Arhael
My aim is to show how emotions can make immensely powerful Force user out of a character with seemingly inferior potential, when they come from attachments.
As the main source of analysis I gonna use Rebel Stand by Aaron Allston.
In the book Luke encounters a product of Emperial experiment. A Force user who's potential enormously enchanted by cyber implants in his brain and other experiments. I would even go as far as dare to say that his power surpasses even Palpatine and Luke and not by a small margin.
images.wikia.com/starwars/images/c/c8/Lord_Nyax.jpg
I will start from combat feats and after will try to explain what part emotions play in it:
"Nyax lunged toward Luke.
Luke raised his lightsaber, caught the downward sweep of Lord Nyax's right-hand forearm weapon. He spun clockwise, narrowing his profile as the left-hand forearm blade thrust toward him, and kept his guard up in time to intercept the right-hand elbow blade. Mara leapt forward, unleashing two fast blows that the thing's left-elbow blade caught, then folded over nearly double as she leaped back from a strike from its left knee.
The Yuuzhan Vong warriors unloaded handfuls of thudbags and razorbags, heedless of which of the targets they might hit, but the two Jedi and Lord Nyax flicked the weapons out of the air or dodged them entirely.
Two Jedi? Three. Suddenly Tahiri was in their midst, coming up on Luke's left, blocking a follow-up blow from the elbow blade on that side." - Three Jedi attacking him simultaneously couldn't do a thing to him and he still paid attention to Vong and blocked bugs flying at him, which were void in the Force.
"Denua Ku watched the pale jeedai, and for a moment admiration almost drowned out the revulsion he felt at the notion of having abomination-machines like light-sabers touching one's own flesh.
The pale thing fought with a savagery and speed unlike those of any warrior he had ever seen. And it was untrained. With his experienced warrior's eye, he could see that its movements were instinctive, a fact revealed in the creature's failure to throw effective combinations of blows, its inability to gauge which way its enemies would leap when it attacked them.
If it had been born Yuuzhan Vong, if he'd been able to train it for a year, even half a year, he could have turned this thing into the greatest warrior who was not himself a god. As it was, he'd have to kill this thing.
Even if the Jeedai, too, wanted it dead, it was still an abomination. And it was the greater threat. It had to die first. He threw his last razorbag, then lunged forward into hand-to-hand range, probing at the pale thing's back with the tail-tip of his amphistaff.
The pale thing spun, sending its knee blade toward Denua Ku's guts. He blocked the sweep with his amphistaff, but the impact was tremendous; it threw him back off his feet. He rolled backward and came upright, saw one of his warriors perform a similar probing assault... and this warrior took a forearm blade through the throat.
Nine Yuuzhan Vong warriors down. Sixteen to go. The numbers were becoming worse.
" - Luke is perhaps the strongest Jedi combatant known and he achieved his both skill and power through years and experience. Mara was another deadly combatant for obvious reasons. And Tahiri is another strong and skilled Jedi. Nyax on the other hand was "untrained" but his power was such that on lone instincts he could engage all of them simultaneously and even Vong's help doesn't make difference.
And it is still not limit of Nyax combat:
""It's a delaying tactic!" Mara shouted over the roar.
"I know!" Luke shouted back. "It's working! I'm being delayed!" He stopped a forearm-swing and was driven back a step, stopped the follow-up elbow swing and was driven back a step, jumped back to avoid the knee-strike and discovered it was only a feint; Lord Nyax's leg snapped back and caught a Yuuzhan Vong warrior in the crotch, collapsing the warrior despite its armor.
Every step took the Jedi and the warriors toward the center of the chamber. The floor vibrated beneath their feet.
"What?" Mara said.
"I didn't say anything!"
"Not you! Speak up, Face!
Luke waved Mara back. She jumped up and backward in a somersault, taking her out of Lord Nyax's range, and took out her comlink, holding it up to her ear. Tahiri took her place, swinging her lightsaber defensively, eyes wide as she analysed her attacker's motions and patterns.
Unable to hear, Mara bit off a curse. She tucked her comlink away and jumped back into the fight, deflected a pair of thudbugs, took a swipe at Lord Nyax's hand; its arm rotated and it caught the attack on its lightsaber blade.
