Why do people want Luke Skywalker to die?

Ever since the Legacy of the Force book series have come out, I've been on various message boards and the majority want Luke to die...and I can't help but think, "why?" Killing off Luke is like killing off Yoda, it can't be done. Luke is the most powerful Jedi ever, he cannot die, he has the will of the force with him. Luke represents the full power of Anakin Skywalker if he stayed on the light side. If I see Jacen kill Luke, I'm done with the Expanded Universe. I'll also be done with it if he "sacrifices" himself to save another person. It's been done before with Obi-Wan...anyways that's my rant...

 

Well Yoda WAS killed off.

Basically, a lot of people feel that Luke Skywalker has become a bit like Chief Sitting Bull. An odd comparison but effectively, the once great Indian Leader effectively gets trotted out everytime someone needs cash. No one apparently has any new stories for Luke Skywalker since the past 20 or so book have Luke meandering about and looking ignorant or misguided. He's just there as a marketing gimmick.

Since the Next Generation grew up, they're like the Hardy Boys where Dad looks like an idiot by being constantly shown up by his kids. Yet, the Next Generation can never truly come into its own because fans expect a certain amount of page time devoted to Luke despite the fact that they usually only have him sleeping or commenting on Ben.

It's a rather undignified end for a man that saved the galaxy on many an occasion as the Star of his own books and comic series.

 

Well he may not die in LOTF, but Luke will die eventually. I mean, yeah, he's powerful. There's no one contesting that, but he's still only human. And I just don't really see them giving him a peaceful death. It would be nice, but I would be surprised if it happened...

As for why... he's been running around saving the galaxy (and I do mean that literally) for over 40 years. He's due for a rest, but it seems like both the the authors believe Luke would be unable to take an active role unless necessary, so he remains fully active. If he would just sit back and play the "Wise, venerable Jedi Master" guy, I'd be fine, but that doesn't seem likely. And one way or another, he deserves a rest.

 

I understand that he needs to die...but I want him to go out peacefully like Yoda did. I don't want anyone to kill him, because that would just be stupid.

 

I just want him to stop...to retire...but that will not happen unless he dies...he's to easy a cash cow for them to willingly retire.

EVEN DEAD, he appears as a force ghost already.

It simply is the only way for Star Wars to get past him.

 

Well it's the problem of the fact that he's not a character that would. It's like everyone keeps trying to turn him into Yoda when he's Anakin Skywalker's son. It's like trying to make Batman happy go lucky, it's POSSIBLE to write him that way but there's something wrong with this picture.

Yoda was a man that enjoyed teaching, introspection, and relaxing with his glimmer stick amongst the children. Luke still loves taking his lightsaber out and owning the bad guy's ass.

He's Mace Windu and you can't imagine Mace Windu staying out of it can you?

 

The biggest problem with that is that in order to justify a 60 year old Luke running around saving the galaxy like he's still 30, as everyone has said "60 is the new 40", and from what I've gathered here and there, people live until there early hundreds? So Luke is unlikely to die peacefully for another 50-60 years. So it's either they retire him (as already stated the authors seem unwilling to let him just be a cool guy in the background) or he has to be killed off. Yes it sucks.

 

Why not let it be?

Luke Skywalker continues around like Qui Gon Jinn, kicking ass and taking names. Let the next Generation go study poetry or something.

Leave the fighting to General Patton with a lightsaber.

 

We're just going to have to agree to disagree. I think he should retire (along with Leia and Han) and be the venerated old master and give the lime light to the new generation (and expand that group). You think he should keep kicking ass and taking names. As their both are opinions I doubt we'll convince the other that we're right, so just agree to disagree.

 

But now we also have the Legacy comic series. And it shows Luke dead and so we now have a timeline to work. (Although I think the comic series is crap-the sith are back AGAIN? Yeah right...)

 

I think there's also the sense of his effect on characters surrounding him...

In LOTF, we'll probably see:

1) Jaina step out of his shadow and fulfill the Sword of the Jedi claim by taking her brother to school. Afterwards, she will be the most powerful Jedi in terms of combat ability.

2) Ben finally reconcile himself with his family and the burden of being a Skywalker. He'll understand why Luke has done what he has done, and they will accept each other.

3) Mastership of the Jedi Order as a whole might eventually be handed over to someone else, someone who is more like Yoda and less like Anakin Skywalker--a true long-term thinker and philosopher. Luke's really a very good sword, as his father was and as his nephew Anakin was as well.

Once all those three are fulfilled, which seems to be the direction the series is going in, then Luke's affairs are settled for him to go bye-bye. Besides, Mara's gone now, and since I stand on the side that she was really The One for Luke, I'm not sure that he'll really want to survive her for too long. Might pull a Ben Kenobi thing and sacrifice himself to Jacen, letting the younger generation take him out.

 

But is there really going to BE a younger generation after this series? Jacen could die, and I don't think I'd want to see him redeemed, and I know I wouldn't want books to be dedicated about Zekk and Jaina. Too bad they killed Anakin...if they didn't then I could see them killing off Luke.

 

honestly, I think that is part of Legacy...I don't believe we are going to see a complete filling up the Legacy...at least not in the immediate...and MOST of that will be retroactive in continuity as Legacy needs to explain the origins of new characters, free from a backstory.

Now certainly, there will be more books, especially since nobody else important will die in LOTF. But I don't anticipate the next contract for books to go much further along the existing timeline...10 years...maybe 20...the rest belongs to Legacy.

 

Count Dooku was active in his early-mid eighties. Luke is significantly more powerful than Dooku. I say let Luke be active and lead the Jedi until he's 85 or so, then have him retire, write his memoirs, and go on a galaxy wide speaking tour, and eventually die in peace.

