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"I am a Jedi, like my father before me." ―Luke Skywalker Listen (file info) [src]

Luke Skywalker, a Force-sensitive human male, was a legendary Jedi Master who fought in the Galactic Civil War during the reign of the Galactic Empire. Along with his companions, Princess Leia Organa and General Han Solo, Skywalker served on the side of the Alliance to Restore the Republic—an organization committed to the downfall of the Galactic Empire and the restoration of democracy. Following the war, Skywalker became a living legend, and was remembered as one of the greatest Jedi in galactic history.

The son of Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker and Senator Padmé Amidala, Luke Skywalker was born along with his twin sister, Leia, in 19 BBY. As a result of Amidala's death and Anakin's fall to the dark side of the Force, the Skywalker children were separated and sent into hiding, with Leia adopted by the royal family of Alderaan while Luke was raised by his relatives on Tatooine. Longing for a life of adventure and purpose, Skywalker joined the Rebellion and began learning the ways of the Force under the guidance of Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi, whose first apprentice was Luke's own father. During the Battle of Yavin in 0 BBY, Skywalker saved the Alliance from annihilation by destroying the Empire's planet-killing superweapon, the Death Star. He continued his training in the years that followed, determined to become a Jedi Knight like his father before him, and found a new mentor in Grand Master Yoda. After his master's death, Skywalker participated in the Battle of Endor in 4 ABY, during which he confronted the Sith Lord Darth Vader, whom he learned was in fact his father, Anakin Skywalker. With Luke's help, Anakin returned to the light side of the Force by killing Galactic Emperor Darth Sidious at the cost of his own life, fulfilling his destiny as the Chosen One.

With the Sith's destruction and the subsequent capitulation of the Empire in 5 ABY, Luke Skywalker traveled across the galaxy, searching for knowledge that would aid him in rebuilding the Jedi Order. One of his apprentices was his sister's son, Ben Solo, who inherited the Skywalker bloodline's raw strength and potential for limitless power. The loss of his nephew, who fell to the dark side like Vader before him, haunted Skywalker for the rest of his life. In addition, the destruction of his nascent Order convinced him that the time had come for the Jedi to end. He therefore sought exile on the distant world of Ahch-To, having elected to live out his remaining days as a hermit despite the galaxy's pleas for help during the rise of the First Order. His solitude was interrupted in 34 ABY, shortly after the fall of the New Republic, resulting in a chain of events that led Skywalker to play one last, momentous role in the conflict between light and darkness. Although he passed away into the Force, his legend would spread throughout the galaxy, rekindling a spark of hope in the enemies of the First Order. Before his death, Skywalker declared that the Jedi Order would not die with him, having trained a final apprentice: the Jakku scavenger known as Rey.

In 35 ABY, Skywalker's spirit communed with Rey during the final days of the war. The Jedi apprentice had exiled herself to Ahch-To, following in Skywalker's example. However, Skywalker urged Rey to confront her grandfather, the resurrected Darth Sidious. Believing he had been wrong, Skywalker told Rey that a Jedi's destiny was to confront fear. Following the Emperor's destruction, the spirits of Skywalker and his sister were watching over Rey when she took their family name as her own.

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Biography

Pre-birth

"He is to teach one that will save the universe from a great imbalance." ―Serenity, concerning Yoda's future training of Luke Skywalker [src]

During the Clone Wars, Jedi Master Yoda set out on a journey to discover the secrets of immortality. His journey took him to Moraband, the ancient Sith homeworld, where he faced visions of the future. At the end of his journey, the Force Priestess, Serenity, who guided his journey told him that there was another Skywalker, and Yoda heard his voice from the future say so as well.[18] These events alluded to the birth and destiny of Luke Skywalker, as well as his twin sister Leia.[13]

Early life

Birth

Luke Skywalker was born in 19 BBY[2] on the asteroid field of Polis Massa[4] two days after the proclamation of the Galactic Empire.[3] He and his twin sister Leia, who was born shortly after him, were the children of Galactic Republic Senator Padmé Amidala, who died shortly after labor, and Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker, who had recently fallen to the dark side of the Force. To protect the children from the Empire and Anakin, the now-Sith Lord Darth Vader, Obi-Wan Kenobi personally sent the infant Luke to live with Anakin's stepbrother Owen Lars and his wife Beru on the planet Tatooine, while Senator Bail Organa agreed to adopt Leia together with his wife, the queen of Alderaan.[4]

First years on the farm

"And what of the boy."

"To Tatooine. To his family, send him." ―Obi-Wan Kenobi and Yoda discuss Skywalker's future [src]

Skywalker spent his youth on the Lars' moisture farm, where his uncle unsuccessfully tried to discourage his adventurous tendencies, telling him that his father had been "a navigator on a spice freighter" during the Clone Wars.[1] His aunt, Beru, would read him storybooks; one day, when his uncle had business in Mos Eisley, she took Skywalker to Anchorhead to use the HoloNet connections there and show him images of forests, rivers, and oceans.[9]

By the age of three in 16 BBY, Luke had found pleasure playing with a model spaceship built especially for him. Luke did not know that Kenobi had actually built it and that Kenobi had been leaving several of them at his grandmother Shmi's sandblasted tombstone for his aunt to find. One morning, as Luke played with his toy, a group of marauders attacked the farm. Obi-Wan Kenobi, who had been watching Luke from afar, sprang into action, cutting down several Gamorreans before coming to the realization that he was badly outnumbered. Just as he was about to be dealt a possibly killing blow by one of the gang, Luke threw the toy starfighter he had been playing with, managing to distract the Gammorean long enough for Kenobi to separate his feet from his ankles. The battle then raged further, slowly turning in the favor of the defenders which included uncle Owen, who managed to gun down several of the invaders with a blaster. Luke cried out after noticing that one of the marauders, a Devaronian, had snuck up behind Owen, ready to knock him out. Kenobi then threw his lightsaber cutting the last marauder in half. As Luke cheered, Owen threw a punch which knocked Kenobi to the ground. Owen then ushered Luke back before chastising Kenobi for his involvement, pointing out the fact that Luke's brief show of bravery had potential ramifications for the boy's future.[19]

Vader's vision

Shortly after the Battle of Fortress Vader, Darth Vader accessed a portal to the dark side created by Momin in an attempt to revive Padmé. He eventually found an apparition of Padmé standing on a balcony, who rejected his pleas and threw itself off the ledge and was incinerated by lightning. Just after this, Vader saw a blue light in the distance, out of which emerged an apparition of an adult Luke, who blasted him back to reality.[20]

Taking on Jabba's thugs

"That right kid? you were trying to steal Jabba's water?"

"It's not Jabba's. It belongs to the farmers, I was taking it back." ―One of Jabba's Thugs and Luke Skywalker [src]

At the age of eight, during the Great Drought in 11 BBY,[2] henchmen for the crime lord Jabba the Hutt collected a "water tax" on their master's behalf. Despite the damage it caused moisture farmers, Skywalker naïvely stood up to the thugs at night, trying to take back the water they had stolen from the farmers. Kenobi, who sensed the danger his protégé was in, blew their vehicle's lights with the Force to hide his identity, and proceeded to disable all of Jabba's henchmen. One of them became startled and pushed Skywalker to the ground, causing him to hit his head and pass out. Once Kenobi handled the thugs, he carried Skywalker to the Lars' homestead where he was found asleep, unaware of his savior's identity, by his aunt in the morning.[21]

Saving Uncle Owen

"Hang on, Uncle Owen!" ―Luke Skywalker after rescuing his uncle. [src]

Some time after grounding Luke from flying his skyhopper, Owen Lars attempted to rebuild his relationship with his nephew by looking to help him fix it. However, before he could, he was captured by the Wookiee bounty hunter Black Krrsantan and tortured. Meanwhile, Luke was running away from home for not the first time. However, he sensed something was wrong and rushed to his homestead. When he arrived, he found many droids destroyed and his aunt Beru rattled, telling him of the attack. She ordered her nephew to lock himself in the homestead's maintenance bay, where he found his disabled skyhopper. He proceeded to fix it and make his way to Krrsantan and Owen. As he flew there, the Wookiee was engaged by Obi-Wan Kenobi. During this battle, Owen was thrown off a cliff. Before he could hit the bottom, Luke, in his skyhopper, managed to catch him and escape. Meanwhile, Kenobi defeated Krrsantan. Afterwards, Skywalker was allowed to fly his skyhopper once again.[22]

Other adventures

"Tell me...is it the Chosen One?"

"He is."

"He will avenge us." ―Maul and Obi-Wan Kenobi's final conversation, referencing Luke Skywalker [src]

Eventually, Skywalker became an adventure-seeking youth who demonstrated his father's natural piloting skills, as well as a strong desire to leave Tatooine.[1] At one point in his boyhood, Skywalker was climbing in a canyon, but, when he grabbed the top, the rock broke off. Skywalker fell into a cave, where he was seen by a group of womp rats and a krayt dragon, although he managed to escape the creatures. Years later, C-3PO referenced this story to several visitors.[23] When Skywalker was 12 years old in 7 BBY,[24] he and his friend, Windy went off on their own through the Tatooine desert and wandered away from the moisture farms riding a dewback. The two encountered a sandstorm during their time outside and both lost consciousness. A krayt dragon was nearby when Skywalker woke up, but they were saved by Kenobi, meeting him for the first time after his adoption to the Lars family. Skywalker asked him who he was, and Kenobi revealed that his name was Ben Kenobi and an old friend of his father. Soon after, Skywalker exhausted and with Windy, he returned safely to their homes, carried on a dewback.[25]

As more of Skywalker's friends left the planet to follow their dreams, he became increasingly frustrated that his uncle would not allow him to do the same, claiming that he still needed help with the farm. In truth, Owen was trying to prevent Skywalker from following in his father's footsteps.[1] In 2 BBY Skywalker was helping at his foster parent's moisture farm when Beru called him inside. As Skywalker ran back to the house, he was watched in the distance by Obi-Wan Kenobi, who was riding a dewback. Kenobi had just defeated and killed the former Sith apprentice Maul, who had a vendetta against Kenobi after being bisected at the torso during the Invasion of Naboo thirty years earlier. In his final moments, Maul asked Kenobi if he was guarding Skywalker. Kenobi affirmed that he believed Luke was the Chosen One before Maul passed away.[27]

When not helping his uncle, Skywalker would occasionally go bulls-eye womp rats, or go racing through the dangerous Beggar's Canyon in his T-16 Skyhopper by the age of thirteen.[9] He would also spend time at Tosche Station with his friends, such as Biggs Darklighter,[1] "Fixer," Camie Marstrap,[28] Windy, and Deak;[9] some of them called him "Wormie."[29]

Galactic Civil War

"There is a great disturbance in the Force."

"I have felt it."

"We have a new enemy: the young Rebel who destroyed the Death Star. I have no doubt this boy is the offspring of Anakin Skywalker."

"How is that possible?"

"Search your feelings, Lord Vader. You will know it to be true. He could destroy us."

