This lack of the main character of the original trilogy has lead to some very vocal speculation that Luke Skywalker has fallen to the Dark Side. Some people have, very foolishly, claimed that Luke is Kylo Ren (despite the fact that we know unequivocally that Adam Driver is playing Kylo Ren, a fact confirmed by pictures). Others claim that Luke is perhaps the leader of the Knights of Ren, or perhaps some other leader of The First Order.
All of these theories are absolutely wrong. Not only do these theories contradict what was presented in the original Star Wars trilogy, but it goes against the information we've been given in the Force Friday books, and the Shattered Empire comics.
Let me digress for a moment.
It's easy to see why this proposed ending provides such a sticking point for Dark Side supporters, but it seems fairly clear that this was never a seriously considered ending. This quote very much sounds like George Lucas throwing out the most absurd ending he could think of, which is why he dubs it "the ultimate twist". Kasdan affirms this with a sort of "well of course!" response, that again doesn't seem like legitimate support.
Now, obviously we're dealing strictly with words on a page, with no inflection, the absolute lack of foreshadowing of a fall for Luke speaks to the fact that this was not a legitimately considered ending. Every twist, whether isn't Norman Bates being Mother, or Bruce Willis being a ghost, must be foreshadowed in order for it to make sense within the context of the story. There is simply no foreshadowing to Luke falling to the Sith. At every juncture, Luke takes the path of the Light Side, even of it's not the path that Yoda or Obi-Wan would have liked.
Yes, Yoda predicts that if Luke confronts Vader before he's ready, he will fall to the Dark Side. However, we see Luke offered the opportunity, and we see him reject it. We see the horror in Lukes face when he sees himself as Vader, this is not a path he desires. He wants to save his friends, because he's made an attachment to them (much like Anakin makes an attachment to Padme). This is what Yoda fears, but it is this attachment that would ultimately prove Luke's greatest strength.
If Luke had fallen to the Dark Side, the cave would ultimately have made no sense. Luke would have turned on his friends, the very friends who he cares so much about.
Interestingly, though, what seems to have been the original outlined ending to the saga does take take these friends away. According to producer Gary Kurtz, in the original outlined ending featured Han Solo dying, "Leia grappling with her new duties as queen and Luke walking off alone 'like Clint Eastwood in the spaghetti westerns'". What's most interesting is that even without his friends, Luke doesn't go to the Dark Side, he simply wanders off to become like Obi-Wan or Yoda... the lone Jedi.
This ending does seem foreshadowed. When Luke asks Yoda if Han and Leia will die, Yoda doesn't tell him no, but merely tells him the future is always in motion. Even if Luke had not gone to Cloud City, neither Han or Leia would have died, so the events he's talking about are likely not those in the immediate sense (yes R2 did provide assistance, but without the need to swing back and rescue Luke, there's the question as to whether they would have needed him).
Now, lets swing back into continuity and away from what might have been. Many Dark Side supporters point to Return of the Jedi as to why Luke has to be going to the Dark Side. Luke appears wearing all black. He manipulates Bib Fortuna, and then uses a Force Choke. He tells Jabba that he must turn over Han and Leia, or he'll kill him. All in all, he's carrying himself a lot like Vader.
However, to focus on these things is to critically miss the ultimate reveal.
During the final climactic battle, the front flap of Luke's shirt opens revealing that the interior is white.
This very clearly presents that all of the allusions to Luke being like Vader were a ruse. Luke does glimpse the Dark Side. He glimpses it when he attempts to strike down Palpatine, and when he's beating Vader into submission. He's on the knife edge that Obi-Wan and Yoda feared he would stand upon. But when Luke cuts off Vaders hand, then looks at his own cybernetic hand, he sees his possible fate.
In Luke's mind, he's flashing back to the cave and the same look of horror crosses his face.
So Luke rejects the trappings of the Dark Side, and the white flap opens. Luke was good the entire time, and now the facade of the Dark Side has fallen.
The white flap in Luke's shirt, mirrors the ultimate reveal of Vader. When Vader's helmet is removed, we don't see the yellowed scar tissue of The Empire Strikes Back
We see a pure white face, worn and tired.
That's not a coincidence.
Vader gave himself over to the Light by killing Palpatine, and when we finally see who is inside the Vader suit, he's lily white. Inside this facade of Darkness, was the goodness that made Anakin a Jedi to begin with.
Luke's cloak of Darkness is much thinner, and so it just more easily revealed.
Immediately following Return of the Jedi, in Shattered Empire, Luke maintains his look from the end of Return of the Jedi.
Luke still wears this look, because now it has meaning to him. Luke has passed through the heart of darkness, and come back as the man who has done the impossible. The white is not hidden, it is there for all to see.
Luke was told he could not save his friends. He was told he could not confront Vader. He was told he could not bring Anakin back to the Light. And yet, he did all three. He accomplished the impossible three times, rejecting power and anger and hate, and has come through on the other side. He's comfortable in his skin and with the Legacy on his shoulders. He seeks out remnants of the Jedi Order, but doesn't keep them for himself.
Now, the argument exists that 30 years have passed between this Luke and the Luke of The Force Awakens.However, as a short time before the film, Luke is still looked upon as a hero.
