NeverarGreat said:
Again, that’s just my opinion of the scene. It’s certainly possible to read this as Luke conforming entirely to Jedi doctrine, but since he had already started down the dark path and was able to return, one of Yoda’s teachings at least was proven to be false.That was already proven false with Vader himself. The big thing you see throughout RotJ is that Luke has a different outlook on things from his former masters and his peers. He’s shown to believe that you can come back from the darkness. His masters believe that Luke is the only thing that can defeat the Empire, but Luke trusts the rebellion to be able to succeed without him. That’s why he went with Vader instead of staying. He thought he did more damage to be with them than he could prevent by being an actual superhero. If he didn’t believe his friends could do it, he wouldn’t have gone.
Overall, he’s much more trusting of the Force to work in its mysterious ways. When he’s shown attacking the Emperor or Vader, it’s shown as him having doubts that his friends would succeed, fear that he’ll lose someone. Luke’s Light is different from the Prequel Jedi (who are again supposed to be corrupt Zealots). He’s not without emotion; he’s quite passionate even without it looking like he’s using the Dark Side.
Lord Haseo said:
You don’t think he can adopt a philosophy of “Use your inner darkness to best your enemies but don’t let it envelope you for too long”? Also what’s to say that Luke didn’t take bits and pieces of philosophy that Dark Siders hold dear and use them to bolster his new philosophy?To me? No. Again, I still see the Dark Side as the malignant tumour on the energy field that life creates. It is not a difference in philosophy; it is the manifestation of the emotions behind bigotry and oppression. Being “A little dark” is akin to being “a little evil.”
Lucas pulled a lot from Eastern philosophy for Star Wars and the Jedi. Yin and yang. They are two halves of the whole. The dark side is not a cancer on the force. The Sith may be, but not the dark side. To achieve balance a force user must be able to draw on both sides without letting either consume them. The middle way is the path to enlightenment in Buddhism. Even in ANH and TESB, we see Lucas painting the Jedi as stodgy - unable to see the path to redemption because they see Anakin’s fall as permanent. Luke does not see it that way. I see in that moment in Jedi when the Emperor is talking and Luke looks at his mechanical hand and Vader’s stump with wires coming out and he found the middle path at that moment. Yin and yang in balance. How that pertains to the future of the Jedi and what Luke says in the new trailer will have to wait until we see these next two films.