Quote Originally Posted by MammonAzrael View Post
In that light, it make's Palpatine seem much less foolhardy. In fact, it makes me feel like Palpatine wasn't really trying to get Luke to change sides at all. Rather, he was trying to get Luke to do the same thing Anakin did to the Sand People...just a step down a darker path, not a cannonball.

Extrapolating, had Luke given in to his anger, I could see Palpatine glorying in it, rubbing it in, and subduing Luke when he came to his senses. Then engineering his escape in such a way that he continues to take steps down the path to the Dark Side.
Pretty much yeah, I figure if things had gone according to plan, virtually everyone luke cared about would be dead, vader would have forced luke to retreat and escape in the rage induced scuffle, and then palpatine could have setup various scenarios that would have "forced" luke to give in to his rage to get past. Ambushes where some of his few remaining precious people are hurt/killed, moral traps where he needs info fast and only that imperial agent has the answers, "forcing" luke to torture him, etc etc etc.

Then eventually his fall would be complete and it would be time to make overtures. Send vader to luke with a fake plan to train with him to become strong enough that together they can kill that mean old emperor. Worst case scenario, vader and luke become the next generation master and apprentice when palpatine gets killed. Best case, palpatine reveals the plot so luke kills his own father and takes his place as palpatines apprentice.