by Chris Snelgrove
| Published
Star Wars fans have had a lot of hate towards the Sequel Trilogy for many reasons, but none are more bitter than the portrayal of Luke Skywalker. This Rebellion hero as a burned monk was hard to watch, and it was especially hard to watch the reveal that Kylo Ren's descent into evil didn't happen. truly It begins with Luke being tempted to kill his nephew. This seemed remarkably out of character, but Yoda himself actually predicted the worst part of the Star Wars franchise when he warned Luke that “once you begin down the dark path, it will dominate your destiny forever.”
Luke, Yoda, and the Dark Path
Before he met Yoda (and long before the Star Wars sequels were made), Luke Skywalker's Jedi training was a long weekend with Obi-Wan Kenobi. Fortunately, Kenobi's young Jedi Master gave Luke a more comprehensive education, including warning him that taking even one step towards the dark side could taint his destiny forever. However, we see Luke take several steps down the dark path, and most fans don't realize that his murderous thoughts about Kylo Ren were a result of those previous mistakes.
It can be said that Luke's first step on the dark path was his failure in the cave at Dagobah The Empire strikes backwhen he took the weapons inside (literally choosing violence despite Yoda's warnings) and fought a ghost Darth Vader Who turns out to be Luke (a clear warning that he's in danger of becoming his father). Luke also abandoned his training to go help Han, Leia, and Chewbacca despite Yoda's warning that doing so “would destroy everything they fought and suffered for.”
And in Return of the JediEmperor Palpatine successfully goads Luke into trying to kill him after claiming that “hatred is swelling inside you now.” When Vader blocks the killing blow, Luke turns his anger toward his father, with the text explicitly noting that he “realizes he is using the dark side.
Luke doesn't listen
So, what does this history lesson have to do with Yoda's words and the most controversial item in the Star Wars franchise? In short, a Jedi Master to caution Luke believed that going down the dark path would lead to a dark fate, but that wasn't enough to stop Luke from doing so. Years later (as we discovered in… The last jedi), in a moment of weakness, Luke is tempted to kill young Ben Solo because he believes “Snoke has already turned his heart,” and Ben, “will bring destruction, pain, death, and the end of all love because of what he will become.”
Rey has to tell Luke, “You have failed him by believing that his choice has been made,” echoing Luke's own thoughts about Vader once again Return of the Jedi“There's still a struggle in it,” he insisted. There was definitely something good about Kylo Ren, and his redemption eventually helped Rey defeat Emperor Palpatine The Rise of Skywalker. Famous Jedi Master Luke Skywalker Yoda was clearly wrong in his assessment of Ben Solo, and the simplest explanation is that Yoda was right: his fate in the Star Wars installments was still “dominated” by those previous mistakes from the original trilogy.
While Yoda's dark prophecy may explain Luke's controversial choices, this explanation is unlikely to sway Star Wars fans who hated the Sequel Trilogy. No matter how motivated a character change is, seeing an emotional hero devolve into nihilistic exhaustion is never fun. Collectively, we can simply hope so Disney They will do better in the future and their first steps down the dark path of the sequel trilogy will not forever dominate the fate of this franchise.
