I have been re-watching Star Wars videos again, and of course they sparked emotions for me. I have not been shy about what I think about the Last Jedi and Rise of Skywalker.
I have been rather vocal on the subject, really, again, again, and again. For context, I have mentioned this before I am sure, but I watched the Original Trilogy when I was in Kindergarten. I named my first dog, Chewbacca, built a duplo block X-Wing, and painted broom handles to look like lightsabers. As well as using my Dad’s tractors as cockpits for said X-Wings. Whether I like it are not this story has been a part of my life for a long time now.
But what I wanted to discuss was, this misconception that Luke is a hero like Achilles or Odysseus. He’s actually not, Anakin has more in common with Achilles than Luke. Luke is not an active hero, nor is he a clever hero. He’s a passive hero. He reacts to what the villains are doing, not the other way around.
Luke wouldn’t have gotten involved with the Rebellion if his Uncle and Aunt had not been killed. He was actually more eager to join the Academy, which is the Empire. Luke is passive. He only chose to go with Obi-Wan Kenobi after their deaths. He only joined the Rebellion, because of their deaths. It wasn’t for a noble reason, it was in anger, which is a big part of his character.
Luke, if you take episodes 4 to 8, is Sisyphus.
He is always trying to do the right thing, in regards to stopping the Empire, then redeeming his father, but fails. Now even the argument that he convinced his father to return to the light, he didn’t. He failed at that, Anakin only turned when he watched Luke being tortured. Luke’s arguments, and pleas, before that didn’t work. An argument could be made that his pleas for help when he was being tortured was Luke’s success, but he wasn’t making a choice then. He was in pain, and begging. When you are in pain, and afraid, what that was is an animal response. It’s not reasoned out, it’s not an active choice, it’s a reaction.
Luke is rage, failure, and continues to push the boulder up the hill, hoping that this time it will stay up there. Empire is failure, but so is Jedi, again Luke doesn’t really make choices that are not effected by Darth Vader/Anakin’s choices. Return of the Jedi, is Anakin’s story, not Luke’s. Anakin is the Jedi that Returns, not Luke. The original title, maybe, could imply Luke, Revenge of the Jedi. But only in the fact that the last two Jedi forged Luke into a sword to strike down the Last two Sith. Which would be a darker tale really. Again Luke does not have agency in that regards, he’d be a weapon, and not really a character that chooses his destiny.
The Idea that in Last Jedi Luke’s character was destroyed, feels like a lack of understanding of who Luke was. Granted that can be because he’s the Viewers Avatar, but only in the fact that he is our perspective to the story. He’s not actively making choices, he lets his negative emotions react to the choices of others, and fails a lot. He noble quality is that he never quits. In the Last Jedi he did, because he tried to prevent the boulder from rolling back down the hill.
And I am just looking at the stories from the movies, that is the story that the wider audience will view, and so that is the story that through process of elimination of Star Wars.
Luke’s Ultimate Failure, is pushing the boulder to the top of the hill, seeing that it was about to roll back, and tried to stop it from happening. What he learned from episodes 4, 5, and 6 in retrospect was to see the pattern of his life. Or basically he saw the force in motion, light to dark, dark to light. And with that knowledge, he saw Ben’s fall. Now he’s done this story-wise before. Empire, he saw that the boulder, his friends, were in danger of falling. And he tried to stop it. And failed. The boulder rolled right back down the hill. The split second, the reaction, was to kill Ben. Again, he is reacting to another Character’s actions, at least the actions in the future he saw.
And in that moment, he made a choice that was not dictated by another’s actions. He realized that he was reacting, and not being proactive. In that moment he chose. Yet in that moment, the moment he actually made a conscious decision, it was to late. In that moment Ben’s character was forged. If you watch episode 7 and 8, Kylo Ren, reacts to other characters. He is not the driving force behind the story. He is reacting to other character choices.
Luke on the other hand, chose to remove himself, he chose to leave the boulder at the bottom of the hill. Because he knew that, even if he pushed it back up, it would fall back down again. Luke’s choices are the driving force behind episodes 7 and 8. He is the main heart of those two films. Luke reacted, made a choice to stop, failed, and chose to go back to reacting.
I will break it down.
Episodes 1 through 3 – Anakin reacts to Palpatine’s actions.
Episodes 4 through 6 – Luke reacts to Darth Vader/Anakin’s actions.
Episodes 7 and 8 – Kylo Ren reacts to Luke’s actions.
The fact that their is an argument that the Last Jedi left them with nothing, is pretty lazy thinking. Kylo Ren, in 9 should have went from Reacting to others, to finally driving the story. Rey actually is interesting, because she drives the story by her actions, she is more of an active hero, than passive hero. Rey and Kylo Ren switching places, due to Rey choosing, would have been interesting. Or basically once Rey fell to the dark side, Kylo returning to the light to save her, because he would now understand he emptiness of it.
Breaking it down again,
Episodes 1 through 3 – Anakin’s fall.
Episodes 4 through 6 – Anakin’s triumph.
Episodes 7 and 8 – Luke’s triumph.
Luke’s choice, the choice for redemption, the spark that would ignite the flame of the light side. The story elements from 7 and 8 that was a theme in the new trilogy. Going back to Luke being passive and reacting, episode 9 should have been the fallout of him choosing to act instead of react. Luke sacrificed everything by his choice, and is the opposite choice/sacrifice his father made. So it would be a family choosing to act, to take and active role, instead of reacting.
That is what I mean when I say that episode 9, Rise of Skywalker, is a failure. It’s made Star Wars into this.
Episode 1 through 3 Anakin reacts to Palpatine’s actions.
Episodes 4 through 6 – Luke reacts to Palpatine’s actions.
Episodes 7 and 9 – Kylo Ren and Rey reacts to Palpatine’s actions.
It robs the story of characters making choices. Because now at the heart, Palpatine is behind it all. So no character is making choices, that are not effected by Palpatine’s choices. Palpatine goes from a character that effects the story by his choices to the Deus ex Machina.
Making a choice, has consequences, and before episode 9, the new characters were going from reacting to those consequences, to rising above and making a choice themselves. That was the theme that was there, ever since the prequels, even if they could have been better. But since they put in Palpatine, it undercuts all of it. All of the characters of Star Wars become passive. It’s not a story of light and dark, it’s a story of a God pulling the strings of these character’s lives.
Say what you will about how they should have had a structure in place before they started to film these movies, but Rian Johnson understood Star Wars more than people give him credit for. He tried to add to the mythos, and he didn’t try to pander to the fans. The one sure way, to destroy a story. Because for the most part, a large majority of the fans, fall in love with the version of the story they want, not what it could be. You cannot please every fan, and trying makes a mess, which is what Rise of Skywalker is.
Rian Johnson set 9 up, to be Luke’s triumph. He set it up for Luke to finally win, with no uncertainty. He set it up for Luke to win by making a choice, that wasn’t tainted by the dark side of the force. He set it up for Luke to win like his father, only sacrificing himself not for family, but for the future. Kylo Ren could still have been redeemed. Rey could still struggle with the light and dark, though falling to the dark and both Kylo and Rey redeeming each other, would have been so much better, and tie into their shared connection thematically. Poe and Finn bouncing off each other, and maybe actually being a couple, or a poly relationship with Rose, now that would have been better too.
But no, that is not what we got, and that is sad.
Matthew William Lindquist 