"He's just a boy. Obi-Wan can no longer help him." ―Sheev Palpatine and Darth Vader confer about Luke Skywalker Listen (file info) [src]

Leaving Tatooine

"I want to come with you to Alderaan. There's nothing for me here now. I want to learn the ways of the Force and become a Jedi like my father." ―Luke Skywalker to Obi-Wan Kenobi Listen (file info) [src]

In 0 BBY, the purchase of two droids—R2-D2 and C-3PO—by Skywalker's step-uncle changed the young farm boy's life forever. Obtaining the droids from a band of Jawas to help with various tasks around the homestead, neither of them were aware that the droids had narrowly escaped from the Galactic Empire, and that R2-D2 contained a set of plans for the Empire's dreaded Death Star superweapon.[1]

While cleaning the two new droids back at the homestead, Skywalker learned that they had been involved with the Rebel Alliance, and witnessed part of a desperate message from Princess Leia Organa requesting help from someone named "Obi-Wan Kenobi," whom R2-D2 claimed that he once belonged to. Skywalker soon found himself in the company of Kenobi after being attacked by a group of Sand People out in the Jundland Wastes. Kenobi soon revealed to Skywalker that he had once been a Jedi Knight who served in the Clone Wars with Skywalker's father. He went on to inform Skywalker that his father was not a spice freighter navigator like his uncle had always told him, but a Jedi Knight struck down by Darth Vader. Skywalker was also given his father's lightsaber by Kenobi,[1] allowing the blade to be ignited for the first time in years.[24] After he showed Princess Leia's message in its entirety to Kenobi, the old Jedi Master requested Skywalker's help to see the mission through, and offered to show him the ways of the Force. Skywalker initially refused to get involved, as he believed his duties at home were more important, but he offered to take Kenobi to Anchorhead.[1]

On their way to Anchorhead, Skywalker and Kenobi came upon a group of slaughtered Jawas—the same ones who sold the droids to his uncle. Skywalker deduced from learning that Imperial stormtroopers were responsible that they might have looked into the sales records of the droids, and rushed home in the hopes of saving his step-aunt and step-uncle. Upon returning home, Skywalker discovered that he was too late: his step-aunt and step-uncle had been murdered by the Empire. With the people who raised him dead, he decided to accompany Kenobi to Alderaan to deliver the plans back to the Alliance and learn the ways of the Jedi.[1]

On their way to Mos Eisley, Kenobi began training him and gave Skywalker his first lesson, during which he learned the basics of Jedi meditation.[30] They would later reach Chalmun's Spaceport Cantina, where Kenobi claimed that they could find a pilot that could get them to Alderaan. Inside the cantina, Skywalker nearly had a fatal run-in with the criminals Ponda Baba and Dr. Evazan, but trouble was avoided when Kenobi sliced off Baba's arm with his lightsaber in defense of Skywalker.[1]

The two were eventually able to find a pilot that could take them to Alderaan in the form of Han Solo, a Corellian smuggler, and his co-pilot Chewbacca. Solo's initial rate was ten thousand credits all paid in advance, which Skywalker thought was too expensive. Ultimately, they were able to compromise when Kenobi offered to pay two thousand credits up front and an additional fifteen thousand when they got to Alderaan, for a total of seventeen thousand credits, which convinced Solo to take them, with Skywalker selling his speeder to pay for the two thousand up front.[1]

Death Star rescue

"I'm Luke Skywalker. I'm here to rescue you."

"You're who?"

"I'm here to rescue you. I've got your R2-Unit. I am here with Ben Kenobi."

"Ben Kenobi?! Where is he?!"

"Come on!" ―Luke Skywalker and Leia Organa [src]

After escaping stormtroopers on Solo's ship, the Millennium Falcon, Kenobi began Skywalker's instruction in the ways of the Force, using a training remote to instruct him in basic lightsaber combat, much to the derision of Solo, who dismissed it as a "hokey religion."[1][30] Wearing a helmet that completely covered his eyes for part of the lesson, Kenobi encouraged him to reach out with the Force to combat the remote. Despite his vision being totally impaired, Skywalker was able to successfully deflect a pair of blaster bolts from the remote, claiming that he could "almost see" the remote through the Force.

The lesson, however, was soon interrupted by their arrival in the Alderaan system and their discovery of the planet's destruction. They then spotted a patrolling TIE fighter and, upon following it, found that it was approaching what appeared to be a small moon, which turned out to be the Death Star. Caught by the Death Star's tractor beam, they were brought aboard the massive space station.[1]

Once on board, Luke and Han knocked two stormtroopers out and stole their armor, whereas Kenobi set out to deactivate the tractor beam. However, when R2-D2 discovered that Leia Organa was being held captive on the station, Skywalker insisted on rescuing her. Though Solo was reluctant to go marching into the detention block, Skywalker convinced him to go along with the rescue by claiming that he'd get a significant reward for doing so.

Still using their stormtrooper guises, Skywalker and Solo convinced Chewbacca to pose as a prisoner and escorted him to Detention Block AA-23 (where Organa was being held.) They were able to rescue Organa, but their cover was blown and they had to jump into the garbage compactor in order to escape the pursuing Imperial forces. Though Skywalker and Organa were separated from Solo and Chewbacca, they were able to reunite with their companions, and the droids, in the hangar bay.[1]

Eventually, the group escaped the Death Star, but only after Kenobi sacrificed himself in a duel with Darth Vader.[1] Angry and confused, Organa offered some comfort for his grief.[9] Despite the fact that they had escaped from the Death Star, a pursing TIE fighter patrol was on the verge of catching up to them, so at Solo's request, Skywalker manned one of the Millennium Falcon's quad laser cannons to eliminate the enemy fighters, with Skywalker managing to destroy two of them. Once the patrol was eliminated, they traveled to the hidden rebel base on Yavin 4, unaware that the Death Star was tracking them.[1]

Battle of Yavin

"Great shot, kid; that was one in a million!" ―Han Solo to Luke Skywalker after the destruction of the Death Star [src]

Upon their arrival at the Yavin base, they met with Commander Willard [1] and Organa introduced him to Skywalker so that he could join the Rebel Alliance as a pilot. Skywalker then separated and met Wedge Antilles, who oversaw his flight simulation test. Lasting no more than 30 seconds, the more experienced pilot advised Skywalker to listen to his explanations, and encouraged him not to give up. In his second try, Skywalker used what he had learned from Antilles, and managed to surpass the highest score, that of Antilles's, prompting Willard to accept him without objection.[9] He joined Red Group with the designation of Red Five,[1] which had previously belonged to a cadet named Pedrin Gaul,[31] who had perished during the Battle of Scarif several days earlier.[32]

After the briefing for their plan of attack against the incoming Death Star, Skywalker prepared himself for the attack, when he saw Solo loading his payment onto the Falcon for rescuing Organa and prepared to leave the group. Skywalker attempted to persuade him to stay and help them against the Empire, but Solo refused, claiming that the attack on the Death Star was suicide rather than bravery, deeply disappointing him. After bidding farewell to Organa as well, Skywalker was about to board his T-65B X-wing starfighter, when he encountered his old friend Biggs Darklighter, the two about to be flying as wingmen in the upcoming battle. In a brief conversation, Darklighter promised Luke that the two would catch up on each other's stories when they got back. Skywalker was also approached by Garven Dreis, the commander of Red Squadron, who asked him if he was sure he could handle the X-wing, to which Darklighter vouched for his friend, calling him the "best bush pilot in the Outer Rim Territories."[1]

As the Battle of Yavin got underway and Skywalker and his fellow squadmates launched into space, Skywalker was guided by the spirit of Obi-Wan Kenobi. He participated in Red Squadron's initial assault on the Death Star's outer defenses, primarily focusing on disabling the station's numerous turbolaser batteries and fighting off TIE fighters when they were deployed against the Rebel fighters. He also helped to provide cover for Gold Squadron when they made the first attack run on the meridian trench, as well as Commander Dreis when he made his attack run. Eventually, Darth Vader himself joined the fray in a TIE Advanced x1 and succeeded in thwarting the first two attack runs. Just before he was shot down by the Sith Lord, Commander Dreis instructed Skywalker to lead a third and final run on the trench with Darklighter and Antilles.[1]

Skywalker took charge of the last attempt on the thermal exhaust port as instructed, but Vader and his two escort fighters soon caught up to them. Antilles was forced to withdraw after his starfighter suffered damage, and Darklighter was eventually shot down as well. Unable to grieve for his fallen friend, Skywalker tried to focus on his target. He was once again contacted by the spirit to Kenobi, who urged him to let the Force guide him. This prompted Skywalker to disable his starfighter's targeting computer, much to the confusion of the Rebel leaders continuing to monitor the battle from the surface of Yavin 4.[1]

Just as Skywalker reached the end of the trench, it appeared as though Vader would shoot him down like he had the other pilots, but before he could, Han Solo and Chewbacca showed up in the Millennium Falcon, destroying Vader's two escorts and causing Vader's TIE Advanced to spiral out of control away from the trench. At Solo's urging, Skywalker took a single shot and fired two proton torpedos, using the Force to guide them to their target, which resulted in the destruction of the Death Star. For this action he, Chewbacca, and Han Solo were awarded the Medal of Bravery the next morning.[1]

Just as the ceremony ended, Skywalker told Organa to allow herself some time to grieve for the loss of her family and homeworld. Afterwards, General Jan Dodonna sent him and Antilles, the only other survivor of Red Group, in their X-wings to retrieve the wayward princess and bring her to the Great Temple. Her shuttle's pilot, Evaan Verlaine, however, managed to outsmart them and make the jump to hyperspace with course to Naboo, with R2-D2 accompanying the two women.[33] They would later reunite after she had successfully accomplished her mission.[34] Soon after, Skywalker became an officer in the Alliance and was given the rank of Lieutenant and was regularly assigned numerous independent missions.[35]

The Desert Jewel

"Ever since the Battle of Yavin, I feel sometimes that people expect me to top it and wonder why I haven't yet." ―Luke Skywalker [src]

In an errand for Admiral Ackbar, Skywalker was dispatched to the planet Rodia in order to open a secret weapon supply line for the Alliance. He was accompanied by Artoo and a pilot named Nakari Kelen, and they flew her ship, the Desert Jewel. During their mission together, they helped a Kupohan ship—which, unknown to them at the time, carried vital intelligence on a Givin cryptographer named Drusil Bephorin—near Llanic. They then continued their journey to Rodia. Skywalker was greeted by Laneet Chekkoo, who guided him to Toopil. During business with Taneetch Soonta, the Rodian told Skywalker about the Jedi, including a story about Anakin during the Clone Wars. From her, Skywalker received her uncle's lightsaber.[35]

