With the Vanity Fair article last week we got a few new shots of Luke Skywalker and one thing was conspicuously missing, his lightsaber. The weapon of Jedi Knight that told Vader Luke had completed his training, the question is why. Let’s jump into what rumors are out concerning Luke and see if we can figure it out. Potential Spoilers ahead.
First lets catch up on the rumors surrounding Luke’s appearance. MakingStarWars has this article and they also talk about Luke’s appearance on Episode 182 of Now This Is Podcasting. We learn that Luke has multiple looks throughout the film and that so far Jason has not seen any images that contain Luke with his lightsaber. He carries two different items a “cattle prod” that he uses to clear out pests in the way without serious injury to them and a stick of some sort that attaches to his belt, which Jason thinks may be a training lightsaber. Between those two and everything else Luke carries, it seems to have forsaken the idea of carrying a weapon or at least a deadly weapon.
This makes sense with Luke’s statement that “the Jedi must end” and the rumors that Luke is reluctant to train Rey. If Luke has given up on the Jedi due to Ben Solo’s turn to the Darkside and the death and destruction that caused then it is likely he has given up his lightsaber as well. This may not be the only reason or even the real reason that Luke has put his lightsaber down. We know from Bloodline that Luke was looking for the original Jedi Temple before Ben became Kylo and we suspect it was because he was trying to learn more about the Jedi’s origins and be a better Jedi. This also could be the reason he has put down the lightsaber. My personal opinion is that it is a combination of the two. Ben’s fall and knowledge he has learned from the old Jedi ways have convinced him that a lightsaber is not something he needs to carry.
We do know that he will train Rey and she will be taught how to use the lightsaber so he can’t have given up the idea of a lightsaber completely. It maybe that once a Jedi becomes a master he no longer has need of a lightsaber, Yoda and the Emperor both seemed to have adopted this idea in the Original trilogy. Then again I could be looking for meaning where there is none and it could be as simple as Luke has no need of a lightsaber on Ahch-to and therefore does not carry it. I still wonder though will we see Luke with a lightsaber in The Last Jedi?
Yes, but don’t expect him to use it. At least not in The Last Jedi. This pure speculation but I will base it in what we have learned via rumor. It appears that Luke and Rey are on Ahch-to for most of the movie and that at the end of the film Luke and Rey will be going after Snoke and Kylo respectively. Something will make them leave, it could be the rumored attack by Kylo Ren and the Knights of Ren/Pretorian Guards or it could a message from Leia, Finn, or even possibly Maz. Either way I suspect that when they get ready to depart, Luke will retrieve his lightsaber.
I’ve addressed it the only way I possibly can – by spending the past three years of my life making a film I do not think is derivative.
— Rian Johnson (@rianjohnson) May 30, 2017
As the tweet above proves, we know that TLJ will not be a perfect mirror of Attack of the Clones or Empire. However, sometimes a well-planned mirror works wonders. I can’t help but think of how Yoda never brandished his green lightsaber until the end in a fight with Dooku. It makes me wonder how cool it would be if we go the entire duration of TLJ thinking we won’t see Luke’s saber, only to see it at the very end in an epic fight. Imagine Luke doing some moves with the lightsaber, leaping around demonstrating his years of training…
Nevertheless, the fanboy in me wants him to ignite it and look at the blade like he did the first time he ignited the green on screen in Return of the Jedi but I suspect it would be more of a look at handle only and replace the training saber on his hip.
Unfortunately that means Luke won’t be igniting the green in The Last Jedi and we will have to wait until Episode IX to see the Green lightsaber in action. From Reddit AMA of the Vanity Fair writer we won’t get much of Snoke in The Last Jedi either. That tells me we should expect both in Episode IX.
Brought to you by @mazlow01. Stay tuned to spoiledbluemilk.com for updates!