How long did Luke train as a Jedi?

In ESB it is shown almost as if it was a week or something, but I know it had to have been longer than that. What was it, 4, 5 months maybe?

 

I'm in the "only a few days" camp, just 'cause that's the length of time it feels like to me when I watch the movie... also because it seems to gel more easily with the timeline of the Han-and-friends story.



Rick McCallum loves you!

 

I agree that the Falcon evading the Imperial fleet is what determines how much time has passed. Since they keep intercutting Luke's Dagobah experiences happening at the same time.

So the real question is how long could the falcon avoid the fleet for? It can't be more than days. Now granted, the trip to Bespin may have taken a week or something since it is not shown and Han admits that it's pretty far (especially without hyperdrive).

So Luke was on Dagobah for a maximum of perhaps a week and a half to two weeks and a minimum of 2-3 days Perhaps the compromise is somewhere in the middle.

It has always been a wonder why Luke needed so little training and all other jedi in the PT train for 15 or more years! (even Anakin). And there is no chance that Luke is more powerful than Anakin at the same age.

 

I agree with Bri-Nic. Thats what I always thought.

 

Well, 90% of a jedi's training is lightsaber training. Luke's just lucky that his father wasn't darth maul.

 

have you gone through training... no. it seems to me, most of the time they train on focusing and using the force in pointless ways that well make them learn to think correct and take the right roads. And say they will not go the way of the dark side... a lot.

 

This question has been asked many times before . . .

But I can't remember what the answer was so what the heck! Let's keep discussing it.

I've heard the figure three months before. But from the movie, it only feels like a week or two.

 

I believe it was somewhere around 4-6 weeks, but I can't remember where I heard that...

 

It has to be much longer than it appears in the film. The fact that the training scenes are intertwined with the Falcon's escape is just a necessary compromise for the two-hour film. How fun would it be if there was some long boring story for what Han and Leia were doing all the time Luke was training?

It's simply poetic license IMO.

 

It was a few weeks.

 

Luke is probably on Dagobah for a matter of days. But, his training does seem to be at an accelerated pace because he has been refining his skills on his own.

However, Dagobah is only a part of his training. Luke's training started with Obi-Wan in ANH. In the iterim of ANH and ESB, Luke obviously was working on what Obi-Wan taught him, which is evident in the ice cave on Hoth. Furthermore, Luke has become the key player in ensuring the fulfillment of the Will of the Force by this point. he would have been extremely attuned to the Will of the Force. It is probable that the Will of the Force was subconciously guiding Luke through refining his skills.

 

insightful post JediSF. I concour. The training on Dagobah was a matter of days/couple weeeks at most, but Luke is an instrument of the force. It's will guides him.

"The force is with you young Skywalker, but you are not a jedi yet..." DV


GY

 

Hmm another speculation: how long were Han and Leia on Bespin? My guess is anywhere from 2-3 days to a week or so before they met Vader, because thats what Leia sounds like when she is complaining to Han about the strangeness of the place and the fact nobody has heard of 3P0's whereabouts.

I'm going to say Luke was on Dagobah for almost a month, probably 3.5 weeks to 4 or so...

 

Also, isn't Luke's training seem a little strange now that we have the PT? I mean, he's swinging on vines and running through the woods with Yoda on his back...I understand that Dagobah doesn't provide the ideal setting for Jedi training, but how does this compare to what is going on at the Jedi Temple in the PT?

 

I don't mean to sound grumpy, but why can't the audience just accept what they see without questioning and measuring it in real world terms?

I think this is one difference between the original audience and the new generations of fans.

These stories were not meant to be taken so literally. That's why they start with "A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away..." You're being told a bedtime story. You're not supposed to worry about the dates and locations.

I don't worry about Obi-Wan's age, or if Luke shaves, or where Yoda goes to the bathroom.

It's like the passage of time between the films. ESB doesn't start with the caption 'TWO YEARS LATER...' because the films seem more dreamlike and magical without it.

It's only in response to the never-ending questions of fans that we started hearing times and dates, which only leads to more nit-picking.

Example:

In ANH, Obi-wan is 'old'. Luke is young. Vader was once a student of Obi-Wan.