After killing a ghest and getting some treatment for his wounds, Skywalker focused on analyzing Huulik's lightsaber and trying to learn telekinesis, but a planetwide alert for the Desert Jewel forced him to leave Rodia immediately and meet up with Ackbar and Organa on the Promise. The two assigned him to a mission to rescue Bephorin on Denon, but the need for upgrades for the Jewel prompted him to go on another mission to Fex with Kelen before that. Warned by Organa not to blindly trust Kelen, Skywalker set off for Pasher with Kelen and Artoo to receive intel from her father about their destination and the necessary equipment to survive its atmosphere. The two then headed towards Fex. Once they successfully retrieved the Harvester and were rewarded for it, Skywalker and Kelen traveled to Rodia to fix the Desert Jewel.[35]

Following the ship's modifications, the two Rebels returned to the Promise to receive more intel on the Denon mission from Organa and Ackbar, only to depart for the planet as soon as possible, meet with their contact Sakhet, and prepare Bephorin's liberation. Once in motion, their plan allowed them to escape from Imperial Security Bureau agents, and Denon altogether, with the Givin cryptographer onboard the Jewel. Despite several hiccups along the way, including an extended stop on Kupoh, they reached Omereth. There, however, the Jewel was intercepted by bounty hunters and a confrontation ensued between the Rebels and their pursuers. Despite the formers' victory, Kelen was killed by one of the bounty hunters—saddening Skywalker, who had come to develop feelings for her. After allowing himself some time to grieve for those he had lost during the war, Skywalker completed his mission by reuniting Bephorin with her family and meeting with Major Bren Derlin. Afterwards, Skywalker returned Kelen's body to her father, after reflecting on the fact that he had learned how to move objects with the Force thanks to her support.[35]

Devaron

"Hyperspace scout. Historian. Farm boy. And yet here you are with a Jedi laser sword in your hand, like you mean to use it." ―Sarco Plank [src]

After numerous missions alongside Antilles and earning each other's complete trust, Skywalker assisted on a mission for Red Squadron above Giju: he helped protect a transport carrying underground rebel leaders being evacuated from the planet, along with Antilles and Commander Arhul Narra. Once the package was clear, they followed the scatter protocol, and Skywalker and R2-D2 set course to Devaron when he had a vision about future events on that same planet. He soon met with Antilles and Narra, who sent him, C-3PO and R2-D2 on a mission for Chancellor Mon Mothma.[30]

After refueling the ship, the trio departed for Whiforla II and jumped out of hyperspace in the Tertiary Usaita system, but an Imperial attack forced them to return to Devaron and repair the Y 4, this time letting the Force guide him into the Temple of Eedit. Landing in Tikaroo, Skywalker left the ship for repairs with Kivas and his daughter, Farnay, using the alias "Korl Marcus," and went onto the depot where he was told the Temple was off-limits; after resting and a vision of the past, he left the depot and met with Farnay, to whom he revealed his true identity. Ultimately, Sarco Plank accepted to be his guide and brought Skywalker and the two droids close to Eedit, where Skywalker found a secret entrance to the Temple and entered alone with the droids.[30]

During his stay on the Temple, Skywalker heard Kenobi's voice, from whom he received further instructions. He managed to enter a secret chamber where he and the droids found three training remotes. Using what Kenobi had taught him on the Falcon, Skywalker gradually managed to pass the exercises after a few days, only to find himself surrounded by Imperials with orders to apprehend him and his fugitive starfighter, using Farnay as a hostage. However, Plank unexpectedly appeared and helped Skywalker fight the stormtroopers with his electrostaff, and observed that Skywalker was merely a Padawan.[30]

Planning to ransack the Temple to pay his debts, Plank then challenged him to a duel, during which he used a grenade to blind him, seeing that Skywalker would not be defeated so easily. Prepared to administer the coup de grace, Farnay interrupted him, for which Plank put binders on her; however, it gave Skywalker time to stand up and slash Plank's control box, casting him and his electrostaff into a pit leading to the temple's underlevels. Skywalker then passed out and Farnay tended his wounds, to whom he swore he would become a Jedi and rebuild the Order, and return to Eedit one day. With the droids, they left the Temple as Imperial reinforcements arrived afterwards. Skywalker eventually kept his promise to Farnay and returned to Devaron accompanied by C-3PO and R2-D2. While there Luke also visited the Temple of Eedit once more.[30]

Back in Tikaroo, Skywalker reclaimed his now-repaired starfighter from Kivas, and before departing Devaron, he dropped several bombs at the base of the spire to cut off the paths into the jungle, meaning to stop the pikhron hunt.[30]

Cymoon 1

"You, boy, are no Jedi. Who are you?"

"You killed my father!"

"I've killed very many fathers. You'll have to be more specific." ―Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker during a brief duel in Cymoon 1 [src]

Alongside Organa, Solo, Chewbacca, R2-D2, and C-3PO, Skywalker took part of a mission to infiltrate Cymoon 1. To do so, the rebel team hijacked the ship of an emissary sent by Jabba the Hutt to negotiate a weapons deal at Weapons Factory Alpha, with Solo as its replacement and Organa and Skywalker disguised as his bodyguards.[12]

Once inside the facility, they revealed themselves as rebels to Overseer Aggadeen, took their escorts down and made their way to the central power station. While Organa, Solo, and R2-D2 rigged the place to destroy it, Skywalker watched for additional Imperial troops, using what little he knew of the Force to reach out and sense any nearby presence. However, he was drawn to caged slaves, whom he proceeded to free, and guided them to a rendezvous with Solo and Organa, when they were alerted of Vader's arrival by Chewbacca.[12]

Determined to fight Vader for killing his father and Kenobi, he heard his mentor's voice speak to him from beyond, telling him to run, just as he faced the Dark Lord.[12] However, he was no match for Vader, who quickly seized Skywalker's lightsaber and was about to kill him, until he realized that Skywalker's lightsaber had been once his own. Solo then intervened with an AT-AT, crashing the walker through the factory's walls, giving Skywalker and the slaves an opening to escape from the facility.[36]

Seeing so many of the freed slaves die by Imperial fire, Skywalker regretted his decision, but continued fighting after stealing a speeder bike. After the Rebels' walker opened fire against Vader,[36] Skywalker picked his lightsaber up from the rubble, rushed to assist his team—whose walker had fallen down due to Vader—, and provided some cover fire. Determined to destroy the factory, Skywalker disobeyed Organa's orders and used his stolen speeder bike to destroy the power core despite Vader's threat. Afterwards, he managed to board the Millennium Falcon, reunite with his team and escape Cymoon 1, yet with his morale at rock bottom.[37]

Return to Tatooine

""There's nothing here for me now." That's what I said when I left this place. Let's hope I was wrong." ―Luke Skywalker [src]

Once they returned to the Alliance Fleet, Skywalker continued working on his lightsaber techniques until Organa came to see him. Skywalker told her that he lacked interest in undertaking any more missions, as he did not consider himself a Jedi but a danger, and that until he could figure out who he was, he could not be around the Alliance; he asked Organa to let him go. Much to her and Solo's dismay, Skywalker (along with R2-D2) took off in an X-wing and set off on a course for Tatooine. Hoping to find some guidance in Kenobi's hut, Skywalker and R2 made their way across the desert to the abandoned residence, where they found it being pillaged by Tusken raiders, who fled in fear upon seeing his activated lightsaber.[38]

Inside the hut, Skywalker had R2 scan the ransacked place for anything of value, and the small android came across a box addressed to Skywalker. However, before they could find out its contents, one of Boba Fett's flash grenades incapacitated R2-D2 and blinded Skywalker.[29] Fett proceeded to aim a rifle to his head, but Skywalker fought back with his lightsaber despite his temporary blindness. Despite his disadvantage and multiple wounds done by Fett, Skywalker managed to deflect the bounty hunter's shot at point-blank and Fett tackled him in anger.[39]

Close to death by his own lightsaber as he struggled against Fett, R2-D2 saved him by hurling Kenobi's box and knocking the hunter out. Still blinded and carrying the box, Skywalker had R2-D2 lead him to his X-Wing.[39] On his way to an unknown location, he read some of Kenobi's passages on his journals, including one set during the Great Drought involving him.[21]

Showdown on Nar Shaddaa

"You want to finally be a Jedi Knight, kid? Here's your chance. Go die like one." ―Kreel to Luke Skywalker [src]

Though Kenobi's journals contained a number of stories, Skywalker became frustrated as he continued to read them as he did not understand what lessons were to be learned about using a lightsaber or wielding the Force. Though Artoo suggested returning to the fleet, Skywalker had no intention of returning until he found the answers he was seeking. Artoo's suggestion did, however, give the young Jedi an idea: to venture into the Jedi Temple on Coruscant, the former home of the Jedi Order. Before he could travel to Coruscant, however, Skywalker set a course to Nar Shaddaa, a world of pirates and outlaws known as the "Smuggler's Moon." Upon landing, Skywalker set off looking for someone who could help him get to the Jedi Temple. He entered a cantina, where he was immediately attacked by criminals looking to rob and kill him. Skywalker brandished his lightsaber and demanded that they cease their attack, while the bartender asked where he acquired a Jedi's lightsaber. He did not answer, instead saying that he was simply on Nar Shaddaa to conduct business and had already stated his purpose for entering the establishment. The bartender guessed that Skywalker was seeking entry into the Jedi Temple, meaning he would need to hire someone who could sneak him onto the capital world of the Empire. The bartender told him that he could do that for the boy, but the price would be the lightsaber—a price that Skywalker rejected, so the bartender resorted to his previous plan of killing and robbing the boy.[40]

Before the others could kill him, however, a thief stole the lightsaber and fled the bar. Skywalker gave chase,[40] pursuing the thief through the streets and over rooftops. The thief jumped onto a ship that was passing by and hung onto the bottom of it, and Skywalker used the Force to make the now-even longer jump towards them and grab the thief's leg. The thief lost his holding and both men fell towards the streets of Hutta Town below, where Skywalker retrieved his lightsaber once both he and the thief landed. The young Jedi was then confronted by Grakkus the Hutt, a Nar Shaddaa crime lord who employed the thief that stole the lightsaber. Skywalker fought the Hutt's MagnaGuard, while at the same time overhearing the thief telling Grakkus that Skywalker said his father was a Jedi and that he was seeking access to the Jedi Temple. Having his own plans for the boy, Grakkus knocked Skywalker out with a punch to the face.[41]

Skywalker later awoke to find himself in Grakkus' palace, which contained untold numbers of relics from the Jedi Order. Grakkus held out a Jedi holocron, though Skywalker did not know what it was. Grakkus, who explained that he was a collector of Jedi artifacts in addition to being a crime lord, told him that the item was a holocron and that only an individual who was strong with the Force could open it. Though Skywalker had no experience with holocrons, the Hutt gave him five seconds to open the holocron or be killed. Under threat of death, the boy reached out with the Force and was able to open the holocron, as well as the many others that were in the collection. They revealed themselves as containing historical records about the Jedi and the Sith, including the revelation that there was a Jedi Temple on Vrogas Vas. With Skywalker having proved himself, Grakkus believed he would make a fine addition to his collection as the last living Jedi. Grakkus planned to put Skywalker into an arena fight that he would bill as the death of the last Jedi, so the Hutt ordered him taken to the arena's gamemaster to be prepared. Artoo, knowing that Skywalker had been captured, send a distress call to the Alliance Fleet, where it was intercepted by the High Command. Though Chancellor Mothma was unwilling to send a team of Rebels on a suicide mission despite Skywalker's importance to the Rebellion, Chewbacca and Threepio—who remained with the fleet while Solo and Organa were on their own mission—volunteered to rescue their captured friend.[41]