 

"Count Dooku was active in his early-mid eighties. Luke is significantly more powerful than Dooku. I say let Luke be active and lead the Jedi until he's 85 or so, then have him retire, write his memoirs, and go on a galaxy wide speaking tour, and eventually die in peace."

Count Dooku: Evil... why are you comparing him to Luke?
Luke: Very, very powerful, agreed.

Die in peace? What are you smoking! And why aren't you SHARING!!! ^_^ But come on... having Luke die pitifully in his sleep like some old geezer would just be so dull! Come on! If he's gonna go, it's gonna be battling for something or someone he believes in.

 

But if we goes out in a blaze of glory it's not right...he is the most powerful jedi ever, and seeing him die in combat would be weak.

 

Not that I agree he should be killed off or anything, but really it's a 'problem' with all of the old characters.

Don't particularly want Luke to be killed off, nor do I want him to vanish/be a bit part. It just seems like with all of the younger generations (minus Jacen) getting only a few appearances in each book, and sometimes not at all that they won't have any characters ready to take over if/when Luke does indeed die or go into 'retirement', when they did at the end of the NJO so in many ways it's going backwards.

Personally don't think killing him would be the solution and neither would turning him into a oracle of sorts that people go talk to occasionally. Just needs to be a balance so that Luke, Han, Leia etc are still major characters, but not so major that it is just them. Really the young ones like Kyp (yes I count him as a 'young' one when compared to Luke etc, and he's just a prime example of being horribly under used) and then even younger with Jaina, Tahiri etc should be Major characters in their own right rather than just popping up occasionally whilst almost all the action or 'saving the day' is still done by Luke and co.

Nothing wrong with Luke saving the day, nor with Han and Leia. The problem is that is all that is happening now it seems when really they have all these other characters they could develop and explore, alongside Luke etc, who are just getting pushed further and further out of the main story.

Killing him won't really solve anything though because any sense of progression by the younger generations has been blown apart by more recent books where they're almost back to apprentice stage of involvement when they're all Knights if not Masters.

The one thing I don't understand about the argument that you have to either have him saving the day or turn him into Yoda/Kill him is that, why are those the only choices?, whats to stop them changing it from Luke/Han/Leia saving the day all the time to Luke, Lowbacca and Zekk say or Han and Kyp sometimes. A bit of variety can't hurt can it?

 

Because Luke's basically tapped out as far as interesting stories go, but at the same time as long as he's hanging around new characters won't have a chance to shine. He needs to go.

Fixed.

 

I'll agree with Ethelwulf. I really don't want Luke to die, but the authors seem to refuse to let him play less of a role in any way. There's a potentially huge cast, but the focus remains on the Big Three with an almost equal focus solely on Jacen and a little bit less on Ben. Beyond that, almost everyone (including Jaina) is given a bit part, except for the current author's favorite group and/or character which suddenly becomes a huge mover and shaker for the duration of that book then gone for the next few books.

The problem comes in that other than the death of the Big Three I don't see the authors and/or the DR guys who are in charge of deciding the direction of the series making a decision that would alter from that plan. If Luke, Leia and Han are alive they have been, and probably are going to continued to be placed in a very major position, overshadowing almost everyone else.

Mind you, if I'm wrong, I'd be thrilled. If the started playing up the other characters (Jaina, Kyp, Zekk, Jag, Syal, and maybe some completely new characters) and had those characters appearing more than 3-4 times for an entire book, I'd completely change my tune.

 

Yeah, I agree, I don't want Luke to die, I just want to see the other characters to get a share of the limelight!

 

They need to take him, Han Solo, and the rest out of the main spotlight and focus on the next generation.

Why the hell can't Luke be Grand Master till he is 100? I see no problems with that at all. My problem is that being the active jedi and what not is not the way to go. GL won't let people alter the character significantly enough to show character growth (whcih makes sense if he wants to do a movie about him later on).

Luke, Han and the rest should have little to do with teh main plot of these books.

 

Well, the classical "hero´s hourney" ends with the HERO becoming the mentor of his next generation of heros, as he was the protegé of his own mentor in the first steps.

I could see some of this in NJO. Otherwise not me favourite series, I loved the younger knights getting the spotlights from time to time. And him acting more as a head of the order. But this changed between authors.

In Dark Nest I felt it should have been his farwell, taking out two great evil the same time.

But actually he lacks one quality to get the wise Jedi Master. Wisdom. I LotF I feel him acting like a nice, good-hearted Jedi Kngiht. Not even a Master. He doesn´t dare to make any conclusions. How could he tell others what to do?

 

Count Dooku being evil had nothing to do with his physical activity into his mid-eighties.

I don't see any way Luke could be killed and not have it be anti-climatic after all he faced for 40+ years. No death could do him justice other than natural causes imo.

 

Which is why I said they refuse to let him grow.

Essentially what you see with Han, Luke and Leia, and even Lando is they are stuck in the movie roles they played. They haven't grown up much at all.

Luke is still the idealistic, bright eyed young man that he was 40 years ago. They try to keep him in the same role of blundering Jedi Knight with no guidance. However he has been doing this job for the last 30+ years, training and mentoring a whole generation of Jedi.

If they cna't develop him beyond his current role then thy need to have him and the rest of the gang take several steps back.

 

I'd say put someone else in charge of the Jedi Order, which Luke has admitted he isn't very good at, and let Luke return to just being a Jedi Master.

On the age note, I went to Wookiepedia which says the average life span for humans is 120, while some Jedi have lived until 200. So Luke really isn't that old.