The Inevitable Tragic Heroism of Luke Skywalker

         When 'The Last Jedi' was first released, there were reports that Mark Hamill was unhappy with the way his character's arc had concluded. He said things like "Jedi don't give up," and, "This character isn't my Luke Skywalker." But the thing is, that the Luke Skywalker we see in 'The Last Jedi' is EXACTLY the same character we first met in 'Star Wars' in 1977, and the clues to how he got there are all there in plain sight. 

       The story of Luke Skywalker has always had the seeds of tragedy in it, and it is in 'The Last Jedi' that we see these seeds finally bear fruit. One of the reasons why so many people couldn't see that is that they always assumed that the story of Luke Skywalker was a fairy tale. It certainly has many of the same characteristics - young farm boy with big dreams, a princess, a wise mentor, bold adventures, redemption. It's a good story, but like all such stories, it's important to know when to draw the curtain if you want a Happily Ever After.

"The secret to a happy ending is knowing when to roll the credits." - 'World of Hurt', Drive-by Truckers (2006) 

    So, how did we get here? 
    Well, in the end, it's both a straight line, and a circle, and it begins in 1977.

    In 'Star Wars', we discover that Ben Kenobi trained Luke's father but, because his training was insufficient, the training was imperfect. We later discover that this was because Ben wasn't a master. Rather than turning Anakin over to a Master for training, he undertook it himself, and everything went to hell. 
    Despite this, in 'Star Wars' Ben does begin to teach Luke about The Force. There are two major training sequences. One, with the drone on the Millennium Falcon, and one, when Ben contacts Luke during the Trench Run on the Death Star. In both cases, the central lesson is "Trust the Force, even beyond the Evidence of your Senses". At first, Luke is skeptical, but after the Battle of Yavin, he has fully bought into the dogma.

    In 'The Empire Strikes Back', Luke goes to train with Yoda, but has a vision of his friends in peril, and wants to leave. Yoda warns him, "If you end your training now... you will become a force of evil" and "If you leave now, help them you could; but you would destroy all for which they have fought, and suffered".
     During his training, we discover that Luke's greatest fear is the evil within himself. We also  get a re-affirmation of the doctrine that any deviation from 100% trust in the Force will lead to failure."Do or do not," he says, "There is no try." (An odd statement from someone who states that 'Only a Sith deals in Absolutes'). 
    When Yoda demonstrates his power and Luke says he can't believe it, Yoda replies, "And that is why you fail."

    By the time of 'Return of the Jedi', Luke is fully on-board. He has 100% drunk the Jedi Kool-Aid. (Also note, in the fullness of his power, he'd not dressed in the loose tan and beige of a Jedi. He's dressed like his Father - a possible visual cue that maybe he's destined for a similar fate?) When he walks into Jabba's Palace with no plan beyond 'Step 1: Smuggle in Lightsabre, Step 2: Trust in the Force, Step 3: Profit', he is a man who regards his confidence and faith as invincible armour. His whole demeanour is cocky, almost arrogant.
    The fact that this 'plan' succeeds only bolsters his faith further.
    
    By the time it comes to his confrontation with Vader and the Emperor, he's abandoned even the pretense of a plan  and has gone straight to Step 2. But why wouldn't he? Didn't he succeed? Wasn't he able to redeem his father (Something not even his mentors could do)? He is 100% behind the force. With its power, there's nothing he can't achieve. All he has to do is trust it implicitly and do whatever it tells him. Trust the force above anything. Above your friends. Above your own judgment. Above the evidence of your own senses. For you are the Chosen One.

Then, one night, the Force tells him to kill his nephew.

    Okay, now let's step it back. We know from the Prequel Trilogy that 'Trusting the Force' is not infallible. The Jedi Council were not infallible. But Luke can't know that. He hasn't been taught. All he knows is Absolutes. Do or do not, there is no try. Trust the force. ABSOLUTELY.

    Having built his whole life on trusting his instinct, and suddenly learning he can't trust his instinct, he is paralyzed into inactivity. What can he do? What can he trust? If he can't trust the Force, and he can't trust his own judgment, what can he do?
    As a result, he chooses to do nothing, and thinks, "There you go. If I do nothing, I can't do anything wrong."
    But he's wrong, because, as Rey tells him, his inactivity is a choice. And again, he finds himself on the horns of a dilemma. Because how can one do something and nothing at the same time?

    That question, and Luke's answer. is THE SINGLE MOST JEDI MOMENT IN ALL NINE FILMS as he solves the unsolvable Zen Koan. It costs him his life, but it also advances him upon the wheel of karma.
    It is at this moment that Luke ascends beyond the flawed dogma of the Jedi which has kept him chained to this material plane.

    Back in 1977, the first time we see him, we have young Luke Skywalker, and he's staring at the suns rising pondering the question, "I am doing nothing. How can I do something?"
    And half a century later, in 2017, staring at the suns setting, he has his answer. His friends are saved, and Luke simultaneously meets, and cheats, his final, tragic destiny.

    It's easy to see why Mark Hammill would reject that. 

    He said it himself, "Jedi don't give up." He still believes in the Jedi and in the Force, like his character did. He still believes in the romantic notions of warrior knights and a mystic force for justice and balance that will achieve a glorious victory if we just believe in it enough.
    But in the end, the lesson was not to believe in the force, or the Jedi, or in Yoda or Ben.
    But to believe in Luke Skywalker.