Why Rian wrote Luke's character the way he did...

I don’t think it suggests that. Luke didn’t give it that much thought. He saw this pain and he reacted instinctively - emotionally. For a moment. Then his rationality comes back and he lowers his sword.

 

I think we're also forgetting the context of what Vader's sins amounted to. Luke came on too late to stop any of that, and was inherently impressed upon by Kenobi's memory of the good Anakin Skywalker.

But what happens when you learn about all the ways the Jedi failed to stop Sidious and Vader? Do you risk thinking yourself better than them, Yoda and Kenobi? Or do you risk your nephew doing the same? Following the dark side influence and bringing war and fascism to the galaxy? Is that the 'kill baby Adolf' conundrum??

Do you kill the next Vader, or bet on yourself, believing that you know better than the Jedi you studied under?

Not an easy question.

 

I understand momentary weakness or temptation. What I don't understand is why did Luke give up afterward and made no more attempt to reach out to Kylo? Why was Luke so convinced that it's too late to redeem Kylo, when both TFA and TLJ had moments where Kylo seemed to be "pulled" by the light side?

I hope Kylo will not be redeemed in Episode 9. At least that will show in hindsight that Luke was correct in giving up on his nephew.

 

This version of Luke is very plausible for me. In ep IV AND V he often bounced between being whiny and emotional in one moment and the courageous hero in another. The difference is he always had a Jedi mentor to help him in the former situations. If he shut himself off from the force and the force ghosts it isn’t a stretch to see him end up like he did in the TLJ. I think this is why I liked his character in TLJ so much. He was riddled with tremendous flaws and through others influence he became the hero again when needed by the end of the movie.

Plus Luke was always a bit different as he used dark side powers such as force choking etc....he’s always been a bit conflicted at times.

 

Fully agreed. Plus there's a history of him being hasty/making impulse decisions/not thinking things 100% through.

 

Another fantastic article https://www.avclub.com/this-is-not-going-to-go-the-way-you-think-the-last-jed-1821472840


"In tackling this notion head-on—in being willing to not only challenge Star Wars’ happy ending, but to question whether happy endings actually exist—these new films are giving the saga something that it’s always somewhat lacked, even in all its constant grappling with themes of the spirit versus the machine: humanity. That’s not always an easy fit with the kinds of myths that Star Wars updates; rarely do we talk about the fact that Hercules, for example, triumphed over his Twelve Labors, only to end up a twice-married widower who got killed by a shirt. And the very idea of it pisses off people who cling to the illusion that their own hero’s journey will someday be “complete.”

And yet, that’s the story of life. We get to what seems like a comfortable end—married with children, say, accomplished in our careers, content to just let things remain status quo forever. Then life intrudes, because we’re only one small chapter within its story. Those things change and slip away. We may “fundamentally disagree” with what life decides for us. Life writes its epilogue anyway."

 

Yeah, it's unfortunate that there was never a trilogy of Star Wars films that tackled this befo-oh, wait.

--- Double Post Merged, Dec 22, 2017, Original Post Date: Dec 22, 2017 ---

Wow, it's so great seeing that Luke effectively learned nothing. What a great character moment from him that totally doesn't seem like an artificial regression at all.

 

There is a lot of debate as to how Luke was presented, and should have been presented in TLJ. As many of you know, even Mark Hamill himself disagreed with the choice of Rian Johnson to turn the once great Jedi into a broken hero. But my question is, why is this change so hard to imagine? In Hamill's words, "Jedi's don't give up". But when you take a look at the original trilogy, you see Luke fail multiple times, even becoming whiny at times (not as whiny as you know who, but still). Through these failures, Luke becomes stronger in his connection with the force. But there is one big difference between that luke and the new one. He had a teacher. Someone to back him up and help him through his mistakes. The reason I think this take on Luke by Johnson is genius is because it makes way for another great callback to the OT, while still providing originallity. That callback comes when our little green friend makes his cameo ( puppet Yoda!!!). Again we see Luke confronted with his own failure burn last remnents of the old Jedi. That is when Yoda teaches him to let go of the past (theme), and to learn from his mistakes. Luke does just that in order to reconnect with the force, and save the resistance. You can discuss this post if you'd like, but I just put it up here to defend The Last Jedi yet again.

https://www.express.co.uk/entertain...-Luke-Skywalker-Mark-Hamill-rift-Rian-Johnson

 

Well, from the previous trilogies, SW Rebels, George Lucas' and Dave Filoni's various interviews over the years, the message was that one becomes a Jedi by trusting in the Force and be guided by it, rather than reacting emotionally. In this way a Jedi is not like an ordinary person psychologically. George has said that Luke became a Jedi at the end of his journey in ROTJ.

I do appreciate Luke's character arc in TLJ. I would consider it a great arc if I haven't watch the previous SW movies and I know nothing about Luke's backstory. But I have watched the previous movies, and I am not convinced the starting point of his journey in TLJ was where it should be. Apparently Mark was not convinced either, but he did a great job playing the character as written by RJ.

 

I have a thread titled "A Tale of Two Lukes" that cover just this. If you or anyone else would like to check it out, feel free to. Its really boring writing my opinion on this over and over so I'm just leaving the thread.

 

Yeah Luke was human with magic sure but not impervious. Also his strength was his love for his friends and his father. Imagine the failure he would feel in the wake of the consequences of his temptation. Also because Luke at his core is hope his despair is that much more tragic. This also brings us to Kylo being the real Antagonist. His fall destroyed the happy endings of ROTJ. So in the dark last hours of the Resistance Luke finds his hope. He gives hope to the Resistance. The hope of rebirth.

 

I'm going to merge your thread into this one since it is similar. Good job with yours.

 

No problemo senior. I haven't read yours completely but it looks excellent.

 

Growing up there was always that 1 kid who thought Luke Skywalker was "stupid".
I think RJ was that kid.


But in all seriousness maybe RJ was focusing on the fact Luke was somewhat a pacifist...

In Luke's infamous lightsaber fights he never killed his opponent. He was quite focused on persuasion. ​

Or perhaps RJ was more importantly trying to retell the story of redemption embodied in Luke's character...

Luke abandoned Leia and gave up on his nephew. He was seeking redemption in his death. ​

 

It isn't my thread. Give the kudos to the one that started it. It's just that when similar threads are made, us Mods and/or the Staff will merge the threads to keep from having multiple threads of the same topic.

 

Oh. I assumed you created it since you merged it but whatever.