Summary
Warning! Spoilers forStar Wars: Darth Vader#48 ahead!Luke Skywalkerwas never intended to be a paragon of the light side of the Force and theStar Warscomics recently confirmed the Original Trilogy Luke’s relationship with the Force would have been closer to Legends canon. Fans have debated Luke’s relationship with the Force and the Jedi Doctrine for decades, with little confirmation outside ofMark Hamill’s opinions or the occasional George Lucas comment. Finally, fans have answers.
Star Wars: Darth Vader#48 by Greg Pak and Raffaele Ienco follows the final moments of the Galactic Empire before the events ofReturn of the Jedi. In this issue, Darth Vader secretly employs one ofPadmé’s closest handmaidensto push Luke into giving in to the dark side of the Force.
Vader has had visions of the impending conflict with Emperor Palpatine and has been trying to prepare his son to withstand the Emperor’s power. Luke momentarily gives in to his frustration before forgiving Padmé’s handmaiden, affirming thathe is not a Sith, but also not afraid of his stronger emotions.
What “Jedi” Actually Means In Star Wars Lore
The origin of the Jedi name is rooted in ancient history of Star Wars Legends, and defined their relationship to the Force for millennia.
Luke Skywalker Admits That There is Wiggle Room in the Force
Balance Means Allowing Both Sides of the Force to Prosper
When Padmé’s handmaiden, Sabé, looks at Luke,she sees his mother more than she does his father, but she is terrified that Luke may also have Vader’s same sinisteraffinity to the dark side. After disarming Sabé and pinning her in a vulnerable position, Luke retracts his lightsaber and speaks to her once again as the friends they were. “Just like that, huh? We’ve gotta beperfector we’redoomed? I mean, we have to have a little wiggle room here…don’t we?” he says. “I’m not perfect, Sabé. But I am not my father.“This version of Luke understands the relationship between both sides of the Forceand assures Sabé that it’s healthy and normal to embrace one’s emotions. Luke knows he’s being watched, he knows he’s being pushed, he knows what’s coming next.
When fans see Luke inReturn of the Jedi, his demeanor has changed wildly from the previous two films. Calm, collected, and clad in all-black, Luke is confident in himself and the Force when he faces Vader and the Emperor. His strength doesn’t come from an over-dependence onJedi ideology, but rather from embracing his belief in what “balance” is supposed to mean within the Force. Unfortunately, by the time of the Sequel Trilogy, Luke’s relationship with the Force has become cynical and distant.Luke has been deprived of the single most important quality that made him a hero: acceptance.
Luke Skywalker Faces the Biggest Test of His Yellow Lightsaber Era - Harnessing the Dark Side
Luke Skywalker’s ‘Yellow Lightsaber Era’ in Star Wars canon is coming to an end, and with it, his apparent venture into the ways of the dark side.
George Lucas Intended for Luke and Anakin to Represent True Balance
Like Father and Son, the Skywalkers Were One With the Force
TheStar Wars: Darth Vadercomic series isn’t the first timeStar Wars, its actors, or even George Lucas himself have confirmed where Luke sits between the opposing sides of the Force. As early as the Original Trilogy,the progression of Luke’s training clearly shows his trajectory as a wielder of the Force.ByReturn of the Jedi,Luke is trained to embrace his inner balance on a planet directly linked to the dark side. George Lucas admitted in an interview withThe Los Angeles Timesthat this was always the point of Luke andStar Warsas a whole.
“I wanted to have this mythological footing because I was basing the films on the idea that the Force has two sides, the good side, the evil side, and they both need to be there. Most religions are built on that, whether it’s called yin and yang, God and the devil–everything is built on the push-pull tension created by two sides of the equation. Right from the very beginning, that was the key issue in ‘Star Wars.’”
“The issues Darth struggles with as he grows older are the same issues that everybody struggles with, the fact that sometimes they don’t consider the consequences of what they’re doing because it’s not expedient.”
By the time ofthe Sequel Trilogy, whether it be Disney or Lucasfilm, Luke has lost the point he was designed to be the proxy of. One cannot exist without embracing both halves of the self, otherwise, you will tear yourself apart trying to ignore one or the other. While the most recentStar Warsmovies have failed to embrace Lucas’s initial characterization of Luke, the modern canon comics, likeStar Wars: Darth Vader,have become such a fresh approach to whatLuke Skywalker’s better-balanced Jedi Order could have been.
Sources:Mark Hamillvia Twitter/X,The Los Angeles Times
Luke Skywalker
The son of Anakin Skywalker and Padmé Amidala, Luke was brought up on the desert planet Tatooine. Initially mentored by Obi-Wan Kenobi, Luke fired the fateful shot that destroyed the Death Star, and he became a rebel hero. Despite the fears of Obi-Wan and Yoda, Luke’s faith in his father was proved well-founded when Vader returned to the light. With the Emperor defeated, Luke dedicated himself to bringing back the Jedi; his first attempt ended in tragedy due to Palpatine’s manipulations, but Luke’s legacy lives on in Rey.
