Luke Skywalker, the Last Jedi, faces his toughest challenge yet. After taking his Jedi vows, he assumes the misbelief that love has no place in his life. As a result, he denies the love he craves in order to establish the New Jedi Order and maintain...
❶ "Jedi Master Revealed"—The Empire Strikes Back Extended ST
⊘ Silence
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After Luke escorted his sister back to her new lodgings, he took an early morning run in the woods.
Deciduous thundu trees shadowed the trail, and golden sunlight streamed through their twisting branches high above the spongy soil. Purple-feathered woodland birds chirped, and black-and-tan striped rodents chittered. His heavy breathing and hurried footsteps disturbed the sylvan serenity.
Moving through the brisk air while the birds greeted the morning refreshed him. The tendrils of the Force surged through him. The fragrant air of crushed leaves warmed by the sunlight energized him. His feet picked up their pace.
After a few clicks, the Jedi stopped in a clearing to catch his breath when he sensed a movement in the Force.
❶ "Luke." Obi-Wan's voice echoed as the blue-tinged, ghostly form shimmered into existence. Kenobi's ghost appeared just as he had seen him the last time on Endor.
Luke remembered when the Jedi had sacrificed his life to save him. Now, the Force gave him an insight that Kenobi had sacrificed himself to save Luke's father, Anakin Skywalker.
His old mentor's steel-gray hair and scruffy beard belied the man's true age of fifty-seven. The stresses of the Clone Wars and the harsh climate of Tatooine had changed the once-vital warrior into a shriveled old man in just nineteen years. Yet, the Jedi Master's blue-gray eyes still twinkled with merriment.
Luke panted in the middle of a glade. "Obi-Wan."
"The first of the new Jedi will come to you soon. You will teach her in the ways of the Force, and she will rise to become your comrade-in-arms."
"I know. I've already started training Leia. I thought it best to let her get past the morning sickness before we continue." Luke winked at his old master.
When the ghost of Yoda apparated into the clearing, Luke sucked in his breath. With a slight bow in reverence to the small green figure with wispy white hair and large, pointed ears, Luke greeted, "Master Yoda."
The ancient Jedi Master raised his gnarled cane in his hand, making a slow motion in the air. "Expecting is she? Unexpected this is and unfortunate. Leia must not become a Jedi. Forbidden attachment is."
"Why? Leia loves Han more than herself. Truly, that is the good in this world," Luke pleaded, sitting on the moist soil and matted leaves in the pose of the apprentice.
Obi-Wan moved beside the younger man. "When a Jedi adheres to someone, the dark side can exploit that weakness."
Luke sneered at the thought. How could something good be a weakness?
