On Uncertain Ground
The rebels are portrayed as never being on certain ground throughout this entry in the story of the uprising against the empire. In the aftermath of hitting them hard by blowing up the Death Star, the empire is not just striking back, but striking back hard and undercutting the confidence of the rebellion. When first seen, they are on the snow and ice of Hoth. While Luke goes to the swampy footing of Dagobah, the Millennium Falcon briefly calls the similar innards of a giant slug home. The bad luck of the rebels comes to a climax literally in the clouds as they lose Han completely and Luke sacrifices his hand in discovering the uncertainty of his parentage.
Foreshadowing the Belly of the Beast
The sequel will require the rebellion to go into the belly of the beast in order to defeat the empire for good. Luke must not only face down Vader, but come to terms that the evil Darth is his father which means he has an equal capacity for giving in to the lure of the dark side. That the empire can only be defeated from within and not from a safe distance is foreshadowed throughout the film in imagery reflecting the concept of going into the belly of the beast: Han putting Luke inside a gutted animal on Hoth to keep him warm, the Falcon disappearing into the gullet of the giant slug, Luke training under Yoda in the caves of and swamps of Dagobah.
Luke and Vader in the Cave
The central imagery associated with the overall pattern of foreshadowing the belly of the beast is the dream-vision Luke of confronting Vader in the cave and having Vader’s helmet fall off to reveal Luke’s own face. This imagery works on several levels. Strictly speaking, it foreshadows the revelation that Luke and Vader are related by blood. It is also a commentary on the potential within Luke of being tempted by the dark side of the force like his father. In the longer term of the trilogy as a whole, it is imagery substantiates the reality that the empire will not defeated from a distance as when Luke blows up the Death Star, but that he will need to actually come face to face and kill the empire by slaying Vader.
Mechanical Men
By the time movie stops—it really can’t be said to end when it just suddenly stops—the empire has really and truly struck back and the rebels are in tatters. The question isn’t really whether the rebels will beat the empire—that is a given—but more one of how David will pull off beating this Goliath. Han is locked in carbonite, Obi-Wan is long done dead, Lando’s betrayal reveals that not even old friends can be trusted and Luke has lost a hand. The rebellion is at its lowest point when it is revealed that the situation with Luke is not as dire as it seems. He has been fitted with a new bionic hand that proves responsive.
The film also includes the iconic moment that divulges that beneath all that impressive robotic equipment, Darth Vader is really just a badly scarred human being. Luke’s mechanical hand strengthens the familial tie we now know he shares with Vader by making them both damaged human beings improved by technology and powerfully hints that not only will he—and by extension the rebellion in its entirety—come back, but he will come back stronger and more equal to Vader than ever before.
