Let's Fix Luke

Most people, including Mark Hamill himself, disagree with the direction Luke’s character was taken in The Last Jedi. How would you have done it differently? What would you have added, altered, or removed from his story to make him more the Luke that we know?

Luke shows up, kills the entire cast.
Credits roll.

Change entire confrontation with Ben
>Luke sees the darkness in him and the possible destruction of everything he loves and has worked towards, but doesn’t have a sudden base urge to fucking kill his nephew.
>Knows that Ben is conflicted, that there is still good in him and that he can be saved, just like Vader was saved, cause that’s what Luke FUCKING DOES.
>This is also where his hubris and pride comes in: “I did it to Daddy, and I can do it for Ben because I’m LUKE FUCKING SKYWALKER! Then I can train him to be a right proper Skywalker like me! It is my legacy, after all!”
>However, Luke’s Force visions of the potential future erodes his trust in Ben considerably.
>Luke considers simply refusing to train Ben any longer, but realizes he’s already come too far and that an unwatched Ben would be a disaster.
>Luke also fears, though, that Ben will choose to go down the dark path unless immediate action is taken to intervene.
>Luke must sever Ben’s contact with Snoke; decides to take him far away from his influence.
>”Hey, I’ll take the fucker to Ahch-To. I can use my star compass (Battlefront 2 tie-in) and together we’ll go to the first Jedi temple and have supreme Jedi knowledge! We’ll be isolated and far from Snoke! Hell, I’ll bring all my younglings along because clearly my current temple is well-known and susceptible to darkside influence! What fun!”
>Understands, though, that Kylo is dangerous due to his power and volatile due to his darkness.
>Luke confronts Ben soon thereafter, explains to him that he is concerned with the darkness growing in him.
>That Ben has allowed Snoke to twist his mind with false promises.
>It is too risky to continue to train him here.
>”I can help you. Come with me. Until we are away, I will not train you.”
>Requests that Ben hand over his lightsaber.
>Ben sees through the lies of the Jedi.
>Calls Luke out, says that he is afraid of his power, which is true.

>Says that he (Snoke) said all this would happen.
>Ben feels betrayed by his master, not because he tried to kill him in a moment of asinine insanity, but because Luke ultimately doesn’t trust him due to his own fear and wants to keep him weak.
>Ben calls out Luke, and by extension the Jedi order he is trying to rebuild, as liars and cowards; hypocrites who claim to want power for peace, yet fear any power greater than their own.
>Luke insists that he just wants to help Ben and that he needs to allow him to help him.
>Ben sees this whole confrontation as his being taken prisoner, which is reinforced to him by Luke demanding he surrender his lightsaber.
>Ben, defying Luke, calls him out, claims that he’s using the well-being of the galaxy as a cover for his own fears.
>Luke, agitated, approaches Ben and demands the lightsaber.
>Ben: “What will you do?”
>Luke: “I will do what I must.” Ala Obi-wan Kenobi throwback.
>Ben, realizing that he is no match for grandmaster Luke in a head-to-head throw down, hands over the lightsaber.
>Luke turns away and beckons him to follow.
>Ben gets angry, embraces the dark side, uses the Force to grab back his lightsaber.
>”BEN! NO!”
>Scene plays out as in the movie: Ben strikes at Luke, Luke blocks, Ben brings the building down around them.
>Bonus points if a scene was added here where Ben confronts the other Padawans and gives them an ultimatum: join him or die.
>Those that refuse are implied killed in a scene where Ben ignites his saber ala Anakin killing younglings in RotS.
>Luke comes to, finds his temple burning.
>In that moment has an epiphany: (1) that this is all his fault, and (2) that this has all happened before, and will continue to happen.
>Most recently it happened with Sidious and the Jedi not 100 years ago; the whole confrontation scene should be an allusion to the Jedi trying to apprehend Palpatine.
>Happened throughout thousands of years of Galactic history too.

Gaaaaaaaaay

Luke is following Obi-Wan's and Yoda's exact example - he is not hiding on the island, he's training the new jedi. Again. One of them can be the fat chink, if we have to keep her, the rest can be killed by the First Order, springing Luke into action.
He also at no point considers killing his nephew in his sleep.

