Han that the ''Falcon'' "won't get a scratch!". On the way into the Death Star the ''Falcon''[='=]s communication dish is knocked off.
724** Han again, while trying to hotwire the Endor bunker door:
725--->'''Han:''' I think I've got it. I got it! ''[A second, thicker blast door closes over the first one.]''
726* TermsOfEndangerment: The Emperor repeatedly calls Luke "my young apprentice" as he's fighting for his life against his father, and this creeps Luke out so much that [[NiceJobFixingItVillain he stops descending into the Dark Side every time Palpatine does it]].
727* ThanatosGambit: Palpatine tries to persuade Luke to kill him so he can become a Sith: "Strike me down with all of your hatred, and your journey toward the dark side will be complete." That one didn't turn out exactly as planned, though (since, rather than Luke killing Palpatine to solidify his turn, his father does so to leave it).
728* ThanksForTheMammary: While helping her recover from a blaster-bolt shot to the inside of her left elbow, Han Solo also briefly grabs onto Leia Organa's left boob, and for reasons unknown, Creator/CarrieFisher wasn't even informed about the situation until ''after'' the film's production was finished.
729* ThatManIsDead:
730** As far as Obi-Wan is concerned, Anakin Skywalker died and Vader was born when his former friend turned to the dark side and betrayed the Jedi. Vader himself denies he has anything to do with Anakin anymore. He's wrong.
731--->'''Luke:''' I have accepted that truth that you were once Anakin Skywalker, my father.\
732'''Vader:''' That name no longer has any meaning for me.\
733'''Luke:''' It's the name of your true self. You've only forgotten.
734** Later in that scene, Luke agrees with the "That Man Is Dead" interpretation to throw Vader off.
735* ThemeMusicPowerUp:
736** When Luke pretends to jump into the Sarlacc pit, and then starts attacking the guards.
737** The Emperor gets one as well when his rather creepy theme plays as he [[ColdBloodedTorture electrocutes Luke with Force lightning]]. Has elements of TheDayTheMusicLied, though, since that's when [[spoiler: Darth Vader returns to the Light side of the Force and saves Luke.]]
738** As Vader seizes the Emperor and throws him into the reactor shaft, the music changes from the Emperor's theme to the "Jedi/Force" motif.
739* TheseHandsHaveKilled: Luke has an instance of this, though it's because he cut through Darth Vader's [[ArtificialLimbs prosthetic arm]] in anger, has his own, and grasps [[IfYouKillHimYouWillBeJustLikeHim what he's doing]].
740* ThirdTimesTheCharm: Combining ''Film/TheEmpireStrikesBack'' and this movie, Luke Skywalker directly encounters Darth Vader three times: the first time in Cloud City, the second time on Endor (where Luke fails to redeem Vader and is instead taken to the Emperor), and the third in the Emperor's throne room. Luke is outskilled by Vader in the first encounter (he even loses a hand) and gets captured at the end of the second, but he finally defeats him (but also saves him from the Dark Side) in the third. The two never get close enough in ''Film/ANewHope'' for it to count.
741* ThisIsGonnaSuck: Han's reaction to what he thinks is Luke's "attempt" to rescue him.
742-->'''Han:''' Together again, huh?\
743'''Luke:''' Wouldn't miss it.\
744'''Han:''' How we doing?\
745'''Luke:''' Same as always.\
746'''Han:''' That bad, huh?
747* ThisWayToCertainDeath: Luke Skywalker gets thrown into the Rancor pit. He is only able to escape its clutches by wedging the femur of a previous victim in the beast's jaws, and after running towards the emergency escape door, he uses the skull of yet another previous victim to activate the great door, which closes on the monster's neck, killing it.
748* ThroneRoomThrowdown: Emperor Palpatine has Luke brought up to his throne room on the Death Star II, where he tests him against Darth Vader.
749* ThrowingYourSwordAlwaysWorks: Darth Vader cannot reach Luke, so he cuts down the catwalk Luke's standing on and effortlessly retrieves his lightsaber off-screen. It helps a lot in retrieving your weapon if you're telekinetic.
750* ThwartedCoupDeGrace: A DoubleSubversion. Luke tries to kill Palpatine when the latter tempts him to grab his lightsaber, but Vader blocks the attack. Later, when Luke ultimately refuses to kill Vader, Palpatine uses Force Lightning on Luke, and Vader [[PapaWolf stops]] [[HeelFaceTurn him]]. Unusual in that the last part doesn't involve any weapons.
751* TimeSkip: The movie takes place a year after ''Film/TheEmpireStrikesBack''.
