Lit SOS: Save Our Skywalker, Luke Skywalker (v4)

If Luke's legacy wasn't so important, they wouldn't have been seeking him out in the first place.

 

Thank you.

 

I'm not a kasdan fan either. He wanted to make Luke dark in RotJ.

But whatever story you choose to tell, shouldn't ruin iconic characters in the process. If he wanted to make Rey a truly fantastic hero, fine. But don't do it at the expense of an already well-loved, established character. It wasn't as though JJ and kasdan were in some sort of bind and were limited in their story choices. They could have gone in countless different directions and told billions of different kinds of stories, almost all of which wouldn't have negatively impacted Luke skywalker. But they chose the one that made his life completely miserable; destroyed his life's work; and took away his legacy. And for what??? To just retell the same story of a skywalker gone bad and becoming Vader 2.0, and giving us another Jedi purge. Really???? That's the best, most creative story they could tell? And they had to throw Luke, Leia, and Han under the bus to do it???? I think most fan fiction is better and more creative than what the professionals gave us in TFA.

 

More and more, I am thinking that Luke, Leia, and Han were only used in TFA to draw in fans because they didn't know how well- received new characters would be. There was really no reason to include the big three in this new trilogy. The filmmakers could have pushed the story forward a hundred years where their lives and legacies wouldn't have been impacted and they could have had their " happily ever after." I now really wish that this is what would have been done. How terrible to have the only new legacy character be that evil, tantrum-throwing, creepy kylo!!! How awful that Han was killed off, by his son no less! How awful that all of Luke's Jedi were killed off! It's likely now that Luke will be killed off in VIII or ix and Rey will be the one credited with restoring the Jedi order. That's the only reason I can see for having ALL of Luke's Jedi killed. They want the legacy to go to Rey and not Luke.

And, of course they're seeking Luke out. He's the only one who can train Rey. Once that happens, Luke becomes unnecessary and unwanted ( because he would take too much focus away from Rey), so poor Luke is likely a goner, just like Han.

 

COW, we've argued this dozens of times, we are both set in our opinions and clearly aren't going to change them. I am not going to keep doing this. I clearly disagree with you; I do believe Luke is very necessary to what we'll see in the rest of the trilogy. But if you're inclined to continue being pessimistic, that's fine with me.

 

It's such an established trope of the mentor dying before the student can become the hero. ANH did it with Kenobi, and I'll be surprised if Luke survives the new trilogy. I'm still recovering from Han's murder, I hate to think every new movie has to kill off one of the beloved original trilogy characters.

 

IF he dies (and I'm not convinced they'll go with that trope; they already had Han die at Kylo's hands, I don't think Snoke is powerful enough to take out Luke, and he's not old enough to die naturally like Yoda did), I think it won't happen until Episode IX.

 

Yeah, I remember that part and that Lucas is no longer there to hold him back.
I agree with you, so far the sequel trilogy is just redoing the story of the six previous films and I call BS to anyone who says there was no other choice to make a compelling story.

 

GREAT!!!!! So Luke gets to survive until episode ix!!! How terrific!!

I believe I said that Luke would likely die in this trilogy, so episode ix is still within this trilogy. It would still be horrible. He still won't be dying of old age in episode Ix, and he certainly won't have been able to restore the Jedi order by then. So, it's just exactly what I said in my earlier post: Luke's Jedi order was destroyed so that Rey and not Luke can be credited with rebuilding the new order. Luke ends up with nothing, including his life and legacy.

darklighter99, I agree. There is no way that the story that JJ and kasdan have given us is the best sequel that we could have gotten. Another skywalker becoming a Vader wannabe??? Another Jedi purge??? Another Death Star??? Are you kidding me???? This is the best that professional writers could come up with? A rehash of what we already got in the previous trilogies??? It would almost be funny if it weren't so disappointing and heart-breaking.

