Clarifying Luke in The Last Jedi

This may be well known, but I feel like I should clarify based on some posts I've been reading.

Luke did not just "run and hide" after the academy slaughter. He went out and gained extensive understanding of the various different religions and ideologies associated with the Force.

He eventually located the original Jedi Temple on Acho-To, where he, as per the movie, decided that the Jedi doctrine was wrong and that he should die along with it.

It wasn't just a, "I failed Ben Solo, so now I'm going to go hide on Acho-To forever," like a lot of people seem to be belieivng.

Yeah but why didn't he first help defeat the First Order and restore the Republic and then let himself die?

(I mean, he eventually does, but that's besides the point)

Minor skirmishes aside, no major battles took place until the events of TFA.

With TFA, it's stated he was unaware of Starkiller Base or the destruction of the Republic.

Then he got aware and was indifferent.

Ideally he would've actually been hiding for a reason / had a secret plan.

He wasn't indifferent. He just lost faith in himself and didn't think someone of a failed old religion like him would be of use and perhaps just make things worse.

Sadly, the best scene explaining this will be in the deleted scenes section of the Bluray and is not in the movie, but this idea is conveyed in the movie nonetheless.

However, it's clear the losses shake him (hence going into the Falcon), and then with a nudge from R2 he decided to train Rey so that she can help out more.

Originally posted by DarthAnt66
He wasn't indifferent. He just lost faith in himself and didn't think someone of a failed old religion like him would be of use and perhaps just make things worse.

Sadly, the best scene explaining this will be in the deleted scenes section of the Bluray and is not in the movie, but this idea is conveyed in the movie nonetheless.

However, it's clear the losses shake him (hence going into the Falcon), and then with a nudge from R2 he decided to train Rey so that she can help out more.

"Train" Rey...not much real training tbh, wasn't really training.

Yeah, it's still pretty out of character for Luke to lose faith in himself or give up, he's like the last character in Star Wars who would do that. It's one thing to doubt the philosophy of his religion, another to just throw in the towel altogether. The salvation of the galaxy is not the same question as the ideological righteousness of the Jedi.

Sure, he had made a mistake - he also made mistakes throughout the OT and never gave up as a result.

I'm not sure why we should care how many steps it took him to come to the conclusion that he needed to go away and never come back. He still went away and never came back.

Originally posted by DarthAnt66
This may be well known, but I feel like I should clarify based on some posts I've been reading.

Luke did not just "run and hide" after the academy slaughter. He went out and gained extensive understanding of the various different religions and ideologies associated with the Force.

He eventually located the original Jedi Temple on Acho-To, where he, as per the movie, decided that the Jedi doctrine was wrong and that he should die along with it.

It wasn't just a, "I failed Ben Solo, so now I'm going to go hide on Acho-To forever," like a lot of people seem to be belieivng.

insufficient

I only saw the movie once so I may not have honed on certain one or two lines of dialogue, but the movie definitely came across as the incident with Kylo causing him to "run and hide" or whatever. Even Mark Hamil describes it that way, so I don't think it's an inaccurate point of view. And frankly, it's not even Luke's decision to give up which gets me. It's that the movie didn't do a good job of properly transitioning such a major shift in character. I think there was enough there to make him go the Ahsoka or Jolee Bindo route, but that's about it.

Originally posted by The Ellimist
Then he got aware and was indifferent.

Ideally he would've actually been hiding for a reason / had a secret plan.

Luke was always going to be in an exile of his own choosing. Even when Lucas held the reins.

Originally posted by Dark-Kenshin
And based on the way TFA was written, that looks like the original intention. Rian decided to be "edgy" and "deconstruct" the classic tropes and characters. And for some points of the film, it worked (Rey and Kylo joining forces). For other parts of the movie, not so much (Luke Skywalker). And off topic, but how awesome would it have been if Luke actually showed blocked all of that blaster fire and fought Kylo in person? 🙂

Yeah Luke crushing those AT-ATs would have been so awesome.

I'm glad they didn't go that route. The way they went about it made Luke look like a true Jedi Master and not merely a powerful one. He managed to save the Rebellion and hold off an army and he did it all without lifting a weapon or even hurting a single person. It's great and ties back perfectly with what he learned from Yoda in ESB ("wars not make one great", "knowledge and defense, never for attack"😉 and with how he ultimately beat Sidious through pacifism rather than battle.

I also don't want to see the retarded power levels where characters are throwing around Star Destroyers and slaughtering armies. Keep that kinda shit in the comics and books not in the films or TV shows.

Originally posted by ares834
The way they went about it made Luke look like a true Jedi Master and not merely a powerful one. He managed to save the Rebellion and hold off an army and he did it all without lifting a weapon or even hurting a single person. It's great and ties back perfectly with what he learned from Yoda in ESB ("wars not make one great", "knowledge and defense, never for attack"😉 and with how he ultimately beat Sidious through pacifism rather than battle.

👆

I think it’s the post ROTS Jedi Philosophy. They were soldiers and warriors all through TCW and saw how that turned out.

Luke is the Avatar of the new Jedi order/philosophy. Yoda and Obi-Wan learned through their mistakes in TCW, just as Luke learned from his at the end of TLJ.

It's a shit movie made by a guy who thinks he's too smart for Star Wars. There's nothing to explain.

Originally posted by ares834
I'm glad they didn't go that route. The way they went about it made Luke look like a true Jedi Master and not merely a powerful one. He managed to save the Rebellion and hold off an army and he did it all without lifting a weapon or even hurting a single person. It's great and ties back perfectly with what he learned from Yoda in ESB ("wars not make one great", "knowledge and defense, never for attack"😉 and with how he ultimately beat Sidious through pacifism rather than battle.

I also don't want to see the retarded power levels where characters are throwing around Star Destroyers and slaughtering armies. Keep that kinda shit in the comics and books not in the films or TV shows.

It's just unfortunate that his plan completely and 100% depended on Kylo being an manchild and Rey being able to plot-armor through the boulders at the back of the cave.

Imagine if instead of trying to march into the cave the FO had just fired the super door buster thingy again and incinerated everyone inside.

Originally posted by DarthAnt66
This may be well known, but I feel like I should clarify based on some posts I've been reading.

Luke did not just "run and hide" after the academy slaughter. He went out and gained extensive understanding of the various different religions and ideologies associated with the Force.

He eventually located the original Jedi Temple on Acho-To, where he, as per the movie, decided that the Jedi doctrine was wrong and that he should die along with it.

It wasn't just a, "I failed Ben Solo, so now I'm going to go hide on Acho-To forever," like a lot of people seem to be belieivng.

Ah, right. It's on the floor of the editing room because they needed more screen time for PETA's endorsement scenes and On Hold jokes.