On 18th December, 2020, there was a great disturbance in the Force, as if millions of voices across the globe suddenly cried out in euphoria and were suddenly silenced with bewilderment. In a single scene, The Mandalorian redeemed the failing Star Wars franchise and materialized the myth of Luke Skywalker into a dazzling reality. However, the appearance of a de-aged Mark Hamill as the famed Jedi Master didn’t just connect The Mandalorian to the larger Star Wars universe, but also showed us a glimpse of how enormously powerful Luke Skywalker really is.
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The second season finale of The Mandalorian was titled ‘Chapter 16: The Rescue‘, in which Din Djarin teamed up with Boba Fett, Fennec Shand, Cara Dune, Bo-Katan Kryze, and Koska Reeves to bring Grogu back from Moff Gideon is widely regarded as the best episode of the entire season. Rich with emotional moments, the episode was a perfect blend of storytelling masterpiece and memorable action sequences to deliver a remarkable season finale. And at the heart of the episode was Luke Skywalker, who single-handedly saved Din Djarin and the rest from an onslaught of Dark Troopers. Though the young Jedi Master had pretty much mastered the Force in the movies, the Luke we saw in the show was fierce and much more assuring than the original trilogy. While it is hard to quantify his powers in the series, The Mandalorian surely bridges the gap between a newly trained Luke to the one capable of Force Projection in The Last Jedi.
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In the season finale, the mysterious Jedi Knight appeared on the Light Cruiser with his sturdy old X-Wing as he laid waste to scores of Dark Troopers with relative ease. Earlier in the episode, Din Djarin had to use everything at his disposal to barely defeat a single Dark Trooper, which speaks volumes about their enormous capabilities. But on the contrary, Luke Skywalker almost toyed with the rest of the droid army with his full powers at the display. Though the Dark Troopers were definitely not as powerful as a Sith Lord, Luke’s mastery of the lightsaber and the Force was a sight to behold as the young Jedi Master moved like a hot knife through butter to save the day. But then, Luke’s spectacular lightsaber skills didn’t necessarily pale what fans had previously witnessed before with Master Yoda and Obi-Wan in the movies. Nonetheless, Luke’s technique paired with Ludwig Göransson’s eerie yet hopeful background score did remind us of that haunting scene from Rogue One where Darth Vader killed dozen of soldiers on board.
Compared to the original trilogy, Luke’s skills were definitely cranked up a notch. In the movies, the young Jedi Master fresh out of training was still a force to reckon with, but his techniques were still rusty. While that can be attributed to the limited graphics of that era, The Mandalorian showed us the version of Luke who was at his prime. His mastery over the Force to casually fling the Dark Troopers out of his way, slice them in half using the lightsaber, and even ruthlessly crush the last Dark Trooper using the Force while not breaking a sweat was not a small feat. After the events of The Return of the Jedi, Luke set out to find ancient Jedi and Sith artifacts to better understand the Force explains his mastery that was previously unseen in the movies. While it would be a long shot to assume that Luke had become even more powerful than Yoda or Obi-Wan, he was definitely on the same level as Anakin was in The Revenge of the Sith, considering his pervasive telekinesis powers using the Force. His exemplary powers were once again on display in The Rise of Kylo Ren comics, when he easily defeated the combined force of the Knights of Ren. Rest assured, the storyline is considered to be canon which further proves the point.
Luke once again returned in the sequel trilogy, albeit in limited capacity which enraged a lot of fans. As a reclusive individual who had given up on the Jedi code, this version of Luke left the fans polarized. However, even after presumably decades of vowing to never use the Force again, the Jedi Master once again dazzled the fans with Force Projection, which is considered to be the highest level of mastery one can have over the Force. An ancient Fallanassi technique, the Force Projection helped Luke to project his spiritual self to buy some precious time for the Republic, while still being able to use his powers to fight off the First Order. But unfortunately, the Force Projection requires an enormous amount of power which resulted in Luke becoming one with the Force. But then, the version of Luke which appeared in The Mandalorian rightfully fills the gap between the young Jedi Master freshly out of training and a reclusive figure who came out of retirement to save the day, once again.
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While the Luke we witnessed in The Mandalorian was an accomplished Jedi Master, it still pales in comparison to the version fans had seen in Star Wars Legends. In Legends, Luke had become one of the most powerful Jedi in existence, the way George Lucas had envisioned him. Though Luke might not have been the Chosen One like his father, he resisted the temptation to join the dark side which makes him a true Jedi Master. Unlike the movies, the Legends version of Luke was unfathomably powerful, to the point of being called overpowered. For instance, he had mastered numerous ways of lightsaber combat, making him a fearsome duelist across the galaxy. Additionally, his control over the Force was so adept that he was able to control everything in his proximity, including time itself. As a result, he appeared as a blur to his opponents, even appearing at multiple positions simultaneously to the naked eye. Though witnessing this version of Luke in a live-action adaptation might not happen, fortunately, FandomWire had previously reported that a Luke Skywalker series is being considered for development which will mostly focus on the adventures of the Jedi Master after the events of The Mandalorian. As Luke collects young Jedi padawans from across the galaxy, a live-action series will also focus on his own development as his existence gradually becomes a myth for his overwhelming prowess.
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