Why Luke Left

From what we've seen in the whole saga and universe, the Jedi way is patience. If you can't win a battle, wait and prepare for the next one. The meaning of this is sometimes variable. Obi Wan's next fight was to take care of and train Luke. Yoda's path was exile. So is Luke's. All of them could stay and fight, but they probably knew that it was not the right time...

 

Here's a few questions for you:

Is Ben Solo really a monster?

What atrocities has Ben actually committed in Luke's absence?

Why would Ben have been any less redeemable than Anakin?

How would Luke ever be able to face his sister if he killed her son?

Who says it can't be both?
Strengths as a weakness is clearly being explored in this trilogy.
Consider Kylo Ren for example; his strength comes from his family, but Snoke also sees his family as his weakness.
The Starkiller weapon follows the same principle: the source of its power (a star) is also the cause of it's own destruction.

As long as Luke ends up being right about Ben... because if he's wrong, then they are basically saying that compassion is a weakness, which isn't the kind of message I want from Star Wars.

Glad to see you've accepted the truth.

 

Ben Solomis really A Rathtar ...

 

I guess the waiting of Yoda and Obi-wan has suffered a great loss in prestige since the prequels. In the OT, they both were portrayed as people who were waiting for something. In that case, waiting is motivated and constructive. Ben Kenobi waited until Luke was curious enough to seek him out. Yoda waited for the galaxy's last hope to show up so he could teach him enough to confront Vader. That was constructive.

After the prequels, both have gone into exile out of a sense of failure and stay passive throughout Luke's and Leia's entire childhood, with Ben willfully withholding vital information from Luke that probably would have helped him keep his hand and his lightsaber. So when we return to the OT, Yoda is dying at the age of 900 - and yes, if you have that long, then the suffering of the galaxy for a couple of decades would indeed seem like a trifle. And Ben keeping Luke in the dark about Anakin growing up without a real father, looking for a reliable father figure and turning to the dark side because of that and getting disfigured - kind of an important thing to hide from the boy who risks being tempted by his father Darth Vader! And what does Ben achieve? He gets himself killed on purpose and Luke still gets his hand chopped off and his almost killed by the Emperor and then Vader (you know, the honest guy) cleans up the mess himself. And Yoda is waiting and waiting for no one in particular, because Luke's arrival is just an accident since his father is already the Chosen One (and he is still alive by ROTJ) and then Yoda dies without ever leaving his exile again. JEEZES.

So no, I'm 100% certain Lucasfilm will go down that route again if they want Luke to stay heroic - and they do!!!! You cannot sell reclusive monk-like waiting to the audience unless you tell the audience precisely what the monk is waiting for that is more important than the collateral damage caused by his non-interference.

I say Luke is waiting for either Rey or Ben Solo (or both) to show up on Ahch-to because he has lost them both at the same time. If it is Ben, that means he has defected from the First Order after his meeting with San Tekka on Jakku. If it is Rey, she has found her way to Leia after the Resistance made contact with San Tekka. I'm certain Luke only left the scene because either scenario was still a real possibility at the time.

 

amen to this. i honestly don't understand the call for vengeance / blood. that's not what i learned from Star Wars and it's not the message i want to see in the ST either.

the change of Revenge of the Jedi to Return of the Jedi was so deliberate. it doesn't make sense for Luke to take violent irreversible action against his nephew anymore than he did with his father.

and as you said: other than being complicit in the FO, we have no idea what Ben has actually done in the past. i don't see how he could be in any worse place than Vader as far as Luke is concerned.

and aside from Han and Leia, nobody would know Ben Solo's mental state better than Luke.