This Star Wars Character is the Perfect Choice for the Next Show About the Jedi
How Luke Skywalker and Leia Organa’s parents failed them is obvious, specifically their father. As Darth Vader, Anakin quickly realized the Empire was not what Chancellor Palpatine told him it would be. Despondent over his failure to save Padmé, Vader simply gave up on trying to do the right thing. Rather than face up to his mistakes, he continued to serve the evil, authoritarian system he helped inflict upon the galaxy. However, in his defense, he did not know his children survived. When faced with letting his son die at the hands of the Emperor, he finally made a choice to do the right thing.
Luke’s adoptive parents, Owen and Beru Lars, also failed him. They kept him hidden away, fearful of the Empire finding out the son of Anakin Skywalker lived. Throughout his life, he felt the pull of destiny, and Uncle Owen tried to pretend it wasn’t there. Meanwhile, Bail and Breha Organa were important figures in the Rebellion. However, as a senator, Bail tried to use the rigged Imperial system to bring about change. While he eventually did join Mon Mothma and the others in their active war, it was too late to stop the Empire from destroying their planet.
Luke’s Jedi Masters also failed him, especially Ben Kenobi. Sure, Obi-Wan Kenobi created a justifiable reason for him to tell Luke Vader “betrayed and murdered” his father. However, he knew he wasn’t telling him the whole story, nor did he or Yoda ever tell him Leia was his sister. Still, instead of following the call of the light side, both Ben and Yoda told him the only thing he could do was to kill his father and the Emperor. Luke, and by extension, the Rebel Alliance, only won because he didn’t listen to the advice of the generation that came before him.
The Star Wars Original Trilogy Heroes Were Doomed to Repeat the Mistakes of the Past
Despite their failures in the sequel trilogy films, the heroes of Star Wars’ original trilogy did bring about peace for 30 years. That’s not bad, considering. Still, in order to remain thematically consistent with George Lucas’s study of social systems and their failures to prevent the rise of authoritarianism, it couldn’t last. Leia, at least, understood the threat posed by the First Order.
Yet, for whatever reasons, she was unable to convince the rest of the New Republic to stand against them in a meaningful way. When Luke tried to restart the Jedi Order, he found himself falling into the same trap that took down the order of old. His momentary lapse of fear upon sensing the dark side around Ben Solo led to him failing his apprentice in the most crucial way.
Again, to his credit, he tried to break the cycle by bringing the Jedi religion to an end. Through his own despair, he believed the Jedi caused more problems than they solved. It was up to the next generation, in this case, Rey Skywalker, to provide the correct answer. Just as Luke knew saving Vader, not killing him, was the answer, Rey knew the Jedi Order was necessary. It just needed to change.
So, when Chancellor Palpatine manipulates Anakin by offering to save Padmé’s life and give him the power to “help” everyone in the galaxy, he takes him up on it. Getting involved in the Clone War itself was a major failing on the part of the Jedi. Instead of keepers of the peace and protectors of life, they became the people in charge of sending clone troopers and others to their deaths. All done to prevent some systems not being well-served by the Republic.
