ST Luke Skywalker/Mark Hamill Discussion Thread [SEE WARNING ON PAGE 134]

Hmm. Is someone that is on the dark side, someone who's already been turned by Snoke, "innocent"?

Hitler's family weren't magic space wizards capable of seeing/feeling through space and time with a cosmic force....which is probably for the best, actually.

Luke Skywalker is a magic space wizard capable of seeing/feeling through space and time with a cosmic force. He sees that Ben "would bring destruction, and pain, and death... and the end of everything (Luke) love(s) because of what he will become."

In this case, it would involve the greater good as well.. as it would be sparing the entire galaxy from pain/destruction of Kylo Ren.

Luke has both reasons.

You are mistaken then. According to the narrative, Ben Solo has turned to the dark side (been corrupted by Snoke) before Luke even enters the hut.

You said:

You seem to be saying Luke would be "arrogant" when he discovered that Ben had turned to the dark side. This is an perplexing descriptor/word choice. Can you explain what you mean by giving reasoning/further characterization behind your choice of words?

Fair enough. I wish more people would just say that. That's different than claiming the movie is offering a different narrative/story than it is.

Yeah, that's just it. Luke f'ed up. Luke should have known better, but he biffed it. The movie is quite clear on this point. I think that this is completely within Luke's characterization. Luke screws up all the time.

It's not like, once ROTJ ended, Luke suddenly became this untouchable, flawless, Jedi master. He still had to deal with his character flaws and his personal hangups. Even Yoda, who was fairly close to being the perfect Jedi Master, screwed things up and made mistakes. This whole sequence is very Luke Skywalker to me, rather than some idealized childhood version of the character than never really existed.

Luke had no more intention of attacking Ben Solo than Obi-Wan did in the elevator. The movie states this.

There are 3 versions of these events. The third version is the true narrative. Simple as that. If people are confused, flatly refuse to the story being told, or think it's "lame" it's a kind of a different issue.

 

There isn't any proof in the film that Kylo had done anything at that point. We don't know what Luke thinks he saw. If Kylo had massacred an entire town or something I would see Luke's actions very differently, but there is no evidence of this. He may have already fallen to the dark side, but unless he as actually hurt someone, I still see him as innocent.

What I'm saying is that the whole Hilter discussion is to different to have relevance to this discussion. You can't accurately predict the future in Star Wars, so Luke's vision does not give him actual knowledge of what will happen. He's also been specifically told this in ESB.

Luke cannot know that killing Kylo would be for the greater good. He doesn't know what will happen. Kylo is also his family, it doesn't make sense that he would instinctively consider killing him. Kylo should be someone that Luke would want to protect, for Leia's sake if nothing else.

Luke's already performed the impossible task of bringing Vader to the light. Something those who knew Anakin best couldn't manage.Why wouldn't he just assume that he could save Kylo instead of lashing out.

 

This is so true. It's telling that even die hard "better than Empire" TLJ fans do not agree on the narrative of the movie. It's not like it's just "haters" being nitpicky. TLJ fans are split over such fundamental issues as to whether Kylo was being set up for redemption or as the ultimate villain. Some fans claim there was not even an iota of romance in TLJ. Others claim it was brimming with romance. Some believe Kylo was gaslighting Rey. Other's believe he was connecting to her with honesty and empathy. Not to mention the contradictory defenses of Luke's story... "RJ did not write Luke as a failure" vs "TLJ is about Luke overcoming failure." This is why TLJ continues to get so much discussion. Not because it's particularly deep, as some like to believe. It's because the movie completely failed to clearly communicate most of it's messages.

 

We don't know what Luke "thinks he saw"? Luke says: "...But then I looked inside... and it was beyond what I ever imagined. Snoke had already turned his heart. He would bring destruction, and pain, and death... and the end of everything I love because of what he will become."

Point being: Ben Solo had turned to the dark side. The Dark Side. It's not something that you just "chit chat" someone out of. In Star Wars, it still carries with it serious/deadly/horrific gravity. Does it not?

So, let me ask this: Did Ben's immediate destruction of Luke's academy seem like the reactions of an innocent Jedi knight? Were his actions justified? No. Ben acted as a (newly uncovered/discovered) dark sider would, not the way a misunderstood Padawan would. Luke was absolutely 100% right about Ben and the immediate aftermath demonstrates this. Ben Solo had joined the dark side.

