Another Hope

One of the most maligned movies in the Star Wars franchise is the sequel trilogy’s second installment: Star Wars Episode VIII: The Last Jedi directed by Rian Johnson (Knives Out; Glass Onion). The gripes of the film are plentiful. There are complaints about the inconsistent tone, forced political agendas, subverted expectations set up in the previous film, underdevelopment of new characters, slow pacing, pointless side missions, and the mishandling of the legacy characters like the flippant death of our favorite fish-faced veteran, Admiral Gial Ackbar. To those who have formed their own resistance to this film, there is no greater crime than what they perceive to be the mishandling of Luke Skywalker’s character. The optimistic hero of the original trilogy is now presented as a pessimist hiding in defeat - the jarring transformation all taking place off-screen. It was perhaps the last thing anybody expected to see. But was the direction of Luke’s character the heresy that many claim it to be? Or was it justified?

Rian Johnson defenders will point the finger at J.J. Abrams, director of Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens, for painting Johnson into a corner. After all, the Star Wars faithful had waited thirty years to see a sequel, only to find that fan favorites Han Solo and Princess Leia Organa’s romantic relationship had already fizzled. To make matters worse, the film was practically devoid of Luke Skywalker. With vague theories on why Luke had vanished, Johnson interpreted his disappearance as a defeated Jedi in self-exile. Apologists for the film will point out that a lot of character development could have happened over the past thirty years while purists saw it as the blatant assassination of a faithful Jedi’s character. 

While I’m not a big fan of Luke giving up, I thought Johnson’s direction of Luke’s character started off strong. During his conversation with Rey in the tree library on the Temple Island of Ahch-To, he says, 

“I will never train another generation of Jedi.

I came to this island to die.

It’s time for the Jedi to end.”

There is pain in his voice. The hopelessness is unmistakable. I mean, imagine if you were Luke Skywalker. He was, for all intents and purposes, converted at 19 years old. He was introduced to the Force by “Ben” Obi-Wan Kenobi on the day that his Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru, his adopted parents, were brutally murdered. After Ben Kenobi died, Luke was trained by Jedi Master Yoda. During this period, he grew in his knowledge of the Force. He learned valuable lessons about the enticing nature of the dark side as well the symbiotic nature of the Light. While this formal training developed his skills, it was more like cramming an entire education into a summer school curriculum. 

Luke eventually masters his abilities and defeats the Empire. Yet, when he tries to rebuild the Jedi order, he fails. Why? What was the missing ingredient that the Jedi historically used? Perhaps the answers to his disillusionment lie in the original sacred texts on Ahch-To. And although the movies do not explain what is explicitly written in those texts, much is conveyed about Jedi philosophy and theology throughout the films. In my watch-rewatch (repeat a million times) of the Star Wars films, there are things that I’ve learned about the Jedi that I believe may have led Luke to this conclusion. Spoiler alert: They’re not all good.

Perhaps this feels a bit personal to me. I am no Jedi, but like Luke, when I searched for purpose in life, I found it in the Gospel. I was, for all intents and purposes, converted at the age of 9 (more like Anakin than Luke in that way). Here I am, nearly forty years later, looking back on my journey and asking a lot of questions about things that I was taught about God, Christ, and the Church. I write this as a person whose faith has been tested time and again (like most believers). I often reflect on certain beautiful truths, amongst the opinions presented as truths, that I learned. I grieve over friends that have drifted from the calling that they once heard, unable to separate the truths from the opinions. But to the disillusioned, do not give up. There is always hope.

I think what Luke Skywalker learned is more encouraging than not. He is not perfect. He is not where we expected him to be. He is not the leader that we hoped for. But is he a disappointment? Perhaps he was tempted to look back on his life, while exiled on the aquatic planet, and see only failure. When Kylo Ren proclaims to him, “The Resistance is dead. The war is over. And when I kill you, I will have killed the last Jedi.”

Luke Skywalker, the defeated runner hiding from all of his problems, stares into the eyes of his wayward nephew/failed pupil and says, “Amazing. Every word of what you just said is wrong.”

At that moment, Luke reveals something deeper within. He feels something that he was certain died a long time ago. 

Hope.

Or perhaps another hope. 

Why the change of heart? I appreciate the way the author of Hebrews puts it. 

“Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” 

Hebrews 11:1

Faith is built on hope. The longer we live and the closer we grow to God, our hope becomes something more than a wish list. It grows into an expectation of the things promised to us in Scripture. When the old hymnist penned On Christ the Solid Rock I Stand (kind of a Yoda syntax if you ask me), he states, “My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus’ blood and righteousness.” His hope hinges on the salvation that comes from Christ’s cross. He’s not crossing his fingers and hoping that he goes to heaven when he dies. He’s expecting that the unchanging Christ that he trusts to anchor him in the storms today will return to take him to his eternal home. This is faith. The more we see God at work, the stronger our faith becomes. 

Luke’s restored hope hinges on a very important event that happened thirty years prior: the redemption of his father. But how does that account for his feelings in exile when he utters,

“I will never train another generation of Jedi. 

It’s time for the Jedi to end.”

Here’s the crazy thing: I believe Luke is right. My intention is not to defend Rian Johnson or even J.J. Abrams. Rather, in this series, The Fall of Skywalker, I hope to show you the evidence that supports why I believe that the Jedi need to end…

…from a certain point of view.

If you haven’t seen the films in a while, here’s a trailer to inspire you.