STAR WARS: A CHARACTER STUDY OF LUKE SKYWALKER (PART 2)

The first part of Luke’s character study details the old Jedi master as the overrated threat to the First Order, a necessary distraction while the Force prepares a new hero to rise in his stead. However, that shouldn’t suggest that Luke is inconsequential the Resistance’s success. He is essential to the Resistance. This time around, he plays the role of a teacher instead of his usual role as a warrior. There’s only one problem. Luke makes a better warrior than he does a teacher. This study details the positive effects that his limited teaching has on Rey and the future of the galaxy.

After Luke gets over his rejection of Rey, he comes around enough to give her a crash course in the ways of the Jedi. However, his cynicism taints the lessons, and Rey doesn’t buy a word of it. She should have listened, because those three short lessons contain more belief and more heart than any lesson he gives in the temple. His teachers promise him success if he would just follow in their footsteps. Teach what he is taught, instead of what he comes to believe in his heart. He is defiant as a student. Only through that defiance is he successful in redeeming his father and defeating the Emperor.

His failure as a teacher occurs when he stops listening to his heart and follows the murderous instincts fed to him by Kenobi and Yoda. He confronts Ben the way he is encouraged to confront Vader. The results speak for themselves. By redeeming Vader, he wins. By confronting Ben, he fails. Through that failure, he learns once and for all that the Jedi were WRONG. That is the lesson he conveys to his bright-eyed young student. There is one way to achieve balance. As long as the Jedi exist, so do the Sith.

The tragic mistake that leads to his ultimate failure. He pulls his lightsaber on Ben Solo. It is wrong. He knows it. Rey knows it. That is the greatest lesson he teaches Rey, and all it takes is a simple confession. He purges his heart and soul to the pair of ears that need to hear it most. Because that girl will face the same test later in her journey.

Rey expresses her desire to turn Ben the way that Luke turns Vader. She believes in Ben. She cares for Ben. After their tug-of-war in the throne room knocks Kylo into unconsciousness, she finds herself in the same position as Luke. Her decision to spare him signifies her ability to learn from Luke’s mistake. She spares him, because that example could serve as the seed that will grow into redemption.

This gives her credibility with Kylo like no one else in the galaxy has. She may still have hope to redeem Kylo in The Rise of Skywalker. Luke is the teacher that sets this lesson into motion.

Luke’s legacy lives in the heart of people all over the galaxy. Even several years after his disappearance, people hear the stories of his heroism as far as nowhere places like Nema Outpost. His victory against the Empire gives hope to the downtrodden like Rey.

Just as the galaxy is about to lose hope, he reappears to set another example. He faces the First Order alone. He spars with Kylo Ren, humiliating the enraged villain and giving the surviving Resistance fighters enough time to escape. Best of all, he does all of this from across the galaxy. He is not physically present, but he doesn’t need to be. He isn’t there for a fight. Instead, he appears to set an example. He gives the galaxy something to believe in.

This example gives the people of the galaxy enough courage to join the Resistance and defeat the First Order once and for all. Luke’s final act is by far the bravest act he ever makes, because he knows it will be his last. There is no act more inspiring than self-sacrifice.

According to the footage released for the Rise of Skywalker, Rey still has a lot to learn. She wears her rage on her sleeve. A proper Jedi can control his/her emotions. It makes her vulnerable to the Dark Side. With Kylo Ren as the only force sensitive authority figure left in the galaxy, she needs a positive influence. The possibility of Luke’s return as a force ghost is more than another theory. It is necessary for the story. Luke will continue to guide Rey in her journey to become a Jedi. Otherwise, she will be lost. Only two force users remain. Ben will rise, or Rey will fall. Rey cannot fall.

Luke Skywalker is no teacher of the year. He teaches what he can with what he has. Thus, he becomes the teacher Rey needs instead of the teacher Rey wants. His lessons are stronger than any lessons taught in a Star Wars movie, because his lessons are real and informed. For the first time, we see a Jedi Master evolve. He teaches what he learns from the force, not from his failed predecessors. Because of his lessons, Rey has hope to break that cycle. She will not fail. She cannot fail.