I brought up Hitler, not as a "see the future" hypothetical, but as a response to claim about the moral quandary of having to consider killing a family member for a greater good, and you absolute labeling such considerations as those of a "sociopath." We can leave the Hitler family hypotheticals alone, if you want.

I disagree. Luke's instinct is to be vigilant against the dark side. This is what he is reacting to instinctually....of course he's never going to go through with it specifically because of his bond to Ben. It's a mistake and one that I totally think Luke, and any number of other Jedi, would/could make.

1. Luke didn't lash out.

2. Luke probably would have tried to save Ben, had Ben not freaked out and destroyed everything.
Let' me ask you this: What if Ben didn't immediately attack Luke? What do you think Luke would have done? I think Luke would have tried to talk to him. That's the entire shame/mistake/regret that Luke has. Luke reacted poorly in a split second and it cost him everything.

3. I still don't think Luke would be feeling "arrogant*" about his chances of bringing Ben back from the Dark Side. Luke seems to know that bringing Anakin back to the light was a rare feat and not easily/routinely done. He says as much to Rey, "This is not going to go the way you think," when she talks of her plan to turn Kylo Ren.

*Arrogant seems to suggest that Luke would be some kind of smug about it. "Don't worry folks, flipping dark siders back to the good side is my specialty." Wink with finger guns.

Really, it was miraculous that it even worked with Vader considering Yoda and Obi-Wan thought it was impossible.

 

1. Maybe not. But I don't regard his action as a healthy positive one, without violence as a first concept.

2. Maybe Luke shouldn't be in a position to where his nephew sees him wielding a lightsaber over him as he slept. You all should know by now how much I dislike Kylo, but boy, is Luke not an innocent victim here. Ben's immediate reaction to what he woke up to see, is what I call a moment of pure instinct and one of self defense, as well. There are places in this world where the human legal structures would go by the perception that Ben was within his rights to have killed Luke right there for what he was doing. Luke's is what I call someone considering his situation and choosing to murder his nephew in his sleep for something, as far as I think the movie showed, he hasn't done yet, then second guessing that choice when he's actually faced with it.

3. I think Luke's the one who uses the word hubris. And if it's not, then Luke has nothing to learn from it, and I think the exercise is pointless. If Luke isn't meant to be viewed outright in the wrong for his action, and he's not meant to learn from it, then Luke could've tripped and fell on top of Ben while holding his lightsaber and the same result could've been achieved. That one fan rewrite version that I don't like, as I feel like it goes too far to try and avoid Luke having anything responsibility to it and I think comes off more like a comical misunderstanding, where Luke is scared by something and whips out his lightsaber at fear of it, only for, whoops, Ben to see him and assume it's an attack, that could've been done. But no, the movie went for one that had something else. And if he's not meant to be wrong for it, then what's the point of it?

 

Luke has plenty of flaws in the OT for sure but "too eager to kill Dark Side family members" is pretty explicitly not one of them, much to Yoda and Obi-wan's chagrin. It doesn't flow naturally to me. To use a TV Trope it feels like he's holding the Idiot Ball so the writers can get the story they want. But I think worse than making the mistake is the 6 years(?) he spends hiding from it. It makes him look like a coward who cares too much about his own ego, and that's worse than being an idiot. That's why even if he was a brand new character and there was no question about whether or not it was consistent I still think I would find it obnoxious.

I don't agree. He pulled out his lightsaber and turned it on because he "thought he could stop it". How do you propose he thought the lightsaber would achieve that? He ultimately stopped himself but "kill Ben Solo right now" was definitely his first response.

The 3rd story is supposed to be the accurate one relative to the first 2 versions of the same events. I think most people grasp that. The issue I'm talking about is that version of events still doesn't really fit in well with the rest of the story IMO(although again, whether it doesn't match up with the other scenes or the other scenes fail to match up with it is a point of view). Rey hears it and still immediately risks her life, and if TFA is to be believed potentially the fate of the whole galaxy as well, on the fact that Kylo's really not that evil. So if the audience is supposed to take from that version that Luke was justified in having such an extreme reaction because Kylo was too far gone 6 years ago then is Rey just being a massive idiot? That's one of my biggest issues with TLJ. The plot only works if everyone involved is an idiot at one point or another. And you know what? If you want to argue that that's plenty realistic I'm not even going to disagree. I have a Twitter lol, I'm painfully aware. That doesn't automatically make it a good movie though. Twitter has two main advantages as a source of content that allow me to put up with it: 1) It's free. 2) The other half of the time it's not actively insulting my intelligence there's some genuinely entertaining stuff that would be hard to find somewhere else. That is the single biggest problem with the ST to me. I don't feel like there's any reward for slogging through the rough parts. What am I supposed to look forward to? The half-hearted Reylo kiss? Burying Anakin's lightsaber under 20 feet of Tatooine sand? Random nosy neighbors who only want to know if you've stolen any last names recently? (Those are rhetorical questions and not really relevant to this thread, but the point is about the underlying writing process problems of which Luke is just one of many symptoms. Their end goal was nowhere and that's exactly where they got.)