>Bane, Revan, Malak, etc.
>The Sith rising, the Jedi being exterminated, only for the Jedi to rise to defeat the Sith, and so on.
>Sees that it’s all a vicious cycle of extermination and galactic turmoil with no conceivable end so long as both the Jedi and Sith exist.
>This is why the Jedi must end.
>Luke can’t reconcile the cognitive dissonance of staying true to the Jedi teachings which saved his father and having the Jedi die out completely.
>Flees to Ahch-To in the hopes that the first Jedi temple will reveal something.
>But the texts are all just dogma that he knows already; they reveal no secrets, answer no questions, and solve no problems for him.
>Struggles with the idea that the Jedi must die, but reluctantly accepts it
>So long as the Jedi order persists it perpetuates a cycle of destruction.
>His lightsaber is symbolic of this destructive cycle: destroys it with the Force on Ahch-To, keeps the kyber crystal.
>He didn’t originally go to Ahch-To to die, but it is why he stayed.
>Skip to Yoda scene.
>Yoda burns Jedi tree WITH THE BOOKS STILL IN THEM.
>Luke says “wtf, my Jedi code!”
>Yoda basically calls him a dumbshit and that Luke doesn’t get it; he sees the duality of the Force, the extremes of the spectrum, and even the balance between it all, but he is still rejecting the means to reconcile the difference.
>There is a power that has been around for far longer than any Force user; it is the leading force throughout all of time.
>Luke: “Duh, what is that?”
>Yoda: “Change, Skywalker. Change.”
>Luke: “…I know…” Ala Han Solo throwback
>Luke knew when he saw his temple burn that the Jedi would have to change, but being proud and adherent to the Jedi way, he refused it, and stubbornly grasped at the old black-and-white teachings of the traditional Jedi: there is only light and dark, Jedi and Sith.
>Luke finally accepts that the idea of the Jedi needn’t die; they just have to change.

>Which is why Luke and the Jedi texts, being traditional Jedi relics, must die: it creates a clean slate.
>Fast forward to the Battle of Krayt.
>Luke uses more badass Force powers alongside his Force Projection because HE IS LUKE FUCKING SKYWALKER AND IS THE FORCE MADE FLESH.
>Walks out of laser crater after being blasted, dusts off shoulder, reaches hand out.
>The front knees of all the giant, million-ton walkers buckle, bend, and completely sever, slamming them all forward onto their faces.
>Luke waits; Kylo throws his fit and comes out to meet him.
>They duel, only this time blade contact is actually seen, and often.
>When it is revealed that Luke is a projection the observant audience calls bullshit because their lightsabers met each other.
>Yet when they connected there was never any bright flare.
>Nor any sounds of sabers striking.
>They never were.
>Kylo, under the influence of the Force and Luke’s projection and believing he should be making contact with his blade, parried and blocked HIS OWN STRIKES.
>The power of suggestion in Force form because Luke is a god.
>Keep the “See you around kid.”
>Roll credits.

The worst thing they did with his character was him be a child murderer.

But I suppose that runs in the family.

Instead of him being a hologram at the end, make it be actually him there in person. The reason the shots don’t kill him is because of his force powers or whatever. Have the fight with Kylo be longer and more intense, and remove the speech where he does that cringeworthy title drop. Kylo eventually corners Luke, but Luke prompts him to look around and the camera pans out to reveal that they are the only 2 left on the planet, meaning that Luke has successfully stalled enough for the resistance to escape. Luke then looks Kylo in the eyes and challenges Kylo to kill him, but Kylo is too shaken to do anything. Luke smirks and gives Kylo some sort of soul-crushing diss, and fades away into the force. Kylo kneels on the ground and hangs his head in shame.

How’d I do

I would actually be fully okay with Luke in TLJ, if not for child murdering.

>Mark Hamill disagrees with the direction Luke’s character was taken

Nope. Mark is a good goy.

Who gives a fuck Jesus Christ fuck Star Wars

>nstead of him being a hologram at the end, make it be actually him there in person. The reason the shots don’t kill him is because of his force powers or whatever. Have the fight with Kylo be longer and more intense, and remove the speech where he does that cringeworthy title drop.

This

>And fades away into the Force
Why?

I, too, was disappointed with the lack of badass Force powers by Luke. This would actually be a decent end.

A lot of people took issue with his death, I know. I actually kind of like that he sacrificed himself; it was just shitty because it was hindered by that awful brand of Lucas/Disney writing we’ve come to know and love. The fact that he died put him into kind of a “messiah” role, which I have a fuckin boner for.

Luke would have worked as a character if he were simply wallowing in his own shit about having failed Ben as a mentor, rather than wallowing in his own shit because he thought about killing Ben.

If he had simply said something like "As a son, I believed in the good within my father. As an uncle, I failed to be the mentor my nephew needed. I believe in the good within him, it is still there, but I couldn't steer him away from the darkness, and the other students that relied on me perished because of it. I want to help you, but I won't have your death on my hands as well."

Blah blah blah, Rey makes more pleas, convinces Luke anyway, she gets the training, which culminates in her raising Luke's X-wing. R2-D2 stays behind, gets it in working order, and Luke shows up at the final showdown and fights Kylo Ren for real, before allowing himself, like Obi-Wan, to become one with the force. His death becomes the rallying cry for the resistance, when nobody was otherwise willing to answer the distress call.

I mean that it doesn't make sense in the scenario you described. Is he just killing himself? That's not really a heroic sacrifice.

Mark got the message, so now he's singing a different tune.

Good point. He is old, so maybe he doesn’t have enough energy left in him to fight, idk