WARNING: The following contains spoilers from Star Wars #16, on sale now from Marvel Comics.
At the height of his Jedi powers, Luke Skywalker was arguably the most powerful Jedi of all time, but he wasn’t always that strong. During The Empire Strikes Back, he left Yoda on Dagoba and was eager to confront Vader to try and save his friends. That fight, however, left a dark impression on him, and Star Wars #16 -- by Charles Soule, Ramon Rosanas, Rachelle Rosenberg and VC's Clayton Cowles – shows just how traumatized Luke was after his near-death experience with Darth Vader.
The comic is part of "War of the Bounty Hunters," a major crossover event that shows how Han Solo’s carbonite-frozen body made its way from Bespin to Jabba’s Palace on Tatooine. Currently, the crime syndicate Crimson Dawn is in possession of the frozen captain and attempting to auction him off to the highest bidder on Jekara. In this issue specifically, Vader arrives at the auction to take Solo and lure Luke out of hiding, forcing the young Jedi to face his fears.
At the beginning of the issue, Luke is on his way to Jekara to rescue Han Solo. He knows that Vader is looking for Han, but he doesn’t know that the dark lord is already there. Even still, he can’t seem to get his duel with Vader out of his head. He says, “I’ve gone over that battle on Cloud City in my head a hundred times, Artoo. It was like fighting a storm.” The truth is that Vader was toying with him for most of that fight, and looking back, Luke can tell. Vader’s lightsaber was faster than his, and Vader’s Force abilities were stronger than anything he had ever experienced.
Luke starts to think that his growth since that point would help him fare better in a rematch, but he quickly realizes that even he doesn’t believe that. Vader is known for inspiring fear in everyone, and Luke got a full dose of it. When he tries to reach into the Force for advice, he can hardly perceive it. He says, “I can feel it, but it’s like through…static. I can’t reach out to Ben. There’s something in the way, and I think I know what it is. Fear.” Vader broke Luke’s confidence so bad that Luke was paralyzed with fear at the simple thought of Vader.
While remembering their duel in Cloud City, Luke starts to actually relive the fight in his mind. Picturing himself there, Luke starts to think what might happen if he crossed blades with Vader again. He sees himself – this time with his yellow lightsaber – cutting off Vader’s hand. Then, Vader uses Luke’s own lightsaber to impale him. Later in the comic, Vader talks to Luke through the Force and threatens to cut Han Solo in half. Those words lead Luke’s dark fantasies down a similar path as he imagines himself cut in half by Vader’s lightsaber.
By the end of the issue, it’s apparent that Luke is totally defeated in his own head. His fear of dying at Vader’s hand is now greater than the fear of abandoning his friends. Unfortunately, that’s exactly what he does. By all appearances, he leaves Han Solo to die because he wasn’t ready to face Vader again in his own mind.
At this point in time, Luke is nowhere near his full strength or at attaining his level as Star Wars' most powerful Jedi. However, experiencing this fear ultimately makes him stronger, and it shows how he grew into the limitless resolve that he displays in Return of the Jedi.
This isn’t even the first time where Luke did this. The Luke of The Last Jedi divided fans, but it hits many of the same notes as this storyline. In that film, he was polarized by his failure, so he ran away from his commitments and his friends. However, he learned from that and returned stronger and more resolved to help save the Resistance.
While the ultimate outcome of "War of the Bounty Hunters" isn't a mystery thanks to the story's place in chronology, this story shows that there's still room to expand on the interior lives of the classic Star Wars characters. And as this book revealed, Luke Skywalker struggled to reconnect with the Force through his fears far more than the movies let on. Even if that doesn't change the way events played out, it still makes Luke Skywalker's rise all the more impressive.
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