Luke Skywalker’s Rebel Mentor Taught Him One Lesson Yoda Couldn’t

Luke Skywalker learned a lot of things from his Jedi mentors, but only the Rebel Alliance could have taught him what many Jedi lack – humility.

As the chosen one of the Star Wars universe, Luke Skywalker has always had a destiny like no other. Starting as simple farm boy and ultimately becoming one of the greatest heroes in a Galaxy Far Far Away, it would be only natural that the young Skywalker’s journey would give him an overinflated sense of self-importance. And the teachings of Obi-Wan Kenobi and Yoda didn’t exactly do much to dissuade any potentially boastful streaks.

With everything that he goes through over the course of his life, humility is something that Luke Skywalker desperately needs in order to avoid the fate of his father, Darth Vader. But with all that he’s capable of, the temptation to let his ego draw him into the Dark Side of the Force is nearly undeniable. And Star Wars: Age of Rebellion – Luke Skywalker #1 shows fans just what happens when the last Jedi is faced with such a challenge.

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The Skywalker Hubris Is Legendary

Star Wars: Age of Rebellion – Luke Skywalker #1 by Greg Pak, Scott Koblish, and more finds the titular Jedi-in-training fighting alongside his fellow Rebels under the command of a Pau’un major. Unsettled by the obvious similarities between Luke and his father, Darth Vader, the major understandably finds young Skywalker unsettling and purposely keeps him at arms’ length. Ever the master manipulator, Palpatine senses the tension between the Rebels from a Galaxy away, seeding doubt in young Luke’s mind and stoking his arrogance in an attempt to lure Luke to the way of the Sith all while the major’s mistakes risk Rebellion lives. In the end, Skywalker overcomes Sidious’ temptations working with the major and even giving his comrade-in-arms all the credit – something he definitely wouldn’t have learned from Jedi masters Obi-Wan Kenobi or Yoda.

Masters Yoda and Kenobi were undeniably some of the greatest Jedi who ever lived, but when it came to training Luke, they weren’t exactly subtle in expressing just how important his destiny was to the fabric of the Galaxy and to the Force as well. As such, it would be only natural for that great foretold destiny to give Skywalker an ego to match that of his father, Anakin Skywalker or the Jedi as a whole during the Age of the Republic. While Luke may not naturally take after his father in terms of sheer arrogance, clearly a strong sense of self-importance exists within him on some level if Palpatine was able to influence him to any degree.

Luke Skywalker is Star Wars’ Greatest Hero – And Its Most Humble

While the Major’s initial distrust of Luke is founded in a fear of Darth Vader, it ultimately works to Luke’s benefit. By forcing Luke to remember that, in the end, he’s still part of a larger team, he reinforces that the young Skywalker can’t save the Galaxy alone. In turn, this experience helps ground the young Jedi away from Palpatine’s machinations without downplaying what he can accomplish as a symbol of hope for the Rebellion.

Luke Skywalker is one of Star Wars’ greatest heroes, but there’s no way he could have saved the Galaxy on his own. Despite what Yoda or Obi-Wan may have accidentally imparted on him, in the end, Skywalkers‘s destiny wasn’t to balance the Force by himself. And thanks to his Rebellion mentor and his fellow Star Wars heroes, Luke Skywalker never had to try.

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