Full Series Does Kanan Have to Die For Luke's Destiny?

Some say that kanan has to die sometime because after Yoda and Obiwan die, Luke is supposed to be the last jedi
which means that either in Rebels or sometime before ROTJ kanan needs to die. Personally I think this is only the case if Luke being the last "jedi" refers to him being the only person left who has has jedi training and has not fallen to the darkside or died. I do think the significance of Luke being the last jedi ( the fact that he becomes the last active jedi fighting the sith/empire and is the best chance at defeating the sith and creating a new jedi order) does not rest on whether or not any survivors are still alive from the jedi purge. Perhaps kanan for some reason could later go into hiding and give up fighting the empire or sith, perhaps even give up being a jedi without him dying. What do you think? And sorry about the lack of spaces, doing this on a phone.

 

I honestly have no idea.

Before Disney came in and ****ed everything up re: the EU, I would have said he didn't necessarily have to die. I mean there were a number of Jedi known to survive through to the post-ROTJ era.

But now, after the Disneycaust, I haven't got a clue.

 

If Kanan and Ezra are the founding members of the Rebel Alliance and this takes place a few years before ANH, then yeah the narrative of Luke is thrown into disarray. It also takes away the whole dire state and seriousness of Luke's story being the last of the Jedi. If Kanan and Ezra are still around by and after ANH, then surely Luke could've just hooked up with them as any number of Rebel contacts could've gave them their contact information or by this time they'd be like Jedi generals from Clone wars leading their own task force like Kota was doing. Or Kanan or Ezra would've contacted Luke who never made it a secret he was Jedi in training after Yavin.

Another problem is Leia doesnt believe in the Force and most of the Imperials and Rebels do not either by ANH. Good luck and may the force be with you, seem synonymous and more just customary sayings, they dont seem to be beleive in the Force - even Han had that whole anti-force/anti religion dialogue and questioned it. So apparently by this time the Galaxy has nearly forgotten about Jedi in a mere 15 years more or less and everyone is more or less atheist and believe in only technology. Plus some of Kenobi's statements on Vader hunting down and killing all the Jedi and the dark times that followed just take away the whole tone of things. The Force Unleashed also presented the same problem.

 

Kanan was a youngling when he stopped receiving Jedi training, whereas Luke is the only one of his generation to achieve the rank of Jedi Knight even if Kanan is still alive.

 

This is easier to reconcile, one way or another. Leia will likely have been kept distant from talk about Jedi and the Force for her own safety. The galaxy as a whole has basically been under a harsh propaganda campaign for two decades, on top of the fact that as an order of a few thousand in a galaxy of millions of known planets/species the Jedi were rarely seen, let alone their force powers. It does all still work, as long as you keep the vastness of the galaxy in perspective.

As for Kanon and Ezra, I suppose its hard to say. I don't see Kanon surviving the series, but then, I didn't see Ahsoka making it either. Ezra? I think they might have him survive, but in a low key manner.

 

Kanan has to die IMO, preferably at the hand of Vader. Ezra, having never received formal Jedi training, may survive.

 

What's that in? While she says "You have a power I don't understand - could never have" to Luke in ROTJ - that's a far cry from not believing in that power.

 

How do you figure, its clear cut.

Leia at that point in time, clearly does not believe in the force, nor did Han in ANH nor did General Motti. Not even Luke knew what the Force( "The Force"? he says to Obi Wan in ANH ) was until Kenobi told him( along with the Jedi Knights) about it in his shack and onwards ever since. There was a near complete lack of faith(the Force is like God in the Star Wars universe and there is no separation of Church and State as the Jedi serve the Republic) throughout the galaxy during the OT, all memory of the Jedi Knights were eradicated to even their participation in the Clone Wars is questionable- as Leia only refers to Kenobi as a general not a Jedi Knight. This obviously stretched from the lowest of places to the highest but during each movie the Jedi and the Force returned just a lil bit more. The Jedi were forgotten within a very short time frame. General Dodona uses the iconic line '"may the Force be with you" which shortly after Han uses it before saying good bye to Luke who actually believes in the Force and why he said it. ANH presents this whole cult of technology with Lucas using Luke and Vader as only two who beleive in a greater power Luke rejects tech and embraces faith and destroys the technological monstrosity aka the Death Star. So there is no sense of any religion or belief by the majority of the Republic/Imperial characters many who are older than 30 years old and some apparently highly educated and many aristocratic even. Creating new Jedi who create the Rebellion does present a clear and present danger of ruining the narrative of ANH and Luke's significance. Even Kenobi expressed a great deal of surprise by just hearing the name "Obi Wan" after such a long time and perhaps nearly forgotten it himself.

 

It's clear Leia believes Luke "has a power" - even if she doesn't understand that power.

 

Nowhere in the OT, is it stated or does Leia say anything about not believing in Jedi or the Force. He remark on Endor about not understanding the power is just that - she doesn't - she thinks it is something beyond her understanding that she could never have.

