History TearJerker / TheEmpireStrikesBack

* Han's poor tauntaun freezing to death in the first act. Necessary, yes, given that its body saves Han's and Luke's lives -- but still heartbreaking. For that matter, the date of Luke's own, killed and eaten by the creature.

* Han's poor tauntaun freezing to death in the first act. Necessary, yes, given that its body saves Han's and Luke's lives -- but still heartbreaking.

** What drives this scene home is that this is the part when you realize that the saga is more than just an epic tale, it's ultimately the tragic tale of a very dysfunctional family.

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/chewbacca_mourns.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:When even Chewbacca is upset, you know things have gotten bad..]]

*** With this knowledge in mind, some of what Vader says during this scene is completely recontexualized. "He's just a boy", goes from dismissal to a moment of pitiful begging and AdultFear.

** [[OnceMoreWithClarity Watch the scene between Vader and the Emperor again]]: Vader just learned his child, his beloved wife's child, whom he thought had died in her womb [[ILetGwenStacyDie because of him]], is still alive, and Palpatine coldly talks about ''killing him''. Is that such a wonder that Anakin pleads for converting Luke instead?

** Vader on the outside is a ruthless warrior who enforces the Empire's will without mercy, and tortures his son and his friends. But on the inside, he's just a father ''desperately'' trying to get his son back.

* Yoda initially doesn't want to teach Luke, sensing much anger in him, and remembering the HairTriggerTemper that failed Anakin.

* Consider Lando's position: Darth Vader comes to Cloud City to force him to cooperate and Lando has no choice but to agree and try to negotiate the most lenient treatment for Han and company. Instead, they are subjected to seemingly senseless ColdBloodedTorture while Vader is MovingTheGoalposts, and Lando is helpless to stop it.

* Consider Lando's position: Darth Vader comes to Cloud City to force him to cooperate and Lando has no choice but to agree and try to negotiate the most lenient treatment for Han and company. Instead, Vader has them subjected to seemingly senseless ColdBloodedTorture while Vader is MovingTheGoalposts while Lando is helpless to stop it.

--> '''Luke:''' No... ''no!'' ...that's not true! ...that's ''[[ThisCannotBe impossible!]]''
--> '''Vader:''' Search your feelings, you ''know'' it to be true.
** The way this scene is often framed in PopCulturalOsmosis is in a condensed form. When recited by someone who has not seen the film, they often believe that Vader says in a dull monotone, [[BeamMeUpScotty "Luke, I am your father,"]] to which Luke responds with a BigNO. But that isn't actually what happens. Vader says "Obi-wan never told you what happened to your father..." to which Luke replies "He told me enough - he told me ''you'' killed him." Without missing a beat, Vader says: "''No...''" There is a [[{{Beat}} weighted pause]], and then Vader darkly replies: "'''''I''''' am your father," placing stress upon the "I". Having already cut off Luke's hand, this is Vader twisting the knife, toying with Luke's emotions, so that in his [[DespairEventHorizon despair and anguish]], he can be more easily manipulated and turned to the dark side. For his part, Luke doesn't simply respond with a BigNO (although that is part of his response). His face twists in despair and anguish and he begins basically sobbing. When he does respond with a BigNO, it sounds genuinely pained. Creator/MarkHamill really sells it.[[note]] Especially as Mark has since revealed that when the scene was filmed he was actually reacting to Darth Vader revealing that ''Obi-wan Kenobi'' killed his father, [[RedHerring which was in the original script to prevent the big secret getting out]].[[/note]]

* Consider Lando's position: Darth Vader comes to Cloud City to force him to cooperate and Lando has no choice but to agree and try to negotiate the most lenient treatment for Han and company. Instead, Vader has them subjected to seemingly senseless ColdBloodedTorture while Vader is MovingTheGoldposts while Lando is helpless to stop it.

* The final scene of the film. The heroes are beaten, but still hold out hope [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SyThAuHBdL4 and then the reprise of "Han Solo and the Princess" hits]] and this time it's filled with such longing and heartbreak, just listening to it can bring tears to your eyes. Imagine how shocking and demoralizing the film's ending must have been for the original 1980 audience. The end of ''Film/ANewHope'' was incredibly triumphant and simple - the good guys won. By comparison, despite its attempts to remain optimistic, the ending of Empire was shockingly grim in a way that few fans could have possibly prepared for (even with a title like "The Empire Strikes Back"). Nowadays, having a dark middle chapter in a trilogy be [[DarkerAndEdgier significantly]] [[DarkestHour grimmer]] is commonplace, and audiences can tolerate it because 1) it's expected, 2) the wait for sequels is shorter, and 3) the internet exists to whet the appetite for discussion and details. Waiting 3 whole years for ''Film/ReturnOfTheJedi'' in an internet-less world must have been torturous. Many fans believe the shock over the film's DownerEnding is partially responsible for the initial mixed reception.