Even more disappointing is how many people seem to think this is so great. It's like the story of the Emperor's New Clothes. There is nothing really new or interesting about TFA, but just about everyone lauds it as an absolutely fantastic film. Was it entertaining? Yes. Were the characters engaging? Well, the heroic characters were , yes. The villains were a mess really, from Snoke who is a joke, to evil, creepy, tantrum-throwing kylo, to Huxley to that chrome trooper. But it was a rehash of what we already got in the PT and OT, just with new characters. It is a very bad and weak continuation of the skywalker saga. And, if in the end, Rey is a random who fixes everything that the Skywalkers couldn't , then it will make Luke and Leia totally irrelevant and unnecessary characters, and the skywalker family a cursed family. I don't happen to consider that to be a good conclusion to the skywalker saga, and there won't be any skywalker characters going forward into the future when Luke and Leia are dead.

But for some reason, people seem annoyed with me for being unhappy about all of this, and about how shabbily the OT characters have been treated. It's out with the old and in with the new, and who cares, right?

 

Yes, the villains were the weakest part of TFA. Well, to be fair it's still the first movie of a trilogy so I'm going to give the writers the benefit of the doubt for now. If TFA was just the OT in one movie, I expect VIII and IX to be better by a large margin even if I'm still concerned about Trevorrow being the one to close this trilogy. I don't really care what other people think about movies or anything in general so when some people keep bring up the rating or box office numbers like if I needed some kind of validation for my tastes or something, I'm always feeling meh about it. Like I said elsewhere, execution is the key.

 

He wouldn't have even tried to make Luke becoming dark if George hadn't come up with the ridiculous ending idea! That ship has sailed, tho. Luke won't become dark... and he won't die in IX. Yoda didn't die in III...he had work to do. They simply need to craft the story to give Rey her own mission & chance to shine, while Luke is kept occupied with other things rather than standing around the war room twiddling his thumbs like Obi-Wan would've been doing in the Battle of Yavin had he not died aboard the Death Star. Whether that means Luke is facing another threat or rallying troops/Jedi or flying an X-wing with R2 in the back or using Battle Meditation in the big final battle along with Leia (Skywalker twin powers, activate!), he just needs business that serves the story without drawing focus from Rey. Killing him off would be the laziest way to go.

 

George was joking; kasdan was serious.

Yes, killing Luke off WOULD be the laziest way to go. Unfortunately, I think we got the laziest way all throughout TFA, hence why we got another Jedi purge, another Death Star, and another skywalker going dark and becoming Vader 2.0. We also got yet another 'cantina' of aliens; a new empire; a new rebellion; a new ancient, wise mentor talking about the force; new droid; a new tatooine, etc., not to mention tie fighters and x-wings, and no really new ships. We also got Han back as a smuggler; Leia leading a resistance; and Luke transformed into Yoda, waiting alone for the new New Hope. So, sadly, I'm afraid that we're going to get the laziest thing in regards to Luke too, and he will be killed off soon after sharing his Jedi knowledge with Rey.

 

anyone else having buggy issues? I cant seem to reply to a thread. it just pushes me to the bottom, and it will lack context without quotes. though I guess I can just copy and paste quotes. still what's up??

Revanfan1 Time will tell. We will see next December. either CoW and I will have to shut up, or we will be justified in our worries. time will tell. I will agree that there are promising rumors.

 

There are promising rumors?? Can you please send me a pm when you have time, as I haven't found any promising rumors so far.

And, boy, would I ever be happy if revanfan ends up being right, and we end up being wrong about the rest of this trilogy, jedimatteus!!!

 

amen..

 

Damn I haven't been to these boards for YEARS and I did not expect to see this thread still up and
running. I was never a regular, just posted intermittently so I don't expect anybody to remember me. I remember ChildOfWinds though! Seems you're still quite upset with how Lukes is being portrayed. Some things never change. I remember how much you hated NJO Luke, guess that's not so bad compared to Hermit Luke now?