752* ToppledStatue: The special edition adds a scene with a mob tearing down a statue of the Emperor on Coruscant.
753* TrapDoor: Jabba has a secret compartment right in front of his throne that he can open up and send whoever's standing over it directly onto his giant monster's dinner plate.
754* TreatedWorseThanThePet: [[GoGoEnslavement After getting captured by Jabba the Hutt]], Princess Leia is kept on a short leash throughout her enslavement while Salacious B. Crumb, Jabba's Kowakian monkey lizard, is able to wander freely.
755* TreehouseOfFun: The Ewok village. Based of a Finca Bellavista in UsefulNotes/{{Venezuela}}, the Ewoks live in villages suspended in the tall trees of the forest moon of Endor. Bonus points for not only being a village, but also connecting by rope swings and ziplines.
756* TreetopTown: The Ewoks' village is built in the canopy of one of their world's vast forests, with rope bridges connecting its homes and platforms. While, unlike the much larger Wookiees, Ewoks aren't particularly adapted for tree-dwelling and would've been unable to do so before they developed rudimentary technology, the ExpandedUniverse shows that the forests of Endor have many predators and that the diminutive Ewoks build their homes in trees to stay out of their reach. Given the size of some of the local predators, this takes some doing -- Goraxes, for instance, are big enough to easily pull down huts built in a tree's lower branches.
757* TribalCarry: When the protagonists are captured by the Ewoks -- with the exception of C-3PO, who gets a comfortable palanquin chair since they believe he's a god.
758* TripTrap: The Ewoks set up a thick rope trap to trip Imperial [=AT-STs=] and send them crashing to the ground
759* TriumphantReprise: The Jedi theme has a reprise when Darth Vader pulls a HeelFaceTurn and kills the Emperor at the cost of his own life and later at his VikingFuneral.
760* TransparentTech: There are round, transparent display screens on the bridge of the rebel flagship.
761* {{Troll}}: Palpatine taunting Luke to provoke an attack. When he delivers the line, "Oh, I'm afraid the deflector shield will be quite operational when your friends arrive," he sounds like he's barely choking back a laugh.
762* TurnTheOtherFist: Luke Skywalker seems to turn away from the Emperor's taunting but suddenly swings back to grab his saber and take a swipe at the Emperor. Vader blocks it.
763* {{Tyrannicide}}: Darth Vader returns to the light and kills the Emperor by throwing him down the Death Star reactor shaft. His death signals the beginning of the end of the Empire's tyranny, sparking uprisings and celebrations on a number of planets. The ExpandedUniverse goes into more detail about it, showing that the Empire fractured without Palpatine or Vader's leadership, making it all the more easy for the Rebels, now known as the New Republic, to liberate Imperial-held space.
764[[/folder]]
765
766[[folder:Tropes U to Y]]
767* UnderCrank: The backgrounds for the speeder bike chase are the result of an undercranked camera (so much so that it's moving at one frame per second) and a Steadicam.
768* UnpleasantParentReveal: Luke has the task of sharing the information about Darth Vader being his father with his [[SeparatedAtBirth recently-revealed twin sister Leia]] (who , logically, is also Vader's daughter), who doesn't take it much better than Luke did.
769* UnseenNoMore:
770** The Emperor is referenced multiple times in ''Film/ANewHope'', but is not seen in the film. He appears via hologram in ''Film/TheEmpireStrikesBack'', looking very different than he would later on and mostly hidden in shadows.[[note]]The 2004 re-release replaced this Emperor with the Creator/IanMcDiarmid version we're all familiar with.[[/note]] The Emperor appears in person for the first time in this movie.
771** Darth Vader is finally unmasked at the end of the movie, after Luke turned him good.
772** Jabba the Hutt is mentioned often throughout the original trilogy as the crime lord whom Han Solo owes money, he doesn't appear until this film (excluding a deleted scene that was remade with Jabba's final design and inserted into the Special Edition of ''Film/ANewHope'').
773* UnspokenPlanGuarantee: Luke doesn't share any specifics about his plan to save Han, but despite his worries, succeeds after all. Among the good guys, the only ones who don't know the plan are Han and Threepio. Everyone else knows what to do and are ready when Luke goes on the attack at the Sarlacc pit. It's strongly implied that Luke formulated his plans around Force Clarvoyiance meditations and the Sarlacc Pit Showdown was an entirely foreseen outcome.
774* UnstoppableRage: Luke defeating Vader after he is about to threaten to take Leia away in some way.
775* UnwantedFalseFaith: The Ewoks mistake C-3PO for a deity, much to his embarrassment.
