Why didn’t Luke train more Jedi?
Table of Contents
Picture this: you’re Luke Skywalker, fresh off your biggest career victory (beating the Empire and redeeming your Sith Lord father, no biggie), and you find yourself with a daunting task on your hands - reviving the Jedi Order, a millennia-old organization that was, to put it lightly, spectacularly wiped out by your dad and his boss. The galaxy’s suddenly looking to you, a farm boy from Tatooine turned Jedi Knight, to single-handedly rebuild this ancient institution of peacekeepers, warriors, and diplomats. You're the galaxy's only hope (again) - no pressure, right? There's just one small problem: a lot of the students you train go rogue and join the dark side. Not ideal. The question here is, what gives? Why couldn't Luke Skywalker, the hero of the Rebellion, train a new generation of full-fledged Jedi who didn't feel the need to go all dark side on him?
1. Historical Precedents
You'd think with the Empire gone, this would be easy-peasy, but no. There's this thing called history, and it's not on Luke's side. The Jedi Order was not just defeated in a fair game of chess. They were purged - think Order 66 - and then systematically erased from history like an embarrassing high school yearbook photo1. The Empire, in its infinite wisdom, decided that the best way to prevent any more Jedi nuisances was to remove all knowledge of them, which was quite thorough of them. So, when Luke’s trying to train a new generation of Jedi, he’s got to do it without a playbook. It's like trying to build a spaceship with no blueprint or even a clear picture of what a spaceship looks like.
And let's not forget the remnants of the Empire, still lurking around like that ex who doesn't get the hint. After their main bosses (Vader and Palpatine) were defeated at Endor, they didn't just pack up and call it a day. No, they kept causing trouble, and guess who had to deal with that? Our man Luke, of course1. So, between playing cosmic janitor, mopping up the Empire's leftovers, and trying to rebuild an ancient order from scratch, it's safe to say Luke had his hands full.
In the next sections, we'll dig a little deeper into the structural challenges Luke faced and explore his personal approach to this gargantuan task. Spoiler alert: it doesn't get any easier.
2. Structural Factors
But wait, there's more! It's not just the ghost of the past Luke is grappling with; he also has to deal with a bucket load of structural problems. For starters, it's not like there are Jedi recruits lining up at his doorstep, ready to be trained. No, he has to find them, convince them to join his cause, and then train them. It’s a bit like trying to recruit for a startup when all you have is a half-baked business plan and a whole lot of enthusiasm1.
And then there's the not-so-small matter of his nephew, Ben Solo, who decides to embrace his inner teenager, throw a galactic-sized tantrum, and destroy the Jedi Temple, taking some of Luke's apprentices with him to the dark side and killing the rest. I mean, talk about a bad day at the office. This act of destruction not only wiped out a significant part of the new generation of Jedi but also served as a giant "Do Not Disturb" sign for any potential recruits2.
3. Luke Skywalker's Personality and Approach
And then, of course, there’s Luke himself. Now, I don't want to point fingers here, but let's just say Luke’s not exactly overflowing with confidence when it comes to this whole "training a new generation of Jedi" thing. You see, Luke isn’t your typical Jedi Master. He didn’t grow up in the Jedi Temple learning the ways of the Force from toddlerhood. No, he was a late bloomer who started his training as a teenager, and suddenly he’s supposed to train a new generation of Jedi with practically no guidance? That's a tall order for anyone1.
So, he does what any self-respecting autodidact would do: he hits the books. Or, rather, he goes on an intergalactic scavenger hunt for ancient Jedi relics and texts, trying to understand the Jedi Order’s fragmented history and find answers to his questions. But this takes time, a lot of it. And while he's getting his Jedi Master degree, he’s not exactly churning out a new generation of Jedi12.
4. Conclusion
So, why couldn't Luke Skywalker, hero of the Rebellion, train more fully fledged Jedi that didn't go dark side on him? It's a combination of things. First, there's the baggage of history - the purge of the Jedi and the remnants of the Empire. Then, there are the structural challenges, like finding students and dealing with a certain nephew's destructive tendencies. And finally, there's Luke himself, grappling with self-doubt and a steep learning curve.
This whole saga is a stark reminder that reviving an ancient order of space wizards isn't as straightforward as it might seem. It's messy, it's complicated, and it doesn't always go the way you want it to. But that's the thing about history, it never really goes away, and sometimes, it comes back in ways you least expect it to. Just ask Luke Skywalker.
