Warning: The following contains spoilers from Star Wars #20, on sale now from Marvel Comics.
Luke Skywalker didn’t live during the height of Jedi prominence, nor did he have a traditional master-apprentice relationship. Regardless, he was still pretty lucky. Luke still got to briefly train under two of the best Jedi teachers of all time: Yoda and Obi-Wan Kenobi. If that wasn’t enough, Luke just gained yet another Jedi Master in Star Wars #20 (by Charles Soule, Marco Castiello, Rachelle Rosenberg and VC’s Clayton Cowles).
After dueling Darth Vader on Cloud City, Luke’s confidence was lower than it had ever been, and he decided to take some time away from the Rebellion in an effort to form an even closer bond with the Force. While doing so he visited a number of planets, and on the River Moon of Al'doleem he found a holocron with a recording of Master Yoda. The message sent him to Gazian, where he found former High Republic Jedi Master Elzar Mann, who had long been dead. However, that didn’t stop Luke from training with him.
The incident played out like the Star Wars version of time travel. As Yoda’s recording explained Gazian was a vergence in the Force, meaning that Force energy was especially potent there. The aged Jedi Master called the planet a “living sea” because the planet itself imprinted the consciousness of every one of its visitors. When Luke arrived, he was able talk to Elzar’s consciousness, even though it had been two hundred years since the Jedi Master of the High Republic had visited Gazian. After Elzar explained the logistics of what had happened, an understandably shaken Luke was still able to learn a few lessons from the venerable master.
With Jedi and Jedi knowledge at a premium during the Imperial Era, Luke was struggling on his walk with the Force, and he didn’t hesitate to convey this to Elzar. He was close to giving up on becoming a Jedi because he was devoid of a teacher. Fortunately, Mann turned out to be the perfect surrogate teacher for Luke even as an imprinted consciousness.
Elzar Mann was extremely independent, which already connected him with Luke, but the similarities don’t stop there. The Jedi Master also had his own problematic Force visions. He foresaw an event that left thousands dead but wasn’t able to stop it from happening, nor was he able to convince the other Jedi of the impending attack. This led to him having a brush with the Dark Side. In the same way, Luke had a knack for Force visions in much the same way as his father. It was a vision that led to him leaving his training in Dagobah in the first place and pushed him to confront the fear that was pushing him toward the Dark Side.
This comic presents an interesting bridge between the High Republic era and the original Star Wars trilogy, and allowed Luke to get a bit of much needed course correction. During their talks, Elzar taught Luke that being a Jedi shouldn’t be easy, and mastering the ways of the Force is too much of a task to be effectively taken on alone. Additionally, Elzar hinted that Luke would be able to communicate with other Jedi through the Force if he really needed help along the way. Thus, even though he was dead, Luke’s third Jedi Master taught him lessons that were essential to the young Skywalker mastering the way of the Jedi.