776* VehicularTurnabout: Chewbacca and a pair of Ewoks famously commandeer an AT-ST, and essentially became the pivotal combatants who turned the whole fight around for the Rebels, both on the ground and in orbit.
777* VictoriousChorus: The soundtrack has a choral piece when the fireworks are going off on Endor, celebrating the destruction of the second Death Star and the defeat of The Empire. Originally, this was an Ewok-flavored song called "Ewok Celebration", often known as "Yub Nub". [[GeorgeLucasAlteredVersion Revised versions of the film]] from the ''Special Edition'' onward have a more traditional piece called "Victory Celebration".
778* VikingFuneral: Luke pays his respects to his deceased father by cremating his dead body.
779* VileVillainLaughableLackey: Salacious Crumb is a tiny bird/monkey creature that laughs at Jabba's victims. He's no threat, himself, and gets a ButtMonkey moment when [=R2D2=] electrocutes him, but Jabba is a powerful and wealthy Hutt gangster who keeps Crumb around for no other reason than because he finds him amusing.
780* TheVillainKnowsMoment: Palaptine tells Luke, who is a prisoner, that he is fully aware of the Rebel fleet approaching, as it was he who allowed the Death Star's location to be leaked to the Rebel Alliance, and that he has an entire legion of troops waiting on Endor to deal with the team assigned to destroy the deflector shield generator.
781* VillainousDemotivator: When Threepio gets shanghaied as Jabba's translator, EV-9D9 tells him that she is thrilled, since they've been without a protocol droid ever since Jabba got angry with the last one and disintegrated him.
782* VillainRespect: Boba Fett gives Leia a respectful nod when the princess, disguised as a bounty hunter, pulls off a spectacularly ballsy gambit to drive up the price on her captive's head.
783* VillainRevealsTheSecret: Palpatine gleefully explains his trap to Luke... But there isn't anything Luke can do and the Rebels fall into it. And not only that, Palpatine's [[EvilGloating gloating]] is not just for fun; he needs to get Luke angry, upset, and hating him for the Dark Side to kick in.
784* VillainsNeverLie: Creator/GeorgeLucas said that the reason Luke sought Yoda to confirm Vader's revelation was because discussing with a psychologist he learned that most people would assume that Vader ''was'' lying, and it was all just mind games [[note]] Indeed, Creator/JamesEarlJones' first reaction after he read [[LukeIAmYourFather the iconic line]] was, "Oh, [Vader's] lying!" [[/note]]. Luke, and by extension the audience, needed a respected figure to get proof.
785* VineSwing: Chewbacca attacks an AT-ST walker during the battle of Endor by swinging at it on a vine. He even makes a sound [[ShoutOut similar to]] Franchise/{{Tarzan}}'s yell.
786* WalkThePlank: Jabba the Hutt's minions force Luke Skywalker to walk the plank extended from a hover skiff over the [[AntlionMonster Sarlacc]] pit. Luke spins and grabs the plank as he falls, springboarding back to the skiff to fight while R2-D2 launches his lightsaber to him.
787* WardrobeMalfunction: There are three nip-slips during the scenes at Jabba's palace: one involving Oola's breast briefly swinging clear of her costume while she fights with Jabba, one involving Leia's metal bikini, and a third with Lyn Me's {{sideboob}} showing slightly more skin than intended. All were unintentional bloopers; the first two were edited out starting with the Definitive Collection but can still be seen with the Still/Step feature on the Japanese Special Collection CAV Laserdisc.
788* WarIsHell: A subtle example when a Rebel fighter plows into the Super Star Destroyer's control tower and sends the ship crashing into the Death Star; while Admiral Ackbar's staff cheer, Ackbar himself just slumps sadly in his command chair[[note]]The ''Executor'', according to Wookiepedia, has a standard crew of over 280,000. If her full complement of ground troops were on board, add another 38,000 to that number. That's (roughly) between a quarter and a third of a million sentient beings that died all at once, in addition to the Rebel pilot who died in the crash.[[/note]]
789* WatchOutForThatTree:
790** After Han Solo accidentally activates Boba Fett's jetpack, the bounty hunter goes flying and slams into the side of Jabba's barge in a way reminiscent of George's typical encounters with trees in ''WesternAnimation/GeorgeOfTheJungle''.
791** Important to remember when you're on an ultra fast speeder bike flying through an incredibly thick forest. Also, don't turn around to check behind you, as one of the scout-troopers learned the hard way.
792* WaveMotionGun: The Death Star II is armed with a canon just as powerful as the first planet-destroyer, except this one only needs a few minutes to charge up and fire, though this could be from not charging to full power, as they are only shooting at ships. At full power, the superlaser would probably not just destroy any rebel ship, but punch straight through, keep on going, and possibly take out one of their own Star Destroyers behind them.