 

Quoting since I cannot press "Like" twice. Flawless post.

Slightly off topic (not really though), but in ROTS when Obi-Wan Kenobi is startled by Anakin Skywalker, there is absolutely zero chance that he knew it was Anakin. He literally exclaims "oh, it's you". The Jedi have never been shown as omnipotent and omniscient, and every single Jedi ever depicted in film or TV shows has had one or more moments where their intuition, feeling, sensation, or reading of a situation was false or incomplete.

Sometimes they feel danger without knowing what exactly that danger is. Sometimes they feel a disturbance in the Force without even knowing what it is. Other times they can't even sense the danger cause it comes out of nowhere or it is too late when they finally feel it. Sometimes the dark side of the Force reduces their ability to see clearly. Obi-Wan Kenobi did not have the slightest intention or even hint of an intention to draw a lightsaber against Anakin, he just did not realize it was him until Anakin stood in front of him. The movie showed this very clearly, supporting it with dialogue.

Anakin doesn't even feel Obi-Wan on Mustafar, and only realized (and confronts Padme about it) he is there when he saw him. The fact that Jedi can feel their beloved ones and communicate messages telepathically if they focus and commit to that, doesn't mean that they are always passively in this state of mind, and I am quite confused as to how someone could have drawn that conclusion after watching the Star Wars movies. If that were the case then the Jedi would never ever be in any danger and trouble, and quite frankly the story would be completely boring, as there would be no stakes in the story.

 

Luke lied in the first version of the story. He's established as an unreliable narrator. I don't think that he lied again, but what he remembers my be colored by everything that happened after or he my simply have not understood what he was seeing. He may have seen Snoke or Palpatine and mistook their intent for Kylo's. The point is that we don't know what he saw, so we can't take his recollection as 100% factual.

I personally put more weight on how Kylo is characterized in the present day. He seemed conflicted in TFA, which doesn't line up with Luke's description of what he saw. I don't like him or think he's a good person there, but like the all the imperial officers in the OT he doesn't seem like he's utterly taken by the dark side.

While I think that the dark side does cause people to be violent and unpredictable, being on the dark side is not on it's own a crime as far as I know.

Again, there's no evidence that he had done anything before. Kylo is reacting to what Luke did, so everything after can't be used to retroactively justify Luke's own actions. Since Rise of Kylo Ren actively states that Kylo neither wanted or planned the destruction of the academy I'm assuming that you don't see it as canon? I personally don't find its narrative palatable and it does make Luke's actions seem even more extreme, but without it we have no concrete information on what happened.

I'm just saying that his family would not have had knowledge of Hitler's future crimes while he was in his childhood. If someone from Hilter's family tried to kill him during WWII then I would concede that they could have been acting for the greater good. But from what I've seen people tend not to side against their family unless they already have their own personal issues with them.

That has not been shown in the OT, if anything he's kind of soft on evil. He cares more about the fact that Vader is his father than all the evil that Vader has done. I guess you could argue that he's going to change between trilogies, but that doesn't feel right to me. In ROTJ he very much follows his concience rather than what the Jedi code says, and he's successful. Why would he want to change then?

1. Okay seriously planned to lash out then.

2. Like dagenspear said, Kylo really did think Luke was trying to kill him. This has been confirmed by RJ. Kylo should certainly be held accountable for his actions, but he really did think Luke was about to kill him in his sleep.

3. I think Luke saying "I've got this!" is more logical than deciding that he's going to kill his own nephew in his sleep. But it's not like he has to be hilariously over the top to qualify as arrogant. He just has to overestimate how hard it will be. I also have to point out that as someone who defeated Vader, Luke shouldn't be a pushover. Even if he doesn't think he can change Kylo's heart, he should have some reason to think that he could handle Kylo if need be. He shouldn't have to resort to cowardly attacks.

