Through the films of the new trilogy, and the “Star Wars” series available on Disney +, Luke Skywalker will above all have shone by his inability to take on the role of Master Jedi.
Iconic hero of the original trilogy, Luke Skywalker is the one who managed to restore the balance between the light and dark sides of the Force. Anakin Skywalker’s son, raised as a simple farm boy on Tatooine, was initiated into the Force by Obi-Wan Kenobi, before his training was eventually completed by the Venerable Yoda on the planet Dagoba.
Having become a Jedi knight in turn, Luke Skywalker has decided to pass on his knowledge to new followers of the Force. However, despite all the efforts made by the latter, none of his students managed to complete their training. We therefore understand better why Luke is called the “Last Jedi”, but the ironic nature of this nickname had so far completely escaped us!
LEIA HAS NOT COMPLETED HER TRAINING
Lucasfilm Ltd. & TM. All Rights Reserved.
Logically, it was first of all his twin sister Leia that Luke wanted to train. The general of the rebel troops had never really used her Jedi powers until then, except when she had managed to hear her brother’s call for help at the very end of The Empire Strikes Back.
In the new trilogy, and more precisely in Episode VIII, Leia made use of the Force, during the infamous sequence known as “Mary Poppins in space”. But it is finally in The Ascension of Skywalker (Episode IX) that a flashback allowed us to discover that the latter was indeed formed by Luke.
Sensing the dark path that her son will take, Leia had nevertheless decided to renounce the Jedi rank, preferring to hand over her lightsaber to someone who would be more worthy of it than herself.
GROGU PREFERRED TO JOIN DIN DJARIN
Lucasfilm Ltd. & TM. All Rights Reserved.
Luke Skywalker appeared in The Mandalorian season 2 finale episode; eliminating Moff Gideon’s droids, the Jedi then took Grogu with him to begin his Jedi training. The occasion for a heartbreaking farewell with the protector of “Baby Yoda”, the Mandalorian Din Djarin.
But the farewells were ultimately short-lived. Uninterested in the teaching provided by Master Skywalker, Grogu was presented with a choice: inherit Yoda’s lightsaber and continue his Jedi training, or accept the armor offered by Djarin and leave Luke to join his friend.
The seventh episode of The Book of Boba Fett finally told us that Grogu opted for the second option, leaving Luke to face a second consecutive failure.
BEN SOLO HAS JOINED THE DARK SIDE
Lucasfilm Ltd. & TM. All Rights Reserved.
In the Star Wars timeline, Ben Solo is considered the very first student of the Jedi Academy founded by his uncle, Luke Skywalker. The son of Leia and the smuggler Han Solo quickly showed his skill in the use of the Force, before Luke decided to turn against him: in theEpisode VIIIa series of Rashomon-like flashbacks showed us this sequence through the points of view of the two protagonists.
Sensing his nephew’s attraction to the dark side of the Force, Luke was tempted for a moment to eliminate him. Caught by Ben as he was about to give up on committing his crime, the Jedi was attacked and left for dead in the collapsing hut.
Consumed by hatred, Ben then burned down the Jedi academy, slaughtering the other padawans of Skywalker before switching for good to the dark side by creating an alter-ego: Kylo Ren.
HE DIED BEFORE COMPLETING REY’S TRAINING
Lucasfilm Ltd. & TM. All Rights Reserved.
Joined by Rey on his exile planet Ahch-To, Luke Skywalker refused to train the latter, not hesitating to throw his lightsaber over the cliff, which mysteriously reappeared in The Force Awakens. Under the insistence of the young woman, the Jedi knight finally agreed to help her master the Force, revealed to her during her first fight against Kylo Ren.
Again, the training of his padawan could not be completed. Convinced that she can bring Ben Solo back to the light side of the Force, Rey decides to leave Ahch-To, while Luke categorically refuses to follow her. It was finally in the form of a hologram that the latter faced Kylo Ren, a fake reunion organized for the sole purpose of offering the resistance the time necessary to escape the troops of the New Order.
After this final “encounter” with his nephew, Luke Skywalker peacefully passed away on Ahch-To. But the training transmitted to Rey, as short as it was, was enough to entrust the young Jedi with the torch that will allow the following generations to be able to master and transmit in turn their knowledge of the Force. A Jedi is dead, a Skywalker is born…