Luke flipped over the pale thing, striking as he went; his blow was blocked.
Tahiri, in front, lunged forward... and stumbled, right into the path of a knee blade. Mara reached out, an effort to shove with the Force, knowing that she was too late, knowing that the knee-blade would emerge in a fraction of a second from the back of Tahiri's skull-but Tahiri whipped to the side, still in control, still in balance, even as Luke crashed feetfirst into Lord Nyax's neck, forcing its head down toward its own knee-blade.
The blade turned itself off. Lord Nyax's head passed through empty space. Luke, backflipping to his feet, offered up an expression of bafflement and frustration.
Mara sighed. It had been a feint, an effort to trick the thing into spearing itself with its own weapons. But its designers had been too thorough. There were fail-safes." - Fight went on and on and still combined effort of 3 Jedi and 16 Yuuzhan Vong was not enough to take him down. Clearly his combat is superior to any known character. Moreover, despite combined effort Luke was still driven back. Next question is if he was 3 meters tall, so much more powerful, stronger physically and faster and had 8 lightsabers how Luke managed to defend himself at all? One explanation is obviously help from others but wait a second didn't he start fighting alone? Answer is also obvious. It is Luke. Iconic figure. He sustains anything and takes on any one. But what about Mara? She had trouble beating Lumya and and one handed Alima Rar. How on earth is she able to block his attacks, when his strength arguably surpasses even Savage Opress and his power - everyone but Abeloth? And how about Tahiri, which is even below Mara?
The answer lies in emotions. Before fight began Nyax attempted to mind dominate them.
His mind domination, while distracted by Yuuzhan Vong: "Lord Nyax's smile grew broader. It seemed to recognize Luke's intent, even if it could not grasp his words.
Then it answered-not in words, but in images. Luke saw the power of its will, expressed through the Force, rolling over the remaining people of Coruscant like water roaring down a canyon through a burst dam. He saw them sweeping across Coruscant, killing and eating everything in their way-the Yuuzhan Vong, the disobedient, the Force-blind. He saw the workers here boarding the machine beneath their feet, crashing it through kilometers of buildings until they came to some place, a source for more power to fuel this glorious, deliriously happy destructive impulse.
In that instant, Luke joined in the plan. He longed to slaughter the outsiders, those who did not understand or join. He longed to taste their flesh,
He turned to Mara, beckoning her to join. She was facing the Yuuzhan Vong warriors, preventing them from surprising Luke with an attack, but her gaze was yanked to Luke. Her eyes widened, and he could feel her leaning toward him, leaning toward acceptance of this crucial duty." - Luke got mind dominated and was even beakoning Mara to join. The last person who was able to mind dominate him was Palpatine himself and he was able to do it only because Luke was inexperienced andby exposing his emotions. After Luke broke his "spell", he was beyond Palpatine's influence. But Nyax dominated prime Luke, he simply Forced him to obey.
"But the sight of her brought memories. Luke saw worlds of beauty. He saw his son, composed of Luke and Mara and years to come. Around the edges of Lord Nyax's command he felt the Force, its other natures, the life from which it flowed.
He turned back toward Lord Nyax and struggled to find the words to express his thought. "I... stand... in... your... way." - Now what would happen, if Mara wasn't there? His chances of breaking free would be miserably low. What would happen, if Luke like old prohibited attachments like Old Order? He would simply be unable to resist mind domination without strong positive emotions like love for Mara and his son. With no attachments he would simply not have comparably strong purpose to drive him beyond limits.
"It was the Jedi way. Jedi did not attack. But to position oneself in the path of a violent aggressor who would not yield achieved the same result.
All he could ever do as leader of the wartime Jedi was lead them into the path of the enemy. That was, Luke realized, perhaps his greatest limitation, and in struggling against it without understanding it, he may have hampered the Jedi effectiveness against the enemy.
But once recognized and accepted, it was also perhaps his greatest strength. Whether by accident or design, by his own will or by the permutations of the Force, he had always found his way into the path of the great enemies of all things living.
And here he was again. "I stand in your way," Luke repeated, and was pleased that he had regained control over his voice. "What you see, you will not achieve." " - And even more positive emotions! These are all sorts of emotions: love, duty, morals - this is what drives Jedi beyond limits and this is why Luke could fight even someone obviously so superior as Nyax.
