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  1. In Memory of LAJ_FETT: Please share your remembrances and condolences HERE

Lit Late to the debate, but what the heck happened to Luke in Crucible?

Discussion in 'Literature' started by masterskywalker, Apr 18, 2015.

  1. masterskywalker

    masterskywalker Jedi Grand Master star 5

    Registered:
    Nov 2, 2001
    Granted, I flipped through it a few months ago at a book store. But I came across an exceptionally ludicrous passage in which Luke seemingly rejects the lightside and darkside as key concepts, for some kind of Vergere-esque relativism which seems to fly in the face of the past 20 odd years of Luke's personality. "There's just all beings together in life."

    To quote President Business, "What a bunch of hippy, dippy, baloney."

    So yeah, late to the party on this little thing. But seriously? What happened?
     
  2. DigitalMessiah

    DigitalMessiah Chosen One star 6

    Registered:
    Feb 17, 2004
    the ultimate troll job
     
  3. Iron_lord

    Iron_lord Chosen One star 10

    Registered:
    Sep 2, 2012
    His being on another "Mortis monolith" (not the same one as TCW, but probably made by the Ones) probably had something to do with it.
     
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  4. Captain RX

    Captain RX Jedi Master star 2

    Registered:
    Jul 30, 2014
    What the hell is a "Mortis monolith"?
     
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  5. Iron_lord

    Iron_lord Chosen One star 10

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    Sep 2, 2012
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  6. vong333

    vong333 Force Ghost star 5

    Registered:
    Oct 18, 2003
    You know that was one thing I didn't understand while reading the book. Did those brothers become super force powered or something like that? What about Luke and Leia and when they went through the portal. I had trouble understanding this crap.
     
  7. Charlemagne19

    Charlemagne19 Chosen One star 8

    Registered:
    Jul 30, 2000
    Just assume they all snorted spice ahead of time and this is what they saw.
     
  8. Iron_lord

    Iron_lord Chosen One star 10

    Registered:
    Sep 2, 2012
    The passage in question:


    The Force was life, and life was growth, and nothing grew that did not change.

    And change was destruction.

    That was why the dark side existed. Life bore death, death nourished life, destruction came before rejuvenation. And pain came before healing. The dark side was as necessary to life as the light side was. Without it, verdant worlds would stagnate, galactic empires would rule forever.

    Luke saw all that and more, saw that conflict was as necessary to progress as harmony, that suffering was as essential to wisdom as was joy. Perhaps there was no pure good, no absolute evil. There was only life, only change and growth, suffering and joy ... death and rebirth.


    Anakin Solo does say something similar in the Edge of Victory books, before Vergere gets any real showcasing:

    Edge of Victory: Conquest: page 234:

    "The Force is light and life, but it is also darkness. Both are necessary, but they have to be kept balanced. In harmony."
     
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  9. Praenomen Cognomen

    Praenomen Cognomen Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Mar 24, 2013
    The funny thing is, it's actually quite an insightful philosophy packed into a lousy story. It recalls William Burroughs: "Death needs time for what it kills to grow in."
     
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  10. DigitalMessiah

    DigitalMessiah Chosen One star 6

    Registered:
    Feb 17, 2004
    but nonduality is Darth KFC heresy folks
     
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  11. Praenomen Cognomen

    Praenomen Cognomen Jedi Master star 4

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    Mar 24, 2013
    It can be an interesting thing if done right (and is pretty much at the core of any story about religion, not to mention Tolkien lore): Mortal man can't live under immortal truth because he absorbs and mulches everything he learns > to live a finite life is to crave progress, explore depths > knowing infinite truth renders finite man's life meaningless > all mortal mankind kills itself > divine immortal figure scrubs that little misunderstanding and starts over > warps that truth to suit the selfishness of mortal man > makes it attainable only if wisdom unlocks it > wisdom requires time > only at the end of mortal life does man learn immortal truth.
     
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  12. Zorrixor

    Zorrixor Chosen One star 6

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    Sep 8, 2004
    Like Prae said, the idea isn't without merit, and I've always suspected it's what Lucas himself was trying to get across in the Mortis episodes...

    It's just been presented really, really badly, by authors like Denning who don't understand the philosophical roots of what they're trying to write about, and just think "Hey, cool, Luke can be dark too!11!" 8-}

    I've often wished they'd hire an author with a Taoist background, who'd probably do a much better job of conveying some of these ideas.
     
  13. Vthuil

    Vthuil Force Ghost star 5

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    Jan 3, 2013
    But what's weird about that scene is that Denning doesn't just not get it, he had done everything in his power during the years in which he ran the EU to get as far away from that interpretation as he could. For him to suddenly embrace it like this, even in his own way, is just really bizarre.
     
  14. Jedi Ben

    Jedi Ben Chosen One star 9

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    Jul 19, 1999