Why did Luke have to die? Honest question

Becoming one with the living force is definitely not the same as we typically think of as death, but I think nonetheless the transference of a consciousness from a body to a more ethereal form involves a process that would effectively be considered some form of death.

 

I get all that but Luke isn't alive anymore. He is kaput. Dead. He is no more.


He is still dead. They aren't the same thing.
He won't fire up his lightsaber again.

 

I get that. But in the language of the films, the idea of "holding a lightsaber" belongs to the realm of crude matter. In a functional sense, the film will treat him as dead, with occasional ghostly appearances. But in terms of the film's philosophy, he is more present and alive than he was before.

 

I do not know
I feel that he should have died after he had completed Rey training

And his death in TLJ seemed to me somewhat forced
I know Luke can come back as a Ghost but it would not be the same

 

This I really want to know. People wanted Luke to be this Super Jedi. So with that in mind what would be an acceptable way for him to die in battle? I really am happy that Luke died not in a battle, but by doing something that basically meant he had to sacrifice his physical form and become one with the force. It plays much more into the mysticism of Star Wars and the Force which I love.

 

If you don't know maybe the death wasn't stupid?
Should Yoda have lived to complete Luke's?
Obi-Wan?

Nothing about his death was forced. This wasn't a character wanting out of the show so they just kill him off.

 

Agreed- while I think deep down we all wanted to see a badass Luke cutting down First Order armies, I think what we got makes a lot more sense for his character. In all that was lost on and above Crait (including Luke himself), his final rebellious sacrifice gave hope to the galaxy one more time.

I don't see how that's not incredibly cool.

 

I think that is a bit unfair to those who were upset with the Luke we were given in TLJ. I've heard a variety of complaints, from those who wanted to see him simply do full on Jedi stuff and be a "Jedi master" in this one to those who did want him to "open a can of whop a&* on the first order" and everything in between. I myself wasn't expecting any of that, to be honest. I was simply upset with the way they had him react to his "failure."

Part of the problem, I think, is that people waited what, 30 years to see Luke on the big screen again (okay, more than 30 years)? If anyone was expecting the Luke of VII and VIII to be satisfying they were kidding themselves. Of course people were going to be upset by it. If LFL and the powers that be didn't expect people to be ticked off then they are insane.

I can only speak for myself, and I had no problem with the way they killed him off. I do think, if I had my choice, I'd have killed him off in a similar way but held it for IX.

 

Understood, but we have to realize 30 years had passed. You have to be delicate with the whoop ass stuff so it doesnt come across as comical. So you go with wisdom and knowledge over physical prowess and action. You fall back to what Yoda in ESB said about warriors when Luke didnt know that Yoda was well Yoda. You fall back to Joseph Campbell and the different elements of the heroes journey. The 2nd part of my original post in this thread dealt with why he moves on (wont say die) in EP8 was because the physical Luke Skywalker sucks the air out of the room. EP9 has to be about the new heroes vs the new villains. Luke as part of the team just sucks the air out of the room. Having him move on in EP8 makes his use a Force Ghost in EP9 much more interesting. I really hope they have him haunting Kylo Ren in EP9 in addition to acting as a sounding board for Rey. If they had waited until EP9 to kill him that would be much harder to do.

 

Totally get that, especially the part about Luke sucking the air out of the room. There was ALWAYS gonna be difficulty bringing back the old gang. Unless LFL had an AMAZING story written that involved the original gang, I'd say they NEVER EVER should have done a ST. I totally understand why they did it ($$$$) but they were setting themselves up for a disaster.

Personally, even as a kid way back in '77, Luke was never my favorite character (neither was Solo). I LOVED Obi-Wan (and I still do), and of course Vader (Ok Was a weird 7 year old LOL). But I get that people had expectations, amongst which was the chance to finally see Luke be bad ass. It was never gonna happen, unless they recast the role and set the story closer to ROTJ. SO i think they were always in a situation of "damned if you do, damned if you don't." In that case, I'd have kept Luke around, but that's just me. Have him do something cool (I think projecting yourself across the galaxy is pretty darn cool), but oh well.

