Rian Johnson has a big hole to dig Luke Skywalker out of.....

What I meant was that, as far as I know, no one questions if it was out of character for Yoda or Kenobi to escape or hide after suffering that defeat... and now counter that with the reaction with Luke, having suffered his defeat and escaping or hiding...

Going by the OT alone, you only knew that the Jedi were all but extinct and the remaining ones were hiding, waiting for Luke to come along... Now, all we know is that there is only the Last Jedi, that may be hiding and waiting for Rey to come along?
Is it so out of character, if everything Luke did was caring for his friends and family, that he would see his students as family and their loss would be devastating? And that instead of raging out, he would choose another path? Maybe, see through the Force that another one would come, if he went hiding, and that alternatively if he faced Snoke, Kylo and the rest of the KoR alone, he would be defeated and all hope lost?

About his role in the future, I hope for a blend of Yoda and Kenobi... Have him be the wise Master, but still go out into the action, now that he is not alone anymore...

 

Luke defeated the emperor with Vader's help and i get it that after that, no one could extinguish all of the remaining empire, but without the head there would be chaos among them, they were defeated for good. Now we know from the so called sequel TFA there was a republic after that, but how did the Order rise? We know Luke was able to train Jedi's from TFA without interfering, the turmoil came from WITHIN his Jedi school(with possible help from Snoke). This bit of information suggest that there was a relatively peaceful state of the galaxy, how could Luke train Jedi's, if not? Until now, no one knows if Luke really was defeated by Kylo or Snoke, we just know he disappeared after some event. But even if this is the case, it is out of character because there wasn't really a big of a threat like the empire. The first order wouldn't have allowed a Jedi school, simple as that. This is established in TFA, the whole "story" centers around that point, he should not allowed to return, right?
In such a state of the galaxy I need a real good explanation why Luke disappeared, I'm sorry.

That's exactly the habit of Luke's character and emotional reaction, which you're describing here. Which makes his disappearing so strange, see above why there is no obvious reason for that.

Yes this could be the case, i think it's a bit of a weak explanation but nevertheless it is one. I like another one better which is doing the rounds, that the Skywalkers are doomed from the start and so on, Luke and Leia are an exception and he sensed another Kenobi coming and waited. This is of course at the moment just guess work from everyone around and that we are discussing it was planed by Disney, but...
Regardless which explanation will follow and there will be one, that is for sure, the movie which had to have established that is in the cinema and it didn't do it.
There were other posts here where people said, well wait for an explanation, be calm not everything needs to be explained on the spot. I know that not everything needs to be laid out in front of the audience, but this point about Luke's behavior is a must to explain. Well at least for me.
It's the same with the R2 Deus EX Machina map part awakening. It just didn't work out.

Disney marketed the old cast, because they knew it would draw a lot to the theaters. Now some people say it is a minority who thinks there is something fishy and missing and a minority needs some explanation and they should just wait. Do you really thing Disney's marketing is targeted at a minority? I do not think it is or was or ever will be.
This "minority", which was huge enough for Disney to be a main part of their marketing, waited a very long time, some 30 years or such for a Sequel to ROTJ. I lost interest to wait another two years, possibly just to be teased again perhaps, but i sure hope not for everyone who is now on fire for Star Wars. I'm still here because I like to communicate and discuss and perhaps talking about such things will turn out to be helpful for the new generation of Star Wars.

The thing is, people who call other ones haters just for being critical, don't seem to get that they are eliminating their own possibilities of thinking out of the box. they are eliminating creative thinking so to speak. No one needs to change his or her opinion about a certain point of view(or a movie) just by discussing those viewpoints.
Even TESB can be criticized. What do you believe did Lucas and Kurtz and all the other involved did after the original Star Wars New Hope was such a big big hit? Did they sit back and said well perfect, now we just have to do it again? Did all of them creatively involved share the exact same opinion? I think not. Could be risky trying something new, yes, but with a franchise like Star Wars not really that much.
I stand to my opinion that TFA would have crushed Avatar completely, 2 weeks ago worldwide, if there would have been more new, creative and original ideas in it. Just look at the Storm trooper gone AWOL idea, I have not seen one person criticizing that idea, the execution yes, but not the idea of it and the idea is new and creative.
This is Off Topic of course, so I stop here.

