Fuel in the Fire: Speculating on Luke Skywalker's Alignment

A few caveats before I begin:

• I am a huge fan of Star Wars (in all it's many forms) and have a degree in English literature. Where story, plot and mythology are concerned, I actually have some chops to make statements.
• I am not sure that I believe what I am about to write, but find it a fascinating line of thinking, in terms of story progression.
• I do not believe that fans have a say in the production of any story or movie. It would be a horrible world if that were the case - a movie created by committee and not with singular direction.
• I have intentionally kept a large part of others' speculation at arm's length to avoid coming into contact with any real spoilers. I apologize if any of the information contained herein qualifies as a spoiler for you or if it repeats others' speculation so far.

So let us begin, shall we?

There have been several interesting internet blurbs regarding the significance of the "Lack of Skywalker." Of course, much speculation has been given to the idea that Luke has become evil. A very unpopular idea or turn of story for many fans. However, I tend to agree that this is a definite possibility.

Luke Skywalker has very significantly not appeared on the new SW: TFA official theatrical poster. He has also not appeared clearly in any of the trailers or marketing. Let that sink in. We know more about Kylo Ren (the assumed bad guy in this movie) than we know about Luke. Considering Luke's pivotal role in Episodes 4, 5 & 6, this sort of media blackout seems more than a little odd. And before you get too up-in-arms, while we can assume we are witnessing Luke Skywalker fondly caressing R2 in the second teaser trailer, there is really no proof that it is Luke. We just see a hooded person in a cloak, while Mark Hamill does a voiceover.

Now consider that Han Solo (of all people) appears to be advising fledgling Jedi in this new chapter. Han Solo, the guy who patently states that he does not believe in the force in A New Hope. What happened to Luke in the past 30 years that would make him unavailable to new, aspiring Jedi? Or to prevent him from stopping the development of a character like Kylo Ren? Kylo appears to be something of a disciple of Darth Vader, but he couldn't possibly be more powerful than Luke, could he? If not, how can he and Luke inhabit the same galaxy for any period of time?

In the 30 years since the end of Return of the Jedi, Luke has found not one new force-sensitive being? That boggles the mind. The Jedi are aware of un-aligned and light-side force users - this much has been confirmed in canon (if not the Expanded Universe, which was been deprecated, according to J.J. Abrams) - remember that Yoda had been watching Luke for a long time prior to his arrival in Dagobah. In fact, if Luke chose to exile himself during these ensuing decades, his meditations would have certainly led him to at least a few force users.

Yet Finn appears to be the only "new" Jedi to appear in an entire galaxy for over three decades. In a galaxy where, during the decline of the Jedi Order, there were tens of thousands of active Jedi at any given time. And a galaxy where there is no Emperor Palpatine intent on hunting Jedi to extinction. It seems almost impossible that Luke would miss every prospective Jedi in all that time. Impossible that no new Jedi would have developed in thirty years.

So here's what I think happened.

I think that Luke not only went into exile, but experienced a fall to the dark side. I believe that Kylo is a result of this fall. And that Kylo and his associates, perhaps trained by him, have been hunting force users not aligned to his philosophy. Finn and perhaps one or two more characters are just the latest in Kylo's long list of targets.

I also think that having Luke experience a fall is important to the growth of his character. Perhaps Luke, like his father, needs a fall and subsequent redemption to realize his full potential - to recognize his full strength and place in this galaxy.

I get that many people want Luke to remain good - that there is a large contingent of fans who simply can't accept the idea of Luke becoming evil after defeating two Sith Lords. But let me remind you that Star Wars is a saga. One that George Lucas intentionally set up in such a way as to mimic classic, archetypal sagas. Sagas are always cyclical, especially in terms of their main characters. And heroes in sagas regularly experience a fall from grace.

So, of course we cannot accept anything that happened in the previous chapters to remain static. That everyone just got older and their universe remained the same for 30 years. So if we can't accept this, then something must have happened in the interim to explain a complete absence of Jedi during those decades.

I understand that many people would hate this turn in the story, but I also feel that it is a valid speculation based on what we have actually seen in the trailers so far, and from what little has been eked out from statements by J.J. Abrams.

Only time will tell. I almost hope I'm wrong.