Luke Skywalker is undoubtedly one of the biggest characters in Star Wars, perhaps beaten out for most important only by his father, Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader. Luke was the main character throughout the original trilogy, and while he wasn’t in the prequels (except for the last few scenes of Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith as a baby), he was back again in the sequel trilogy and—however controversial his appearance in those movies was—he was once again a major character.
Luke has also since had appearances in some Star Wars TV shows, including a brief cameo in the finale of The Mandalorian season 2 and a more substantial role in The Book of Boba Fett. Yet, there are still things about Luke that don’t make a lot of sense, even with his many appearances throughout Star Wars movies and TV shows. And, no, they’re not all from the sequel trilogy. Here are the top 5 things that still don’t make sense about Luke Skywalker.
It’s easy to forget, but at the beginning of A New Hope, Luke Skywalker wanted to join the Imperial Academy to become a pilot. It’s true that Luke was somewhat cut off from the true horrors of the Empire because he was growing up on Tatooine, and he was clearly so desperate to leave the planet that he may not have cared what it took. Even so, though, Aunt Beru and Uncle Owen almost certainly raised him with a dislike of the Empire.
There’s also a moment in A New Hope in which Luke expresses that he doesn’t like the Empire, but he feels that there’s nothing he can do about it. This makes it all the more odd that he was fine with joining the academy, and it is therefore high on the list of things that still don’t make sense about the character.
Perhaps one of the most well-known aspects of the original trilogy is (unfortunately) the fact that Luke and Leia had a romantic kiss in The Empire Strikes Back, before they knew they were twins. Try as Star Wars might to say in retrospect that this wasn’t romantic in nature, Luke had clear romantic feelings for Leia throughout the first two movies and was openly jealous of Han. It’s more believable that Leia had no feelings for Luke, as she initiated this kiss just to get under Han’s skin, but that doesn’t really make this any less weird.
Even more bizarre is the fact that neither Luke nor Leia seems particularly distressed when they learn that they are siblings, and it’s seemingly never brought up again. Although uncomfortable, this was absolutely a conversation that needed to happen between the two, and regardless, Luke should have seemed more upset by the revelation.
Like Luke’s minimal reaction to the news that he had kissed his sister, when he comes home to discover that Aunt Beru and Uncle Owen have been murdered by the Empire, and even sees their smoking corpses, he has very little emotional response. He seems sad, yes, but he doesn’t have a major reaction, and he honestly doesn’t seem all that devastated. In fact, later in the movie, he seems much more affected by the death of Obi-Wan Kenobi.
What made this especially odd was the Obi-Wan Kenobi show, which depicted just how much Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru loved him as their own. Uncle Owen even says that directly, and both were ready to die for him to protect him from Imperial Inquisitor Reva. It would have been gutting either way, but it’s especially sad to see what a loving family they really had been, making his minimal response all the more bizarre.
The sequel trilogy proved to be incredibly controversial for a number of reasons, although one of the most significant was the characterization of Luke Skywalker in those movies. Luke seemed entirely different (and worse) in the sequels compared to when audiences had last seen him in Return of the Jedi. In addition to the frustrations that he had changed so much, though, was the fact that his actions made no sense.
Luke’s exile seemed odd in and of itself given his personality, but what made it even more strange was his choice in location. Luke was cutting himself off from the Force and had lost faith in the Jedi, yet he chose Ahch-To, the site of the very first Jedi Temple. It makes no sense that, if Luke’s intention was to leave the Force and the Jedi in the past, he would pick that planet.
Finally, the thing that makes the very least sense about Luke Skywalker in Star Wars is his complete loss of hope between Return of the Jedi and Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Yes, Luke had experienced terrible losses, from the destruction of his Jedi Temple and murder of all his Padawan learners to his nephew, Ben Solo’s, fall to the dark side. Yet, Luke had also had faith that he could save Darth Vader, one of the most evil beings in the galaxy.
Fans were rightfully angered by this change to his characterization, not only because it felt like a total betrayal of this beloved character but also because it simply made no sense. The original trilogy’s Luke never would have given up all hope and abandoned the galaxy.
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