15

In Star Wars: A New Hope the whole story of training Luke being a Jedi is triggered just because Princess Leia's corvette happened to be intercepted just over Tatooine.

The droids happened to be captured and put for sale exactly when uncle Owen needed a new droid.

All this is quite a lot of not-very-likely-to-happen circumstances.

Meanwhile Luke was planning to join the Imperial Academy.

Did the Jedi (i.e. Yoda, Obi-Wan) have any plan to recruit and train Luke?

FuzzyBoots
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vap78
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    Where was it stated that Luke was planning to join the Imperial Academy? would be weird seeing all his friends joined the Rebellion. Also, a cheap cop-out but "The Force" becomes the equivalent of destiny and is unavoidable. – A.bakker Dec 11 '23 at 08:26
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    @A.bakker It's in the dialogue. Something about Uncle Owen telling him he can submit his application "to the academy" next year. It's widely accepted this is a reference to the Imperial Adacademy, as it's unlikely the Rebellion have an Officer Training School. – Darren Dec 11 '23 at 09:22
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    Could also be that he intended to get trained by the Empire and then defect. – Darren Dec 11 '23 at 09:24
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    @A.bakker https://imsdb.com/scripts/Star-Wars-A-New-Hope.html

    first the dialogue with his friend Biggs. He was at the Academy already and is joining a starship as a first mate. Luke says that he will 'maybe' go to the Academy next year.

    Is it the Imperial Academy? Kind of plausible. I doubt the Empire will allow anyone else to train people who can operate starships.

     – vap78 Dec 11 '23 at 09:45
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    Similar questions have been asked before. There was no "just happened" (with the possible exception of the droids): Leia was over Tatooine because she was coming to find Obi-wan ("my mission to bring you to Alderaan has failed"). And Obi-wan was on Tatooine because he was keeping tabs on Luke. – Daniel Roseman Dec 11 '23 at 10:08
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    Something, something, something The Force something, something – Binary Worrier Dec 11 '23 at 10:23
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    @A.bakker - Luke was indeed planning to apply to the Imperial Academy; https://scifi.stackexchange.com/a/169019/20774 – Valorum Dec 11 '23 at 12:05
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    @DanielRoseman but still, the question is valid: had Leia not been carrying the stolen Death Star plans, and had her not sent their droids to find Obi Wan, what were Ben's and Yoda's long term plans for Luke? During the Original Trilogy I get the sense they feel he is "not ready", which means events precipitated his Jedi training. So what where the plans they had before for him, if no emergency arose? – Andres F. Dec 11 '23 at 13:45
  • Plans, the Emperor has. Plans, Darth Vader has. Look like a 900-year-old Jedi with a plan, do I? Know not what to do with it, would a womp rat if it caught an X-Wing. – Paul D. Waite Dec 11 '23 at 16:03
  • Obi-Wan is her "only hope"...it seems reasonable to believe she was there looking for him. – rtaft Dec 12 '23 at 13:39
  • The best part about classic Star Wars is that all the “not-very-likely-to-happen circumstances” (contrived coincidence and plot armor) can be explained by The Force. Some see that as a cop-out, but basically every fiction ever has a least a little contrived coincidence & plot armor, and Star Wars actually worked that into the story itself as a environmental character in its fictional universe. – Slipp D. Thompson Dec 12 '23 at 17:45
  • @vap78 The novelization (by Lucas) expands that dialogue with Biggs (p27-31). Biggs is specifically planning to jump ship and join the Alliance. Luke isn't yet completely convinced that the Empire is a major threat (to Tatooine, at least). And Luke wants to join the Academy as opposed to being drafted into the starfleet, although it's definitely a flight academy of some sort based on what Biggs is doing there, so it could be he'd still end up in the fleet after graduating, but perhaps as an officer, or with a better choice of assignments. – Ray Dec 12 '23 at 19:43

1 Answers1

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The Obi-Wan Kenobi TV show sheds some light on this. Obi-Wan had originally had some sort of agreement with Owen that Luke would be eventually trained:

OBI-WAN: Is he okay?

OWEN: You don't care if he's okay. You care if he's showing.

OBI-WAN: He's my responsibility, Owen.

OWEN: I'm his uncle.

OBI-WAN: We talked about this. When the time comes, he must be trained.

OWEN: Like you trained his father? (beat) Anakin is dead, Ben, and I won't let you make the same mistake twice. So, leave him on the farm with his family, where he belongs.

Obi-Wan Kenobi, "Episode I", via TV Show Transcripts; emphasis added

Owen apparently changes his mind about letting Luke be trained after the Inquisitors come to Tatooine earlier in the same episode to hunt down Jedi.

By the end of the series, Obi-Wan has resolved to trust more in the Force, and to take a more laissez-faire approach with Luke:

OWEN: What are you, uh, doin' here? I thought you were gonna keep your distance.

OBI-WAN: And I will. You know, you were right. He just needs to be a boy. The future will take care of itself. The only protection he needs now, Owen, is you and Beru. Take good care of him.

OWEN: I will.

Obi-Wan Kenobi, "Episode VI", via TV Show Transcripts; emphasis added

So, in other words, Obi-Wan believed that Luke still needed to be trained, but that the correct time to do so would reveal itself. The Force apparently agrees with him, since it's only after this decision that he's able to see the spirit of Qui-Gon Jinn.

Milo P
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