Is Last Jedi Luke's actions consistent with Luke's character from the original movies?

[Makeshift Python]

And yet I bought it, mainly through Hamill’s performance. Or maybe I just never saw Luke as this paragon of optimism. If anything, TLJ made him a much more interesting character to me than he ever was before.

[ChrisTheLovableJerk]

No way in hell was it consistent. I could buy the idea of a depressed and defeated Luke Skywalker who slowly regain his hope for the good of the galaxy, but they'd have to give a very, very damn good explanation and the one we got was quite poor and didn't work and his overall character arc in the film itself is underwhelming at best and insulting at worst.

The fact he is killed off as an afterthought doesn't help.

[Wargriffin]

Look the whole problem with the set up is it assumes Luke is just so overwhelmed with Failure that he runs and hides...

The other problem is its a poor excuse for Kylo's fall

cause heres the thing


In the span of one night Kylo went from OMIGAWD MY UNCLE TRIED TO KILL ME to I KILLED EVERYBODY ELSE CEPT THE GUY WHO TRIED TO KILL ME EVEN THOUGH I KNOW WHERE HE IS

[Yukaphile]

I agree with the others. The problem is this end point, with no buildup. I know the EU is going to try and give us buildup - after all, sci-fi is about world-building - but that doesn't justify what the movie did. As SF Debris has said, you shouldn't have to buy supplementary material just to make sense of the film you watched. The buildup should come before, not after.

[MixedDrops]

I can definitely agree with "they didn't build it up properly enough". Granted, you only have a certain amount of time in a movie, but then they shouldn't have wasted it on stuff like the Casino planet and should've completely zeroed-in on the Luke/Rey/Kylo story. Yeah it screws over Finn et al, but that's what you have to do sometimes (that or work them into the story organically somehow).

I just don't really agree with "it could never happen to Luke", because I feel like a lot of people are limiting the stories you can tell with Luke simply to make sure he will always line up with the hero they envisioned him as in their youth.

[Yukaphile]

But then, that's consistent with modern entertainment. Spectacle over character and story. Hell, I'd argue that's STD's approach too (I actually watched the Battle of the Binary Stars and felt nonplussed), but that's another thread.

Well, it could definitely happen. I'd argue a perfect point in Legends would have been, again, during the Legacy saga. But I don't think it's just that we agree the buildup isn't there. It's that we take a different interpretation to his actions in the original trilogy than other people do. Some people sincerely believe his actions in flipping his shit on Vader is the same as plotting to kill Kylo Ren in his sleep (and yes, I'll keep using the word "plot" because knee-jerk reactions are one thing, but when you lust for a woman, when you actually kiss her against her will, that's assault, and when you get mad at someone, when you actually stab them, that's murder), which I've debunked. But I will admit at least the interpretation is there for those at a bit of an off-center, so that if you agree Luke could turn into a bitter old hermit, it makes it easier for you to accept. It doesn't because we see the character as I think Lucas and Hamill intended, backed up by Hamill's own words. Though I will definitely concede that I think it's possible Luke could end up that one way in some reality. Hell, the best of the Legends era prequel stories is the ones where the Jedi admit to their fallibility and say how the dark side touches all of them, and anyone could potentially turn to the other side - even Yoda. Same thing applies to Luke.

[Draco Dracul]

And some people think that's consistent with his more "impulsive tendencies" in the OT? No, I still don't buy it. If your mind instinctively goes to "murder" to solve this problem with a family member, it reveals a lot about you - namely that you're a sociopath. That "knee-jerk reaction" feels more like the plot needs him to behave this way than he really would. He was the last Jedi Master. The light side is supposed to help you find inner calm and peace, which he did at the end of Return of the Jedi. You would be conditioned against that kind of thinking. Yet his mind instantly turns to that, after years of rebuilding the Jedi? It's just plain character assassin. Not even Yoda was that much of a dick, and this is the same dude who told Anakin you should just let people die. He questioned Anakin's future, and yet his initial instinct wasn't to kill him as soon as he had those visions. This paints Luke as far weaker than he really is.

And he's found that since his reaction is substantially less extreme than it was on the second Death Star where he nearly killed the man he came to save.

That was in "Attached" from TNG. But that's mere mortals. I expect a Jedi Master to be more disciplined. Especially after years of rebuilding the Jedi Order. There's also a difference between having said thought and actively grabbing the lightsaber to attempt to do so.

Believing themselves to be more than just mere mortals is one of the main reasons why they were destroyed in the first place.

[CharlesPhipps]

I love all things Star Wars.

I hated this movie.

[TheOneTrueJack]

I would say yes, for pretty much the same reasons that you said no. I don't think Luke was the perfect character that the EU made him out to be. He had flaws. What's more the flaws we saw in TLJ are consistent with his characterization in RoTJ.

So what it ultimately comes down to is do you think Luke should have conquered is flaws completely, or are they an important part of character that should be present even 30 years later.

[Yukaphile]

Okay, let's run through it again.

He starts out... whiny brat. He makes his entrance in Return of the Jedi as a more self-assured man, and when he confronts his father again for the first time after Bepsin, it's with calm grace and dignity. You really have a sense he has the inner peace and serenity that comes with being a Jedi - almost. Yes, he flipped his shit on Vader, but that's a long way from having a knee-jerk reaction to murdering an unarmed relative in their sleep - because as I've said, knee-jerk reactions are one thing, grabbing the weapon speaks to intent, and as as I've beaten this point in over and over, Vader could fight back! And narratively speaking, rejecting the darkness and sparing his father, choosing to trust in him rather than kill him to save Leia and his friends, which was Anakin's own undoing, was the final test. You really can see the interpretation that he'd be a mature man after that point, and would just continue deepening his understanding of the Force and its lore. That he made all the right choices that Anakin failed to make, swerved left where he swerved right. And that things would turn out better because of it. That's who I see. Not some impulsive, whiny shit like Luke's haters do.