793* WeAllDieSomeday: Luke Skywalker implores that Yoda must not die, causing the old Jedi to respond: "Twilight is upon me and soon night must fall. That is the way of things. The way of the Force."
794* WeCanRuleTogether: Emperor Palpatine to Luke.
795-->'''Palpatine:''' Your hate has made you powerful. Now, fulfill your destiny, and take your father's place at my side.
796* WeNeedADistraction: The Rebels use distractions several times on Endor to open up the stormtroopers to attack, including one time where R2-D2 and C-3PO reveal themselves to the Stormtroopers while the friendly natives rally to rescue the captured Rebels.
797* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: Two scout troopers are knocked unconscious rather than killed (the one Han fights right before the speeder chase and the one who briefly takes Leia prisoner), then are never seen or mentioned again as the Rebels continue on.
798* WhereItAllBegan: It doesn't conclude the movie, but Luke returns to his home planet of Tatooine for this movie.
799-->'''Luke''': I used to live here, you know.\
800'''Han''': You're going to die here, you know. Convenient.
801* WithFriendsLikeThese: [=C-3PO=] finds himself and [=R2D2=] presented as a 'gift' to a ruthless crime boss who knocks about or disintegrates protocol droids whenever he doesn't like the message they're translating. It's all part of ThePlan of course, but only [=R2D2=] knows that.
802* WhamLine:
803** "Your father [Vader] is." This is also an interesing case, because it was a Wham Line for Luke ''and'' audiences during Episode VI's original release in 1983. It confirms Vader ''wasn't'' playing mind games in the previous film and ''had'' told the truth at Cloud City after all. However, with the subsequent release of the Prequels -- and the dramatization of Anakin's rise and fall -- this is now no longer a Wham Line for audiences (and even if it wasn't, [[ItWasHisSled the twist has since permeated every corner of pop culture]]). ''However'', in-universe, it's ''still'' a Wham Line for Luke because, of course, he doesn't know ''any'' of this.
804** ''"There...is...another...sky...walker"''. This also has the exact same situtation as the preceding example. It was a Wham Line for Luke ''and'' audiences in 1983 (in the case of the latter, revealing the full meaning of Yoda's final cryptic comment in the last film). 40+ years later, it's now ''only'' a Wham Line in-universe for Luke thanks to the release of the Prequels (and the Leia twist now being as well known as Vader's true identity).
805** "It was ''I'' who allowed the Alliance to learn the location of the shield generator. I assure you, it is quite safe from your pitiful little band."
806** And then the Emperor ups the ante yet ''again'': "Now witness the firepower of this ''fully armed'' and ''operational'' battlestation!"
807* WhatTheHellHero: Luke is angry with Obi-Wan for lying to him (or at least [[MetaphoricallyTrue seriously misleading]] him) about Vader, and deliberately pitting him against his own father.
808* WhiteMansBurden : The heroes show up to save the Ewoks from the Empire. The first encounter is between Leia and Wicket, where she has to explain to him what hats are after she takes off her helmet. ''Wicket is wearing a hood.''
809* WhyIsntItAttacking: Played with. "Only the fighters are attacking, I wonder what those Star Destroyers are waiting for." Not entirely straight in that the Star Destroyers weren't the threat, the thing that they thought was incapable of attacking was. The Star Destroyers were just there to box the Rebel fleet in, making them easier targets for the Death Star's [[WaveMotionGun superlaser]].
810* WretchedHive: As dangerous and seedy as Mos Eisley Cantina was, it's a knitting circle compared to Jabba's Palace. The worst criminals, psychopaths and misfits in the Galaxy, all in one bloody, lewd, booze-soaked cesspool.
811* XanatosGambit:
812** Pulled off by the heroes in Jabba's Palace. If Leia succeeds at getting Han out of the palace, Lando can get Chewbacca (and, presumably, C-3PO & R2-D2 out). If Leia is caught -- Luke can go in. If Luke is captured, R2-D2 has Luke's lightsaber. Even if Jabba thinks things are going his way, they're really going Luke's. The only thing that goes out of place was when Luke gets kicked to the rancor pit, which he makes short work of anyway. In fact, the movie strongly implies that even the Rancor pit was part of the plan. When Jabba sentences the heroes to death by Sarlacc, Luke is smiling and nodding. He was expecting, even counting on, Jabba's actions, which get them out of the palace and in the open, where Luke would have an advantage. Luke had quite some time for meditative Force clairvoyance on the bid to rescue Han, and planned for all the situations he could foresee.
