A question unanswered In The Last Jedi.

It's the old "I'm just going out for a pack of cigarettes. I'll be right back" trope.


http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/discussion.php?id=686x0svau6f732sxa2qiyj4e

 

I loved, loved, loved TLJ and also totally agree with this post. It's a good post. The post is good. Deal with it. Let it go homie!! It's a good post!!

--- Double Post Merged, Dec 29, 2017, Original Post Date: Dec 29, 2017 ---

When I drive off from my kids in my Chevy Nova, it doesn't mean I left the planet forever. They could have just flown to St. Paul from Minneapolis.

But yeah....I agree the continuity is spotty in some regards. I just go with it.

 

With respect to the claim we didn't know anything about the Empire, the Emperor, etc., therefore, we should have no problem with no backstory in the new trilogy, here is the massive flaw in that logic.

At the time A New Hope came out, we were entering a brand new universe, being introduced to brand new characters and a brand new story. The story had not already been told. It was not a continuation of an overarching story we had seen before and are very familiar with, characters we had been introduced to previously and had come to know and love, etc. It was not a reboot or a reset. As such, the backstory wasn't nearly as important in A New Hope (although the telling of that backstory was certainly contemplated and eventually told by Lucas, since A New Hope was Episode IV and the prequels were shot). So, there wasn't much need to explain how we got to the events of A New Hope. There was no huge mystery that needed to be answered. There was no need to tell how we got from point A to point B, because we weren't familiar with point A. That is not the case with this new trilogy.

In Return of the Jedi, it wrapped up all the loose ends. We had our characters triumphant, and the Empire defeated. We knew point A. We knew it well. And then fast forward to TFA - point B if you will - and we get literally no explanation from how we went from triumphant to a galaxy in chaos yet again, with a new dark side wielder who inexplicably came into existence, rose to power, and turned the son of Han and Leia so evil that he destroyed the fledgling Jedi order. So, how we got from point A to point B is never explained. It needed to be - at least somewhat for continuity and fan satisfaction. Instead, we literally get nothing. We are simply required to turn off our brains, and accept where we are without having any clue how we got there. That's lazy storytelling of the tallest order. These are very basic plotpoints that needed to be answered, yet we are two movies in and they haven't been. And therein lies the problem, and the reason for the fan backlash and petitions against the Last Jedi.

With regard to the Forceback, we might have had this discussion before, so we will agree to disagree. I suspect JJ had something in mind, otherwise no need to confuse the audience with images and scenes that served zero purpose. Those confusing images and scenes were meant to be answered in the Last Jedi in a different manner - at least I believe. If not, then shame on JJ for the misdirection. He too is responsible for the backlash.

 

The prequels tried to explain everything ... to death. Everybody in the galaxy was suddenly related. Too bad we got used to that. I like how the sequels give a damn about explainations.

 

While I agree with you on the prequels (I am still pissed about midichlorians), I think there is a happy medium in there somewhere. All things don't need to be explained, but a few things - important things (like how the hell we got here) - should be.

 

The TFA gripe is understandable and needed that deleted scene between Leia and her assistant, but I, and maybe others, made a connection between a Cold War proxy war during my first reading of the crawl on opening night. It's not a perfect analogy but what if North Korea launches something that actually works?

Ok, maybe that's a bit too on the nose for current events........... .........but it would be as if Cuba had a leftover missile and fired it in 1995. Their supporting superpower is dead but they'll fight the fight and succeed because of one good Mike Tyson Punchout Punch.

I'm not saying it's easily discernible for most of the audience but that was just my immediate reference when seeing TFA for the first time.

 

Methinks someone forgets the first time Luke met Yoda.

 

I think people just have to accpet alot of what JJ did with the force awakens was set lots off diffrent things up incase a future director wanted to carry them on. He very obviously didn't work out the hows and whys of things.

Obi-wan voice is their becuase JJ thought it would be cool to be there, thats it.

 

I don't think people truly grasp the task JJ left for RJ in terms of making sense of what happens in TFA and continuing the story from where it left off. I'm sure there is an interview post TFA where JJ basically says he's leaving it for RJ to sort out the mess! I went to TLJ thinking there wouldn't be much hope of him sorting it out and I was amazed by what he did.

 

I agree with you to some extent that TLJ answered why Luke has decided to exile himself, but I feel it didn't answered suficientely well, and in particular, why did he exile himself in Ahch-to.

We already knew where Luke was at the end of TFA. So, TLJ was only supposed to answer the why is he there part, in that particular place, and most importantly, why did he left and did not come to help his friends. In my view, this vital question of "why is Luke in Ahch-To" was not satisfactorily answered.

I think TLJ answered sufficientely well why Luke did not come to help during the events of TFA. Answer: Because he was ashamed of himself, of the Jedi in general, found them to be guilty for the unbalance in the force, and ultimately because he cut himself out of the force. In other words, he didn't know about what was happening. So far, so good.

Now, the part I think is not answered satisfactorily well in TLJ is why is Luke on that island in particular? What was his purpose in going to Ahch-To to begin with? To exile himself? Why there? He could only cut himself from the force there? And why not consider suicide/sacrifice himself? Why the trouble? Many characters conduct sacrifice in Star Wars (e.g. Obi-Wan, Holdo, Finn tried). Why did Luke felt he needed to keep living (iif he says that "The Jedi need to end") and go and stay on that island? As he said in the movie: "Did you think I came to the most unfindable place in the galaxy for no reason at all?" - Luke. So, why did you Luke? Anybody?

This is the part I'm having more trouble with. So no, I don't think TLJ offers a satisfactory enough answer for why Luke has exiled himself and is on Ahch-To. And this is the question I feel was left unaswered in The Last Jedi. Personally, I think he went there searching for answers in the first place. And he probably didn't find any. I believe that if this was the case, and if this would have been depicted as such by the movie, then I feel the backlash over how Luke's character was handled would be significantely inferior, and his motives found to be more acceptable. In this line of thought, Luke would have wanted to help by trying to find answers in the first Jedi temple. He would have found none, and then finally accepted that there was nothing else to be done, no part for him (or the Jedi) left to do, and he would just stay there. This, I think, could have been a better handling of Luke's motives and plotline, at least one found more acceptable by the ones who think Luke, and the Jedi, never give up, or not so easily.