Looks kind of dumb, so it's very Star Wars alright. (Off-Topic)

by CruelLEGACEY , Toronto, Wednesday, April 17, 2019, 12:36 (1836 days ago) @ Robot Chickens

I don’t disagree with anything you said here.

For what it’s worth, I am disappointed in Yoda. He ran and hid, instead of continuing to fight and trying to fix his mistakes. He could have been instrumental in helping the Rebellion, as could Obi-Wan. Instead they hid for twenty some odd years and let the galaxy fall apart.

Would it have been better for them to fight, at the end of the day? I don’t know. They could have died and left Luke as a directionless farmer (who was all set to join the Empire, remember—how long would it have taken Vader or the Emporer to figure out who he was if he became the galaxy’s best TIE pilot?). But the fact that things sort of worked out doesn’t really mean they made the right call, at least not morally. Obi-Wan was at least ostensibly acting as Luke’s protector. Yoda, however, just straight gave up.

Luke essentially did the same thing. I think it’s a great direction for his character, I think it’s interesting story-telling, and I don’t think it spits on the Luke of the OT like many seem to. I’m just saying that anger at Luke is justifiable, the same way anger at any powerful person that ignores serious problems that they could fix is justifiable. Rey is right to be angry at Luke.

I can see that angle. From my perspective, struggling without Yoda/Luke probably is akin to a caterpillar escaping it's cocoon. Without the strength they develop along the way, they aren't sustainable without the Jedi constantly holding them up. Giving them room to breath and develop without the weight of 1000 years of conflict warping the shape of what they would become is another bonus.

Also, I get into trouble with my pseudo-pacifism, which doesn't lend itself well to the Star Wars universe. When justifiable violence occurs, "collateral damage" usually accompanies it. Remember how Luke was going to sign up to join the Empire? How many good kids were on that same path to escape poverty? How many of them just had a narrative of a terrorist group blowing up some one in their family, who was building the death star part II and now they are super motivated to pay them back? Clearly, Empire = Evil in the Star Wars universe, but my experience of life makes me want to read a much more complex story into it. As such, I can totally see a leader removing their influence from the equation. That level of moral complexity isn't really in the canon, but it started to show its face in TLJ and I was intrigued.

To me, Rey was only looking at 1 side of the equation ("we need your help, Luke!") while Luke was looking at both sides of the equation; "bad things are happening, but my involvement will only make them worse". I don't think Luke's assessment is ultimately correct, but he was looking at the bigger picture. He was also quite understandably traumatized over what had happened. Viewers often gloss over this point, but we really put ourselves in Luke's shoes and imagine how he must feel, it is devastating. In his eyes, his failure directly led to the corruption of his nephew, and the death of all his students. He probably couldn't bare to look Leia or Han in the eye after that, not to mention his own immense grief at the destruction of everything he had built.

Then, this girl shows up and tells Luke that his nephew has now killed Han.

Luke's behavior is completely understandable to me.