 

The narrative is set up quite clearly to show that he is only an unreliable narrator in the first recollection. The second scene is told completely from Kylo's perspective, and the last one is Luke telling the audience the truth. It isn't framed in any other way, and doesn't suggest that this version may also be untrue or incomplete.

 

But Kylo acting like a troubled person who has still not fully embraced the darkside in the present conflicts with how Luke describes him. I don't see why we should see Luke's description of what he saw as fact, when it contradicts what we see.

 

Because that is not what the narrative of the story is relating to the audience. The final scene is set up and framed in such a manner to show Luke coming clean and telling the truth. The audience or reader generally isn't the arbiter of whether a character is telling the truth in a story when the writer is clearly telling you that they are.

 

Here’s the problem for me - I don’t believe he’s conflicted, no matter how many times he says it. If you’re conflicted, you don’t murder family friends and order villages slaughtered. You don’t torture people. If you’re conflicted, you’re Finn, you’re not Kylo.

First, you perfectly summed up why I stay on Twitter too...

Second, YES, that’s how I feel about TLJ and the ST. Everyone has to lose 20 IQ points for TLJ to work. You’re right on that the ST gives me nothing to look forward to and instead “rewards” me by destroying every character I love and taking away every victory of the OT. Then it hands me new characters it doesn’t know how to handle, goes through the same conflict again but stupider and disjointed, and expects me to want to save the character who destroys it all because he’s the child of Han and Leia and I’m rooting for Luke in the hut, frankly.

 

I think Luke can be telling the truth and still misinterpreting what he saw. Has RJ said that this is how it should be interpreted? To me it didn't seem as if Luke's actions were framed as correct.

I mean I don't think it's done well. I'm really just trying to say that he isn't portrayed as someone who terrifyingly entrenched in the dark side which is what Luke said.

 

Luke misinterpreting what he saw would be the viewer interpreting the scene that way. Rian doesn't have to say that this is how it should be interpreted because there is no later scene in the narrative which is put there to suggest Luke wasn't telling the truth or was incorrect with what he saw in the third recollection. It is framed as if he has now been forced to come clean about what happened. The scene is clear with its intent.

 

I mean you said:

Rian Johnson is the writer. That was the only reason I brought him up. The idea that Kylo is lost to the dark side is a cynical one and Luke's cynical worldview is later shown to be incorrect in the scene with Yoda.

 

I don't have a problem with the movie playing around POV truths according to how Luke or Kylo experienced the past, and how each doesn't want to admit their roles in it. I don't have any issue with Luke (and the movie) coming clean about what happened that night. The problem is that the movie is still lying to us, even after it tries to tell us the truth. It wants us to think a certain way, when the narrative is still suggesting something else happening.

1. Luke tells Rey about the confrontation from his POV. But he's still ashamed of that moment, and omits that he had a saber in his hand.
2. Kylo tells Rey about the confrontation from his POV. It's closer to the truth, but Kylo omits that he was a dark sider and planning on some horribly evil **** soon.
3. Luke tells Rey what really happened that night, finally telling her and the audience the truth. Luke doesn't really handle the situation well. He sneaks into Ben's mind/dreams. Sees the evil he's planning one day. He ignites his saber, but immediately realizes he can't do this. He knows this is wrong and is probably thinking back to his fight with Vader. He pulls back to the light. He's just about to turn it off, when Ben wakes, sees the lit saber, and because he senses that Luke saw what he was planning, Ben attacks-defends himself. Luke angrily screams out, and Ben blows up the hunt. He then kills the other students and burns the place down. Luke immediately goes into exile.

But that's still not what really is going on. The narrative is still lying to the audience just as much as the characters are.

The Luke in that hut that night immediately knows why he failed. We see that in Hamill's performance. He regrets turning on that saber. He knows he should just talk to the 'boy'. Two more seconds and Luke probably would have tried to explain things to Ben rationally. Luke is instinctively already trying to fix it. Despite the fact that Ben's heart has already turned and obviously knows this moment was going to happen at some point. Luke has direct experience here. It's basically the same thing that happened with his dad, only here, he doesn't even fight Ben. Ben doesn't give him the chance though.

That Luke, the one in the hut that night, the one who wakes up in rubble, wouldn't have gone into exile. He doesn't need exile. He doesn't need to spend 6 years in shame. He already knows why he failed. He was about to try and fix it there that night a moment before Ben blew the hut up. He doesn't need Rey to get him to accept the truth 6 years later. He already had. In fact, by going into exile, despite knowing why he failed and already trying to fix it, Luke makes the situation all the worse because he allows all the evil that Ben is now doing, to actually take place.