The book Weapon of the Jedi tells its story through a framing device wherein C-3PO tells Resistance pilot Jessika Pava an early story of Luke as a Jedi. Pava is eager to hear this story, and accepts its lesson without a hint of irony. We know this story takes place close-ish to The Force Awakens because of 3PO's red arm.
It is clear that Pava looks up to Luke not as you would a fallen hero, or as a hero who has vanished, but as you would a living legend. She reacts the way someone in the Marvel Universe might hearing a story about Captain America saving New York in Avengers, not the way someone might hearing a story about Captain America in World War 2.
If Luke had fallen to the Dark Side, why would a current Resistance pilot still look up to him as a hero? Why would he be a source of inspiration, and not a person who doesn't get brought up because he's betrayed his friend?. You don't gain inspiration from traitors.
Next, the officially released image of Luke that we have from Force Awakens is of him with R2-D2. This raises the very simple question of why would R2 stay with Luke if Luke fell to the Dark Side and took up with the First Order? R2 remembers the Dark Times. He remembers Vader. Arguably, he remembers Anakin. So, why would he traipse off with Luke as he too falls to the Dark Side?
What's more interesting is that Luke has clearly abandoned his black attire, in favor of either white or cream colored clothing (it's hard to tell from the firelight).
Notwithstanding, we've also see a very clear leaked photo of Luke from Force Awakens, where, again, he had forsaken his black clothes and gone for a pure white and cream colored ensemble.
So, whereas before Luke wore a cloak of darkness, but revealed his goodness on the inside, now he has let that goodness bleed through. He has spent enough time as a Jedi that that core of peace has enveloped him. There's no longer the need for a "badass game face", now he's content to let his calm and peace speak for him.
So, what should we expect from Luke in Force Awakens?
At New York Comic Con 2015, Del Ray held a Star Wars book panel featuring, among others, Chuck Wendig, Pablo Hidalgo, Claudia Gray and Greg Rucka. Rucka was introduced as the author of the Force Friday book Smugglers Run and the Shattered Empire comic. It was announced at NYCC that Rucka was writing an anthology book called Before the Awakening, which would be released on December 18 (the day of the movies release, which indicated that book will contain likely spoilers for the film), which is a direct lead in to Force Awakens requiring more direct information about the film. Although Rucka professed to having not seen the film, he didn't, as the other authors did, profess that he asked for as little Force Awakens spoilers as possible. Pablo Hidalgo, it must be noted, helped to create the timeline between Return of the Jedi and Force Awakens.
When asked a fan question about working with these characters without the EU, (at about the 1 hour mark) Rucka responded by saying that they worked off the canon, which was the films. He pointed out that, as I mentioned earlier, Luke did what everyone else told him was impossible. That Luke has passed through the heart of darkness (e.g. the Dark Side) and returned to the Light, and not only that but he'd brought his father with him. He made a point that after saving his father, Luke rejoins his family (e.g. Leia, Han, Chewie) and the last thing he sees are Obi-Wan, Yoda and his father, providing him with the thought "I must have done something right".
Subsequently, Hidalgo commented that "To understand what Luke now is as a Jedi, we now have Qui-Gon as an example that... the authors of the early 90's didn't have that example. It's a powerful, powerful example. We referenced a lot of material".
Rucka added "Maybe that's the best example, because we know Qui-Gon is the iconoclast of the temple- of the order. And that would be what Luke moves into, because what are his examples... none. He's the guy who's gonna go 'I've gotta recreate this thing'".
The question that must be asked is, why would a man instrumental in plotting the course of the universe to The Force Awakens specifically identify Qui-Gon as a reference for Luke?
Because it's not a secret. Luke is a Jedi. And if we want to know what type of Jedi he will be, we look at Qui-Gon.
There's nothing to point to Luke being a Dark Sider except the desire of some vocal fans. Buy why would anyone want that?
At it's heart, the Sith philosophy is about greed and self desire. It's "I take what I want" and "I do what I want". Murder isn't required, but it's not shunned. It's the basest human desires manifest as a guiding purpose.
Contrarily, the Jedi are all about the Will of the Force. They are about not letting personal desire control you. About not letting emotion prevent you from doing what it right. It's about self sacrifice for the greater good.
Being a Jedi is about this:
Not this:
Or this:
In fact, Yoda specifically says a Jedi does not crave adventure or excitement. Couple it with the decided rise of philosophies that in many ways mirror the Sith (objectivism, for example, with its focus on greed) that have become popular, and you are left with the worrisome fact that we've begun to idealize the bad guy because they create excitement and get all the things we desire.
It's much more empowering to destroy ones enemies than to let go of the feelings that make them our enemies.
To see Luke Skywalker rise to this position leaves those who idolize the Dark Side in a bind. The Dark Side was beaten, and the Light Side won. Who wants to see their philosophy lose?
Yes, scores of people think Vader is cool (myself included) that don't actually support his philosophy, but not many of them really want to see Luke suddenly be evil.
Additionally, the problem may be that Luke has won. That if he's still a Jedi, how can there be struggle. He must be evil or there would be no story. However, this view in itself fails to take notice that the monomyth isn't the only structure, and also how serialized stories work (Superman hasn't been evil for 80 years).
All in all, the only things that seem to make people want Luke to be evil are either a desire to see evil win, a failure to understand his place in the story, or a failure to understand the story and all the elements presented to us in it.
Luke is a Jedi, and nothing has been presented to tell us different.
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