Exordium & Peroration & Darth Vader

In regards to exordium and peroration, there are countless, strong examples that come to mind. However, I decided to focus on the infamous dialogue given by Darth Vader to Luke Skywalker in one of the biggest, dramatic reveals in cinematic history in Star Wars, Episode V, The Empire Strikes Back. At this moment, Luke and Darth Vader had been fighting in a battle of physical and mental wits. Right before the big climax of this scene, Darth Vader slices off Luke’s hand rendering him on the defense and opens up a moment of vulnerability.

In this moment of vulnerability, Darth Vader uses several lead-up lines that emphasize to Luke that he cannot escape and uses the high ground to try to convince Luke to join him. When Luke refuses, Vader then tries to take an emotional appeal by asking him about his, supposedly, dead father. The emotional blow angers Luke even further. Vader, then, takes this heated moment to drop the biggest boom in all of cinema and says, “No, I am your father.” With this, Luke expresses passionate disbelief but knows it is true because, while he is a member of the dark side, Darth Vader has never lied to Luke. In fact, Vader is a fairly truthful villain and it gives him a hopeful, softer side in the eyes of Star Wars fans because we never truly believed that Anakin was gone from him entirely.

So, Darth Vader may be a villain but he always says what he means and never pretends to have hidden intentions with Luke because he knew Luke was his son. With this, Darth Vader really does rattle Luke because he knows he is his father and it, eventually, leads to a reconciliation between father and son before he dies in episode six. The physical battle and the battle of overwhelming words in the build-up to the big reveal make Vader credible in his scene with Luke in the way it leaves the audience and Luke with world-altering news.