Exile Luke has forgotten this though. He's deeply ashamed of that hut confrontation. He's makes himself seem innocent and blames Ben. He's lying to Rey about that night because he doesn't want anyone to know he had ignited his blade. So basically the character has to backtrack his own progression. He learns these mistakes in the OT, he forgets them momentarily, he realizes their lessons immediately, and then goes on to forget them all over again for 6 years.

And then on top of this, when Exiled Luke supposedly finally learns from his failure (even though he already had once before), because Yoda literally spells it out from him (proving that he didn't learn from his failure, he learned from Yoda) what does he do? He Force Projects himself to Crait and continues ... lying. To Kylo, to Leia, and to the GFFA. He shows up younger-looking, fresh and clean, looking like the legend everyone expects from him, and instead of trying to just talk to Kylo, man to man, master to student, in an honest conversation where Luke is really trying to set things right, just as he tried to do right before Ben blew up the hut, he pretends he's this big-shot master come to put Kylo in his place.

Is anyone surprised that Kylo doesn't care? Even if he doesn't know Luke ain't really there and this is all a scam. Luke is still deeply ashamed of himself. Not just of that night in the hunt. But right at this very moment. He doesn't want Kylo to know what Luke is really like right now. He doesn't want him or the GFFA to see the real man. To see how old, rough, or weak he looks. To see the impact of his mistakes. That probably would have done way more to make Kylo reconsider his evil. To see him as a human. Or an uncle who's trying to fix a bad situation. And this whole act is another mistake, performed by a character who still doesn't seem to get it. Despite the movie trying to convince the audience that he finally does.

So the movie is lying to us. Continually. It says one thing, but shows something else entirely.

And then what happens after this fake confrontation? Luke is gone again. He dies. Or fades into the force thinking his work is now done. What does he expect from Kylo here, once he sees that Luke wasn't even real. Was he to be impressed? Hurt? Regretful? How about even angrier that his **** uncle is still acting like this. Or to realize that Luke didn't really come to talk to Kylo or make amends in anyway, but merely to stall him from attacking the base and getting everyone out. That would only just make matters even worse here. I realize that the scene wants to pull reference from ANH, when Ob-wan fought Vader so that Luke could run...but it's so not the same thing at all. In that scene, Obi-wan was being truthful. Delaying a mad man in a mask who's trying to look impressive. Here...Luke is the mad-man wearing a mask, hiding his true self. Lying to everyone.

 

Yes! Thank you for this!! I have always hated the Luke Crait scene so much, but have never been able to put why into words. This encapsulates my thoughts on the matter so well. In essence, Luke is still hiding. And beyond that, he's still doing exactly the same thing he did years ago in that hut - instead of trying to reach Kylo in any meaningful way, he is pushing him further away. Why in the world is Luke being cocky??? I watch that Crait scene and it's hard to imagine that Luke ever even cared about Ben Solo at all.

 

But the narrative is clearly telling us that what Luke saw, or believed that he saw at the time was clear to him at that time and that he is telling the truth about it.

 

Yes, because Ben Solo was, at that point, a dark sider. He was on team evil. If Luke is the shepherd, he essentially discovered that he has a wolf sleeping amongst his flock of sheep.

Pretty sure the "too eager to kill Dark Side family members" (to protect those he loves) most definitely rears its head in ROTJ.

Fair enough.

Though I wouldn't frame is as "Rey is just being a massive idiot", I think that we are supposed to worry about her and her naivete in the situation. Ultimately, TLJ proves that Luke was right in this instance.

I don't think the movie is asking us to regard his action as healthy/positive either. Luke screwed up. Even as a Jedi Master, he's not infallible. That's kinda the point.

Again, for sure Luke was mistaken to behave this way. I still don't see his screwing this scenario up as "something my Luke would never do," or out of character.

Also, I disagree that Ben's reaction is simply self defense. Destroying the entire academy, leaving Luke for dead, and slaughtering other students is beyond justifiable self defense....even by our earthly laws/standards. Now, that's not to say I don't understand Kylo's point of view, but his reaction is overkill in every sense of the word. A non dark sider Ben Solo may have just ignited his own saber and said, "Uh, what are you doing, Uncle Luke? Being creepy?"

Luke uses hubris when talking about being a Jedi master and being able to successfully train Ben Solo. No? The movie shows him humbled and shamed by this experience.