But now, we are told that ANH is twenty years after the PT, so ANH Obi-Wan must be twenty years older than PT Ewan McGregor, but how did he age so much in only twenty years, and if Anakin is only in his twenties at that point, then in ANH, Vader must be...

Wasn't it more fun just to listen to the story and accept it at face value?

When I heard the story of the Three Little Pigs, I didn't worry about the cost of building materials. I just listened to the story.

 

Also, isn't Luke's training seem a little strange now that we have the PT? I mean, he's swinging on vines and running through the woods with Yoda on his back...I understand that Dagobah doesn't provide the ideal setting for Jedi training, but how does this compare to what is going on at the Jedi Temple in the PT?-EBSaints

EB, good observation. The Dagobah setting is an extreme contrast with the Jedi temple of Coruscant. But, I think this too is a reflection of the Jedi and their realtionship to the Will of the Force. Yoda is deserted alone on an earthy, swamp planet. His philosophical insights into the Force on this planet show a new understanding of the Living and Cosmic Force. An understanding that he was somewhat lacking in the Jedi temple.

The Jedi temple is located at the heart of civilization and politics, and on the ultimate urban planet. Coruscant is very removed from the natural order. While on the desolate swamp world, Yoda is surrounded by the natural order. And it is here, that the role of thew Jedi and their relationship to the Force is expressed as part of the natural order.

I think it is the ideal place for training. What seems to be an uninhabitable planet is actually a living, breathing example of the natural order of the Force. Note the way Yoda refers to the Force.

"Life creates it, makes it grow. It surrounds us, and binds us...Luminous beings are we, not this crude matter." -Yoda, ESB

Strong am I with the Force, but not that strong. Twilight is upon me and soon, night must fall. That is the way of things. The way of the Force.-Yoda, ESB

 

Hmm another speculation: how long were Han and Leia on Bespin? My guess is anywhere from 2-3 days to a week or so before they met Vader, because thats what Leia sounds like when she is complaining to Han about the strangeness of the place and the fact nobody has heard of 3P0's whereabouts.

I'm going to say Luke was on Dagobah for almost a month, probably 3.5 weeks to 4 or so...

Genrader, I have to diagree Just on the simple point that Lando states that thre Empire arrived right before han and co. did. I doubt that Vader would wait more than a day or two (at the most, if he waited at all) to get the ball rolling for Luke to come to Bespin.

Leia obviously doesn't want to be in Lando's presence or on Bespin at all. A few simple hours of 3PO missing would be more than enough to get her goat on that one. Also, you get the impression that it's the first time in ESB that Han has seen Leia in anything other than her Hoth uniform.

 

Luke's training lasted roughly about 45 minutes.

Seriously, I don't know how long he was trained for. Probably just a few weeks at most. I think Dagobah was the perfect place for his training because of its rugged terrain and its connection to the living force (as mentioned above). I also don't think Luke was being trained to be a full old school Jedi. I think he was given more of a crash coarse on survival and basic Jedi powers and thoughts. His purpose was to survive long enough to bring Anakin back and get Anakin to do what he was born to do.

 

Lucas has confirmed the fact that Luke was on Dagobah for about a month, but for time constraints and to keep the movie flowing- it was showing to be a shorter period of time, but it was about a month.

 

Well, this time period is easier to determine because you can actually see the sun setting etc. When they arrive on Bespin, it is sunset, so obviously they stayed the night since the next establishing shot shows the city during the day. Then the Empire arrives during the course of that same day then the escape from the city takes place at sunset once again. So, I'm guessing they were on Bespin for only one full night and one full day.

Hansolo29, you cleared it up nicely for me. Never really thought about that.

Does anyone know where Lucas said Luke was on Dagobah for a month?

 

so, isn't Luke's training seem a little strange now that we have the PT?"

You have to remember that using the Force is more than just manipulating objects.

Calling upon the Force requires discipline and control. By running and doing physical activity, Luke was learning to call upon the Force to augment his physical abilities; jumping, running, endurance, etc. He is learning to use the Force to enhance his senses and allow him to complete physical feats that those without the Force could only dream of doing.

 

I was just watching ESB again, and something else occured to me.

Han and the Falcon were obviously in the "cave" for at least a few days, long enough for all the bounty hunters to assemble and meet Vader on the bridge of the Executor.