Luke Skywalker Is a Broken Man in STAR WARS: THE LAST JEDI

EW unleashed so much information today in a few articles. In this, we’ll focus on the information we received about Luke Skywalker and who he is when we meet him in Star Wars: The Last Jedi. Fans have been warned on multiple occasions that Luke is not the same man we last saw redeeming his Father. So who is he?

Right out of the gate, we know that actor Mark Hamill initially had a problem with Luke’s current mindset. In the trailer we learn that he knows the Jedi need to end. The farmboy who was thrust into the world so much bigger than Tattooine and power converters, he became a hero and believer in good. Now he wants nothing to do with it? Hamill was trying to grapple with it.

When I first read it, my jaw dropped. What would make someone that alienated from his original convictions? That’s not something that you can just make up in an afternoon, and I really struggled with this thing.

Director and writer Rian Johnson has been fairly mum on what’s going on with Luke. But he gives a little insight into how he approached the character. He had one very essential question to answer.

The very first step in the writing of this was figuring out why he’s on that island. We know that he is not a coward. He’s not just hiding because he’s scared. But we also know that he must know his friends are in danger. He must know the galaxy needs him. And he’s sitting on this island in the middle of nowhere. There had to be an answer. It had to be something where Luke Skywalker believes he’s doing the right thing – and the process of figuring out what that is and unpacking it is the journey for Rey.

So why is he there on Ahch-To with the first Jedi temple? Well, part of that seems to be Kylo Ren, of course. Hamill mentions that Luke put a lot of time and effort into Kylo. And for Kylo to essentially end everything and switch to the dark side of the Force, it puts guilt on Luke.

[Luke] made a huge mistake in thinking that his nephew was the chosen one, so he invested everything he had in Kylo, much like Obi-Wan did with my character. And he is betrayed, with tragic consequences. Luke feels responsible for that. That’s the primary obstacle he has to rejoining the world and his place in the Jedi hierarchy, you know? It’s that guilt, that feeling that it’s his fault, that he didn’t detect the darkness in him until it was too late.

While this seems to contradict the novel version of what we know of Ben Solo/Kylo Ren’s past, this is interesting. We also know that Luke was supposed to be the chosen one, after his father was also said to be it. So what’s going on? Well to back-track slightly, we learned in the Aftermath trilogy that Leia felt darkness in Ben, so she sent him to be with Luke to train. So he must’ve known that fact. Regardless, guilt seems to be a large factor, but not the only factor.

Hamill delved into Luke’s backstory himself. He mentions that it isn’t important to the story so it won’t be explored, but he needed to understand why the character would feel and be this way. One of the more telling bits is Hamill comparing Luke and Obi-wan.

I think he probably looks out on the horizon and wishes that he could be more effective, could be what Obi-Wan wanted him to be. But life is imperfect and without conflict there is no drama. Believe me, you’re going to see a lot of conflict in The Last Jedi. That is for sure.

The rest of the article hints that Luke also wants to be effective again, as he once was in the past. And what we’ve read with his relationship with Rey, there’s a possibility we’ll get him off the island and back into the fight. Maybe back into being the hopeful warrior we once knew.

What do you think of Luke in Episode 8? Let us know and be sure to come back to Geek Girl Authority for more The Last Jedi news. The Last Jedi is in theaters December 15th.