The gamemaster—secretly an Imperial stormtrooper named Sergeant Kreel[42]—introduced himself to Skywalker once the Jedi was led to the arena, and he stated that it was his job to make sure Skywalker was prepared to put on a good show before ultimately dying in the arena. Though Skywalker initially refused to fight, Kreel knew he would ultimately do so because he wanted to learn to hone his skills as a Jedi. The Kreel also told him that the Jedi Temple no longer existed, as it had been converted into the Imperial Palace—so whatever Skywalker was hoping to find was gone, as were the other Jedi temples in the galaxy. He then threw the lightsaber to Skywalker and removed the binds that the boy's hands were in. While surrounded by MagnaGuards, the Kreel used a lightsaber of his own and engaged in a duel to begin preparing him for the arena match. Though the Kreel was not a Jedi, he was a more-skilled swordsman and quickly bested Skywalker. Skywalker then engaged multiple MagnaGuards in combat.[43]

The big event soon arrived, and crime lords and other criminal types flocked to watch the death of the last Jedi. Skywalker spoke to Grakkus, who reminded him that no one wanted to watch him win and that everyone had paid to see him die, though the young Jedi believed he could succeed nonetheless. Grakkus also revealed that scavengers had found Skywalker's X-wing and the Journal of Ben Kenobi, which Grakkus intended to add to his collection. The event began once Grakkus left, and Skywalker entered into the arena and was introduced as the last of the Jedi. The announcer claimed that he was a veteran of battles across the galaxy and that he had fought Hutts and bounty hunters alike, hyping up the untrained Jedi hopeful. The announcer then introduced the Jedi's opponent: Kongo the Disemboweler, a large and fearsome creature from the dolovite mines of Mustafar. Skywalker ignited the green-bladed lightsaber that was given to him for the show and the fight began. The young Jedi slashed his blade at the creature, but the opponent's armor was resistant to a lightsaber blade and made it difficult for Skywalker to combat the creature. He remained confident, however, reminding himself that he blew up the Death Star, fought Boba Fett, and was trained by Obi-Wan Kenobi. He closed his eyes in an attempt to use the Force as his ally, but Kongo used the opportunity to throw Skywalker across the arena and knocking him onto the ground.[44]

The beast grabbed Skywalker as the audience cheered for Kongo to make the kill, and Skywalker tried calling out to Kenobi to ask for miracle. Just as he did so, the beast's shock collar was activated by Kreel, who revealed himself to Grakkus as an Imperial and announced he was taking Skywalker into custody. Stormtroopers poured into the arena and surrounded Skywalker, arresting both him and the Hutt. Grakkus had one trick up his sleeve, though, and triggered an electromagnetic pulse that disabled the Imperials' blasters. Grakkus, skilled at combat in his own right, began fighting the weaponless stormtroopers, while other troops grabbed Skywalker. Just then, the young Jedi saw that Artoo, who had infiltrated the palace, recovered his lightsaber and threw it into the arena, so Skywalker grabbed it and cut the soldiers down. Kongo chased the spectators out of the arena, and Skywalker while Kreel confronted Skywalker, knocking him to the ground and revealing his true identity as a stormtrooper of the 501st Legion tasked with arresting him. Skywalker was saved by the timely arrival of Grakkus, who Kreel attacked as Skywalker got away.[42]

Skywalker regrouped with Solo, Organa, Chewbacca, and the droids, all of whom ultimately traveled to Nar Shaddaa to rescue their captive friend. Solo, Organa, and Chewbacca each wielded lightsabers that Artoo stole from the palace so they were not defenseless in the wake of the EMP blast, leading Skywalker to quip that Solo looked good with a lightsaber. Artoo recovered Kenobi's journal and Skywalker wanted to go back to the palace to recover more artifacts, but the arena was flooded with blaster-wielding stormtroopers so Chewbacca grabbed the resistant Skywalker and brought him out of the arena. The Rebels returned to the Millennium Falcon and escaped from Nar Shaddaa.[42]

Vrogas Vas

"...right now I'm just a Rebel pilot who needs to help his friends. Learning to be a Jedi will have to wait." ―Skywalker, to R2-D2 [src]

Though he was unable to acquire the relics in Grakkus' palace, the holocrons he activated gave Skywalker one important piece of information: the existence of a Jedi Temple on Vrogas Vas. Skywalker returned to the Alliance but still sought answers, so he traveled to Vrogas Vas and was stationed in orbit with Red Squadron, along with Blue Squadron and Yellow Squadron. While in orbit and preparing for training exercises, Darth Vader[45]—who had learned of Skywalker's location from one of his associates, a rogue archaeologist named Aphra[46]—dropped out of hyperspace in his TIE Advanced x1 starfighter. Vader made quick work of Blue Squadron and Yellow Squadron, destroying them both as Red Squadron looked on. Skywalker sensed that Vader was the pilot of the enemy starfighter, made a run towards him, and crashed his X-wing fighter into the Sith Lord's TIE Advanced. The collision damaged both vessels and send them hurtling towards the surface of Vrogas Vas.[45]

Skywalker and Vader both survived the crashes of their starfighters, though they impacted on the surface in different places. The young Jedi crashed outside of the ruins of the Jedi Temple, from which he witnessed the destruction of Gray Squadron forces sent to attack Vader—part of a major Rebel operation to capture the lone Sith Lord. He put off his search for answers and began to make his way towards the Rebel forces, determined to help his friends.[45] As he passed through the ruins of the Jedi Temple, he could see yet another Rebel pilot being killed by the Dark Lord. Unknown to Skywalker was that, at the same time, he was being tracked by Vader's companions—Aphra and the assassin droids BT-1 and 0-0-0. While the Sith Lord's followers prepared a plan to capture the boy, Skywalker found writings in the ruins that were written with a lightsaber, letting him deduce that the ruins were from the Jedi. A cold feeling passed over him and he could sense the presence of what he thought was Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker. He tried to concentrate, but he was interrupted by what he thought was Threepio's arrival. In reality, it was Triple-Zero, painted in gold by Aphra, who placed his metal hand on Skywalker and sent an electrical charge through the boy's body, knocking him unconscious.[47]

Aphra and Triple-Zero prepared to take Skywalker hostage when Artoo stepped in to help. Bee Tee then brought his arsenal to bear on the rebel's astromech and chased him off. Aphra and Triple-Zero then seized Skywalker but were stopped by the smuggler Han Solo, who had a sniper rifle aimed at them. Chewbacca then came in and attacked the protocal droid, ripping his arm off. Skywalker then regained consciousness, dispatched Bee Tee, and sliced off Triple-Zero's other arm with his lightsaber. Skywalker and his allies then retreated when Bee Tee fired his weapons blindly.[48]

Skywalker, Solo, Chewbacca, and Artoo made their way back to the Millennium Falcon. They then lifted off in order to aid princess Leia. They were forced to the ground when their ship was crashed into by the Wookiee bounty hunter Black Krrsantan. While Solo and Chewbacca dealt with the mercenary, Skywalker left to head back to the Jedi ruins.[49]

Luke arrived back at the the Jedi temple looking for Leia. It was then that he heard the voice of Obi-wan Kenobi, who told him that he should not have come to this place and that he was not ready for what is coming. Luke was then intercepted by a company of stormtroopers who opened fire on him. He retreated behind cover but was hit in the head and knocked unconscious.[50]

Luke was taken prisoner by the forces of Commander Karbin. However Darth Vader, who had a rivalry with Karbin, used the force to crash the shuttle Skywalker was kept in. Now free, he then caught up with Solo, Chewbacca, C-3PO, and R2-D2. They made their way back to the Millennium Falcon, however Dr. Aphra had laid out a minefield to stop them. When she was distracted she was knocked out from behind by Princess Leia. Believing her to be of use, Organa decided to take the archaeologist with them. As they departed Vrogas Vas, Skywalker felt remorse that he would not be able to go back to the temple and see what was hidden there.[51]

Learning the ways of the smuggler

"How else are we gonna replace the money we just lost?"

"Heh, don't worry, kid. I know just the thing. It's a big galaxy. And believe me, there's always something somewhere in need of smuggling." ―Skywalker and Solo [src]

Upon returning to the Rebel fleet with their new prisoner, Doctor Aphra, Skywalker and his friends went their separate ways; Organa, Artoo, and Threepio went to detain Aphra at an Alliance-controlled space station, Sunspot Prison, with the assistance of Sana Starros, whom Organa hired to transport them to the prison. Meanwhile, Solo and Skywalker were dispatched to buy supplies for the rebellion. Solo attempted to double the money he was given for supplies by betting on sabacc. However, he was caught cheating, and had to escape with Skywalker on the Millennium Falcon.[52]

Skywalker and Solo traveled to Nar Shaddaa where Luke was tasked with finding a customer in need of a ship. He made a deal to haul nerfs to Ibaar for 5,000 credits, which was just enough to replace the credits lost by Solo. Skywalker and Solo were soon intercepted by TIE fighters who suspected the Falcon of smuggling illegal livestock.[53] Luke was able to shoot the fighters and he and Solo made it to Ibaar with the nerfs. While on Ibaar, Skywalker blackmailed Solo into allowing him to fly the Falcon for a few parsecs by threatening to tell Leia about losing the credits in a Sabacc game.[54]

After buying the supplies, Skywalker and Solo received a distress call from Sana and arrived at Sunspot Prison. They were immediately knocked out and taken captive by the masked assailant who was attacking the prison. Neither came to until after the battle had already ended and the attacker had been captured.[55]

Temporary outpost

"I just go word that the cargo vessel just arrived. Looks like the mission was canceled. Hope you didn't go through too much trouble." ―Luke Skywalker to R2-D2 [src]

Sometime after the assault on Sunspot Prison, the Alliance established a temporary outpost on the Outer Rim planet Reamma. Organa gave Luke a mission to find a missing Alliance cargo vessel. Skywalker and R2-D2 prepared to make the flight to look for them. Before they could do that, however, Organa informed Skywalker that the vessel reported in, cancelling the mission.[56]

Hijacking the Harbinger

"Chances are...This is the last voyage of the Harbinger. So Let's make it a memorable one" ―Skywalker to Organa and Solo [src]

