Overtime, Snoke was able to communicate himself to Ben through the Force. Ben was young and learning, and was still unfamiliar. I’m sure that he didn’t trust Snoke at first, but he listened to him and fell into his temptations and sayings about his family, as he was still isolated by them. Very much how Palpatine manipulated Anakin, as he was losing trust in the Jedi. Ben is not weak, but vulnerable, alone and depressed. Snoke acted as a mentor to him that Luke was never able to do for his nephew at his academy.
This is a great explanation, and it probably would’ve made a great story to tell. It baffles me they never show this to us. But then again…this is the story of the prequels. It’s too similar to Anakin and Palpatine. Plus I don’t like where they took Luke with this. “Murdering his Nephew??” Jesus christ eye roll
Either way, the audience never saw this still. I think you can sympathize with him because you seem to know more about his backstory then what the movies tell us. But to the average audience member, he’s not sympathetic at all.
The first time the audience begins to sympathize with Ben is his first scene in The Last Jedi. He is berated by Snoke and smashes his mask in frustration and anger towards his master. We had already have seen some humanity in him when he was conflicted about killing Han on the catwalk, but here we see more of who he is and how he feels. He even decides to not shoot his mother, due to how weakened he felt when he gave into the Dark Side to kill his father. It shows how there is still light in him by showing how he still feels for his family, despite feeling betrayed by them.
As for the direction for Luke, I was quite disappointed by his actions as first, but the more I thought about it, the more it made sense to me. There’s a reason as to why the original characters are slightly different in the sequel trilogy than they were in the original trilogy, and it’s because of progression and evolution. Even though Luke was a hero by saving his father, that didn’t mean that his character would remain the same in the years to come. He for filled Yoda’s promise by passing on what he had learned, but he changed dramatically as he became older and more importantly, took on the role of a Jedi Master, a teacher. He’s now an uncle, and he now takes responsibility for his actions. Look at Han for example. In the original trilogy, he didn’t believe in the Force, but now he does, and he’s now older and a father. This is something that Luke, Han and Leia have never had the chance to become in the original trilogy, parents. For first timers, it can be hard and difficult. I love how realistic the characters are portrayed, as it adds and extra layer of depth to each one of them.
This is kind of interesting. When you explain it like that, I guess it would make a bit more sense for Luke to do that. He wasn’t going to risk the galaxy plunging back into darkness over 1 person. BUT, I think the real reason this has divided fans is because there was no build up to this. If we saw this journey of Luke that you just described over a couple of movies, then we might’ve accepted this turn a bit more. But to jump forward in time like this, totally polarizes what we remember him being and how he is now. How did Luke get to this point? What kind of person is he now? We’ll never really be able to understand him the same way. Once again, the issue seems to be that the audience never experiences the proper build up for these events.
You may like this. This is a theory video from a now defunct YouTuber, Vincent Vendetta. He made this before The Last Jedi came out. This is about how Rey and Kylo Ren could have a romantic relationship, which I believe is a plan that was made and is being played out in the trilogy.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1MoyGFgTIQXTW8jpxq2lECZVnUXgIccjD/view
I remember this guy. His vids were cool, shame he’s gone. The romance makes sense to me (it sounds like something Disney would go for), but I don’t understand why they haven’t built it up a bit more at this point. Either way, these backstories are getting too convoluted for the characters. I don’t think people want to see “Reylo”. Kylo isn’t sympathetic enough to the average movie goer.
Everyone has their own thoughts and opinions, but I also think it’s important to not set yourself up for disappointment by marrying yourself to theories and speculations that you’ve come up with. J.J. Abrams and Rian Johnson have been telling this story, and I believe that by the time Episode IX comes out, people will either understand the story/trilogy, or still not be fans.