As the main source of analysis I gonna use Rebel Stand by Aaron Allston.
In the book Luke encounters a product of Emperial experiment. A Force user who's potential enormously enchanted by cyber implants in his brain and other experiments. I would even go as far as dare to say that his power surpasses even Palpatine and Luke and not by a small margin.
images.wikia.com/starwars/images/c/c8/Lord_Nyax.jpg
I will start from combat feats and after will try to explain what part emotions play in it:
"Nyax lunged toward Luke.
Luke raised his lightsaber, caught the downward sweep of Lord Nyax's right-hand forearm weapon. He spun clockwise, narrowing his profile as the left-hand forearm blade thrust toward him, and kept his guard up in time to intercept the right-hand elbow blade. Mara leapt forward, unleashing two fast blows that the thing's left-elbow blade caught, then folded over nearly double as she leaped back from a strike from its left knee.
The Yuuzhan Vong warriors unloaded handfuls of thudbags and razorbags, heedless of which of the targets they might hit, but the two Jedi and Lord Nyax flicked the weapons out of the air or dodged them entirely.
Two Jedi? Three. Suddenly Tahiri was in their midst, coming up on Luke's left, blocking a follow-up blow from the elbow blade on that side." - Three Jedi attacking him simultaneously couldn't do a thing to him and he still paid attention to Vong and blocked bugs flying at him, which were void in the Force.
"Denua Ku watched the pale jeedai, and for a moment admiration almost drowned out the revulsion he felt at the notion of having abomination-machines like light-sabers touching one's own flesh.
The pale thing fought with a savagery and speed unlike those of any warrior he had ever seen. And it was untrained. With his experienced warrior's eye, he could see that its movements were instinctive, a fact revealed in the creature's failure to throw effective combinations of blows, its inability to gauge which way its enemies would leap when it attacked them.
If it had been born Yuuzhan Vong, if he'd been able to train it for a year, even half a year, he could have turned this thing into the greatest warrior who was not himself a god. As it was, he'd have to kill this thing.
Even if the Jeedai, too, wanted it dead, it was still an abomination. And it was the greater threat. It had to die first. He threw his last razorbag, then lunged forward into hand-to-hand range, probing at the pale thing's back with the tail-tip of his amphistaff.
The pale thing spun, sending its knee blade toward Denua Ku's guts. He blocked the sweep with his amphistaff, but the impact was tremendous; it threw him back off his feet. He rolled backward and came upright, saw one of his warriors perform a similar probing assault... and this warrior took a forearm blade through the throat.
Nine Yuuzhan Vong warriors down. Sixteen to go. The numbers were becoming worse.
" - Luke is perhaps the strongest Jedi combatant known and he achieved his both skill and power through years and experience. Mara was another deadly combatant for obvious reasons. And Tahiri is another strong and skilled Jedi. Nyax on the other hand was "untrained" but his power was such that on lone instincts he could engage all of them simultaneously and even Vong's help doesn't make difference.
And it is still not limit of Nyax combat:
""It's a delaying tactic!" Mara shouted over the roar.
"I know!" Luke shouted back. "It's working! I'm being delayed!" He stopped a forearm-swing and was driven back a step, stopped the follow-up elbow swing and was driven back a step, jumped back to avoid the knee-strike and discovered it was only a feint; Lord Nyax's leg snapped back and caught a Yuuzhan Vong warrior in the crotch, collapsing the warrior despite its armor.
Every step took the Jedi and the warriors toward the center of the chamber. The floor vibrated beneath their feet.
"What?" Mara said.
"I didn't say anything!"
"Not you! Speak up, Face!
Luke waved Mara back. She jumped up and backward in a somersault, taking her out of Lord Nyax's range, and took out her comlink, holding it up to her ear. Tahiri took her place, swinging her lightsaber defensively, eyes wide as she analysed her attacker's motions and patterns.
Unable to hear, Mara bit off a curse. She tucked her comlink away and jumped back into the fight, deflected a pair of thudbugs, took a swipe at Lord Nyax's hand; its arm rotated and it caught the attack on its lightsaber blade.
Luke flipped over the pale thing, striking as he went; his blow was blocked.
