WARNING: The following article contains spoilers for Star Wars: The Rise of Kylo Ren #2, by Charles Soule, Will Sliney, Guru-eFX and VC's Travis Lanham, on sale now.
You'd be hard pressed to find a Star Wars fan out there not willing to vouch for Luke Skywalker as being among the most powerful Jedi of all time. While that mantle seems to now belong to Rey following her actions over the course of the new trilogy, particularly in The Rise of Skywalker, no matter what, Luke will always be considered among the greatest ever. But when it comes to raw strength and ability, well, The Rise of Kylo Ren #2 does indeed confirm Luke wasn't as powerful as we may have thought he was.
Luke has shown a vast array of abilities over the years, with some of his most notable moments coming in Return of the Jedi as he battled Palpatine and helped redeem Darth Vader. There, we saw him using mind tricks by harnessing the Light Side of the Force, not to mention epic swordsmanship with the lightsaber. But it was only in The Last Jedi he truly cut loose, Force-projecting to Crait from Ahch-To before dying -- a feat only legends can achieve. That said, there was still something missing as we didn't see the real him doing what Palpatine, Yoda and even Vader (at the end of Rogue One) did in terms of being a badass warrior cutting enemies down.
Issue #2 here does tease a bit of what he could have done, though, as he Force-throws the Knights of Ren around and uses telekinesis to crush their weapons, taking the lot of them out. But there's a big moment that kind of paints Luke as weaker, and it comes when he pilots Lor San Tekka and a young Ben Solo to the Unknown Regions, Elphrona to be more specific, to explore the Jedi temple where they'd eventually battle the Knights.
As they make their way to the fringes of the Outer Rim, Luke doesn't pick up on Snoke having a telepathic conversation with Ben, corrupting the teen and putting him on the path to becoming Kylo Ren. Snoke is harnessing Ben's hatred for Luke and his adoration of Vader right under Luke's nose, making the Master Jedi seem like an amateur. Seriously, how could one's protege and prized pupil have this sort of conversation when Luke is next to him? He should have a better shield up for his apprentice, and he should sense Snoke's intrusion. In fact, given that Snoke's a Palpatine clone, it makes Luke look even more average.
His greatest enemy and the man who tried to turn him is basically back, and Luke fails to pick up on this. The Jedi Master should be sniffing this out the moment Snoke Force-times with Ben, but for whatever reason, Luke's none the wiser. Maybe he's too focused on the mission or he dropped the ball, arrogantly assuming Ben's way too loyal to ever become lost. But Snoke is a frail Palpatine clone, so we can't see him masking his presence the way Palpatine did in the Senate. Either way, this oversight is a massive flaw, which nearly cost the entire Skywalker family big time and lead to their extinction.
Even Yoda, Obi-Wan Kenobi and Qui-Gon Jinn sensed when darkness -- or as this book calls it, "the Shadow" -- was in close proximity, but for all the talk of Luke being amazingly powerful, Snoke creeps around him as if he's not even there. Apparently Luke needed him to manifest physically, but again, if you're as powerful as he's supposed to be, the Jedi Master should've spotted red flag right when Snoke's mind enters his ship. Ultimately, we'll still always have Luke's back but this is another sign he shouldn't have been put on a pedestal that much.
Star Wars: The Rise of Kylo Ren #3 releases Feb. 12 from Marvel Comics.