Does God care about religion?

Watched RotS a few days ago; tonight, caught Empire and Jedi. (I know I'm abbreviating them differently. Meh.)

So here's what's going through my head after said viewings:

1. Has the Emperor lost his touch in the 20 or so years since he turned Anakin? Because in RotS, he very carefully and deliberately seduces Anakin to the dark side. (I'll teach you to defeat death, I'll save your wife, you'll have more power, etc.)

In Jedi, Palpatine is all "hey, kid, here's the deal. Your friends are gonna die, your cause is gonna fail, and you're gonna be my apprentice." I mean, he's not even trying to convince Luke to turn - he's just telling Young Skywalker what IS going to happen.

Wouldn't it make more sense for him to bargain, like he did back in the day with Anakin? Something along the lines of, "if you accept the dark side, we'll spare your friends down on Endor"?

2. All right, here's a big one. Think back to TPM, and Obi-Wan's status. He was how old in that one - twenty-five, maybe? - and yet, he was still a Padawan. Granted, Qui-Gon said that Obi was more than ready to take the trials (the exact wording escapes me), but follow me here: Obi, as our example, gets taken from his birth family at no more than six months of age. He then spends the next twenty-four and a half years as an apprentice.

Luke, on the other hand, starts training at the advanced age of nineteen. He trains with old Ben for a ridiculously short amount of time - at most, I can give it a week, based on what we see in canon - and the remainder of his training (with Yoda) lasts, I'm guessing, for not even six months. (I always assumed it was a much shorter period of time, but the poking around I've done looking for fic has presented me with the idea that it could have been that long. Definitely not any longer than that.)

And yes, I understand that there are extenuating circumstances. But, come on - Luke is a fully trained Jedi (but for the confrontation with Vader) after, like, a semester's worth of study? Which leads me to my next point:

3. What, pray tell, was Luke up to in the period between Empire and Jedi? He goes from a whippersnapper who gets his clock cleaned by Vader to a zen-masterish, man-in-blackness, fully in command of himself and his awesome powers Jedi Knight. From his conversations with Ben and with Yoda in Jedi, it doesn't seem like he's been learning from them in the interim; what happened? He fasted and meditated? He reviewed what he'd already learned? He ordered Jedis for Dummies from Amazon Intergalactic? I'm at a loss, here.

4. Every time I watch these movies, I like Yoda a little bit less, particularly in the PT. He's a smug, arrogant little bastard with a superiority complex, and his wee!Jedi!raising ideas stink.

5. I so very, very desperately want to read fic set during Jedi that takes into account all the new canon from the PT. What was going through Anakin/Vader's mind as he watched the Emperor zap Luke with Sith lightning? Was he thinking about the time Palps was zapping Mace Windu and realizing that waaaaaaay back then, he should've saved Mace and not Palpatine?

How did he feel when he found out that he had a daughter, too? Did he get her identity from Luke's mind, or just the fact that she existed? If he knew Leia was his daughter, did he have even a moment of remorse for the particular pain he'd caused her?

And how about a post-Jedi story, where Anakin's ghost/spirit/whatever comes back to talk to Leia? What would they say to one another? Would she even consent to talk to him? I had this flicker of an idea where Anakin would want to talk to her, but was unable to get near her because of the anger and hatred she feels toward him. Since he is officially on the side of light again, her overwhelmingly negative-aggressive-dark emotions would prevent him from getting close to her.

I'm sure there are more plot and/or character points that bother me, but it's late, and I have to work in the nursery tomorrow this morning.

I am so fangirling this list:


20+ Reasons We Homeschool.

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I've spent the better part of the afternoon dling songs that make me cry. (Not all of them in the bad way, either.) Shall I list them for you? Mmkay.

"Taking You Home," Don Henley
"Whiskey Lullaby," Alison Krauss and Brad Paisley
"When I Said I Do," Clint Black and Lisa Hartman Black
"Russians," Sting
...all of which have been added to my iTunes playlist entitled 'heartbreak.'

*blinks* Wow. Don't I just sound like a big ole ball of fun.

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T-minus four days until M. turns six, which reminds me - this would be a good opportunity to write up his birth story. Perhaps later tonight.

Gosh, I wish I had something more interesting to say.