Luke's Great Weakness

i kinda would hate to see this be the case. it's a pernicious evil to corrupt a young mind. if Snoke could just stick thoughts in Ben's head, that makes Ben a different kind of victim. it also gives him a "magical" cure potentially (remove Snoke, remove the confusion). i'd hate to see this go that simplistically.

also that's just not the impression i get from Kylo Ren, who seems well-aware that he's being manipulated, but is in so deep he can't turn around.

as to Luke: i agree that he's gone in search of knowledge. i don't think his exile is just about getting away from the world, but about centering himself for the next steps, figuring out what went wrong and how to counter it. and i agree that he's likely very strong, but not all-powerful (obviously not if he couldn't keep Ben out of Snoke's claws).

that look on his face when Rey holds the lightsaber out to him is sheer weariness and resignation. he's not ready to come back, but he knows he has to.

i think both Luke and Snoke fear one another and feel wholly unprepared for combat, but things have come to a head.

 

Yes, master_shaitan, I can see those working well as words simply spoken in hopes of consolation.

Luke was distraught at that moment, and Obi-Wan needed Luke to maintain hope.

Obi-Wan was wonderfully reassuring to Luke at the end of A New Hope: "Remember, the Force will be with you... always."

I was thinking more about the possibility of Snoke being a projector of thoughts and master of illusions, and I wonder if he was so powerful as to put it in Luke's mind that Luke had no way of beating him -- or, worse yet, no more command of the Force.

While that could go a long way to explaining why Luke "disappeared" (to paraphrase the opening crawl of The Force Awakens).

I truly hope this is not the case, as Luke, by now, would not be as impressionable as Kylo Ren.

Another remote couple of remote possibilities I was considering:

1. If Luke discovered a way to transfer his Force powers to Rey. I tend to doubt this, for a variety of reasons.
2. If somehow Luke and Snoke mortally wounded each other during a possible encounter at the Jedi Academy, leaving them with severely diminished Force powers.

There were Sith Legends about "Transfer Essence" (http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Transfer_essence). Something perhaps that could be partly recanonized with respect to Snoke.

Maybe Snoke even tried to take over Luke, but Luke fought mightily and declared, in a Jedi rendition of "you shall not pass," driving Snoke back to the shadows.

Haha, now I'm envisioning Luke in Gandalf mode addressing Snoke as Gandalf did with the Balrog: "The dark fire will not avail you, Flame of Udun! Go back to the shadow."

JediMasterRobert

 

Snoke hasn't trained Rey, yet she managed to pull some thoughts out of Kylo's head? Maybe its just a gift that runs in the family

 

i'm not sure what you mean. can you maybe explain what that has to do with Snoke controlling Ren by implanting thoughts in his head?

 

It could definitely be possible.

There seems to be plenty of room for more mysteries and revelations concerning the Netherworld of the Force, the Living Force, the Cosmic Force, and Force Spirits.

There's an interesting passage in Wookieepedia about The Cosmic Force:

(source: http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Cosmic_Force)

The "quiet"ing and "turbulence" seem to have interesting possible implications with regards to Luke and Rey. Snoke as well.

JediMasterRobert

 

I was just harking back to earlier comments that Snoke could have trained Kylo to take the thoughts out of someones head, and that by extension, perhaps he could have further power in being able to implant thoughts. I'm not sure if Snoke taught Kylo that, as Rey demonstrated that gift without being trained durring Kylos interregation. So perhaps it just came naturally to Kylo too.

I also think its easy enough to manipulate unstable, young minds, and indeed whole populations, without having to resort to those kinds of mind tricks. Just doesn't seem that nessecary to add the thought implanting trick to Snokes arsenal.

 

I use my phone usually...oh, and it's called "Blue Steel"

 

Just thought I'd put this in here. My sons sticker = grave stone conflrmed!

 

Nothing. Although the one of Supreme Leader Snoke says "Plagueis Confirmed".

 

Could that be the grave of his dead wife?

I can see it now being the opening sequence of Episode VIII. The film starts with a flashback - the night of the Jedi massacre. Within that flashback, we see the murder of Luke's wife and the Jedi padawans.

After that night, Luke became filled with rage and anger towards Kylo Ren. His feelings were pulling him to the dark side (this could be part of Snoke's plan). So he went to the ancient Jedi temple, in search of guidance from the light, to quell his dark side temptation of killing his nephew.

As the flashback ends, we see Luke standing over a grave, filled with deep feelings of guilt and sadness. Then, as he turns around, he sees Rey. He doesn't know how to react or feel. Her presence has evoked a number of emotions within Luke.