I rather have an interesting and engaging character than what we got in the EU with Luke.
I read through all of the CT, YJK, NJO, LOTF, and FOTJ fairly recently (within the last several years) for the DCRT and Luke was bland as ****.
While some have, the vast majority of everyone commenting have not read through a lot of these post-ROTJ EU books. They're going off preconceived notions of Luke from the segments they've read in forum debates or Wookieepedia and contrasting it with The Last Jedi, which isn't a fair analysis. I challenge anyone to read through the entirety of CT, YJK, NJO, LOTF, and FOTJ and tell me by the end that Luke's portrayal was interesting. I'm confident the vast majority will come back from it and tell me, "yeah, you're right, he was boring, uninteresting, and generally one-dimensional." That's not to say Luke doesn't have some great moments, but for the most part he doesn't whatsoever.
__________________ "There is only Revan. Only he can shape this galaxy as it is meant to be shaped."
Last edited by Jaggarath on Dec 21st, 2017 at 04:02 PM
Also, people are vastly underestimating the sheer amount of plot inconsistencies revolving around Luke in the EU. I can't tell you how many times he could have ended a galactic conflict but let the main villain escape for no reason whatsoever. One fight comes to mind where it was him and Mara vs Lumiya and another Dark Jedi. For no reason whatsoever, Luke toyed with Lumiya for no reason, allowing her to escape and Mara to come radically close to death. The ****?
And then there's the monstrosity that is Dark Empire, which directly and irrevocably destroys the entirety of Return of the Jedi. No, in the comic, Luke does not fall to the dark-side because he's mind-****ed by the Emperor. That's purely from the audio-drama which perhaps three people bought in the initial release. Most other EU works reflecting back on Dark Empire also echo the sentiment that Luke willingly joined the Emperor. It's a total disgrace.
__________________ "There is only Revan. Only he can shape this galaxy as it is meant to be shaped."
Registered: Jun 2016
Location: The Throne of the Sheevites
Um, no. He bent the knee to Sheev to learn the dark side from within to understand how to destroy it à la Ulic Qel-Droma, and also because he didn't want to strike down the Emperor in anger i.e. falling to the dark side, not mention he would have been utterly annihilated in an actual fight with Palpatine, a sentiment echoed by many sources.
So his options were:
to attempt to strike down Palpatine in anger, which would have risked him falling to the dark side and taken his character developement backwards. That he didn't shows he has learned from his mistakes in Return of the Jedi where he actually did attempt to murder Sheev.
to strike down the Emperor in peace, which would have led to the Emperor simply being reborn, and Luke dying horribly.
to trick the Emperor into believing he had joined him, but secretly holding on to the light, which would ensure he got access to some of the Emperor's most valuable Force-related and military information.
So he did the only logical thing. Never once did he have any intention of actually serving Palpatine as a genuine apprentice or abandoning his friends, which is made quite clear when, you know, he sabotages the Emperor's plans repeatedly, and actually takes advantages of his position of power to save the entire planet of Mon Calamari, and also the New Republic fleet battling there. The only time he ever goes fully to the dark side is when Palpatine mentally enslaves him, which is not a valid criticism on Luke's character, and it does happen in the comic too, so you're incorrect about that one.
I can understand the notion that Sidious coming back to life devalues Return of the Jedi and Anakin's sacrifice. Those are fair points. However I never have heard someone say Luke was butchered until now, and I honestly find that sentence baffling. He stuck true to his character even in the most dire of situations, and never really abandoned his friends or his beliefs. Him joining the Emperor actually reflects on his growth since the Original Trilogy: he's not a naïve, overly idealistic kid anymore, and doesn't attempt to fight the Emperor for the sake of some supposedly noble idea of self-sacrifice, which would've accomplished absolutely nothing to halt the Emperor's plans and actually leave the Republic worse off since the last fully-fledged Jedi would've been dead (him defying the Emperor in Return of the Jedi is an amazing scene and one of Luke's defining moments, I agree, but his entire plan was hinged on Vader's redemption, which was essentially gambling on the fate of the entire universe - a gamble which very well may not have succeeded). And he understands that striking down an opponent in anger is not the way, which is what he learned in Return of the Jedi, and holds true to that. Him joining Palpatine was the only logical decision there - all others would've led to a net-negative outcome - and it doesn't diminish his character at all. Not to mention the plot idea of Luke wanting to understand what made his father choose the dark side, and what is so alluring about it, was intriguing.
