ST Common Misconceptions about TFA and TLJ

I guess this is another misconception which TLJ has helped to bust, which is that Disney is afraid of the prequels and would never mention them.

Luke and TLJ storylines are direct consequences of the PT, meaning, that the mistakes and arrogance of the old Jedi Order are not the true way of the Force.

For many years, PT fans were waiting for a proper respectful reference to the PT, which came from Luke Skywalker lesson #2.

 

Great point Ricardo.

For years and years fans speculated about the failures of the PT Jedi Order. But it, for obvious reasons, hasn't really been mentioned in episodes. TLJ really tied back to the PT, the inherent flaws in the Jedi, and not just from the PT times either.

I admit, I was really, really hoping Luke would denounce the Jedi's sense of ownership of the Force. He did just that. I actually speculated pretty heavily, long before the trailer dropped, that Luke was going to turn against the very idea of the Jedi and that Rey would NOT become a Jedi in VIII.

I'm still hoping that remains the case. That Rey builds something entirely new out of the old.

 

That scene was so perfect. The Force does not belong to the Jedi.

 

I think your example is actually the exception that proves the rule. Apart from Luke’s Darth Sidious line, any reference to PT material has been so vague that it could be interpreted to be referring to OT material instead. So actually, this could show that the creators of the ST are intimidated and uncertain of how to incorporate the larger Star Wars mythos into their films.

Consider all the opportunities where the PT history could have been incorporated. When Rey refers to Luke Skywalker as a “myth”, for example. Why doesn’t she refer to the Jedi in general? Does she know anything about them? When Han talks about the history of the Jedi being “true, all of it”, why don’t we get the chance to see Rey talk about her own ideas of who the Jedi were and what they meant? This would have been especially enriching because it would develop her future relationship with Luke. When the First Order destroys the New Republic, why don’t they destroy Coruscant, the historic capital of the galaxy? When Hux made a comment about clone Stormtroopers, why wasn’t that expanded upon?

No, I think it’s clear that the PT is being avoided as much as possible, and was mentioned (awkwardly) in TLJ because of a lack of certainty in how to contextualize Luke’s characterization within the series.

 

When did the Jedi ever say the Force only belonged to them?

 

For generation the Jedi had strict rules around who was deemed worthy, and eligible, to train in the ways of the Force.

The films featuring the Jedi Order offer us no counter point on their views. They acknowledge the Force is in, and around, all living things, but deem themselves the authority on who is sanctioned to wield and manipulate the Force.

The films, at least prior to this ST, offer no counter argument against that. I'm sure EU material has, but I'm just talking the main episodes.

 

No, the Jedi have strict rules on who is to become a Jedi and more specifically a Jedi Knight. That doesn't imply they can be the only Force users.

 

Something the films are never clear about.

So I'm glad their is material in the ST that official expands the notion.

What's the issue here?

 

Agreed. When you bring in non-movie canon into it it doesn’t seem that they believed that they had a monopoly on the Force. They let Ashsoka voluntarily leave the Jedi Order after they failed her. They didn’t say shut yourself off from the Force on the way out.

 

At least 90% of the viewing audiences has not, and never will, read or see the EU.

The films are the top gospel. The arguments always get weak when they need to point to Clone Wars episode 5.12, or page 234 of Bloodline. Great for fandom discussions, pointless when talking about the overall Star Wars themes.

Prior to the ST the vast majority of people saw it from a pretty myopic perspective; Force users had to be Jedi or Sith, in training or fully fleshed.

 

Fair enough but they are selling it as a united canon so IMO it shouldn’t contradict itself.

Also, they don’t really give up on the Jedi = Good force users at the end of TLJ since Luke acknowledges that Rey will be a Jedi. So given that to me it seems to stop at the proverbial cliff and just trash the PT Jedi.

 

You'd think the vast majority would have been disabused of this notion when Ben Kenobi mentions in the OT that the Force is out there as a natural Force. Or when midichlorians came into being in the PT. The Jedi have to 'measure' the count, which implies there is a range of midichlorians in people and the Jedi are most taken with those who have HIGH counts.