813** Also the second Death Star itself. Either the Rebel Alliance attacks it while it's still under construction and gets destroyed in the process, or they don't and the Empire has another superweapon to terrorize the entire galaxy with (one that, according to EU materials, did ''not'' share the weaknesses of its predecessor).
814** The Throne Room duel is intentionally set up as one by Palpatine. Ideally, Palpatine wants Luke to defeat Vader, as he'll gain a new servant with the level of power Vader had before Mustafar handicapped him. If Vader defeats Luke, that's an acceptable consolation as they'll have removed the greatest threat to the Sith (and with it, Vader's last chance of overthrowing Palpatine on his own). Palpatine never anticipated Luke might TakeAThirdOption.
815* XRaySparks: Rare non-humorous example. When Vader lifts Palpatine over his head to save Luke, Palpatine inadvertently hits himself, but Vader also conducts it, revealing flashes of his skull, but not the Emperor's.
816* YesNoAnswerInterpretation: When Threepio is inducted into Jabba's droid pool:
817-->'''EV-9D9:''' Ah, good, new acquisitions! You are a protocol droid, are you not?\
818'''C-3PO:''' I am C-3PO, human/cyborg--\
819'''EV-9D9:''' Yes or no will do.\
820'''C-3PO:''' Umm... yes.
821* YouAnsweredYourOwnQuestion: As the Rebel fleet is approaching the second Death Star, Lando gets word that they can't tell if the deflector shield protecting it is up or down because of jamming, prompting him to ask, "How could they be jamming us if they don't know...[[OhCrap that we're coming]]. Break off! The shield is still up!"
822* YouAreBetterThanYouThinkYouAre: At the end of the movie, Luke turns to the Emperor and states "I am a Jedi, like my father before me." You'd better believe [[HeelFaceTurn Vader heard that.]]
823* YouBastard: Leia's slave bikini is a subtle example of this. Yes, she looks hot in it, but keep in mind Jabba designed it to be as degrading and uncomfortable as possible, and according to Creator/CarrieFisher, was every bit as uncomfortable as it looked.
824* YouCantThwartStageOne: The Rebels destroy the second Death Star while it's under construction, but it still counts because the Death Star is already operational, halfway through wiping out the Rebel fleet, and luring the Rebels there ''was'' the Emperor's plan all along.
825* YouHaveFailedMe: Vader heavily implies that Jerjerrod will be severely punished if he doesn't get the Death Star operational before Palpatine arrives.
826* YouHaveNoChanceToSurvive:
827** The Emperor tells Luke that the Rebel army will succumb in their attempt to destroy the Death Star.
828--->'''Emperor Palpatine:''' Your fleet is lost, and your friends on the Endor moon will not survive. There is no escape, my young apprentice. The alliance will die... as will your friends.
829** After Luke refuses to join the Dark Side, Palpatine repeats the trope on Luke specifically. And he would have been right if it hadn't been for Vader's HeelFaceTurn.
830--->'''Emperor Palpatine:''' So be it, Jedi. If you will not be turned, you will be ... [[AgonyBeam destroyed]]!
831* YouOweMe: Inverted when after being rescued, Han doesn't just claim [[MakesUsEven they're even]] but thanks Luke as follows: "Hey, Luke, thanks for coming after me - now I owe you one."
832* YourApprovalFillsMeWithShame: At the climax of the movie, the Emperor grabs the VillainBall as tightly as he can by congratulating and encouraging Luke each time he lets his anger take control of him, and each time Luke realizes that he is falling into the dark side and stops himself. It can only be justified if it were somehow important that Luke not just give in to anger, but also be aware of doing so.
833* YouRebelScum: An Imperial officer says this when the Rebels are captured during their raid on the shield generator. In a deleted scene, Han takes offense at that.
834* YourLittleDismissiveDiminutive: When Palpatine is trying to provoke Luke.
835-->'''Palpatine:''' It was ''I'' who allowed the Alliance to learn the location of the shield generator. I assure you, it is quite safe from your pitiful little band.
836* YowiesAndBunyipsAndDropBearsOhMy: just as Wookiees strongly resemble the North American cryptid {{Bigfoot|SasquatchAndYeti}}, the Ewoks are man-eating teddy bears that live in trees and ambush unsuspecting intruders, not unlike drop bears. But while some of them are seen pouncing on foes from above, they're also fond of BambooTechnology-based weapons and booby traps, which they ultimately use to take down TheEmpire in a distinctly RockBeatsLaser fashion.
837[[/folder]]
838----
839->''"You were right. You were right about me. Tell your sister... you were right."''

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