Why wasn't Luke brought up on AWOL charges?

After Hoth, he failed to meet up with the rest of his unit and basically didn't come back until the Endor mission. He should of been thrown in the brig for going AWOL.

 

Exactly. After Luke saved the galaxy by destroying the Empire, he was immediatly arrested, because he went AWOL to learn from a Jedi Master which would be a steping stone in saving the galaxy.

This thread makes a whole lot of sense.

 

I guess you haven't served in the military. If you had, you'd know where my joke was coming from. They don't care what your reasons are for not being there...

 

The Rebel Alliance's military structure is extremely loose. It has to be; any standard military style would have led to their quick downfall.

How else would Han and Lando have become Generals so quickly?

 

Heck, we dont even know if Luke was paid for being in the rebel alliance. Did he sign any contract ?

 

I don't know about a contract, but Luke was receiving compensation. I've seen no evidence that he had any kind of money, so at the very least, he was getting food, board, and transportation from the Rebels. Whether that really constitutes an agreement of any sort I'm not sure.

-Paul

 

Well Han didn't have to ask to leave the Alliance when he was on Hoth when he basically told them he couldn't stay anymore and was leaving. Maybe Luke had the same kind of understanding with the Rebels.

 

In the original ESB novelization, Artoo pointed out to Luke that they had orders to make the rendevous, and Luke replied that he was countermanding them, and Artoo was forced to acknowledge that as a commander, he had that authority.
That doesn't explain his long absence, but in ROTJ, when Luke goes back to Dagobah, Leia reminds him that the fleet should be fully assembled "by now." I suspect this was a generally chaotic period for the rebellion, with a lot of ships, like the Falcon, getting run off course while trying to get away from Hoth, and all together taking a lot of time to get back to the fleet, and a lot was overlooked as a result. Certainly when the Falcon brought him to the fleet at the end of ESB lacking a hand, they were sure to figure he just had a rough time getting there.
For the operation on Jabba, I assume they had some sort of permission, since the Falcon's departure from the fleet at the end of ESB wasn't a very sneaky one. Luke's last side-trip to Dagobah didn't take very long, so as a commander, he probably could get away with it no problem.

 

Han wasn't officially a Rebel soldier like Luke was.

 

Luke is a Jedi in training. The rebellion leaders knew that. He can come and go as need be. Besides the rebellion won't press charges on him for running off and getting Jedi training anyways..

 

The Alliance was a rag-tag army anyway. I mean they let some of their top officers, mainly Leia and Luke go and rescue Han from a gangster on Tatooine that probably looked like a suicide mission to most. I'm sure they properly filled out the request for time off papers though.

 

True..


I'm sure they properly filled out the request for time off papers though.

Maybe..

 

Still, the right thing for Luke to do was to have told someone he was leaving for a while for training. When he didnt meet up with them, they probably thought he was dead.

 

As was said earlier, the rebel forces weren't an official, follow every rule by the book military. They were pretty flexible with their top people. Anyways, having a Jedi is more valuble to the rebels than having a really good fighter jock.

It was best that he didn't tell anyone what he was up to, since he was following the orders of force ghost Obi Wan. Following the order of your Jedi mentor supercedes rebellion orders in my opinion. Once he returned to the fleet, I doubt anyone would even bring up where he was and why he was gone. Leia can vouch for him and her word is pretty much law..

 

I guess you haven't served in the military. If you had, you'd know where my joke was coming from. They don't care what your reasons are for not being there...

Ok, fair enough...interestingly, in the NJO series a Senator running for Chief of State pointed this exact issue out with Luke. But it was used to show the guy was a jerk. And that it was petty. Did Luke techically do the wrong thing? Maybe. But he got that pass maybe because he was the superstar of the rebellion and he could use the Force. He's like the star player on the basketball that has his own set of rules.

 

HAN: "General, I've got to leave. I can't stay anymore.
RIEEKAN: I'm sorry to hear that.
HAN: Well, there's a price on my head. If I don't pay off Jabba the
Hut, I'm a dead man.
RIEEKAN: A death mark's not an easy thing to live with. You're a good
fighter, Solo. I hate to lose you.
HAN: Thank you, General."
It didn't matter if Luke left to go train. As already said: the Alliance was extremely loose!

 

He joined back up at the end of Empire.

 

Why didn't Luke get into trouble for going AWOL? Simple: Leia.

It's not what you know, it's who you know that's important. This is true now. And it was true a long time ago, in a galaxy far far away. Leia could easily defend Luke's actions, and nobody would question too much farther than that.

Of course, it also helps that he was already the hero of two (or more) major battles (Hoth and Yavin).

 

How do we know that he didn't tell Mon Mothma ahead of time, with the request not to tell Leia? For all we know, Luke had the blessing of the Alliance leadership.

 

True, we dont know either way. But it may have been good to show it on screen to show Lukes caring about the others.

He's like the star player on the basketball that has his own set of rules.



They are called prima donnas. Is that what Luke should be shown as ?????

 

what happens when real questions are asked of sci-fi fantacy movies. but, it is a plot hole.

 

It's not a plot hole, it's unimportant.

"omgplothole" gets thrown around faaaaar too much on these boards...

 

Honestly, who really gives a **** whether or not Luke was AWOL. It's not important to the story. This is sci-fantasy, not a military drama..

 

i don't see this as being a big deal. he was going for training which could possibly help combat the empire in the future. that was the greater good

 

Heh. Instead of Return of the Jedi, we would have had Luke Skywalker THX 1138 instead.