Sometime later, Skywalker, along with the efforts of Red Squadron, along with Solo, Organa, and Chewbacca in the Millennium Falcon participated in a hijacking of the Harbinger, an Imperial-class Star Destroyer. He was crucial to securing the ship after the crew abandoned the mighty warship, barely able to eject the main reactor. Over the next week, he helped repair the ship.[57] When the time came to break the Siege on Tureen VII, Skywalker dueled Sergeant Kreel again, whose SCAR Squadron had snuck aboard. Using a Force push, Skywalker subdued the trooper, and was able to join the fight in his X-wing. Skywalker elected not to dogfight Vader's TIE fighter, and escaped into hyperspace with the rest of the Rebels.[58]

Journey to Vagadarr system

"You remind me of him. But more than that... you remind me of me. You... you're nothing but a frightened child, just like I was. Do you know the only thing I was good at... when I was a child? Walking away." ―Garro to Skywalker [src]

Despite the escape, the heroes quickly realized that C-3PO was captured during the commotion, and Skywalker was unable to stop R2-D2 from commandeering an X-Wing to rescue the protocol droid on his own. With his own X-wing's hyperdrive temporarily disabled, he resumed reading Ben Kenobi's journal. Identifying a symbol in the journal as a star map, Skywalker decided to visit the Vagadarr system after reading of a Jedi Master who had ventured there in the past and encountered enormous giants made of living stone that gave those in close proximity a power known as Stonepower. Skywalker hoped that going there would give him the knowledge he needed to save R2-D2 and C-3PO.[59]

Like the Jedi Master before him, Skywalker was able to navigate through the planet's heavy debris field and land on the surface, where he encountered Garro, the last remaining native human, who initially wanted to use Skywalker's life force to kill the few remaining giant children. Determined to protect them, Skywalker inspired Garro to change his mind and sacrifice his own life force to revive a dead giant. Skywalker and the giant children then ventured into the giant's cave to find the heart of the mountain and finish what Garro started in reviving the giant, thus completing the mission of the Master from years past and taking another step in his journey to becoming a Jedi.[60]

The Screaming Citadel

"So, come, shake hands, have dinner with the nice lady, and we walk away with an actual sentient Ancient Jedi. You get your teacher, I get an eyewitness to the Ancient past."

"I'm not sure.."

C'mon, are you out, farm boy? Or are you in, Jedi Knight?" ―Aphra and Luke Skywalker on the visit to Ktath'atn [src]

Sometime later, as the Alliance was setting up a temporary base, Skywalker went to a local cantina. There he was met by Dr. Aphra, who convinced him to visit the Screaming Citadel together. There Aphra introduced him to the Queen of Ktath'atn as a Jedi. The Queen soon betrayed them, and Aphra turned him over to her as part of a deal to unlock the Rur crystal. The Queen implanted Skywalker with an Abersyn symbiote. Due to his power of the Force, he was able to overpower the Queen's own symbiote, causing chaos among the hive. Along with his Rebel friends, who had come to rescue him, they were able to escape, but not before Organa threatened to demote him back to moisture farming. Angered by Aphra's betrayal, Skywalker ordered her not to contact them again.[61]

Among the stars

"You're right, Leia. This is war. Our war. And despite everything we've already been through, everything we've won and lost...this war...has only begun. May the Force be with Us. May the Force be with us all." ―Luke Skywalker to his team [src]

Skywalker later took part in a mission with Leia, piloting a Taylander shuttle with the princess. With Imperial TIE Fighters in pursuit, Skywalker was forced to fly into a nebula, which disabled the shuttle's systems, forcing them to crash land on an ocean planet. Stranded on the planet for three weeks, Skywalker's experience with machinery such as moisture vaporators helped keep himself and Leia alive. They eventually realized that there was a native species living in the planet's ocean. Not wanting to bring the war to these people, Skywalker and Organa set a trap for the Imperial forces that were pursuing them. After disabling the AT-AT, they were able to repair the shuttle and return to the Rebel Fleet.[62]

Shortly afterward, Skywalker and his team intercepted a message from R2-D2, who had successfully rescued C-3PO from Imperial capture. They saved R2's X-wing from Darth Vader and escaped in hyperspace.[63]

By then, Task Force 99 had destroyed the Horox III rebel outpost. The team arrived there, discovering the devastation. Fearing further danger, they left without burying the rebel troopers, but Skywalker insisted that they honor the dead. Together they built a cremation pile before leaving.[64]

Investigating Lotho Minor

"I'm not sure there's much to give up on, Leia. Unless we want to make a base out of scrape metal." ―Luke Skywalker to Han Solo [src]

At some point Luke, Leia, Han, Chewbacca, and C-3PO, were sent by the Alliance to investigate the planet Lotho Minor for a new base. During the investigation, they ran into native droids and a male Duros named Akar Duel. Their actions made the group leave Lotho Minor, believing that the planet was not a good location for a new rebel base.[65]

Er'Kit

"Rebel intelligence heard some strange things about the Malachor Company, and as soon as I got here to investigate I felt an... echo in the Force. I don't quite know how to explain it, but there's more going on here on Er'Kit than meets the eye." ―Luke Skywalker, during the operations on Er'Kit [src]

Following the attack on the Mako-Ta Space Docks, Skywalker was promoted to the rank of commander.[66] After being promoted, Skywalker was sent to the desert world of Er'Kit, where the locals were being oppressed by a group of mercenaries known as the Malachor Company. Upon arriving on the desert world, Skywalker sensed through the Force that there was something more at play beyond the actions of a few mercenaries. He requested the assistance of an agent who had a reputation for desert warfare and, together, the two defeated the mercenary outposts. The two also discovered from Imperial operatives in the sector that Imperial supplies were being ferried from Nar Shaddaa to Er'Kit, suggesting a large-scale operation was under way. Eventually, Skywalker and the agent arrested the mercenary leader and tracked down the last members of Malachor Company, who had holed up in an empty village.[67]

Among the mercenaries' possessions, Skywalker and the agent discovered a document proving that Malachor Company was preparing to ship supplies somewhere, and its coordinates led Skywalker and the agent to an Imperial base on the planet. They subsequently attacked several Imperial bases until they found intelligence pertaining to the Empire's operation on the planet. Once they located the base from which the Imperials deployed most of their forces on the planet, Skywalker assaulted it with the assistance of Princess Organa. The Rebels razed the base, dealing an important blow to the Empire's operations on Er'Kit, but they still lacked vital information on what the Empire's true purpose was on the planet. Skywalker gradually discovered Imperial logs detailing how Malachor Company had been hired by the Imperial Security Bureau and were tasked with forcibly relocating natives to make room for Project Hidden Eye. This ISB operation was intended to create cybernetic sleeper agents who could be deployed throughout the galaxy and spy on galactic citizens on behalf of the ISB. Upon its discovery, Project Hidden Eye was nearly ready to deploy its first wave of spies.[67]

To prevent the operation from being carried out, Skywalker and the agent led their troops to the base that housed Project Hidden Eye. They fought through its staging area and ultimately took out the installation, ending the Imperial project for good. Skywalker thanked the agent for their service and then remained on Er'Kit for a short time, helping the Rebel Alliance execute additional missions on the desert world.[67]

Sergia

"And look at this. Didn't I just spend all my life trying to get off a desert planet?" ―Luke Skywalker on the desert planet Sergia [src]

Following their mission to Shu-Toran, Skywalker, along with Solo and Organa, returned to the Rebel fleet where General Carlist Rieekan assigned Skywalker a mission to the Inner Rim planet Sergia to lure all Imperial forces and probe droids from a refueling station the Rebel Alliance had established on the planet.[68]

Hoth

"You will go to the Dagobah system."

"Dagobah system?"

"There, you will learn from Yoda, the Jedi Master who instructed me." ―Obi-Wan Kenobi and Luke Skywalker [src]

Three years [2] after the Death Star's destruction, Skywalker was transferred to Echo Base alongside Rogue Squadron to Hoth, where he participated in regular patrols of the frozen perimeter. Once while reconnoitering the surroundings of Echo Base, Skywalker was attacked by a wampa, only to regain consciousness in its cave. He severed its arm with his lightsaber, and escaped; after a long walk in the icy wind, he collapsed from exhaustion. Near death, he had a vision of Kenobi, who told him to seek the teachings of Yoda in the Dagobah system.[11]

Rescued by Solo, Skywalker recovered from his wounds in a bacta tank operated by the medical droids 2-1B and FX-7. However, Vader had located Echo Base with one of his probe droids and prepared an imminent attack on the recently-opened Alliance base,[11] thus prompting the Alliance to evacuate the base at once. After bidding farewell to his friends,[69] for the impending battle, Skywalker led Rogue Squadron in an airspeeder. Though he was shot down, and his gunner Dak Ralter was killed, he got out of his damaged speeder and single-handedly destroyed a walker with his lightsaber and a thermal detonator. As Imperial forces breached the Rebels' defenses, the last Rebel transport departed, and Skywalker fled the planet aboard his X-wing with R2-D2.[11]

Searching for Yoda

"Will he finish what he begins?"

"I won't fail you. I'm not afraid."

"Oh, you will be. You will be." ―Yoda and Luke Skywalker Listen (file info) [src]

Skywalker then traveled to Dagobah, which turned out to be a remote swamp planet, where he encountered Yoda, the former Grand Master of the fallen Jedi Order. In their initial meeting, Skywalker was frustrated and impatient and was rather short-tempered with the diminutive Yoda, who did not initially identify himself and purposefully tested Skywalker's patience, telling him a story about three brothers,[69] and taking him back to his hut to partake in a meal of rootleaf stew, which he did not find very appetizing. However, Skywalker gained a new appreciation for the small creature upon learning his identity, and Yoda agreed to train Skywalker only at the insistence of Kenobi's spirit. Skywalker's training proved to be difficult, as his adventurous past had shaped his mind toward action and emotional instinct.[11]

During his training with Yoda, the Jedi Master had Skywalker climb a tree to use his senses to find a way through the tree, Skywalker lost his balance and fell from the tree. Yoda decided to have Skywalker carry him as he redid the task.[70]

When Yoda asked him to enter a cave that was strong in the dark side in which he was supposed to find only what he took with him, he was challenged by a vision of himself wearing the armor of Darth Vader, meant to symbolize his inner darkness.[11] Master and apprentice then had an encounter with a raging elephoth, which Skywalker managed to calm by leading her to her child.[69] Shortly after, he had a vision of Han Solo and Leia Organa suffering at Cloud City on Bespin. Unable to get the visions out of his head, and convinced that his friends would surely die if he did not help them, Skywalker decided to end his training prematurely to rescue them, despite Yoda and Kenobi's insistence that he was not ready to face the dark side on his own yet, but Skywalker was convinced that he'd learned enough to hold his own, and he could not just stand by and leave his friends to the mercy of the Empire.[11]

Seeing that Skywalker's mind was made up, Kenobi let him know that if he ended up facing Vader, he could not interfere on his behalf, and advised him not to give into hatred. Likewise, Yoda advised him to mind what he'd learned. Skywalker promised to do so, and vowed to return to Dagobah one day to finish his training.[11]

Vader's trap

"Obi-Wan never told you what happened to your father."

"He told me enough! He told me you killed him!"

"No. I am your father."