Registered: Jun 2016
Location: The Throne of the Sheevites
Addendum: we also get more developement for Luke, and his parallels with and differences to Anakin are interesting. In the movies, when Anakin is presented with power, he accepts; when Luke is in the same situation, he declines the offer. Once Anakin is in that position of power, he holds on to it at the expense of all else, even the lives of his family; in Dark Empire, when Luke reaches the second highest position of power in the entire galaxy, he throws it all away for the sake of others. So essentially, it's what Lucas described: Anakin says yes, Luke says no. It's quite a neat concept, and Dark Empire explores it implicitly but well, in my opinion.
Yeah, Az has it right. In terms of Luke's actions, DE is okay.
Although Dark Empire as a whole truly sucks cock, ngl.
__________________
They are angry because they have been forced to recognize that their hour has arrived; that the time has come to surrender power to Shimrra and the new order."
I honestly like the force aspects of DE, but the whole "Sidious comes back x times!" shit was shit story writing. It also set the trend of NR books that we need new, OP superweapons for every book.
Registered: Jun 2016
Location: The Throne of the Sheevites
Palpatine returning makes sense in the context of the rest of the mythos: lesser Sith have lived on as spirits. However, from a story standpoint, it is questionable. It could have been executed a lot worse, though, but also a lot better.
Registered: Mar 2017
Location: Sith shrine below the Jedi Temple
I reckon the best Legends content was the Thrawn trilogy, my only real qualms were that Luke was basically a *****.
__________________ The Sith are not placid stars but singularities. Rather than burn with muted purpose, we warp space and time to twist the galaxy to our own design. - Darth Plagueis
Registered: Mar 2017
Location: Sith shrine below the Jedi Temple
I meant that in terms of underpowered, not his character.
Is the recent canon Thrawn novel any good?
__________________ The Sith are not placid stars but singularities. Rather than burn with muted purpose, we warp space and time to twist the galaxy to our own design. - Darth Plagueis
Registered: Jun 2016
Location: The Throne of the Sheevites
Eh, that could be debated. The point of the sacrifice wasn't the Emperor's death, but Anakin's redemption, and that Luke was right and the Jedi of old were wrong. I personally don't see Palpatine's return diminishing that.
And only Palpatine is over-the-top in DE, tbh, and even he was significantly scaled back in DE II and EE.
Registered: Jun 2016
Location: The Throne of the Sheevites
Eh, it showcases the advancing technology, which I'd argue DE pulls off better than most stories. I don't see a problem with the World Devastators; they're actually thematically relevant to Palpatine's ultimate plan. The Eclipse superlaser wasn't as powerful as the Death Star anyway, and the Galaxy Gun makes sense, honestly, even if it was overpowered.
DE was may more restrained with its superweapons than TOR for example, lmao.
Registered: Jun 2016
Location: The Throne of the Sheevites
It's not really that extreme, if you look at how fast technology develops in our real world. Not that fiction has to follow the real world rules, but still. And the tech for the World Devastators and the Eclipse already existed anyway; the the former were more advanced versions of the Star Forge that had been around for over 30 000 years, and the latter wasn't even as powerful as the first Death Star. And the missiles of the Galaxy Gun contain a particle disintegrator, which simply causes a nuclear chain reaction that changes matter into energy. Not to mention the Gun malfunctioned once, meaning the tech for it hadn't been perfected.
Really, I see nothing unreasonable about DE's superweapons.
Dec 21st, 2017 03:28 PM