There is no evidence that "most" Imperials and Rebels don't believe - in fact it is never discussed on the Rebels side and it is obvious that the Imperials believe because they see it used all the time when Vader ends someone for failing him. Admiral Motti mocks him for his "sad devotion" because he believes technology is superior, but he clearly believes as a result of his punishment.

The only person who expresses disbelief is Han Solo, who doesn't believe in much away, beyond getting paid. And we can't even really be sure he hasn't seen the Force in use or other strange things in his travels.

Yes, but in the trailers we see Ezra performing several Force enhanced physical actions - I assume that the footage used is from, at most, the first half of the season (unless the whole season 1 is in the bag) so Ezra's training must come along pretty fast.

I just posted in the Luminara in Rebels thread that I was concerned that having two Jedi so close to Luke's emergence will dilute the significance of it.

Plus, Yoda is quite clear that when he dies Luke is us the last of the Jedi - not the last if the Jedi who is strong enough for Vader - but the last.

I don't see anyway that allows Kanan or Ezra to live - they have to die.

There was a lot of talk that Rebels was aiming for a much younger audience than TCW.

Can characters die in this show?

 

Kanan might die, but they will never in a thousand years kill Ezra.

 

It is stated quite clearly she does not believe in Luke having special powers anymore than she did Vader, which means she doesnt believe in the Force at all - and that is despite the fact she knew he's been training as a Jedi Knight which is all about special powers and abilities using the force which is an invisible energy field ect as explained by Old Ben. Skepticism and disbelieve about the force is rife in the OT, meaning its been forcibly encouraged to be stricken from records and public knowledge and up to Luke, completely near exict(as Motti said about Vader and Yoda to Luke about being last of the Jedi). For some of the older characters because they're not force sensitives(have no special powers) likely they lost faith in the Force or believed in Palpatine's propaganda against the Jedi being evil as here he was the non force sensitive human being that survived a Jedi(who are see as wizards or sorcerers to non force beings and general public) attack that left him scarred and disfigured. So there was some kinda witch hunt orchestrated by Palpatine using Vader and his darkside Jedi arts trained agents in the form of the Inquisitor.

 

Yes, I don't see it happening but Ezra living just doesn't fit in with the OT.

 

Where is it said Leia doesn't believe?

Where is the skeptiscism and disbelieve in the the OT?

Luke being the last Jedi doesn't mean anything has been stricken from the records or affect whether people believe.

Motti isn't skeptical - he is mocking Vader because he thinks the Death Star is true power and Vader abilities are irrelevant and weak by comparision.

How are there disbelievers in the the Imperial forces when Darth Vader is Force choking officers left, right and centre?

None of that makes sense.

 

Probably, the main point is both of them have to exit the stage. Now that could involve death or it could involve sitting in prison. Before getting freed after The Battle of Endor of course

 

Whoever doesn't die is going to be 4 years older than Luke, Leia, Han and Chewy in Episodes VII - IX.

 

No Kanan doesn't have to die, because Luke wasn't a new hope by being the last Jedi but by appealing to the good in his father and bringing him back to the light side of the force. Luke flirts with the darkside during the last fight of ROTJ but after subbduing his father he's unable to kill his father. Even Vader was pulling back in the final fight as he still had hope that luke would Join his side and they would take out papy and rule together. Any other Jedi that had survived would have either been killed by Vadar or would have fallen to the darkside.

At the end of the day it was still Vader who technically brought balance to the force.

 

Um, I don't think so. Leia says Luke has a power she can't understand. Luke has it so so she believes that. She doesn't believe that she has that power.

 

Incorrect, saying "you have a power" necessarily implies that the speaker believes in the referenced power. This quote makes no sense otherwise, and there's no quote indicating the opposite belief from Leia, unlike with Han.

 

I don't consider Kanan a full Jedi and it seems Kanan doesn't even consider himself a full Jedi although he obviously still tries to live up to the ideal. Like I said above, even if Kanan is still alive, Luke still becomes the only person of his generation or the generation immediately preceding him to achieve the rank of Jedi Knight in Return of the Jedi. And even if Kanan dies, I think it's reasonable to assume there would still be other people out there who had their training cut off when he did that would still be alive, so really all the same issues are in play whether Kanan specifically is dead or not.

 

Not disagreeing with you, but I wouldn't call single-digit numbers of Jedi in the entire galaxy "a lot of Jedi".

 

I don't think Kanan needs to die. It's clear from what we've seen so far that he's not fully trained. Luke's destiny was to stop the Sith, which in the end meant turning Vader back to the light. The Kanan we've seen has trouble even beating the Inquisitor, so he could never beat Vader, let alone the Emperor. And he could never turn Vader back to the light either, because there's no emotional connection there. So no, I don't think Kanan has to die for Luke to fulfil his destiny, because Kanan could never accomplish that destiny himself. Now, whether that means they'll keep him alive or not, I don't know.

 

Thank you for making the same point I did with a WAY better supporting argument.