"No...that's not true! That's impossible!"

"Search your feelings. You know it to be true."" ―Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker Listen (file info) [src]

Upon his arrival at Cloud City's East Platform, Skywalker felt Vader's presence,[69] and went into the nearest building, where he was shot at by Fett, who had come to claim a bounty put on Solo by Jabba the Hutt, and tried to pursue a group of stormtroopers and Imperial officers who held Organa, Chewbacca, and C-3PO captive. The princess attempted to warn Skywalker that he was walking into a trap, but his path was diverted to the carbon-freezing chamber where Darth Vader awaited him, with the intention to freeze him in carbonite to present him to the Emperor. Skywalker engaged the Dark Lord in a fierce lightsaber duel.[11]

During the duel, Vader praised Skywalker's training in the Force thus far and attempted to goad him into giving into his anger and hatred, claiming that it was the only way to defeat him. Vader managed to knock Skywalker into the carbon-freezing chamber and appeared to have frozen him like he had Solo, but Skywalker lept out of the chamber before the process was finished, which left Vader impressed.[11]

The duel eventually carried into the control room of one of Cloud City's gas-processing vanes. Vader began using the Force to throw various objects in the chamber at the young Jedi hopeful. One such projectile, a large piece of metal piping, was misdirected and smashed through a nearby observation port. The chamber was quickly depressurized, sucking Skywalker out onto the nearby sensor relay catwalk overlooking the reactor shaft. Skywalker managed to grab on to the catwalk's railing and pull himself up.[11]

Vader re-entered the fray and forced Skywalker back onto the catwalk. Sensing that Skywalker was weakened, the Sith Lord demanded that Skywalker surrender, lest he be destroyed as Obi-Wan Kenobi had been. Skywalker refused and desperately tried to keep fighting Vader, to which Vader responded with several ferocious strikes, ultimately forcing Skywalker to the very edge of the catwalk and slicing off his right hand. Both Skywalker's hand and his lightsaber fell into the depths of the reactor shaft.[11]

Seeing that Skywalker was vulnerable in his weakened state, Vader offered to show Skywalker the power of the dark side and complete his training, but Skywalker adamantly refused to ever join Vader, the man who had killed his father. In that moment, Vader revealed the truth: that he was his father.[11]

Horrified by Vader's shocking revelation, Skywalker initially denounced the Sith Lord's claim as untrue and impossible, but Vader insisted that they both knew that it was the truth. Vader further claimed that Skywalker was powerful enough to destroy the Emperor, and when he did, they could rule the galaxy together as father and son.[11][71] Unwilling to join Vader but too weak to fight back, Skywalker took the only option he had left, and allowed himself to fall down the reactor shaft, being sucked through several vents and eventually being deposited to the outside of the floating city. Though he managed to grab onto a weather vane to avoid falling to his death, he knew he was unable to stay there forever, especially in his weakened state. Calling out to Kenobi at first but getting no response, in desperation, he called out to Leia Organa through the Force, who was able to hear the call.[11]

Soon, the Millennium Falcon, with Lando Calrissian, Organa, Chewbacca, and the droids onboard, arrived to rescue him. As they escaped from Bespin, and the Falcon was faced with the Imperial fleet, Vader reached out to Skywalker through the Force, calling him "son."[11] Skywalker fought tears back, after hearing the word he had always longed to hear while lamenting that Kenobi had not told him the truth,[69] just as the Falcon made the jump into hyperspace thanks to R2-D2. Back at the Rebel fleet, Skywalker received a prosthetic hand from 2-1B onboard the Nebulon-B frigate Redemption, while Calrissian and Chewbacca set out to find Solo.[11]

Zastiga

"Weapons and war don't make you a Jedi. I know that now." ―Luke Skywalker [src]

After the command of Red Squadron was transferred to Antilles following his promotion to squadron leader, which pleased Skywalker,[71] he declined to rejoin the squadron and chose to be stationed onboard the Redemption. When he went to Zastiga, he and R2-D2 were the ones to greet Organa on her arrival to the planet after she and C-3PO left the Mellcrawler, piloted by its owner Nien Nunb and Lieutenant Caluan Ematt. When the time came for Organa to attend the top clearance meeting with the Rebel leadership, Skywalker and Nunb met with Antilles for a discussion of "reconnaissance tactics" about Antilles' refusal to pay the Sullustan a drink. He would later return to escort Organa to her quarters before going to his, and two days later, he saw her off, before catching his own shuttle back to the Redemption.[72]

Soon afterwards, he would go to Kothlis, where he would learn of Solo's location—still frozen in carbonite and kept in Jabba the Hutt's palace—, and where he would keep himself up-to-date with the status of the Alliance Fleet's assembly. He had already devised a plan to rescue Solo when Organa contacted him following the successful Operation Yellow Moon, and showed eagerness to join him on his attempts to rescue the Corellian smuggler.[72]

Imperial Refining Platform M36

"We just took an Imperial refinery without a scratch-- all thanks to Skywalker. I heard the stories. But I never saw anyone swing a lightsaber up close like that." ―a Pau'an Rebel Major about Luke Skywalker [src]

Sometime before the rescue of Solo, Skywalker took part in a raid on Imperial Refining Platform M36. During the raid, Skywalker used his new lightsaber, along with his Force abilities, to clear a path for Rebel forces to acquire copious Imperial fuel stores. His Rebel companions became awed at his use, although one of them, the major in charge of the operation, held reservations about its power as he had only previously seen such power being wielded by the Sith. Unknown to Skywalker, the Emperor had begun to probe his mental defenses from afar, which caused Skywalker to briefly open his saber in alarm.[73]

As Skywalker and the strike team flew away from the platform, they were ambushed by an Imperial Star Destroyer, which launched several TIE Fighters in pursuit. As the battle began to rage, Skywalker's mind was penetrated by a vision from the Emperor. The vision saw Luke follow a possible series of events wherein he would begrudgingly leave the Rebel strike team to its fate and crash-land on an unknown planet, losing his X-wing in the process. As he journeyed from the wreckage together with R2-D2, Luke would leave his lightsaber and helmet on the ground, symbolizing his complete retreat from the concerns of the war.[73]

Having later broken free of the Emperor's vision, Skywalker proceeded to aid the Rebels in escaping the Imperial ambush, using his lightsaber to prevent the major's shuttle from leaving, giving him time to pilot the shuttle and draw the Imperials away from the rest of the Rebels.[73]

Solo's rescue

"I am taking Captain Solo and his friends. You can either profit by this or be destroyed. It's your choice, but I warn you not to underestimate my powers." ―Luke Skywalker, to Jabba Desilijic Tiure Listen (file info) [src]

In 4 ABY,[2] Skywalker set in motion the plan to rescue Solo from Jabba the Hutt.[13] Once again, Skywalker returned to Tatooine, and to Kenobi's hut, wherein he found the missing parts he needed for the construction of his own lightsaber, the pieces left to him by Kenobi. While his friends bustled about preparing for the rescue, Skywalker retreated into the solitude of a desert cave they had chosen as their rendezvous point. Using the Force to assemble the weapon, he brought the kyber crystal inside to life, making the weapon his own, almost an extension of himself.[71]

Afterwards, Skywalker waited to see if Organa's impersonation of Boushh and liberation of Solo was successful without his intervention, but she was only half-successful. She then sent a message to Skywalker and Calrissian that she had been captured as well, prompting Skywalker to act and go to Jabba's Palace.[71] Skillful use of the Force allowed Skywalker to get past Jabba's Gamorrean guards and his majordomo, Bib Fortuna, but the Hutt was not so easily swayed and attempted to feed Skywalker to his rancor, which Luke later killed, upsetting Malakili, the Rancor's keeper.[13]

Skywalker killed the monster, but Jabba was furious and sentenced all the captured Alliance heroes–including an unfrozen Solo–to death in the Great Pit of Carkoon to be eaten by the sarlacc that resided there. However, right before he was put into the pit, Skywalker escaped when R2-D2 shot his lightsaber to him and freed the other prisoners on the skiff. A skirmish ensued in which Skywalker protected his friends, ended the life of several of Jabba's thugs including Klaatu,[71] and helped Organa escape the Khetanna after she had killed the Hutt. After destroying the sail barge,[13] Skywalker and his entire team escaped unscathed through a dangerous sandstorm,[71] after which he boarded his X-Wing with R2-D2 and parted ways with the others.[13]

Keeping the promise

"Your father was seduced by the dark side of the Force. He ceased to be Anakin Skywalker and became Darth Vader. When that happened, the good man who was your father was destroyed. So what I told you was true, from a certain point of view." ―Obi-Wan Kenobi to Luke Skywalker [src]

Skywalker then returned to Dagobah to complete his training and keep the promise he had made to Yoda,[13] but the aged Jedi Master, who had used the Force to prolong his life beyond what was natural, had fallen ill and was finally starting to succumb to age. Yoda told Skywalker that he'd already completed all the training he required, but in order to finally become a true Jedi, he needed to confront Darth Vader one more time.[71][13] Having grown less and less sure since the revelation, Skywalker feared that it was the truth,[71] he inquired if Vader was truly his father. Skywalker received such confirmation from Yoda,[13] which angered him that they had lied to him for so long, but Yoda confessed that he knew that Skywalker had not been ready to shoulder the burden of being the child of the Dark Lord of the Sith, to which Skywalker expressed his regret that he did not listen to him the first time.[71] After warning him not to underestimate the Emperor's powers or allow the dark side to take hold of him, and that as "the last of the Jedi" he had to pass on what he had learned, Yoda made one final revelation to Skywalker before he became one with the Force—that there was "another Skywalker."[13]

Sensing his turmoil,[71] the spirit of Kenobi appeared before Skywalker, who confronted him for lying about his father. Claiming that the good man that Anakin Skywalker had been had died upon his fall to the dark side, Kenobi stated that he did not directly lie to him about his father; he was simply telling him what happened "from a certain point of view." Skywalker voiced his belief that there was still good within his father, and that he could not bring himself to kill him, but Kenobi insisted that he needed to face him again in order to restore balance to the Force. Skywalker then asked about the "other Skywalker," who Kenobi told him was his long-lost twin sister, who had been separated from him at birth to protect them from the wrath of the Empire. Skywalker instantly came to the realization that this sister was Organa, which was confirmed by Kenobi.[13] Skywalker almost immediately inquired about their mother's identity and fate, but Kenobi asked him to let that truth stay with him for a while longer, as he knew Skywalker carried too many burdens already.[71]

Endor's test

"Now, go, my son. Leave me."

"No. You're coming with me. I'll not leave you here. I've got to save you!"