Tahiri, in front, lunged forward... and stumbled, right into the path of a knee blade. Mara reached out, an effort to shove with the Force, knowing that she was too late, knowing that the knee-blade would emerge in a fraction of a second from the back of Tahiri's skull-but Tahiri whipped to the side, still in control, still in balance, even as Luke crashed feetfirst into Lord Nyax's neck, forcing its head down toward its own knee-blade.
The blade turned itself off. Lord Nyax's head passed through empty space. Luke, backflipping to his feet, offered up an expression of bafflement and frustration.
Mara sighed. It had been a feint, an effort to trick the thing into spearing itself with its own weapons. But its designers had been too thorough. There were fail-safes." - Fight went on and on and still combined effort of 3 Jedi and 16 Yuuzhan Vong was not enough to take him down. Clearly his combat is superior to any known character. Moreover, despite combined effort Luke was still driven back. Next question is if he was 3 meters tall, so much more powerful, stronger physically and faster and had 8 lightsabers how Luke managed to defend himself at all? One explanation is obviously help from others but wait a second didn't he start fighting alone? Answer is also obvious. It is Luke. Iconic figure. He sustains anything and takes on any one. But what about Mara? She had trouble beating Lumya and and one handed Alima Rar. How on earth is she able to block his attacks, when his strength arguably surpasses even Savage Opress and his power - everyone but Abeloth? And how about Tahiri, which is even below Mara?
The answer lies in emotions. Before fight began Nyax attempted to mind dominate them.
His mind domination, while distracted by Yuuzhan Vong: "Lord Nyax's smile grew broader. It seemed to recognize Luke's intent, even if it could not grasp his words.
Then it answered-not in words, but in images. Luke saw the power of its will, expressed through the Force, rolling over the remaining people of Coruscant like water roaring down a canyon through a burst dam. He saw them sweeping across Coruscant, killing and eating everything in their way-the Yuuzhan Vong, the disobedient, the Force-blind. He saw the workers here boarding the machine beneath their feet, crashing it through kilometers of buildings until they came to some place, a source for more power to fuel this glorious, deliriously happy destructive impulse.
In that instant, Luke joined in the plan. He longed to slaughter the outsiders, those who did not understand or join. He longed to taste their flesh,
He turned to Mara, beckoning her to join. She was facing the Yuuzhan Vong warriors, preventing them from surprising Luke with an attack, but her gaze was yanked to Luke. Her eyes widened, and he could feel her leaning toward him, leaning toward acceptance of this crucial duty." - Luke got mind dominated and was even beakoning Mara to join. The last person who was able to mind dominate him was Palpatine himself and he was able to do it only because Luke was inexperienced andby exposing his emotions. After Luke broke his "spell", he was beyond Palpatine's influence. But Nyax dominated prime Luke, he simply Forced him to obey.
"But the sight of her brought memories. Luke saw worlds of beauty. He saw his son, composed of Luke and Mara and years to come. Around the edges of Lord Nyax's command he felt the Force, its other natures, the life from which it flowed.
He turned back toward Lord Nyax and struggled to find the words to express his thought. "I... stand... in... your... way." - Now what would happen, if Mara wasn't there? His chances of breaking free would be miserably low. What would happen, if Luke like old prohibited attachments like Old Order? He would simply be unable to resist mind domination without strong positive emotions like love for Mara and his son. With no attachments he would simply not have comparably strong purpose to drive him beyond limits.
"It was the Jedi way. Jedi did not attack. But to position oneself in the path of a violent aggressor who would not yield achieved the same result.
All he could ever do as leader of the wartime Jedi was lead them into the path of the enemy. That was, Luke realized, perhaps his greatest limitation, and in struggling against it without understanding it, he may have hampered the Jedi effectiveness against the enemy.
But once recognized and accepted, it was also perhaps his greatest strength. Whether by accident or design, by his own will or by the permutations of the Force, he had always found his way into the path of the great enemies of all things living.
And here he was again. "I stand in your way," Luke repeated, and was pleased that he had regained control over his voice. "What you see, you will not achieve." " - And even more positive emotions! These are all sorts of emotions: love, duty, morals - this is what drives Jedi beyond limits and this is why Luke could fight even someone obviously so superior as Nyax.