I kinda like that too. Some mix of both his trainers visible in his behaviour, but still being Luke at the core would be a real good development for this character type.

 

Oh I like this. I haven't considered what happened to the KoR. Luke kicking their ass would be the perfect explanation. Thanks for this logical opinion.

 

Did ANH really give us a lot of explanation? No, it was a story that stood alone. It wasn't until ESB and even RotJ that we started to fit pieces together. TFA is the same. Few explanations. We must wait and see.

 

I'm a fan of OT Luke and I am not worried one iota as to what has transpired so far in the ST.

 

The reason Luke wasn't in TFA is that he was taking too much 'screen space' and he's not gonna be the hero anymore. The new hero is Rey and Finn as her backup and not giving screen time to Luke was a meaning to give the lead.

Lucas sold his soul and baby for 4 billions and his era is over. The new generation will talk about Star Wars with Rey and Finn and Luke as an old master coming from the past.

 

yeah, right? Here's how I dream of e8 opening:

REY stands before LUKE on the ISLAND in the middle of NOWHERE. She holds ANAKIN'S lightsaber out to LUKE. LUKE looks DEPRESSED. He looks at the LIGHTSABER.

LUKE: It's done, then? It's come to pass as I have foreseen?
REY (still holding out lightsaber): Please. The galaxy needs y..

LUKE'S expression changes from DEPRESSED to CONFIDENT.

LUKE: Gimme that!

He snatches the LIGHTSABER from REY'S hand. REY is SURPRISED.

LUKE: You think I don't know that? I'm Luke f***ing Skywalker, b***h.

LUKE produces a comunicator device from the folds of his JEDI ROBES. He speaks into it.

LUKE: This is BEGGAR to BULLSEYE; OPERATION: WOMP RAT is a go.

LUKE begins down the thousand-fold stairs. REY follows.

REY: I don't understand.

LUKE (continuing down the stairs): Well then allow me to explain:

We have a FORCEBACK complete with JAZZ BASS-BEAT with HIGH-HAT like the kind you HEAR in HEIST movies when someone is EXPLAINING the PLAN.

EXT. SCENE (ENDOR CELEBRATION)

Back when the Empire was defeated, we were all on Endor having a good time. But a few days afterward, Han was surfing porn on the galactiweb and came across someone posting by the handle "BigDaddySnoke_69".

INT. SCENE (EWOK HUT)- HAN is sitting in front of a computer looking up at LUKE who stands next to him looking at the monitor. WICKET stands in the DOORWAY looking on.

He was going around posting blast like "Luke Skywalker is a climate change denier", and even editing wiki articles to change "Luke Skywalker is a galactic hero" to "Actually Luke Skywalker is a jerk"

INT. SCENE (EWOK HUT)- HAN points to a corner of the monitor; LUKE leans forward and sees the account has been 'friended' by many former-Imperials, and even past Sith like Vader and Sidious.

Clearly dummy accounts, but the meaning was all too clear. We had another Sith wannabe in town. That's when me and Han hatched our plan. Snoke would be looking for an apprentice, they always do- and there was only one place he'd find what he was looking for...

INT. SCENE (HAN and LEIA home- we see a young Ben Solo repeatedly hitting his game console in kid-rage as LEIA looks on and HAN shrugs)

That was when I broadcast on galactiPBS that I was starting my Jedi Academy, and for all would-be future Jedi should come and hang with Master Luke. The Last Remaining Jedi.

INT. SCENE (SNOKE apartment- we see a young(er) SNOKE watching LUKE'S ANNOUNCEMENT on PBS. He throws his beer at the TV. It strikes, spraying foam all over the screen. The suds flow off the screen revealing a still-image of LUKE'S SMILING FACE).

Naturally, Han sent Ben to me, and we used hardened criminals awaiting execution to play the parts of the "Jedi younglings". It wasn't long until Snoke took the bait. Ben turned, slaughtered the "younglings" and went off with Snoke. I showed up to check the progress.

EXT. SCENE (JEDI ACADEMY IN FLAMES/shot of LUKE from the TFA trailer, putting hand on R2- then a shot of an X-Wing flying away)

And that's when I went "into hiding" until it was time.

