Part 5 of 5.
From a Certain Point of View – The Passing Shadow and Luke’s Failure
Acknowledgement:
Even if you were fine not learning anything about Snoke, loved that Rey was a
nobody, loved silly plot points with bunny-horse races, and liked the idea that
Luke had become a grizzled old hermit who gave up on the Jedi, there was one
moment in the film you still cannot bring yourself to forgive. I was right
there with you the first time I watched the film. When Kylo Ren explained that
Luke had come in to kill him in his sleep, I thought, “No. That’s an outright
lie. They wouldn’t bring Luke Skywalker so low as to basically give in to the
same temptation he defeated in Return of the Jedi.
But they did. The
film has Luke explain that for a fleeting moment “that passed like a shadow” he
considered nephew-cide. Nephew cide? Is that a word?
Murder a “kid” in
his sleep.
Even if it were to save the galaxy, I acknowledge
how this can make Luke look pretty despicable and perhaps even ruin his
character for some people. However the real flaw in the film here, if any, is
that, as a writer, Rian Johnson is perhaps placing too much trust in his
audience to figure some important details out on their own.
“Show. Don’t tell.”
This is the mantra
of every experienced story teller. The ability to find the balance between when
to show, and when to add exposition through telling is the greatest challenge
every author has. Most of the time, it is better to ere on the side of showing at
the risk of telling too little.
Trust
your audience.
The rule of thumb
on showing is to trust the audience to figure out your intent without beating
them over the head with exposition. Rian Johnson figured he could trust his
Star Wars audience in comprehending Ben Solo’s turn to the dark side. (Therefore
leading to Luke’s lowest moment) The big divide in fans indicates he may have
been wrong. Star Wars fans are a difficult fanbase to gauge. I do not envy his
task.
The problem with
Kylo Ren’s turn is over the course of two films we are shown only a little, and
told even less. We are shown Han and Leia reuniting in the Force Awakens, and
most of their conversation revolves around their son. We are shown a key moment
with Kylo Ren and Han Solo (you all know the one). We are shown some limited
flashbacks of the tragic end of Luke Skywalker’s attempt to rebuild the Jedi.
We are told over and over Snoke was behind the whole thing. This is the core at
why people wanted to know more about Snoke, is that he somehow ruined the
Happily Ever After of our heroes, but he is dispatched before we ever learn how
he did it. So I acknowledge that the reason The
Last Jedi is not working for some people, is because they were not shown
enough for their imagination to fill in the gaps.
Naturally, I feel
it my duty to help point out what Rian Johnson was hoping his entire audience
would figure out on their own.
The
Tragic Tale of Ben Solo: Somehow people got the idea that
Disney and Lucasfilm are making this up as they go. People say the decision to
have different story tellers is ruining Star Wars. However, there is enough
connective tissue from The Force Awakens to The Last Jedi to suggest there is a
bigger plan for these films than most people realize. Most, if not all the
misdirection from Disney is to preserve the ending of this trilogy. They want
to surprise people—a feat near impossible this day and age. But they aren’t building
surprises without purpose.
If Star Wars fans would calm down and consider all
of the information we had on Ben Solo and his turn up to the moment where Luke
gives Rey the truth of his most shameful moment, I think you will empathize
with Luke more. All of these conclusions I reach from only watching the movies.
Sure, there are plenty of books and comics that can fill in some gaps, but the
movies are what counts for most people. The information is there in the films
nonetheless.
1.
The slow turn of Ben Solo to the dark side destroyed Han and Leia’s marriage.
We are given plenty of
information (from both show and tell) to draw this conclusion. Some people
think Han and Leia were bad parents leading to a troubled kid. I did not see
this at all. They were both parents out of their league with the very special
child they had. They both perhaps had some flaws which Ben resented, but in the
end it is clear he still loved them both. As the dark side grew in Ben, Leia
sent him away to train with Luke. Han probably disagreed with the decision so
much that it caused him to leave and go back into smuggling. Leia resented him
leaving and probably pushed Han away. Everything for Han and Leia revolves
around sending Ben away, not as parents who did not care, but as people who
didn’t know where else to turn.
2.
Luke Started a New Jedi Temple, not an Academy.
We are used to books
where Luke trained his two nephews and niece from the moment they were old
enough to hold a training lightsaber. Han and Leia were frequent visitors on
their adventures as young Jedi. We need to let go of that vision. I need to stress
this again in bold letters. Leia sent
Ben away. Luke didn’t have a Jedi
Academy like in the books we all
cherished for so long. He started a Jedi Temple.