I will say this: Yes, I'm totally disappointed with the ST. I don't like TLJ and I wish TFA was better. Having said that, I'm still a fan. No one raped my childhood. No one destroyed my hero. But I really do hope IX is worth it. I pray JJ somehow is able to make this all feel worth it. I hope the Game of Thrones guys give us an incredible trilogy and I hope the Mandalorian is an awesome show. I am a star wars fan and I don't like the fact that I don't like a Star Wars film (or two).

 

I doubt Luke had to die, but it was one thing to do with his story, and one way to handle his arch after it kind of ended with ROTJ. Would I personally want to have him around (alive) for more movies? Yup. But the way his death was handeled worked really well for me, so I'm OK with it.

The good thing about it is that it reinforces the point that Rey won't find her place in the universe by looking to someone else. She won't figure it out via her parents OR a mentor figure like Luke. I think this specific plot point is the best thing they could do about Rey as a character. And that is one way to use Luke, kind of a bold one at that.

 

Sorry about that. I have thoroughly enjoyed the new films. TLJ to me is simply the best Star Wars movie of all time. The more I watch it the more I love it.

 

I wish I could say the same man. I saw it twice in the theater, and once on iTunes. If there was a way for me to delete it from my collection I would. And I'm not trying to be a jerk when I say that. Actually the same holds true for TFA. But hopefully IX will be the film I hope it can be.

 

I have no problem with them moving on with the new cast, but Disney seem to keep going to well with the OT characters (Old Leia footage in Episode 9, and bringing back an 80 year old Lando). They seem to want it both ways, as they want to kill the past, but not too much that it effects the Box office.

I have said from day one when they announced the ST back in 2012 that Han, Luke and Leia should have had cameos in Episode 7 to pass the torch to the new characters and then we can move on to new stories in Episode 8 and 9. Ironically, the OT characters have cast a shadow over the new Trilogy and I believe have held back the storytelling. I was intrigued with Rey/Kylo Ren Force Talking in TLJ, but the whole Luke arc just sort of put a bad taste in my mouth.

 

The sequel trilogy has been about Legacy also His death was very true Jedi like it he went out on his terms and stayed true to character his death was meant to be the spark to burn the first order to quote Poe also Rey is his successor his death was ment to give the resistance a fighting chance and possibly save Kylo Ren in IX i prefer his death to Han Solo being Honest Luke was a badass

 

This is a good point. In order to establish the new characters they had to push Luke out of TFA because he would overshadow the new people. This is the same reason he probably had to die in TLJ, because Rey can never stand on her own as a Jedi with Luke being around and his death would eat up valuable time in the last film. Now Luke can be in the next film, but in a small support role.

 

I have no problem if you love TLJ, but I question ‘the best SW movie’ simply because it steals from other SW movies, so it’s not very original.

I guess my point is that I loved TFA, but I would NEVER say it’s better than ANH simply because it takes so much from it and isn’t original either.

TLJ does the same with ESB and ROTJ as it steals so many scenes/plot point but just twists the outcome to make it feel different. For example, when I saw Rey/Kylo Ren meet Snoke in his Throne Room, I sort of rolled my eyes the same way I rolled my eyes at Starkiller Base, “Can’t they think of anything new in this new Trilogy???”

 

And George Lucas stole from Kurosawa, Buck Rogers and Flash Gordon.

 

You know that’s different than repeating themes in the SAME franchise with multiple sequels. By your logic, they could make 20 more SW movies all stealing from the OT and you would enjoy it? Eventually fans will get bored.

 

You do realize George has done this since the beginning right?
ROTJ borrows heavily from ANH, so does TPM.

TLJ is more different than MOST Star Wars movies, especially within the saga films.
The ultimate irony being how TLJ was often framed as "too different" and "not my Star Wars" yet we are having this conversation again.

TLJ doesn't steal, it borrows.
It then inverts what it borrows.