Editing 1771: It Was I

{{comic
| number    = 1771
| date      = December 12, 2016
| title     = It Was I
| image     = it_was_i.png
| titletext = It me, your father.
}}

==Explanation==
This comic starts with a scene from ''{{w|Return of the Jedi}}'', with Emperor {{w|Palpatine}}, {{w|Luke Skywalker}} (drawn as an xkcd character) and {{w|Darth Vader}}.  The original scene in the movie had a tense mood as the hero faces the villains.  The comic's version of the scene, however, descends into a silly debate of grammar rules.

Initially Palpatine begins saying "It was I who..." in accordance with traditional {{w|linguistic prescriptivism|prescriptive}} English grammar.  The verb "to be" is a {{w|Indo-European copula|copula}}, meaning that in a sentence of the form "A is B", both A ''and'' B are treated like the subject of the sentence. In most Indo-European languages, subjects use the {{w|nominative case}} (''I'', ''he'', ''she'', and ''we'') while objects use the {{w|accusative case}} (''me'', ''him'', ''her'', ''us'').  This rule is still strong in languages like German, where speakers still use cases and therefore are familiar with how they work.

The case system in English has almost died out, and only a few fossils of nominative case pronouns still remain.  English's case system is so weak that most people have reduced the rule to "''I'' goes before a verb, ''me'' comes after a verb or preposition". This gives the correct result in sentences like "It saw me". By extension, speakers therefore often say "It was me" ([https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cNgxyL5zEAk here's a famous example from Vince McMahon]) even though this is not true to the traditional rules.  Luke thinks that there's nothing wrong with this modern sense.  It's possible the intent was to portray a {{w|linguistic descriptivism|descriptivist}} approach to grammar.  His words could also be said to be prescriptivist in a different way, as he is objecting to Palpatine's grammar for not being modern enough.

Darth Vader counters by pointing out that regardless of the grammatical correctness of "It was I", it is a {{w|set phrase}} with a good archaic ring to it suitable for a dramatic revelation from an Emperor. Vader and the Emperor using English archaisms has canon basis in ''Star Wars'', with Vader asking "What is thy bidding, my master?" in ''The Empire Strikes Back''.  Historically, "thee", "thou", and "thy" were actually ''informal'' pronouns, but because they are not used in modern English, except in reciting historical works like some editions of the Bible, they are thought of as ceremonial and formal today.  Using the archaic form would be more consistent with the Emperor's speech pattern.

Palpatine finally decides to take a third option, and uses "[https://web.archive.org/web/20180222034934/https://www.papermag.com/it-me-you-and-everyone-we-know-a-look-at-the-webs-most-ambiguous-meme-1427655235.html it me]" (link no longer working), a popular meme on Twitter in 2016. Darth Vader, out of embarrassment, begs him not to talk like that again.

One of [[Randall]]'s themes is that grammar pedants apply rules to correct other people long after those rules have fallen out of actual usage. Luke is here being an anti-grammar-pedant, asking the Emperor to disapply the rule. See [[890: Etymology]] for another instance of Luke failing to notice semantics.

Characters concentrating on the linguistics of other characters speech while they deliver dramatic revelations, or the overall situation being already critical, {{tvtropes|YouMakeMeSic|is a classic joke}}. But characters interrupted for grammatical remarks typically ignore it or just blame the interrupter for not focusing on the important subject. Here, Randall goes one step further by having the other characters join the grammatical argument instead.

The title text runs with the joke in the final panel, applying the same meme to Darth Vader's iconic quote "No, I am your father." It could be said that such a phrasing robs the moment of all gravitas, but then again, Yoda managed to coin a phrase like "Do or do not; there is no try", and still be taken seriously.

==Transcript==
:[Emperor Palpatine, Luke Skywalker, and Darth Vader in throne room]
:Emperor: It was I who allowed the Alliance to know the location of the shield generator.
:Luke: You mean "It was ''me''." You're following an archaic grammar rule.

:[Zoomed in on Darth Vader, with the Emperor speaking off panel]
:Emperor: It was ''me'' who allowed the-
:Vader: No, my master, an archaic tone is appropriate here. The sentence sounds-

:[Zoomed in on Luke Skywalker, with the Emperor speaking off panel]
:Emperor: It was ''I'' who allowed-
:Luke: Come on, the accusative case is fine. Nominative pronouns are-

:[Zoomed in on the Emperor, with Darth Vader responding off panel]
:Emperor: '''''It me'''''
:Emperor: '''''I allowed it'''''
:Vader: My master,
:Vader: Please never say that again.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Star Wars]]
[[Category:Language]]
[[Category:Pedantic]]