Yoda predicted the worst part of the Star Wars sequels.

Pa Chris Snellgrove
| Published 28 seconds ago

Star Wars fans hated the Sequel trilogy for many reasons, but none as bitter as the portrayal of Luke Skywalker. It wasn’t easy watching this Rebellion hero burn as a monk, and it was especially hard watching the revelation that Kylo Ren’s descent into evil wasn’t indeed to begin until Luke was tempted to kill his nephew. It seemed extremely out of the ordinary, but Yoda himself actually predicted the worst part of the Star Wars sequels when he warned Luke that “once you begin the dark path, it will dominate your destiny forever.”

Luke, Yoda and the Dark Path

Before meeting Yoda (and long before the production of the Star Wars sequels), Luke Skywalker’s Jedi training consisted of long weekends with Obi-Wan Kenobi. Fortunately, the diminutive Jedi Master Kenobi gave Luke a more extensive education, including warning him that even one step towards the Dark Side could forever taint his destiny. However, we see Luke take a few steps down a dark path, and what most fans don’t realize is that his murderous thoughts about Kylo Ren are the result of those earlier mistakes.

Perhaps Luke’s first step down the dark path was his failure in the cave on Dagaba The Empire strikes backwhen he took the weapon inside (literally choosing violence despite Yoda’s warnings) and fought the phantom Darth Vader who turns out to be Luke (a clear warning that he is in danger of becoming his father). Luke also abandoned his training to go help Han, Leia and Chewbacca, despite Yoda’s warning that it would “destroy everything they fought and suffered for”.

And in Return of the JediEmperor Palpatine successfully goesads Luke into trying to kill him after he states that “hatred now swells you”. When Vader blocks the killing blow, Luke directs his anger at his father, with the script directly noting that he is “aware that he is using the Dark Side.

Luke doesn’t listen

So what does this history lesson have to do with Yoda’s words and the most controversial element of the Star Wars sequels? In short, a Jedi Master warned Luke that following a dark path would lead to a dark destiny, but that wasn’t enough to keep Luke from doing so. Years later (as we learn in The Last Jedi), in a moment of weakness, Luke is tempted to kill the young Ben Solo because he believes that “Snoke has already turned his heart” and Ben “will bring destruction and pain and death and an end to everything I love because of , who he will become.”

Rey has to tell Luke, “You let him down by thinking his choice was made,” echoing Luke’s own thoughts about Vader in Return of the Jediinsisting that “he’s still conflicted.” Certainly, Kylo Ren had a good point, and his redemption helped Rey finally defeat Emperor Palpatine in The Rise of Skywalker. A famous Jedi Master Luke Skywalker was clearly wrong in his assessment of Ben Solo, and the simplest explanation for this is that Yoda was right: his fate in the Star Wars sequels was still “dominated” by earlier mistakes from the Original Trilogy.

While Yoda’s dark prophecy may explain Luke’s controversial options, that explanation is unlikely to sway Star Wars fans who hated the Sequel trilogy. No matter how well-motivated the character change, seeing a passionate hero turn into a burnout nihilist is never satisfying. Together, we can only hope for it Disney will improve in the future and that their first steps down the dark path of the Sequel Trilogy will not forever dominate the fate of this franchise.