EXT. SCENE (bottom of the thousand-fold stairs)

REY: So, you knew Ben would turn?

LUKE: Sure I knew. I'm Luke Skywalker. the Last Jedi.

REY: I'm getting it now. So, just like Vader had to get close to the Emporer, in order to kill him, then...

LUKE: Ben has to get close to Snoke. And....

REY: History repeats.

LUKE: Exactly.

REY: But you let Han die! That couldn't have been a part of the plan?

LUKE: Wasn't it?

LUKE and REY round the corner and we see the Falcon waiting. The LANDING RAMP is down and CHEWIE is waiting with...

REY (shocked): HAN SOLO?!

HAN: Used to be

REY: BUT HOW?! I saw you die! I saw Kylo stab you! I saw you fall into the pit! How is this even possible?!

HAN: You got a lot to learn about cloning technology, sweetheart.

REY: So you cloned Han?

LUKE: Yep. That was a clone.

REY: But then, the clone? You let the clone die?

HAN: Clones don't have souls. Everyone knows that

LUKE: And Ben is now on his way back to the light side, and Snoke is on his way down a bottomless pit.

REY: okay. But, then, what about all the people that died because of Starkiller?

LUKE: What people? That system was immediately evacuated on my command. The only people who died was a group of nuts who refused to leave the planet, but decided to stay. They made their decision.

REY: So, then, the people that were screaming- those was the only people on the entire planet? And they were only there because they were too foolish and impudent to leave?

LUKE: Yep.

REY: Okay but what about Max Von Sydow?

HAN/LUKE: Who?

REY: The old guy? At the beginning of the movie? Kylo Ren stabbed him, too; remember? That couldn't have been part of the plan?

LUKE: Wasn't it?

VOICE: Sup. b****es?

REY turns in complete surprise. A FORCE-GHOST of MAX VON SYDOW is standing there.

REY: Okay, so he's a Force ghost. Wait. How was Han on the Falcon? He was...

HAN: Smuggled myself in the hidden compartment. It's not the first time I've had to do that one.

LUKE smiles and nods.

LUKE (to REY): So, we're up to speed?

REY: I think. So, everything was just a big plan to get rid of Snoke. Han didn't die. You're not a joke. Max is a Force-ghost. Padawans was criminals. No one on the Starkiller victim planet. I guess it all makes sense. But what about me?

LUKE: What about you?

REY: Who am I?

LUKE: Hell if I know. Some chick.

REY: Are you my father?

LUKE: WHAT?! Hell no.

REY: Oh. Okay. Now what?

LUKE: Well. (ignites blue saber). It's time to chew bubble gum and kick Sith ass.

HAN: And he's all out of bubble gum.

CHEWIE worf worf worfs

They ALL board the FALCON and head back to the CENTRAL SYSTEMS.

 

This is basically what I assume to be more or less the case. Whether he's actually waiting for a Kenobi or not, I think it's logical to assume that Luke may have exiled himself at least in part because he felt that there was too much inherent darkness in the Skywalker line. He's obviously removed the skin on his cybernetic hand to remind himself of what his father became and what he could become. Perhaps when he couldn't stop Ben from falling to the dark side, he felt that he himself might still have enough darkness in him to be a potential threat.

Who knows, for example, what his immediate response was to Ben and Snoke destroying his Jedi academy and murdering his apprentices. Perhaps that was enough to push Luke close to that same edge that Vader and the Emperor almost got him to fall from. Maybe he almost became what he swore he'd never be, and retreated because of that.

Or... what if his whole reason for seeking out the first Jedi temple was to get a different, more ancient perspective on the Force. Snoke seems to be incredibly old. Maybe Luke is looking for something that he can use to defeat Snoke. Some bit of knowledge or a weakness in the dark force users from the early days that he could exploit without falling to the dark side himself.

I think it'll end up being a fairly simple, straightforward answer. But I will agree that, while I really like TFA, Rian Johnson has to turn Luke back from the MacGuffin he was made into in TFA and flesh out the story of his exile in a satisfying way.

 

JJ treated Luke like a hot-potato that he had zero interest in touching.

​

 

Yeh totally agree, the OT really just built off the success of the ANH, though they will probably approach this differently mainly because they knew they had a trilogy, i don't think that was guaranteed initially with TFA.