A Jedi should be able to control his fear, for the most part, sure. But this is probably the scariest thing Luke has ever faced, I think expecting him to act completely perfect in this situation is downright silly.
Scarriest thing, really?!!! Scarrier than facing Darth Vader, the man who murdered your father and your mentor? Scarrier than losing your hand, and having to decide whether to live and join your Nazi father, or fall to what would have seemed certain death? Scarrier than facing the Emperor, a man who turned your once good father into space Hitler? I think comparing Ben’s dark feelings, and the possibility of suffering in the future, to actually experiencing suffering of yourself and others is rather silly.
Ben is not “one student.” You can’t just fucking call him that. He’s Luke’s nephew. He’s the next Skywalker, which of course means a great potential for power but also a great potential for darkness.
Sure, but Luke has faced much worse than a nephew with a great potential for darkness. He’s faced his father who was as dark as dark can be, and he faced that prospect with courage and conviction.
It’s pretty easy to see why sensing darkness in Ben would freak him out to the point of trying to ascertain for sure where his heart’s at. If Ben had done something drastic beforehand, I’m not sure Luke would’ve even handled it this way. This is just Luke trying to get ahead of a situation before it turns bad. Sneaking into his nephew’s bedroom to sense his feelings isn’t even that irrational.
Luke had grown past just freaking out without serious provocation, that’s what the entire throne room sequence in ROTJ was about. Luke was goaded by the two most evil people in the galaxy, facing his friends being slaughtered in a space battle without being able to help them. In the end Luke resigned himself, and threw away his lightsaber, realising that the dark side cannot be beaten with sheer force. In my view RJ hasn’t presented us with anything to trump that experience to make it credible, that Luke, the Jedi who threw away his lightsaber facing the Emperor, would freak out to that extend by something, that may happen in a possible future, when he was able to alter the course of history for something equally if not more terrible, that really happened in the GFFA.
The thing is, this isn’t the act of “some novice.” This is the act of a master who everyone, including to an extent himself, thinks can’t make mistakes. And yes, he is emotionally compromised. But what has prepared him for this? Especially when it’s implied there has been balance and peace for almost 30 years, how could Luke have been so perfect as to dodge this fear? Just because Luke is a Jedi master means he’s incapable of being afraid?
There is nothing out of character about this. It is 100% in character.
Luke was prepared. Remember Han and Leia’s conversation in TFA:
HAN
There was nothing we could’ve done. There was too much Vader in him.
LEIA
That’s why I wanted him to train with Luke. I just never should have sent him away. That’s when I lost him. That’s when I lost you both.
So, from this conversation it’s clear, that when Leia sent Ben to Luke, he was already struggling with darkness. So, Luke like Leia must have been aware of the growing darkness, hoping he could turn the tide. He obviously failed, but this conversation doesn’t rhyme with Luke being caught off guard by Ben’s dark side. So, I maintain Luke had experienced far worse situations than a potential bad outcome. In my view, that Luke would not just have given up his conviction, that Ben could be saved from the dark side like his father. That Luke would not have lost his cool without serious provocation by real events. For me that is the character of Luke Skywalker, that has been build up for three films, and a sixty second flashback is not enough to negate all that development, and turn Luke into a shell of his former self. Of course for you it may be different…