"I've felt this raw strength once before..."

Luke: "I've felt this raw strength once before".

Clearly, Luke is talking about that strong curry he once ate on Elstree/Borehamwood high street 34 years ago while filming ROTJ.

 

If so, why the term once ? "Once" means "one time". Is it possible he saw/felt the raw power in Kylo only one time ? I doubt.

to a force ghost : such an interesting thought!

what makes you think that?




For my part I think he speaks about Palpatine.
"I've felt this raw strength once before..." - Luke has encountered Palpatine just once, I mean one time, on the DS II. That encounter will finish with the Emperor force-lightning the Luke, these lightnings are the very embodiment of the "raw power" he's speaking about.
"I wasn't scared enough of it then." - Remember how Luke was cocky in front of the Empreror : "I'll will be a Jedi", "like my father", and overal, that move when he threw his saber away.

 

Palpatine so far has nothing to do with this story bro.

To understand where this story is going you have to put yourself in the writers shoes.

There was no mention of Palpatine even in TFA. The writers aren't trying to only satisfy long term Star Wars fans.

They're weaving a tale for the general modern audiences who started with TFA.

If you were the writer, then you would be pulling Palpatine from out of left field. And that's not good writing.

Best case, you would have Luke's apprehension be about the current subjects such as Kylo or Snoke. Who can still affect the story.

Which has more reconciliation with Rey's story. She doesn't even know who Palpatine was.

 

This is what they should have done as it is the correct extension of Luke's arc, but everything Mark Hamill is saying points in the opposite direction.

I'm still giving them the benefit of the doubt but man, he's come out with all those misgivings about where they'd taken Luke.

The dynamic you and a lot of others described is a very Eastern ethos: the all-powerful master who cuts ties with the world knowing that this power in the wrong hands will always be abused. The kung fu master who goes into the mountains and lives behind a waterfall etc. He doesn't run away because he can't defeat evil; he runs away because he knows that to use his power to 'defeat evil' literally makes him no different in the eyes of the universe/the force, etc.

Unfortunately the Western ethos is if-you-have-this-power-you-kick-ass-and-save-the-muthaf*ckin-day-and-you-get-the-girl-america-f*ck-yeah-baby.

On the one hand, I'm still all for giving them the benefit of the doubt, but on the other hand TFA was so laughably written that it really does make one afraid they've the whole concept and run in the opposite direction.

He should be talking about himself, and he could be, but there are a hell of a lot of signs pointing in the opposite direction.

 

Sorry, but that makes no sense.

Luke won that confrontation. Why would he be scared of it after the fact, knowing that not only did he survive that, but his father came back and the emperor/empire was defeated...?

He isn't talking about Palpatine.

--- Double Post Merged, Oct 12, 2017, Original Post Date: Oct 12, 2017 ---

Agree 100%.

I hope he is talking about himself, but he is probably just talking about Emo Vader. But that doesn't add up because he was getting his a$$ kicked all though TFA...he just didn't strike me as some kind of bada$$. (I also don't like the idea of Emo Vader being more powerful than Luke)

 

You thought Luke was being cocky then?
That's the climatic moment of the saga - of Luke's story.
That's Luke being a Jedi. That's Luke being humble and selfless. Far from cocky.
And this act shows how he, in the end, overcame the Emperor - thus the suggestion that his comment in the trailer is about Sidious doesn't make sense.
It's about Ben.

--- Double Post Merged, Oct 12, 2017, Original Post Date: Oct 12, 2017 ---

Seeing Luke's hand emerge from the rubble surprised me. It means Ren overpowered him.
Is Ren (and indeed Rey) just that naturally powerful? I think to Anakin in AotC when he faces Dooku and gets his a$$ handed to him.
It seems not even the chosen one had Rey and Ren type power. This is why I created a thread about why Rey and Ren are so powerful:
I think the Force may have been dormant for Luke - maybe he searched the galaxy for reasons why?
But Snoke awakens the Dark Side with Ren and thus makes him capable of defeating Luke?
This may also indicate why Snoke fears Luke's return (the new Jedi will rise) - because Luke could with Rey, as Snoke did with Ben, empower the light side?
If this is the case, it makes the plot a lot clearer - TFA was about finding Luke. TLJ is about getting him to train Rey despite his misgivings.

 

I only know one thing.... trying to figure out the plot is starting to take a toll on my mental health. On the other hand, I enjoy discussing it with you guys. I'm being torn apart.

