This is a good Twitter thread that basically reflects my opinions on Luke in TLJ that I’ve tried to express in this thread. Here’s some selected snippets:
https://twitter.com/swankmotron/status/950394363384807424
Rewatch The Empire Strikes Back and I think it’s apparent that there was no other choice for Luke Skywalker in The Last Jedi, given the events of The Force Awakens.
https://twitter.com/swankmotron/status/950395526553333760
Luke is the central mystery of The Force Awakens. The opening sentence of the crawl is “Luke Skywalker has vanished.” The closing shot is Rey having found him. The film is begging us to ask these questions about Luke.
Why are we getting sidetracked by Snoke and Rey’s parents?
https://twitter.com/swankmotron/status/950398185192566784
Here we have the single most powerful Force user in the galaxy forced to cut himself off of every instinct he has for fear he’ll do the galaxy more harm than good. From Luke’s perspective, this abstinence of the Force is heroic. Another Jedi purge becomes impossible.
https://twitter.com/swankmotron/status/950403141811322880
Luke goes to check on Ben and the darkness growing inside him. This wellness check is already filled with self-doubt. Luke, like every creative or heroic person I’ve ever known, suffers from impostor syndrome. Just like Obi-Wan’s.
https://twitter.com/swankmotron/status/950403445701226496
And here he sees a darkness greater than anything he could have ever imagined. And a future where all of his loved ones are killed and the Jedi order he cared about burned to the ground. What happened the last time he was confronted with an image of this?
https://twitter.com/swankmotron/status/950404685118160896
The last time this happened, he was in the Death Star Throne Room and Vader taunted him with this vision of the future and he lost control. He ignited his saber out of instinct and fought. With rage and anger.
https://twitter.com/swankmotron/status/950404686149910528
But he pulled himself back from doing the thing he swore he wouldn’t do: kill his own father. Then he tosses his lightsaber and says, essentially, “kill me if you have to, but I’ll die like a Jedi.”
https://twitter.com/swankmotron/status/950404688322555904
Now, he goes to Ben’s hut and sees that future all over again. And, as before, his saber ignites. And this is startling to him. He’s instantly ashamed of himself and must deal with the consequence of that split-second consideration. We know he’d NEVER kill his nephew. Ben doesn’t
https://twitter.com/swankmotron/status/950406663130857472
And that’s why I love the end of the movie. Luke finally learned from his mistakes. He could stick to his non-violence, but still set an example that would ignite the galaxy. Which is why his saber never touches Ben’s during the fight. It’s 100% evasion.
https://twitter.com/swankmotron/status/950408470846521344
From my perspective, given Luke’s inaction in TFA, this is the ONLY thing that could have been done with him. And why I’ve embraced the arc so much. I love it.