Take a look.

And here.

'Kay, now here. (EDIT: Alright let's see if this link actually works this time . . . . )

This too.

Last one.

(And obviously look at the picture to the right! )

(I've spent hours looking for the perfect pictures, but these are as close as I could come. But I know you all probably have the right pictures floating around in your brains, so you'll know what I'm referring to. )

What's with sunsets?? George uses them all the time, and they always seem to be powerful images, especially the binary sunset in ANH. What is it about sunsets that is so powerful? Unfortunately, Wikipedia failed me this time, so I'm making this up as I go along.

First of all, the obvious answer is that they're beautiful - almost magical. One can sit transfixed by them for as long as they last. The sky burns with beautiful hues of red, orange, yellow, pink, blue, and purple. It's just amazing. We can see that despite all the terrible things that go on in the world, "there is light and beauty up there, that no shadow can touch." (Thanks, Sam Gamgee!!) This holds true in Star Wars as well.

A sunset has also been known to symbolize death or the end of something (good or bad), for after sunset comes night.

For Luke, it signaled the end of life as he knew it - he was about to leave everything he knew and go on the journey of a lifetime.

The sunset when Anakin went in search of Shmi foretold the death of his innocence - he would soon kill for revenge.

The sunset on Coruscant at the end of AOTC indicates the beginning of the end of the Republic, as well as the end of peace.

The Coruscant sunset in ROTS marked the end of Anakin's life as a Jedi, and the beginning of the end of the Jedi Order as well. As Matthew Stover wrote in the ROTS novel, "This is the twilight of the Jedi. The end starts now."

For Obi-Wan in ROTS, it was the end of his normal life as a Jedi.

For the Lars', their lives would change drastically too, with a new baby to raise. Additionally, that same sunset indicated the end of the Republic and the prequels.

For us today, sunset means the end of another day, and might cause us to reflect on either what we failed to accomplish or perhaps the good parts of the day. There is a wistfulness about sunsets. It's funny - at the end of things, we tend to contemplate and glorify what happened. For example: the "glory days" of blogging. A lot of people think they have come to an end, and they look back nostalgically. Would I be right in saying that you didn't realize you valued them so much until they were "over?"

However, I think that sunsets can also symbolize life and new beginnings, whether good or bad.

In Luke's case, it was the beginning of a new adventure that would affect the rest of his life.

Like I mentioned before, the Coruscant sunset in AOTC was the beginning of the end of the Republic, and the beginning of war. It also signaled that "the shroud of the dark side [had] fallen."

The ROTS Coruscant sunset marked the beginning of the Purge and the dark reign of the Sith. The start of some of the darkest deeds Anakin would ever commit. The suit was near at hand.

For Obi-Wan, it was the beginning of his new life watching over Luke and waiting for the overthrow of the Empire.

The Lars', as previously stated, would take on a new role as "parents."

Lastly, Anakin and Padme began their new life together as husband and wife. (Actually, it's hard to tell whether this is a sunset or a sunrise, but I'm assuming it's a sunset because there's no way on God's green earth ANYONE could get me up at sunrise to get married, thank you very much! )

For us, watching the end of ROTS was a powerful visual, as we looked ahead to the New Hope all grown up. We knew that, despite Anakin's dark deeds and tormented soul, there was still hope for him - a new life, offered by his son. He could choose to change - sunset and night could turn to sunrise. "....Bring balance to the Force, not leave it in darkness...." We may have been left in darkness, but we knew that the sunrise would come, day would break, and Luke would save the day. *all LILWL collectively sigh*

TFWBWY, A
Jade