Luke's near attempted murder of Ben Solo seems to be the most divisive part of The Last Jedi. The first time I saw the film I wasn't sure how I felt about it as I thought that it served Ben's story well (it made me sympathize with Kylo's turn) but it seemed to do Luke a disservice.The second time I saw it I knew we'd be getting three different versions of the flashback. I realized Luke's crazed eyes in Ben's retelling of the tale were an overly dramatic version of the events that happened. I knew Luke's second version would be the events that truly happened. And then I paid very close attention to Luke's narration of that second, truthful flashback. Here's the direct quote:"I saw darkness. I sensed it building in him. I had seen it in moments during his training. And then I looked inside. And it was beyond what I ever imagined. Snoke had already turned his heart. He would bring destruction and pain and death and the end of everything I loved because of what he would become and in the briefest moment of pure instinct I thought I could stop it. It passed like a fleeting shadow. And I was left with shame…and consequence. And the last thing I saw were the eyes of a frightened boy whose master had failed him."First, let's address whether or not this is out of character for Luke. If you'd just dedicated your whole life, risked your dearest friends lives, and lost many other friends along the way to restoring peace in the galaxy, wouldn't you consider any option required to protect it? Luke admits it was a moment of instinctual weakness, a knee-jerk reaction to realizing that Snoke had already turned Ben's heart. Then in that instant, he remembers he's Luke Skywalker, the man who redeemed Darth Vader, and realizes that instinctual reaction was wrong. But it was too late, as Ben had already seen his apparent betrayal. I think his gut-reaction is incredibly humanizing, and his immediate regret and decision not to follow through on that reaction is exactly in character for Luke. He's human, he had the briefest moment of weakness, and then realized there's a better path. It unfortunately was just too late.I want to bring up two other interesting points regarding this moment:Luke inadvertently caused the death and destruction of everything he loved by trying to stop it. Sounds like dear ol' Dad causing Padmé's death by trying to prevent it.One gripe I see a lot of fans have with the sequel trilogy is that it seemingly invalidates all of the sacrifices and battles endured by our heroes in the OT. I do think it's sort of ironically funny when those with that gripe also disagree with Luke's instinctual reaction here, as what motivates his reaction is an attempt to protect those sacrifices and the associated victories from the OT. That brief moment was an attempt to preserve the happily-ever-after ending we all saw at the end of ROTJ.I think Alex from Star Wars Explained said a second viewing of TLJ let him see the film for what it was rather than what he expected it to be. I think that's very true, but a second viewing also allows you to see the film, and the retelling of that critical moment, from a certain point of view. That particular point of view helps resolve a lot of the questioning around Luke's decisions and characterizations in that moment.TLJ isn't a perfect film, but I do think this is a moment worth discussing more, as it's become one of the most influential and critical moments in Star Wars history.MTFBWY. :) via /r/StarWars http://ift.tt/2q9zria
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