Luke S/Be Court Martialed?

After the Battle of Hoth, all rebels were to meet at "the rendezvous." Luke however flies off to Dagobah for several weeks/months, then flies to Bespin where he leaves his X-wing behind.

From a military standpoint, wasn't Luke AWOL? He was not authorized for his trip to Dagobah. On top of that, he allowed his fighter -- property of the alliance -- to fall into enemy hands. Now the empire knows rebel coordinates, comm channels, probably some attack patterns...

Should Luke have been court martialed from the alliance? Demoted at least?

 

The alliance wasn't a standard military. If they started court martialing members who are risking their lives and don't even get paid they'd probably have a lot of people go AWOL

Not to mention that Luke Skywalker is their only Jedi (in training), their greatest pilot and the destroyer of the Death Star as well as a symbol to every soldier in the Rebel Alliance.

 

Yeah, its not a military command- acutally its probably the exact opposite since thats what they are fighting against!!

Anyway, Luke probably got permission or let the rebel leaders know of his flight plans, but artoo probably didnt know at the time...

 

I'd say no, partly because of personal opinion, and a line from TESB:

R2 asks Luke why he's not going to the rendevous, Luke blathers something about how he's going to Dagobah, R2 reminds luke that it was a direct order, Luke tells R2 that he has the authority to countermand orders, as he's a Commander and has sufficient rank to do so.

Personal opinion:

Obviously, Luke's Force powers make him more valuable to the Rebellion than anyone else alive. I'd think improving them would be smiled on.

 

Ummmm where did he say that in the movie?

 

R2 does remind luke that it was a direct order in the red text of the zwing, but I don't remember Luke responding to that with "he has the authority to countermand orders, as he's a Commander and has sufficient rank to do so."

 

Luke had more importent things to do then joining the others at that time. Like becoming a Jedi.

 

that's in the novel dudes, countermanding orders

 

While Luke might have said that, the logic doesn't really follow.

Although the point about him being heroized is well taken. They are probably willing to overlook his indiscretions, given his success on the DSI. Much as Lincoln overlooked the drunkenness of one of his key generals in the Civil War (forgot his name).

So yes, he absolutely should have been court-martialed. But to be just as realistic, as the "golden boy" of the Rebellion, he would probably never get convicted.

 

All Luke had to do to get out of any court-martial was to say he was chased another way by Star Destroyers and he was making sure none of them could find thier way to the Redzeous Point.


BTW, Lincoln's drunk general was Gen. U.S. Grant.

 

I see no reason why the Rebel Alliance wouldn't have a system of discipline and military justice. They are an organized military, with a command structure and everything. If they had no means to address problems with its own people, it would be total anarchy.

For example, General Dodonna gives an order to a subordinate, and that subordinate flat-out refuses, how is Dodonna going to enforce his authority?

There must be a system of military justice in the Rebel Alliance.

That being said, I agree with the previous poster who said that Luke, as the hero of Yavin, had some leeway with his actions that others may not have.

 

Come to think of it- Han and Leia didnt exactly meet up with the Alliance in a timely fashion either.

They got stuck in the asteroid feild and stopped by Cloud City.

I would imagine that when everyone did make it to the rendevous point, the stories were told and everyone assumed luke was with them the whole time.

And if not, no big deal, he saved the day. Again.

 

The answer is.....NO!That's like saying,"Han Solo,you helped out at the Deathstar,but it was in an unofficial status and you never really got your "Galactic Rebel" ID card,so,it is with grave sadness that I must insist that you don't get bestowed with a medal,'cause those are reserved for official members of the rebellion."
The rebellion is a "Rag-Tag Fugitive Fleet...on a Lonely Quest".They ain't gonna look a gift horse in the mouth.They're like the Contras.....you're either for us or your against us,the fact that Luke had to cut out has little to do with his devotion to the goal of over-turning the Empire.I'm sure the fact that he was the one who (blind) destroyed the Deathstar bought him a little bit of clout and leeway.

POW.

 

This is simply another example of the rebellion's appalling jedi-apologist attitude.

 

Meh, better than Sith-apologist.

My apologies, that quote I posted earlier is from the novelization.

 

Let's not forget that Han was allowed to leave for his own purposes. There were no threats of a court-martial from General Reikan (sic). And I don't recall a specific timeframe or deadline being presented; they were simply regrouping to prepare for their next move, which has not yet been planned.

 

It's exactly as you say, Obi-Ewan -- Han was allowed to leave. He also had his own ship. Luke however had no permission that we know of, and he did it with Alliance property.

In the American Civil War, a rebel fighter from the south who decides he needs a vacation, and leave with some one elses horse, would get hunted down and killed (like in Cold Mountain).

Another reason I don't buy the Han comparison is that while he was running around with the rebels, he wasn't imbedded in their ranks. Luke was commander of Rogue squadron. He had actual responsabilities that he shouldn't have been able to just up and walk away from.

 

Yes but, since Luke and Wedge both helped create Rogue Squadron I assume that Wedge takes over Luke's responsibility of Rogue Squadron.

-Jedi Master Zax Starwalker

 

There are two questions: can Luke be court martialed, and should Luke be court martialed?

Regardless of the answer to the first question, the answer to the second question is an unequivocal "no." The biggest reason is that Luke is too big an asset. This isn't an instance of outright betrayal or incompetence. Heck, it's not even an instance of missing a big offensive: the alliance was recouping its losses and licking its wounds.

Already, Luke is a legend for blowing up the Death Star and single-handedly destroying an AT-AT while on foot.

If word got around that he took on Vader and only lost a hand, would you really want to be the one to file charges against him? Think about the harm you would be causing to the greater good, the defeat of the Empire.


I'll note that it's possible that Luke was punished or perhaps even demoted. I don't recall his rank ever being uttered in ROTJ.

I'll further note that the Rebel base locations, etc., were probably not on board the X-Wing: they were probably safely stored in Artoo, and Artoo did make it to the rendezvous point.


But the fact remains: Inter arma enim silent leges. In times of war, the law falls silent.

 

One has to take into account the fact that the rebels are a guerilla force waging a non-conventional war against massive odds.

In a movement such as this- comparable (though I hate to say it) to something like Al Qaeda, any breach of discipline is liable to be punished with extreme severity, as a single high level betrayal could lead to the utter destruction of the movement in its entirety. Any implication of irregularity or treachery would be taken extremely seriously.

With this in mind, I'm surprised Admiral Ackbar didn't have Luke tarred and feathered and then made to walk the hydro-plank into the cold, dead vacuum of interstellar space near Sullust.

 

Since it is unconventional warfare, Luke is basically thier high priest or someone on the lines of rallying the troops. Our war for independence was an uncoventional war. Had one of Washington's generals taken off for a few days then came back with some powerful weapon or tactic that easily mowwed down redcoats, do you really think someone would say anything?

Luke took off for a few weeks, then he came back to them with new powers that utimatly caused the distruction of Death Star II, Vader and his Emperor.

 

I'm sure that the Rebels had some sort of rules in place regarding desertion/AWOL -- they probably couldn't do much to enforce it though.

There's a point you have to remember, though -- the next time he sees the Rebel Alliance, he's got Princess Leia -- the LEADER of the Rebel Alliance -- with him, and on top of that, he (for all practical purposes) rescued her. He's returning as a hero, not a deserter. And remember that Leia has been gone as long as he has.

Then there's the fact that if you were gone for a month or two and then came back to your ragtag bunch of rebels and said "Dudes I'm totally a Jedi and I'm ready to kick some major Imperial tail" and then showed them some Force powers I think they'd totally take you back.