Warning: The following contains spoilers from Star Wars #20, on sale now from Marvel Comics.
When Luke Skywalker showed up in Return of the Jedi, it was immediately clear that he was not the same person that closed out The Empire Strikes Back. In the first act alone, he infiltrated Jabba’s Palace, survived a death match with a Rancor, and rescued Han Solo. Thus, it was pretty clear that his Jedi abilities had grown leaps and bounds since his excuse for a duel in Cloud City. However, as the most recent round of Star Wars comics has shown, the road to Jedi knighthood wasn’t an easy journey for Luke Skywalker.
During his first fight with Darth Vader, Luke didn’t just lose an arm; he lost all of his confidence. In the War of the Bounty Hunters arc, Luke completely refused to face his father again. If that wasn’t bad enough, Star Wars #20, (by Charles Soule, Marco Castiello, Rachelle Rosenberg, and VC’s Clayton Cowles) showed that Luke came close to following in his father’s dark footsteps.
In Star Wars #19, Luke could feel how broken he was, so he took some time away from the Rebellion and focused on his status as a Jedi. He searched the galaxy for Jedi artifacts and found a Holocron recording of Master Yoda. Now, in Star Wars #20, the Holocron directed him to the mysterious world of Gazian. The planet was a vergence in the Force, meaning that the planet could amplify its visitors’ Force powers. More importantly, though, the planet took an imprint of its visitors’ consciousnesses.
Through Gazian’s mysterious powers, Luke met Elzar Mann, a Jedi Master from the High Republic. Maybe it was the planet, but it didn’t take long for Luke to spill his guts to this Jedi’s consciousness. Luke was broken and getting close to giving up completely. Ever since the Death Star, he was supposed to be a hero, the poster boy of the Rebellion, but ultimately, he’s just been faking it because he doesn’t have a teacher.
At one point, Luke says, “And if I do this wrong, I’ll turn into a monster, like my…” He stopped there, but the implication was obvious. He was afraid of becoming evil like his father. In fact, the comparisons between the father and son duo were at an all-time high in this issue. Anakin was the poster boy for the Republic just like Luke was for the Rebellion. However, both of their fears greatly hindered them. Anakin chose to push everyone away when he ran into trouble with Palpatine and Padme. Likewise, Luke had started to push everyone away for fear of becoming like Vader. He was trying to become a true Jedi on his own, hadn’t returned to Dagobah, and was paying the price.
Luckily, the Force sent him to Gazian where Master Mann gave him a bit of a course correction. The High Republic master taught Luke that no one had to be a Jedi, but if Luke continued down that path, it wouldn’t be easy. And it shouldn’t be easy because the Force was too powerful to be treated flippantly. Secondly, following the Jedi path on his own wouldn’t work out well for Luke. He needed to make himself available to hear guidance from other Jedi in the Force. Without Master Mann, Luke might have followed a troublesome road. If he had continued to let fear and isolation be his modus operandi, he would have ended up just like his father, a fallen Jedi hero turned into a Sith protégé.