gffa:
One of the things I really liked about The Last Jedi is something that @forcearama really helped put into clearly for me, that the movie shows pretty clearly how Yoda continues to be one of the strongest voices for how the Jedi have never been perfect. Even as far back as Attack of the Clones, Yoda was like WE BETTER KEEP AN EYE ON OURSELVES (”His abilities have made him, well, arrogant.” “Yes, yes. A flaw more and more common among Jedi. Hmm. Too sure of themselves they are. Even the older, more experienced ones.” Yoda says while looking RIGHT STRAIGHT AT OBI-WAN.) and repeats this in Rebels as well. Along with Ahsoka and Obi-Wan both reflecting in various bits of canon (whether Rebels or the canon novels) about where their failure does or doesn’t lie.
That is right in line with his conversation with Luke in TLJ
So it is time for the Jedi Order to end.
Time it is. Hmm. For you to look past a pile of old books, hmm? Oh. Read them, have you?
Well, I…
Page-turners they were not. Yes, yes, yes. Wisdom they held, but that library contained nothing that the girl Rey does not already possess. Skywalker,
still looking to the horizon. Never here, now, hmm? The need in front of your nose. Hmm?
I was weak. Unwise.
Lost Ben Solo, you did. Lose Rey, we must not.
I can’t be what she needs me to be.
Heeded my words not, did you? Pass on what you have learned. Strength, mastery. But weakness, folly, failure also. Yes, failure most of all. The greatest teacher, failure is. Luke, we are what they grow beyond. That is the true burden of all masters.
But contrast that with how Snoke is written:
You think you can turn him? Pathetic child. I cannot be betrayed, I cannot be beaten.
I see his mind,
I see his every intent.
Zero room for even the idea of that he could fail or be less than perfect.
That is what a villain looks like, so sure of themselves that they cannot possibly see the truth, there is no room for compassion or care or even growth.
Yeah, Luke does some shit talking about failure of the Jedi, but the whole point Yoda’s making is YOU DON’T GIVE UP AFTER ONE FAILURE, YOU GET BACK IN THE GAME and he’s right about that. He’s right that sometimes people–people who are good, who are compassionate, who never strop growing and striving and seeking the good–fail and you don’t give up forever and ever because of it. You put on your big kid undies and GET BACK OUT THERE.
This is why I love the Jedi so much. Luke’s speaking out from a really bad place and he’s wrong. It’s understandable why he’s there, the restoration of the Jedi Order (and, let’s be clear, Luke gave them, what? 25 years of peace and balance, THAT’S NOT NOTHING, LUKE, even more the previous Jedi gave the galaxy A THOUSAND YEARS OF PEACE, that’s really not nothing! THAT IS WORTH WHATEVER FIGHT RIGHT THERE) was something that he poured everything of himself into, he defined himself through it, he funneled so much of his life and identity into this role. And it crashed and burned around him.
The longer I sit with this version of Luke, the more I can salvage something of my dashed expectations and have it make sense to me. Luke’s in a bad place, he’s lashing out from his own guilt, saying everything is terrible, nothing is worth anything, etc. I’ve been there, that kind of headspace is horrible, you get all turned around and can’t see anything clearly.
And ultimately the point is that the Jedi keep growing, that’s always been how they are. They’ve never set themselves apart from failure sometimes, they’ve never thought themselves so perfect that they could not possibly fail, and Yoda’s been saying that all along. We have a direct contrast against that, we have what actual bad people look like–Snoke. Who is so arrogant that he thinks he cannot possibly be betrayed and then IMMEDIATELY IS. He’s dead, while the Jedi continue forward.
That doesn’t mean you don’t get back up and keep going. THAT IS WHAT THE JEDI DO and, if nothing else, this movie is giving me that and I’m just really, really into that.
konekorambles 