 

I think Luke could handle Kylo fine. If anything, Luke would refuse to harm his family. Luke may fear Rey would kill his nephew.

 

I think Palpatine makes sense..

Luke and Yoda have a dialogue in ESB where he says he is not afraid, and Yoda said he will be....reading that with Luke fearlessly throwing away his lightsaber and getting zapped by Palpatine, I think he is talking about the Emperor.

 

That's in TESB before Luke is trained. When he faces Palpatine in RotJ he has been fully warned about what he will face. And he overcomes it.

 

I was just returning to correct the movie name in my post.....

But I'm not convinced Luke overcame everything.....for one thing, Yoda learned the ability to become a force ghost in TCW but that purpose never gets realised in the OT....it was sufficient for Obi-wan to learnt he ability directly from Qui Gon to guide Luke to Yoda and other teachers.....so there is always a possibility that something was left incomplete unbeknownst to Luke that force ghost Yoda will address (hence the problems arising in TFA and Luke being a broken old hermit).

 

I agree with this. I think this would be a more interesting route, and something that would be unexpected for a lot of people.

--- Double Post Merged, Oct 12, 2017, Original Post Date: Oct 12, 2017 ---

What if... it’s revealed that he previously didn’t fully understand the dangers of his new power, and it led to something terrible happening? Now Luke is filled with regret, and doesn’t want to make the same mistake again.

I have a more detailed theory of one way they could take this, but it’s just one option and I’ll keep it on topic.

 

If i had a few million dollars, I'd hire Chris Tucker to grab the writers, show them the throne room battle in RotJ and scream: "Do you see. How Luke 'defeats' the Emperor. By. Throwing. Away. His. Lightsaber." "Throwing. Away. His- AAARGH" "Do. You. Understand the words that are coming out of my mouf?" "For Christ's sake do you understand what Luke's story is." (disclaimer: Christ's name used not in vain there)

Of course, odds are they'll just stare blankly. At which point if someone could kindly stump up another few million to pay Jackie Chan to kindly kick some sense into them.

Also, someone's assuming that Luke being buried in the rubble means Kylo overpowered him. Not necessarily. Again, the hidden master will let himself be overpowered rather than exercise his own power.

I really, really shouldn't have to be pointing out Obi Wan.

Again, this is the Eastern ethos and it is a huge part of why Western audiences responded to Star Wars the way they did. WTF? The ultimate super wizard DIDN'T save the day? He just laid down and died? What? What is going on here?

 

You realize the writers of TFA and TLJ aren’t the same, right? I’d advise you to watch Rian Johnson’s movie Looper if you haven’t seen it... honestly I think he’s someone who will understand the sort of ethos you’re talking about.

 

Sounds like you're talking about the same principle that Unseen is. Luke goes into hiding not because he was 'defeated' but to stop a terrible thing from happening or happening again. This is a heroic and not a pathetic action.

As for the detailed theory, let it out, man.

 

One of my many thoughts (because I have hundreds of them after this trailer...) is that he's speaking about Rey and only Rey. What if Luke had witnessed her potential before? What if the burning building is not the "academy" but some place where young Rey unleashed her power (Looper anyone? ) and Luke was too late to stop it. It would explain why somebody (Luke?) placed her in the middle of nowhere, where she couldn't do any harm and wiped her memory (there are various hints at messing with someone's head in TFA). It's pretty out there, I know, but well... Just having fun speculating.

 

Yeah, exactly. The reason I mentioned Looper in my other post is because it's the previous movie written and directed by Rian Johnson, and without getting too spoiler-y for those who may not have seen it (if you haven't, watch it, it's a fantastic movie)... arguably the MAIN theme of that movie ends up being... self-sacrifice to prevent something terrible from happening.

If you don't mind I'll link to a post I made on Reddit recently with my theory laid out in detail, that way I don't make an overly long post here. Just want to preface it by saying that my idea is only one of MANY different ways Johnson could incorporate some of these same basic themes. But here goes:

 

I dig that.

 

Sidious and Vader were powerful, but they were also trained. Their power wasn't raw, it was just great. Raw power is something you usually find in someone that is untrained. Luke sees it Rey, but he also saw it before in Ben. Ben didn't scare him, Rey does.

Also recall that Luke believed Ben was the chosen one, and also recall how Snoke responded when he found out that Rey had resisted Kylo. He almost doesn't believe it.

 

He's not the Chosen One, you know, like Anakin. It has already been debunked (like "Snoke is Plagueis," but some people cannot accept that.)