WARNING: The following contains spoilers from Star Wars #16, on sale now from Marvel Comics.
Luke Skywalker’s character in The Last Jedi was divisive and practically divided the Star Wars fanbase in half. For some fans, the issue at hand was that Luke walked away from his responsibilities and cut himself off from the Force after Ben Solo turned to the dark side. To a lot of people, it seemed contrary to the hopeful character that they had come to know and love.
While the film ultimately used Luke to highlight the idea that growth should come out of failure, Star Wars #16 — by Charles Soule, Ramon Rosanas, Rachelle Rosenberg and VC’s Clayton Cowles – adds to a younger Luke’s characterization by once again having him fail so that he can grow from his mistakes.
Luke Skywalker Was Broken Before The Last Jedi
After Return of the Jedi, Luke Skywalker seemed destined for a happy ending, but that didn’t happen in Star Wars Legends or in Disney’s official canon. In both continuities, Luke starts a new Jedi Order and his apprentice — Han and Leia’s son — falls to the Dark Side. Neither version shows a perfect version of Luke, but The Last Jedi seemingly takes his character down a far darker, more unlikely path. His failed attempt at training his nephew hit him so hard that he walked away from everything and separated himself from the Force. While this seemed odd to many fans, what he did is kind of a Star Wars tradition.
Failure has always been a part of the Star Wars galaxy. To name a few, Obi-Wan failed Anakin, Anakin failed as a Jedi, Yoda failed to prevent the Sith from reemerging, Luke failed his test in the Dagobah cave, Obi-Wan and Yoda failed to convince Luke to stay on Dagobah, Han and Leia failed as Ben Solo’s parents, and Rey failed to see the light in Ben and nearly killed him. With all that in mind, it shouldn’t have been so surprising to see Luke fail as Ben Solo’s master.
While these still doesn’t excuse or explain some parts of Luke’s downfall, the whole story arc works to deconstruct the legend of Luke Skywalker and put a focus on his humanity as someone who was afraid of the consequences of his actions. However, as the climax of the film showed, Luke finally understood that he didn’t need to be perfect and that he could grow from his failure. That’s what allowed him to come back, face defeat head-on and become stronger for it. His actions saved the Resistance, and they allowed him to become one with the Force after years of being separated from it.
Luke Skywalker’s Failures Continue
This new comic issue puts Luke in a similar position of failure during the “War of the Bounty Hunters” crossover. The major happening in the galaxy is that Han Solo’s carbonite-frozen body is a hot commodity. The captain has been stolen from Boba Fett after The Empire Strikes Back and is being auctioned off by the crime syndicate Crimson Dawn. Meanwhile, Darth Vader also wants to acquire Solo as a means of luring Luke out of hiding.
The issue opens with Luke en route to a rescue attempt. He is meeting Leia, Lando and Chewbacca to try and re-steal Han Solo. While on the way, though, it’s apparent that Luke hasn’t gotten over his fight with Darth Vader as he talks through the experience with R2-D2. Then, he starts to think about what would happen if he were forced to fight Vader again. Despite trying to remain confident, that doesn’t last long. He imagines being impaled and bisected as the dark lord exacts his revenge after not killing Luke the first time. Vader was clearly in his head, and Luke even had trouble perceiving the Force in that moment because he was petrified by his fear. As he makes contact with Leia, who is already down on the planet’s surface, he learns that Vader is there too. His father communicates with him through the Force and tells him to come down and fight, or else Solo will die.
It’s the same predicament that Luke faced in The Empire Strikes Back. Then, he was willing to fight Vader to save his friends, but now he just can’t do it. He’s so afraid of facing Vader again that he basically leaves Han to his fate and runs away. This might seem like a devastating character development, but it’s the same thing that happened in The Last Jedi. This time, he failed to act and save Han, but in Return of the Jedi, he came back stronger and ready to face Vader and save the entire Rebellion from the Death Star.
Luke Skywalker’s Greatest Strength Was Anakin’s Weakness
Ultimately, this is all part of the classic hero’s journey: Luke repeatedly has to be broken to be made whole, and all of that fear and defeat only makes him stronger. And in Star Wars, coming to terms with his frailty and the limits of his powers is what makes Luke a true Jedi. Star Wars has never been about becoming the most powerful Jedi that can overpower the dark side. It’s always been about finding a way to do the right thing and allowing hope to endure, and Luke is a perfect example.
While Luke understands this, his father, Anakin, didn’t grow from his fear. Rather, Anakin is defeated by the very thought of defeat and of loss in general. When Padme’s life is threatened in Anakin’s dreams, his only solution is to continue getting more powerful, even at the cost of betraying commitments to the Jedi Order, his family and the Force itself. If Anakin wouldn’t have been so fixated on power, he would have been able to grow from his mistakes like Luke. Even though he never grasped those lessons, Luke did, and that’s a big part of why he ultimately surpassed his father as the galaxy’s greatest Jedi.
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