This Is How 'Star Wars' Explained Palpatine's Return, By Ruining Luke's Exile Completely

Luke Skywalker's state of exile in the sequel trilogy is a very touchy subject. The idea of Luke being an old hermit in exile actually came from George Lucas himself. Even with the way The Force Awakens ended, many fans were still surprised by how bitter their hero Luke Skywalker was in The Last Jedi, and how he was denouncing the ways of the Jedi Order. To be fair, the Jedi of the prequel era were flawed, but many expected Luke to be spearheading the revival of the Jedi Order as he did in Legends. He does that to an extent in the backstory for the sequel trilogy, but flashbacks in The Last Jedi stirred some controversy when it was revealed that Luke considered killing his own nephew, Ben Solo, when he sensed darkness in him. Once he ignited his own lightsaber, he felt shame, and regretted doing so. Nevertheless, his nephew awoke, assumed the worst, and did not give his uncle a chance to speak, leading to the destruction of the Jedi temple.

While the flashback was controversial, it provided context for why Luke was in exile. He felt that he was a failure, and The Last Jedi is all about overcoming failure. As frustrating as a depressed Luke might be for some to watch, it made him relatable, and his restoration of faith at the end of the film, when he uses Force projection to confront Kylo Ren in a nonviolent manner, is something that can be considered one of the best moments in all of Star Wars. However, one can admit that the circumstances that led to his exile are wonky. If all of the aforementioned context was not enough, The Rise of Skywalker threw some stuff in the mix that made things more convoluted and rendered the circumstances of Luke's exile to be badly executed, or conveyed, depending on how you look at it.

The Rise of Skywalker introduced the rather unimaginative idea of Palpatine returning, with little explanation within the film itself and no clear foreshadowing in the previous films. In the film, we are told that Luke and Lando, at one point, went looking for Ochi of Bestoon and the Sith Wayfinder in order to find the Sith world of Exegol. According to the visual dicionary for the film, "whispers spoke of a resurgent enemy from the past." The trail went cold on Pasaana, but it seems like Luke should have suspected the possibility that Palpatine's return was imminent.

To an extent, some of Palpatine's "grand plan" in supplementary materials retroactively seems like it could somehow tie into his return. In the 2017 Battlefront II campaign, Luke goes to the planet Pillio after the Battle of Endor, where he found the Emperor's Observatory. We also know of an observatory on Jakku thanks to the Aftermath novels, and it has been speculated that Luke may have explored that world after the Battle of Jakku. With all of this investigation in mind, and Palpatine manipulating the events that led to the destruction of Luke's Jedi temple, it seems odd that Luke would not have suspected Palpatine having a role in what was going on with his nephew. In The Last Jedi, Luke talks down to the Jedi of the prequels for allowing Darth Sidious to rise, something that seems like they could have very easily prevented if they were actually paying attention. But it sounds like Luke is not so different from those Jedi.

Overall, Luke's exile and his return to form has something to teach audiences. But the background regarding his exile, much like some of the background for the prequel era, is messier than it needs to be. However, that might not necessarily prevent fans from enjoying the standout moments of the franchise, regardless of the lackluster backstories.