The difference in these two words is critical. Luke was trying to restore the
Jedi order to what it was in the prequels. If he did that, he may have tried to
discourage attachment . . . even in himself. Can you see why Han would object
to something like that so passionately that he would give up his marriage over
it? I can.
I don’t think Luke
realized the folly of the old ways of the Jedi until it was too late. After his
mistake, he learned much. But he also grew to hate the old Jedi ways and their
hubris. So his lesson to Rey in the Last Jedi comes from experience at almost
becoming just like the old Jedi Order. He wants those teachings to die with
him. However, the beauty of the Last Jedi is He realizes a new way for the Jedi
to move forward, and places his hope in Rey.
3.
Snoke found and Corrupted Ben BEFORE he went to train as a Jedi
Everything about the way
this story has been told over the course of two movies suggests to me that
Snoke found Ben at a very young age. Leia and Han did not want to have been
trained. It was a last resort to them. They probably wanted a normal family. Who
can blame them?
But Snoke probably
offered the young boy power and started to manipulate him away from his
parents. Maybe they had normal parent problems. Maybe Leia was away too much
trying to build a new nation. Maybe Han couldn’t relate to Ben on the same
level his mother could, but maybe he could show his son a thing or two about
how to fly around space. Maybe this is all we need to know about Snoke since we
have been shown how easily Snoke could communicate through the force (and force
other people to speak to each other).
I think a lot of people
are missing this in the timeline of events in their head, so I am thumping it
over your head like Yoda bopping you with his wooden stick.
4. Ben
Solo corrupted at least a few of Luke’s other Students
This comes from one throwaway
line as Luke (somewhat desperately) tries to explain the whole truth to Rey. Yet,
it could be critical to the big picture and explain the Knights of Ren.
It is not a huge
complaint that the Knights of Ren do not show up in the Last Jedi. Compared to
other things people are finding to complain about, it is a relatively minor grievance.
However, I think it should be greater. I think maybe this is where any
disconnect in story telling vision between Rian Johnson and J.J. Abrams did
actually effect things. The Knights of Ren should have made an appearance in this movie,
because when they inevitably show up in Episode 9, I think people are going to
find it a little jarring.
“Where the hell have
these guys been the whole time?”
Perhaps they were busy subjugating
all the other worlds while Kylo Ren and Snoke were busy trying to crush the
last of the Resistance. It doesn’t matter though, because the reason they
should have been shown in this movie is it would have given some context
to Luke’s failure that maybe a lot of people needed.
Ben – or maybe he was
pretty much Kylo Ren already at this point – managed to sway some of Luke’s
other students. Can you imagine Ben running up to his friends and telling them
Luke just tried to kill him, so what they should do is murder all of the other
students and burn the place down?
No. Ben and Snoke had
been working darkness into the other students for some time in order for them
to turn on Luke that night. Luke was trying to protect students he loved from
the dark side by probing Ben’s mind. It just so happens Luke might have been
too late for those other students as well. But as Rey points out, even then,
there was always hope.
Conclusions:
Considering all the
context I have given to this point, it is obvious Luke was looking for a way to
break Snoke’s link with the boy when he crept in to Ben’s quarters at night,
but saw he was too late to do anything. He was NOT creeping in thinking he
might have to take drastic measures.
The movie even tries to
give us an audio cue for the future Luke sees in Ben. We are treated to the
sound of Kylo Ren’s lightsaber and screams. Some of these screams even seem to
be from Finn and Rey when Han Solo dies. Luke’s mistake was only for instant,
but it was the worst timing. Luke faces the same temptation in Return of the
Jedi, only when he faces it in that film, he has time to reflect. He has time
to stare for a moment at his father’s severed hand and then look at his own
robotic one. Ben Solo wakes up and the frightened boy assumed the worst from
his point of view.
I think this was obvious
to most people. What wasn’t so obvious was all the events leading up to the
crucial moment, because we as the audience are trusted by the filmmakers to
piece it together ourselves. Isn’t it ironic that for a film sage in which “point
of view” and the truths we cling to are such a large motif, that we should
bicker so passionately because our point of view on a single moment is also so
drastically different? My hopeful conclusion is that episode 9 and time will
help our point of views merge, and we can all continue loving Star Wars
together for it is.