* Also who didn't feel at least a ''little'' bad for Vader after Luke and co. escape on the Falcon at the end? Compared to [[YouHaveFailedMe his usual reaction]] he just looks sad and lonely, and even plaintively looks back out the viewport once their gone. Keeping the prequels in mind, he had just lost his last connection to Padme. When he's trying to get Luke to side with him, Vader has his arm outstretched. When Luke decides to take his chances and lets himself fall to the depths of Cloud City instead. Vader's arm suddenly drops as if to show him giving in to despair at the sight of losing his son.

** The way this scene is often framed in PopCulturalOsmosis is in a condensed form. When recited by someone who has not seen the film, they often believe that Vader says in a dull monotone, [[BeamMeUpScotty "Luke, I am your father,"]] to which Luke responds with a BigNO. But that isn't actually what happens. Vader says "No...''I'' am your father," placing stress upon the "I", clearly intending to toy with Luke's emotions so he can be turned to the dark side. And Luke doesn't simply respond with a BigNO (although that is part of his response). His face twists in despair and anguish and he begins basically sobbing. When he does respond with a BigNO, it sounds genuinely pained. Creator/MarkHamill really sells it.[[note]] Especially as Mark has since revealed that when the scene was filmed he was actually reacting to Darth Vader revealing that ''Obi-wan Kenobi'' killed his father, [[RedHerring which was in the original script to prevent the big secret getting out]].[[/note]]

* Han being frozen in carbonite. Especially Chewie's reaction. He swore to protect Han but was told by him that the only way to help was to take care of Leia. And a couple of times it cuts to Leia's face during/after Han is frozen in carbonite. She's staring down at him and is obviously trying not to cry.

** The way this scene is often framed in PopCulturalOsmosis is in a condensed form. When recited by someone who has not seen Star Wars, they often believe that Vader says in a dull monotone, "Luke, I am your father," to which Luke responds with a BigNO. But that isn't actually what happens. Vader says "No...''I'' am your father," placing stress upon the "I", clearly intending to toy with Luke's emotions so he can be turned to the dark side. And Luke doesn't simply respond with a BigNO (although that is part of his response). His face twists in despair and anguish and he begins basically sobbing. When he does respond with a BigNO, it sounds genuinely pained. Creator/MarkHamill really sells it.[[note]] Especially as Mark has since revealed that when the scene was filmed he was actually reacting to Darth Vader revealing that ''Obi-wan Kenobi'' killed his father, [[RedHerring which was in the original script to prevent the big secret getting out]].[[/note]]

** What drives this scene home is that this is the part when you realize that the trilogy is more than just an epic tale, it's ultimately the tragic tale of a very dysfunctional family.

* The final scene of the film. The heroes are beaten, but still hold out hope [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SyThAuHBdL4 and then the reprise of "Han Solo and the Princess" hits]] and this time it's filled with such longing and heartbreak, just listening to it can bring tears to your eyes. Imagine how shocking and demoralizing the film's ending must have been for the original 1980 audience. The end of Star Wars was incredibly triumphant and simple - the good guys won. By comparison, despite its attempts to remain optimistic, the ending of Empire was shockingly grim in a way that few fans could have possibly prepared for (even with a title like "The Empire Strikes Back"). Nowadays, having a dark middle chapter in a trilogy be [[DarkerAndEdgier significantly]] [[DarkestHour grimmer]] is commonplace, and audiences can tolerate it because 1) it's expected, 2) the wait for sequels is shorter, and 3) the internet exists to whet the appetite for discussion and details. Waiting 3 whole years for ''Film/ReturnOfTheJedi'' in an internet-less world must have been torturous. Many fans believe the shock over the film's [[DownerEnding downer ending]] is partially responsible for the initial mixed reception.

[[caption-width-right:350:When even Chewbacca is upset, you know things have gotten bad]]

--> '''Luke:''' No...''no''...that's not true!...that's ''[[ThisCannotBe impossible!]]''

* Also who didn't feel at least a ''little'' bad for Vader after Luke and co. escape on the Falcon at the end? Compared to [[YouHaveFailedMe his usual reaction]] he just looks sad and lonely, and keeping the prequels in mind, he had just lost his last connection to Padme. When he's trying to get Luke to side with him, Vader has his arm outstretched. When Luke decides to take his chances and lets himself fall to the depths of Cloud City instead. Vader's arm suddenly drops as if to show him giving in to despair at the sight of losing his son.

** [[OnceMoreWithClarity Watch the scene between Vader and the Emperor again]]: Vader just learned his beloved wife's child is still alive, and Palpatine coldly talks about ''killing him''. Is that such a wonder that Anakin pleads for converting Luke instead?

* Also who didn't feel at least a ''little'' bad for Vader after Luke and co. escape on the Falcon at the end? Compared to [[YouHaveFailedMe his usual reaction]] he just looks sad and lonely, and keeping the prequels in mind, he had just lost his last connection to Padme. When he's trying to get Luke to side with him, Vader has is arm outstretched. When Luke decides to take his chances and lets himself fall to the depths of Cloud City instead. Vader's arm suddenly drops as if to show him giving in to despair at the sight of losing his son.