I'll post more later today or tomorrow, in a rush right now...I'll try participate more frequently from now on! ✌

 

I actually love the NJO, and Luke lol. that series was a masterpiece. But I agree with CoW somewhat that Luke was too timid early on. I think I might remember you, DurronFan. We are a little worried about Luke, but its to early to be gloom and doom about it. He has some action scenes in episode 8, and I am pretty thrilled with that, but out of context he seems a bit grey-to -dark from the rumors that we have been hearing.

 

I agree, context and execution are important. Any rumor can sound terrible on the paper, but seeing it on the context of the movie, it can be a well executed thing. We're still one year and a half before the release of episode VIII, out of context rumors abound. I'm willing to give RJ the benefit of the doubt, still don't know how I feel for CT being the director of episode IX. We'll see I guess.

 

I assumed they gave Luke such a reduced role partially to allow Han Solo to have such a big one. It would have been impossible to have the original big 3 all have significant screen time while also trying to do the same with the new young big 3. I was a little upset at not getting to see Jedi Master Luke do his thing on screen but from all accounts we should get to see that in Ep. 8. Here's hoping they make him look awesome. I was actually significantly more upset with how little Poe was used, particularly with the great dynamic he seemed to have with Finn. But most egregious of all...where the hell was Lando?!

Also, I wouldn't mind Luke being a little grey, so long as his intentions are still noble, kind of like in the Jolee Bindo kind of way. Too much light and you're just an uncompromising pacifist who gets nothing done. So it depends on how they write him if they decide to do that.

 

well in the last big legends series Luke managed to be incredibly powerful and infused with the light. he had a few questionable moments, but over all he was the opposite of how dark he seemed in The Dark nest crisis. In TUF, he was amazing , filled with light, but also more powerful than ever. you can have both.

As far as Poe goes, you should be happy as his role is increasing in stature anyway. pm me if you want details.

 

Welcome back, Duran fan! Yes, I wasn't very happy about Luke's portrayals after vision of the future, and I really don't like the backstory that they gave to Luke in TFA. It makes pretty much everything he did irrelevant, and the last thirt years of his life have been a total waste.

According to the filmmakers, they gave Luke such a reduced role because every time they wrote him in, he took over the scene and took the spotlight off the new characters. Frankly, I don't really buy their explanation. Professional writers should be able to figure out how to use Luke skywalker without having him overwhelm the other characters.

In a change of subject, I see we learn absolutely nothing at all about Luke in bloodlines. I knew that bloodlines was a Leia book, but I thought we'd learn a little about Luke's life between the trilogies.... Sadly, no...

 

I loved bloodlines, but it was not what I was hoping for

 

Pretty great Luke stuff in the most recent Obi-Wan flashback issue, more action oriented than the more pensive previous ones and it had some really neat twists, especially when Owen flat-out almost fell to his death but was saved by A New Hope. I liked how it showed how Luke is going to be something tremendous so it makes all of the work that Obi-Wan puts in to keep him save worthwhile. And Luke had that independent streak as a kid where he was going to go off on his own after a fight with Uncle Owen but he came back when it mattered the most. *cough*thematicforeshadowingforEpVIII*cough*

 

Um, we do learn some stuff about Luke in Bloodline, actually.

Spoiler

He's lived a mostly private life since Endor, researching the Jedi and rebuilding the Order. At the time the book takes place, he's off somewhere with Ben, but Leia is unable to contact them. He's taught Leia about the Force and told her what happened with Anakin Skywalker on the Death Star. There's a great line when Leia is reflecting on how Luke would talk about their father and smile whenever he got to the part about him saving Luke. And then, when another senator attempts to go after Luke for being Vader's son and wonder if he could possibly turn dark, too, Leia RAILS on them for attempting to sully her brother's name after all he's done for the galaxy.

Between that exchange, and the section in Aftermath about Luke being all light, I don't think we have anything to worry about Luke turning to the dark side.

 

Yeah, it wasn't much but it was damn smart.

There's no way this version of Luke gets anywhere near the dark side.