"You already have, Luke. You were right. You were right about me. Tell your sister… you were right." ―Anakin Skywalker and Luke Skywalker Listen (file info) [src]

Skywalker nevertheless accompanied his friends on the mission to the forested moon of Endor to destroy the shield generator that protected the DS-2 Death Star in orbit, volunteering immediately upon arrival at the Rebel briefing above Sullust. As they approached the moon on the stolen Lambda-class Imperial shuttle Tydirium, Skywalker sensed Vader's presence on the nearby Super Star Destroyer Executor and realized his presence was endangering the mission; yet, it was his presence that prompted Vader to allow their landing. Upon doing so, the Rebel force was discovered by a small force of Imperial scout troopers that were guarding the shield bunker, and Skywalker and Organa pursued them on speeder bikes. Though they successfully stopped the scouts, Organa became separated from Skywalker.[13]

Upon learning of her disappearance, Solo, Skywalker, Chewbacca, and the droids went looking for her, only to be captured by a tribe of Ewoks. Using the Force to prove C-3PO's deific "magic," Skywalker convinced the Ewoks to release them and, after C-3PO's tale of their adventures, the whole group was accepted as a part of the village.[13] However, Skywalker felt as Vader reached out to him through the Force and landed on the moon,[71] and knew that he had to confront Vader. He quietly slipped away from the celebration, but Organa noticed that he had left and followed him. He informed her of what he was planning to do and also told her that, in the event that he did not make it back, she would the last hope of the Alliance, going on to tell her that she was his sister, and she could use the Force too.[13]

Organa was initially shocked that she and Skywalker were actually brother and sister, but admitted to him that, somehow, she'd always known, and attempted to dissuade him from confronting their father, but Skywalker was adamant that he could redeem Vader, and set off.[13]

Eventually encountering an Imperial patrol and willingly surrendering himself, Skywalker was brought to Vader and tried to convince his father to renounce the dark side by referring to him as "Anakin Skywalker," but Vader harshly denounced his former name.[13] Although he managed to make Vader question the dark truths that had long ruled him,[71] Skywalker ultimately became a prisoner of the Emperor as he was escorted to his throne room onboard the Death Star[13]

As he was brought before the Emperor, the Dark Lord of the Sith repeatedly told the young Jedi that he would fall to the dark side just as easily as Vader had, and let him know that he had purposely allowed the Alliance to discover the second Death Star's location in order to lure them into a trap and finish them off once and for all.[13]

In order to temper Skywalker’s negative emotions, Sidious forced him to watch as the Imperial Fleet engaged the Rebels. He constantly encouraged Skywalker to give into his anger and hatred. Though Skywalker was resistant at first, his feelings of hopelessness and desperation only grew as the destruction of the Rebel fleet and the death of his friends appeared imminent. Attempting to strike down the Emperor, Skywalker found himself once again facing his father in a duel. Unlike their previous encounter on Bespin (where Vader was largely able to dominate the proceedings, throughout), this time the pair would fight as equals.

After successfully parrying a flurry of blows, Skywalker sent Vader tumbling down a stairwell before regaining his composure and appealing to the good in his father. Vader would have none of it and attacked once again, though eventually Skywalker withdrew from combat altogether and refused to fight Vader any further, retreating into the shadows of the throne room.[13]

In order to goad his son back into fighting him, Vader used telepathy to probe his thoughts, learning of the existence of his daughter and Skywalker's twin sister, stating that perhaps she could be seduced to the dark side if Skywalker could not. This statement pushed Skywalker over the edge and caused him to finally give into his rage. Attacking his father much more aggressively this time, he unleashed his full might upon the Sith Lord. Eventually pushing Vader into a corner, right next to the Death Star's reactor shaft, Skywalker repeatedly struck him with multiple heavy blows, and with one final, devastating strike of his lightsaber, sliced Vader's hand off at the wrist, sending it—and the weapon it still gripped—cascading down into the depths below.[13]

A cackling Sidious, delighted that Skywalker had not only given into his hatred, but made use of it to such an extent, encouraged him to deliver the killing blow to his father and take his place as his apprentice. However, Skywalker noticed that the hand he'd cut off was mechanical, much like his own, and in a moment of realization, saw that he was about to become what he had sought to destroy. Skywalker tossed his lightsaber aside and defiantly declared to the Emperor that he had failed, and that he was a Jedi like his father before him.[13]

Infuriated that his plan to corrupt Luke had gone up in smoke, Sidious declared that, if Skywalker would not be turned, he would be destroyed, and unleashed a barrage of Force lightning against him. Unprepared for the lightning, Skywalker desperately tried to protect himself, to no avail.[13] Wanting Skywalker to suffer as much pain as possible for daring to defy him, the Sith Master gradually increased the intensity of his lightning,[source?] all while intermittently taunting him. At this point, Vader had gotten back to his feet and returned to his master's side, and Luke begged his father to save him.[13]

Eventually, seeing his son in such terrible pain became too great for Vader to bear any longer, and in that moment, the Sith Lord Darth Vader was gone, and the Jedi Anakin Skywalker was reborn. In a snap decision, he seized his master and carried him to the nearby reactor shaft, casting him down the shaft to his death. In doing so, however, he turned Sidious's lethal Force lightning on himself, irreparably damaging his life-supporting armor.[13]

Luke carried Anakin to Imperial shuttle ST 321,[71] where his father asked him to remove his breathing mask. Though Luke was hesitant to do so, convinced that his father would die without it, Anakin told him that nothing could prevent his death now, but before he died, he wanted to look upon his son with his own eyes. Luke relented and removed the mask, gazing upon his father's real face for the first and only time. Anakin then encouraged Luke to leave him and save himself. Though Luke was insistent on saving Anakin, his father assured him that, by bringing him back to the light, he already saved him, and with his last words, told him to tell Leia that he'd been right about him before passing away.[13] At the cost of his own life and with the help of his son, Anakin Skywalker had finally fulfilled his destiny as the Chosen One and had brought balance to the Force.[74]

Skywalker took his father's body on board the shuttle and escaped just before the Death Star's destruction,[13] when he was almost intercepted by Green Squadron's Shara Bey, who proceeded to cover him from TIE interceptors after he identified himself.[75] Back on Endor, Skywalker cremated his father's armor (his body had vanished) in the manner of a Jedi's funeral, and then joined his friends and sister in the celebration. It was during this moment of celebration that Skywalker saw the onlooking Force spirits of Kenobi, Yoda, and his father, looking at him in approval and with a sense of peace.[71][13]

Following the Battle of Endor, Skywalker and Organa helped the Ewoks Kneesaa and Wicket W. Warrick reset their traps to stop a Gorax. Sensing that Ewoks and Organa needed time to complete the task, Skywalker used his lightsaber to slice through a log that the Gorax had thrown at him before he threw his lightsaber to Organa to use to cut a log.[76]

In the battle's aftermath, Skywalker reported to the Rebel Alliance that the Emperor and Darth Vader were dead. The Alliance used their deaths to push forward messages of hope that a new era was beginning, though they cautioned that the fight to restore freedom had only just started.[77] In the days ahead, the Rebel Alliance began the formation of the New Republic, a successor state to the Galactic Republic. The Empire, meanwhile, reeled from its defeat and its leadership was in chaos, and the Imperial government claimed that the reports of the Emperor's demise were treasonous propaganda.[78]

Call to Pillio

"If the Empire is here, then what I sensed is true. There must be something special about this place." ―Luke Skywalker to R2-D2 [src]

Not long after the Battle of Endor, Skywalker felt a calling from Pillio in the Jinata system. Chasing the call, Luke along with R2 took his X-wing and set course for the remote aquatic planet. When they arrived, the two came across an Imperial Shuttle making its descent, confirming Skywalker's suspicions that the planet held something of importance. He left his faithful Astromech Droid with his ship, and it was not long before the young Jedi encountered Stormtroopers on guard, who attacked him on sight. Skywalker made his way through several dozens of troopers and officers, remarking that the Empire must have been searching the planet. Sensing something unnatural from within a nearby cave, the Jedi found that native wildlife, Scritters, were attacking the invading imperials. Hearing cries for help, Skywalker made his way further into the depths of the planet to find Del Meeko, a member of Imperial Special Forces Unit Inferno Squad, with his arm stuck in the amber of the Scritters. Despite their different allegiances, Skywalker used his lightsaber to cut through the amber and free the soldier. When Meeko asked why the Jedi helped him, Skywalker simply responded, 'Because you asked'.[79]

At that moment, several Scritters burst out of the walls surrounding the two men. Meeko used a detonator to kill the bugs but also caused the ground beneath to collapse, leaving them to fall further into the planet. They landed in a small shallow stream of water, and Skywalker used the Force to protect Meeko from falling rocks. After being helped to his feet, Meeko remarked that stories of the Jedi always scared him as a young boy. Skywalker responded that if they want to get out, they'll need to work together. Making their way through the caves, Luke shared that the Force has brought them to together and apologizes for killing the rest of his men; he was reluctant to do so, but they left him no choice, while Meeko did. As the two made their way out of the cave, Del revealed that the Emperor had an observatory on the planet and that Meeko was tasked with destroying it. Skywalker and Meeko eventually escaped the cave and gained access to the observatory by destroying its defense system.[79]

Skywalker discovered that the key to opening the vault door is to use the Force, prompting Meeko to wonder why the observatory could only be opened by the Force and if the man who hunted down the Jedi was secretly one of them. Luke suggested that Del had learned to fear the wrong thing.[79]

The two investigated the vault, apparently full of junk, and Skywalker took a compass. When Meeko asked why he should be allowed to keep it, Skywalker responded, 'Because I asked'. As the two left, Skywalker remarked that the Empire had done enough damage to innocent worlds and that Meeko could choose not between the Empire or the Rebellion, but to be a better person. He wished the Force with Meeko before leaving.[79]

At some point Skywalker was promoted to General.[80]

Training his sister

"It was the last night of her training. Leia told me that she had sensed the death of her son at the end of her Jedi path. She surrendered her saber to me and said one day it would be picked up again by someone who would finish her journey." ―Luke Skywalker, to Rey [src]

After the Battle of Endor, he took on his first student and trained his twin sister in the ways of the Force. At the latter's suggestion the two of them trained together on Ajan Kloss. Organa under his tutelage constructed a lightsaber, and would train her in lightsaber combat. He also instructed in her in the basics of the Force, teaching her about the light and meditation. He in this time remarked her as a fast study.[7] At some point during their training together, Luke and Leia spent an hour sparring with their lightsabers. Later that same day, Skywalker attempted to teach her in a scenario similar to what he did with Yoda on Dagobah, where she held herself up in a handstand with the Force.[81]

On the final night of her training, Organa experienced a dark vision that her Jedi path would lead to the death of her unborn son.[16] Realizing where the galaxy needed her most,[7] Leia set aside her lightsaber[16] to focus on her new family and senatorial duties.[7]

While Luke hoped that his sister would resume her training later on, Leia gave him her lightsaber to convince him otherwise, asking to pass it on to a promising student someday. However, Luke didn't do that and never told Leia where he stored her lightsaber.[81]

Recovering Force trees

"And why exactly are we doing this?"

