No Prisoners
Near the end of The Last Jedi, Kylo Ren assumes control of the First Order and leads his army to attack the last surviving remnants of the Resistance, who are hiding on the planet Crait. Victory in this battle would decisively secure Kylo Ren’s control over the galaxy at large. “No prisoners,” he tells his troops, commanding them to enter the base and slaughter his enemies – but when Luke Skywalker appears, he loses sight of this goal despite General Hux’s admonition to focus (”Don’t get distracted”). Ultimately, Luke buys the Resistance time to escape and regroup, and Kylo Ren, on the brink of his greatest triumph, instead plants the seeds of his own defeat.
This sequence closely mirrors a similarly pivotal moment in David Lean’s classic epic Lawrence of Arabia, a key influence on Star Wars. Near the end of Lawrence of Arabia, the English military commander T.E. Lawrence leads his army, a coalition of Arab tribes, to capture the capital city of Damascus. Lawrence hopes that by taking Damascus, he will secure control over Arabia for the Arabs rather than the British. However, on the way to Damascus, Lawrence’s men come across Turkish troops who have massacred the village of Tafas. His confidant Sherif Ali admonishes him to focus (”Not this. Go around. Damascus, Lawrence! Damascus!”), but Lawrence loses sight of his goal, ordering his men to slaughter the fleeing Turks with the words, “No prisoners!” In so doing, Lawrence – like Kylo Ren – plants the seeds of his own downfall just when he is on the brink of his greatest triumph.
T.E. Lawrence and Kylo Ren are both overwhelmed by passion in the heat of a crucial moment, causing them to become distracted from their ultimate goal and make a critical error that will eventually lead to their undoing. Their inability to control themselves prefigures their inability to maintain control over the political movements they seek to lead.
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Characters: General Hux / Kylo Ren
Films: Episode VIII: The Last Jedi
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Concepts: control / focus and mindfulness / passion / victory and defeat / war and peace
Influences: Lawrence of Arabia
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