My Unpopular Opinions #3: Character Development - Star Wars Sequels
When I say unpopular that means one of two things: a) stuff the people I know don't give a damn about and don't care to hear or b) stuff the people I know don't agree with and don't care to hear.
I don't think the character development the original trio went through between the Original Trilogy and the Sequels is completely baseless. I'm not saying it is great but it's not completely garbage either. (Do note that this is based solely on the films as I have not read any of the books, comics etc)
Now, hear me out:
Leia: ... Actually, I don't think there's much to talk about here. New threat rose so she fell back on past experiences and formed the resistance... So that's that.
Han: I have heard it said that the problem with Han's characterisation is that there was sub-zero development between the OT and the Sequels and it rolls back on his development from the OT. And that is... not wrong, I'd say, but it's also not quite right - or maybe "implausible" is the better term.
Yes, Han was pretty underwhelming as a parent. And yes, he does go back to being a smuggler and scoundrel after Ben becomes Kylo. And yes, that seems to be in contrast to where his character is at the end of ROTJ.
But, is it? Being more readily/openly caring and helping toppling a galactic empire doesn't necessarily qualify you for being a good parent. You can care about your friends, family, lover and still be completely out of your depths with handling a child. Even your own, even if you love the kid. Love does not equal good parenting. It's certainly a big part but it's not all you need. And Han might just not have been ready to have a kid (or not as ready as he thought at least) and add to that the Force, which he has come into contact with but doesn't know how to handle and of course he's going to be out of his depth.
And when people are out of their depths, they like to fall back on the familiar (sometimes even if they know its going to be unhelpful / is a bad choice). So with the turmoil of a kid you don't actually know how to handle, teach or help and then the added mess of that kid turning evil, I can totally see how Han might fall back on smuggling & being a scoundrel. The split up with Leia is something that follows from that, a mix of stress, being out of one's depth and the somewhat traumatic experience of "your son just killed his classmates, tried to kill your brother/brother-in-law, burned down a temple and joined an evil would-be-empire, just like your father/father-in-law" could put enough of a strain on your emotional/mental state and your relationship to break the camel's back.
Luke: His characterisation is considered almost heresy it seems. But I think there is a way to look at it that might at least be somewhat understandable.
And it all begins with the idea that Luke wasn't hiding to protect himself or to shut out the world but to protect the world from himself.
Luke in the OT is the paragon hero with unfailing belief in the good in people, especially his family and who is completely unwilling to give up on people.
Now imagine that, knowing his father's story, Luke is constantly sensing the darkness lingering around his nephew who is also incidentally very powerful in the Force. And this paragon decides to believe in his nephew because of course he believes in his family but it still persists and it keeps coming back to his mind. And then, in a moment of weakness, he gives in, he actually contemplates killing his nephew to avoid giving rise to another Darth Vader. Then he catches himself, realises what he was just about to do and regrets it immediately but the damage is done.
So now Luke has just accidentally through one moment of weakness caused the exact thing he wanted to prevent. He created this problem. He was what pushed Ben over the edge and caused him to become Kylo Ren, the new Darth Vader.
And it eats at him. If he was willing to give up on his own nephew, to even consider killing him, what else might he do? It's not just a lapse of judgement, it's a betrayal of what he thought fundamental about himself, his belief in the good in people.
So with what he tried already in shambles and his faith in himself equally battered, he runs to the farthest corner of more or less known space, where there is no-one. No-one to find him, no-one he can hurt in another lapse of judgement. And to be thorough and extra safe, he cuts himself off from the Force. Because he knows how to astral project and he can't risk the temptation of meddling even from a distance because what if he lapses again?
So he lives out the next years in self-imposed exile. Not to protect himself or because he has lost faith in the world, but because he has lost faith in himself and wants to protect the rest of the galaxy from what he might do if left unchecked. And he would be unchecked, because who could match him for power?
And then, years later, a girl he knows nothing about shows up on his island, offers him a lightsaber he last held when he was a much younger, very different person. And she's brimming with all this power but there's darkness too and he's scared. Scared Rey might become like Kylo Ren - failed by her mentor and turned to evil, scared he might fail her like he failed Ben. So he's grumpy and dismissive and does what he can to get her to leave but she won't. So he reluctantly does teach her, but he's still not sure it's a good idea, afraid, not even so much of her turning to the dark but of making the same mistakes he did with Ben. Plus years in isolation probably made his social skills rusty.
Now, I know there's no concrete evidence for this in the films. We don't get to hear characters' thoughts. But it's a possible interpretation.