"Because in the lab at the heart of that base is something the Emperor stole a long time ago. We're taking it back." ―Shara Bey and Luke Skywalker [src]

In 5 ABY,[82] three months after the Battle of Endor, Skywalker planned a mission to an Imperial research base on the planet Vetine in order to retrieve the last remaining fragment of a Force-sensitive tree. The tree, which once dwelled in the heart of the Jedi Temple on Coruscant, was stolen by the Emperor after he came to power and converted the Jedi Temple into the Imperial Palace. Skywalker recruited Shara Bey to fly as his co-pilot on the mission, and, along with Artoo, they flew a stolen Imperial shuttle, Antarra, to Vetine. While en route, Skywalker told Bey about the plan, including how she would pose as ISB Agent Alecia Beck, using codes obtained by Solo and the Pathfinders during a raid on an ISB base at the Wretch of Tayron. Upon their arrival, Bey claimed she was Agent Beck and that she had arrived to perform an unannounced inspection. The base's commander, Commandant Hurron, showed them into the facility and led them to the research lab containing the tree, at which point he revealed that he knew that Bey was not Beck. Hurron questioned why two Rebels would break into the facility, and Skywalker explained the importance of the tree—which he found had two remaining fragments. Skywalker and Bey fought their way out of the base, making their way through numerous stormtroopers who attempted to stop their escape. Once back at Antarra, Hurron ordered his forces to throw thermal detonators at the escaping Rebels, but Skywalker used the Force to deflect them back, killing Hurron and several of his stormtroopers in an explosion.[83]

The Rebel trio made their way back towards the Alliance Fleet. During the trip back, Skywalker and Bey discussed the latter's future plans for service in the Rebellion, as Skywalker knew that Bey was considering leaving the Alliance to reunite with her husband, Pathfinder Sergeant Kes Dameron, and their son Poe. Bey was unsure as to whether she wanted to leave the Rebels behind, but Skywalker's guidance helped Bey decide to leave the Alliance. The Jedi Knight gifted one of the tree fragments to her, as he had only expected to find one, believing that the important relic would be kept safe with Bey and her family. She and Dameron planted it outside of their new home on Yavin 4.[83]

Jakku and War's end

An Imperial officer stationed on a Star Destroyer claimed to have seen the Jedi Knight using the Force and a lightsaber to dispatch Star Destroyers in space, causing them to crash into the surface of the planet. When the Star Destroyer crashed into the surface the officer said he was recovered by a figure who dragged him across the desert searching wreckage for other survivors. He also noted the man wore clothes similar to Luke Skywalker and talked about being raised in another desert.[84]

The Galactic Civil War came to a close with the signing of the Galactic Concordance, a peace treaty between the Republic and the Empire that forced the Empire to remain within pre-established borders, though the remnants of the once-powerful military force disappeared into the Unknown Regions.[85] Following the signing of the treaty, Leia gave birth to her and Han's son and Luke's nephew, Ben Solo. There were rumors that Skywalker visited his sister and Han before disappearing on an untold mission. Others claimed that his absence was conspicuous.[86]

Restoring the Jedi Order

Quest for Jedi lore and knowledge

"I had great hope for the future of the Jedi. I came to believe that if a single Jedi could help bring balance back to the Force, then perhaps a restored Jedi Order could maintain peace and prevent the dark side from ever regaining its hold on the galaxy. So I scoured worlds for the remaining Jedi texts and gathered a new class of apprentices under my tutelage." ―Luke Skywalker [src]

With the Empire fallen and the Sith Lords vanquished, Skywalker had great hope for the future of the Jedi. He believed if a single Jedi could bring balance to the Force as his father had done, then a revived Jedi Order could keep the peace and prevent the dark side from ever returning to such strength.[87]

So just as he promised Farnay near the start of his own Jedi studies,[30] in 5 ABY, Skywalker set about rebuilding the Jedi Order Despite his optimism, he had many unanswered questions[89] and was hesitant to take on another apprentice after his sister Leia, unsure of his grounding in Jedi lore.[7] Instead, Skywalker largely disappeared from galactic view and dedicated himself to traveling the galaxy in hopes finding what remained of the Jedi after the Empire's long efforts to eradicate their history. Through his quest, he came to understand much about himself and his destiny and gained the confidence he needed to rebuild the Jedi Order.[89]

Skywalker's research into the Jedi was a long and difficult task that took him years.[89] He was aided by Lor San Tekka, an explorer and member of the Church of the Force[90] who, though not Force-sensitive himself, believed in the Jedi ideals. San Tekka was old enough to remember the Jedi Knights before the Clone Wars, and he did not believe the Emperor's lies about how the Jedi betrayed the Old Republic.[85] San Tekka, who believed that the return of the Jedi Order was essential to bring balance to the Force,[10] became a valuable ally for both Skywalker and Organa.[85] Gatalenta was one of the first destinations in Skywalker's search,[15] and he also traveled to Moraband,[91] the ancient home of the Sith,[92] to investigate anything he could about the Force.[91] He scoured many worlds and assembled a collection of eight ancient bound books[7] and scrolls[6] that described Jedi tenets, history and guidance for those following the path of the Jedi—sacred Jedi texts. One of the books was the Rammahgon, an influential work that was thought destroyed over 5,000 years ago but retrieved by Skywalker while he explored the subterranean ruins of Ossus. The Aionomica was another, a two-volume collection of Jedi explorations and codifications of the Force, part codex, correspondence and scrapbook.[7]

Skywalker dedicated much of these years to finding the site of the first Jedi Temple. He uncovered many tantalizing clues that hinted at the origins of the Jedi, but the precise location was a mystery. One key to unravelling the mystery was his study of the spread of the Force-sensitive uneti saplings.[89] He also made use of the Jedi star compass he had discovered in the Emperor's storehouse on Pillio. With a plasma-encased supraluminite lodestone at its center, the compass functioned much like the ancient wayfinders and was attuned to specific points in hyperspace. Through studying the compass, Skywalker uncovered a path to Ahch-To the site of Temple island and the first Jedi Temple.[7] With the help of Lor San Tekka, he finally put together the many clues and learned the location of the temple, a discovery that he and San Tekka kept a secret.[89]

In his explorations for Jedi lore, Skywalker discovered the cache of Jedi Chief Librarian Jocasta Nu[93] and uncovered many lost Jedi and Force relics throughout the galaxy, including a Jedi Crusader pendant,[89] and a Holocron of the High Republic Era Jedi Avar Kriss.[94] He came to learn about some of the Jedi Masters that existed before the fall of the Order, such as Mace Windu, Qui-Gon Jinn and Jocasta Nu. Skywalker also learned about the Midi-chlorians, the Jedi Code, and about the different Jedi Temples that existed such as the Lothal Jedi Temple. Luke as well as learning about the light, he also learned about the Dark Side. Luke learned about several Sith Lords and dark side warriors such as Darth Bane, Darth Maul, Darth Tyranus, and the Inquisitorius Jedi hunters of the Galactic Empire and about several locations and temples strong with the Dark Side such as his father's castle Fortress Vader on Mustafar. With all this, he also learned about the Sith's history and several events, such as the creation of Darth Bane's Rule of Two, and the Scourge of Malachor.[87]

Another relic he recovered was a page of the Journal of Caleb Dume, a survivor of the Jedi Purge who took on the new name Kanan Jarrus, fought against the Empire, and trained his own apprentice, Ezra Bridger, in the years of Skywalker's own youth on Tatooine.[87] He eventually brought this and the other Jedi artifacts he had uncovered to Ahch-To and compiled his knowledge of the Jedi into a book he called The Secrets of the Jedi. Ahch-To was also where Skywalker collected the Rammahgon, the Aionomica, the Chronicles of Brus-bu, Poetics of a Jedi, and the other sacred Jedi texts[7] and assembled them into a small library housed in an uneti tree.[95] Whenever Luke did find Jedi relics or lore he would bring and lock it up in his Jedi Temple.[96]

New Generation of Jedi

"For many years, there was balance, and then I saw... Ben. My nephew with that mighty Skywalker blood. And in my hubris, I thought I could train him; I could pass on my strengths. Han was...Han about it, but... Leia trusted me with her son. I took him, and a dozen students, and began a training temple." ―Luke Skywalker to Rey [src]

Jedi Master

"He's an amazing Teacher, Very strong. I've learned so much from him..." ―Ben Solo about his uncle [src]

Fulfilling the dying wish of Jedi Master Yoda,[13] Skywalker set out to begin training a new generation of Jedi. Though reluctant to take on another apprentice after his sister, when the Force awakened in Skywalker's nephew Ben Solo[7] and his mother Leia could see the dark side taking hold of her son, she entrusted the boy to her brother to help him find balance.[87] He agreed to train the 10-year-old Solo,[7] and in 15 ABY,[97] he joined his uncle in exploring the galaxy for ancient Jedi lore.[7] Skywalker would go on to take on the responsibilities of a Jedi Master by teaching his nephew. However, he was merely playing the role of Jedi Master as it was a title he had not formally earned.[87]

During this time, a powerful dark side-practitioner known as Snoke, who was the Supreme Leader of a splinter group of the Empire known as the First Order, and also secretly a puppet of Emperor Palpatine, began influencing Ben from afar, clouding him with the dark side.[96] Luke also at some point encountered Snoke and damaged him.[17]

Palpatine, secretly based on Exegol, also began speaking to Ben through the Force using the voice of Darth Vader to influence Ben to the Dark Side.[16]

Encountering the Knights of Ren

"I am one man. But I am not alone. The Force is my ally. And it is Powerful. You're clumsy. Untrained. You use the dark side like a hammer. But the Light is a blade. And so am I." ―Luke Skywalker, to the Knights of Ren [src]

Sometime between 15 and 25 ABY, when his nephew was still a teenager, Skywalker, Ben, and Lor San Tekka traveled to a Jedi outpost on Elphrona, hoping to find Jedi artifacts. They found a treasure trove that Skywalker judged so impressive he thought it may be better than Jocasta Nu's cache, including many Jedi holocrons and a lightsaber rifle. As the three perused the outpost, the group of dark side warriors known as the Knights of Ren revealed themselves. Skywalker engaged the knights, not intending to kill any of them, and managed to overpower them quite easily. He then proceeded to prepare himself for a duel with the knight leading them only known simply as "Ren" who wielded a red lightsaber, however realizing that Skywalker's power was superior Ren withdrew his knights and left the planet.[96]

More Apprentices

"We all studied together. I was first, but they came not long after." ―Ben Solo, on Luke's training other apprentices [src]

Skywalker trained Solo for years before he felt capable of taking on other apprentices,[7] but over the course of the pair's journeys he gathered disciples who went on to be his first students.[89] Desiring to offer them a more traditional Jedi path than his own training under Obi-Wan Kenobi and Yoda, he constructed a new Jedi temple[87] based at a secret location known only to the members of the Order and his loyal droid R2-D2.[89] Skywalker's new students numbered about a dozen besides his nephew[85] and he worked to teach them everything he had learned in his own training, including lightsaber combat and meditation. Among these students were Voe, Tai, and Hennix.[17] With his master's attention now split between several othe