If one thinks that the 3rd (true) version of the event is also an unreliable narrative, then I think this is a misunderstanding of the story, or a misrepresentation of the narrative. We are supposed to take this 3rd recollection of the event as 100% factual, no?

"Present day" Kylo Ren was conflicted. He was also the monster that Luke saw when he looked into his mind/heart/soul. If Luke didn't ignite his saber, is Ben suddenly NOT a dark sider? Is he not on Snoke's team?

Interesting. This could be it's own thread/topic. I think it is beyond being a crime in the eyes of the Jedi. Not to get off topic, but doesn't Mace Windu attempt to kill (rather than arrest) Palpatine because of this?

I am only talking films. I am not trying to be dismissive of ancillary materials and their validity. I dig a lot of them. I feel that comics/novels are not quite as solid canon as the movies. Mostly because ancillary materials (especially the old EU) are a bit nebulous and apt to be changed/altered/tweaked. I mean, according to the new canon and comics, Luke has faced Vader one on one before ESB. Right? Technically, that's canon...but it doesn't hold the same weight as the films. Again, this is a whole other conversation.

And I think it's situational. If someone has a someone with issues in in their family (being a villain, and addict, abusive, whatever) then this person (and the family) have hard, complicated choices to make and are apt to screw up, make false steps, and have errors in judgement. This is why I think Luke screwing up is relatable.

Real world analogies: How many parents have approached their drug addicted kids in the wrong way? How many parents have tried to get their kids out of a gang, and ended up pushing them further into it? What if you were the top ranking commander in the military and you discovered your nephew was a high ranking spy/terrorist that had infiltrated your side? How would you handle it? Bottom line: Luke is a magic space wizard. His drawing a lightsaber in SW isn't as egregious as pulling a gun/knife in our world. Is it?

I disagree with this. Yes, Luke (because of force feelings) softens his stance on Vader between ESB and ROTJ. However, when push comes to shove, he goes for it and tries to kill both Vader and Palpatine. He literally attempts to strike them down with his lightsaber.

Also, Luke is vigilant against other evil: As I have mentioned, he had no problems attempting to shoot Jabba the Hutt (who was basically just sitting there) at point blank range, and repeatedly threatening Jabba with death "Free us, or die." He's a Jedi Knight, not a Jedi Monk.

I just don't think Luke's actions were pre-meditated. I don't think he thought, he felt...acted on instinct. Once he used his brain, he realized his mistake. The movie says as much.

Yes. Why did Ben think Luke was going to kill him? Because Ben Solo was a dark sider and he knew that Luke had discovered this. Yes, Luke mishandled the situation, but Ben wasn't innocent in this regard.

Luke decided NOT to kill his nephew. Had Ben not gone all Revenge of the Sith on Luke, it seems reasonable enough to think that Luke would have tried to talk to Ben. No?

 

Luke absolutely made a mistake in turning on that saber. But the bigger mistake, the one which he should be addressing, was going into exile and not doing anything to solve the issue - outside of self-hatred and pity and a false belief that the galaxy was better off without him or the Jedi in it. Exile was the real Luke mistake. Not igniting his saber.

In that hut, Luke basically relived his entire OT experience. And before he even swung at his nephew, he stopped. He realized that this wasn't the way. Kylo defended himself and attacked Luke and the other students. But at this point, Luke shouldn't be in a place to want go into exile. He should be in a place where he's determined to help Ben, just like he did with his father.

 

And look how that turned out for his father. He died. Which is the point here I think. Luke's recalcitrance stems from the notion that any help that he could render would likely take the form of having to kill his nephew. Something that he wasn't prepared to do.

 

There are more than 2 options here though. Not killing his nephew is not the same as spending the next 6 years helping the galaxy from Ben. Or trying again to talk to him, even once. In fact, it's Luke's continued faith in his father's goodness, and Luke's own determination not to fall to the darkside and Palpatine's seduction, that ultimately inspires Vader to find his true self, once again, and return to the light.

I would guess that if Luke spent the next few years after that confrontation, trying to talk to Ben, or helping the GFFA, things wouldn't be as horrific as they would be if he went into exile because he can't kill his nephew.

Exile is Luke's true failing. Giving up after making a mistake is the true failing. Although the movie doesn't really care about that.

 

Not because of Luke's actions.

 

Even if Luke couldn't reach Kylo, the kindest thing he could do for his nephew would be to fight against the First Order and try to mitigate the damage they are causing, thus taking blood off Kylo's hands.