Luke--Anakin's Final "Test?"

Originally posted on August 22, 2006


You must confront Vader again. Obi-Wan to Luke, ROTJ

Sometime within the past couple of weeks a comment was made in someone's blog (sorry...I cannot remember who made the comment or who wrote the blog) regarding Luke being Anakin's final test to becoming a Jedi Master. The more I thought about it, the more it began making sense.

I always thought of this as Luke's final test in becoming a Jedi Master...if he confronts Vader and defeats the Sith, he is worthy of being a Jedi Master. However, could Luke have been sent by both Yoda and Obi-Wan to test Anakin and bring him back from the Dark Side to join them among the Jedi Masters of old? Could the memory of Padme's dying words to Obi-Wan have resurfaced with Luke's expression of faith in his father's goodness? Could the words *you must confront Vader again* been Obi-Wan's way of saying to Luke "if you confront, rather than kill, Vader, your father may return to the Light and fulfill his destiny as the Chosen One and finally be able to become the Master he always wanted to be?"   These are questions that have been going through my mind since I read that comment in that blog.

As I have said before, I believe that Anakin never truly died when Vader took over...the "Anakin persona" became buried deep within the evil that was Vader until Luke appeared in his life, reminding him of his past life as Anakin and all that meant. I have written about how Luke carried Padme's dying words with him until the time was right for them to "resurface" for Luke to redeem Anakin. I often wonder if Obi-Wan ever thought of those words, *there is good in him...*, during his time watching over Luke on Tatooine. I am sure he had to think about that every once in a while. By the time we meet "old Ben" in ANH, much time had passed since that fateful duel on Mustafar, and he appeared to have no hope for the good in his old Padawan. His sadness for the "days of old" was apparent as he told Luke about his father...and then again as he told Luke that Vader betrayed and murdered his father. It appeared that Obi-Wan wanted Luke to be trained as a Jedi, to *learn the ways of the Force*, in order to "revive" the Jedi Order, to show the Sith that the Jedi were not dead, and to have Luke destroy the Sith, something his father could not do. However, could Obi-Wan's luring of Luke to the Jedi ways have been his way of showing that he had hope that there was still good in Anakin, and that Luke's eventual confronting him would bring him back? It makes me wonder if he had a "double-edged" purpose for training Luke...restoring the Jedi Order and testing Anakin's ability to overcome his anger and rejoin the Jedi as a Master.

But be patient, Anakin. It will not take long before the Council makes you a Jedi Master. Obi-Wan to Anakin, ROTS

But patience was something Anakin did not have at the time of his downfall.   Had Anakin focused on his task of spying on the Chancellor rather than finding a way to save Padme', he may have been made a Master long before Luke was needed. Anakin was losing confidence in the Jedi Order by the end of the Clone Wars, and his inpatience grew as the days passed before his turn...he did not have time to wait until the Council decided his fate to learn how to save Padme' from his visions. He heard the promises of the power to save others from Palpatine, and, in haste, decided to join him and learn his knowledge of that power. That decision cost him everything...his wife, his friends, his family, his self. The one thing he wanted most from the Jedi, to be a Master, would never be realized...until Luke confronted him on Endor and the second Death Star. During that confrontation, he kept referring to how Obi-Wan had taught Luke well but that there was no match for the power of the Dark Side. However, Luke's persistence in staying in the Light, of vowing to save Anakin, finally broke the "veil of darkness" surrounding Anakin and made him the master of his destiny. In fulfilling his role as the Chosen One to destroy the Sith, he passed his final "test" and became a Jedi Master...being able to join Yoda and Obi-Wan as a Force ghost.

What do you all think...was Luke sent to test Anakin, to see if he was truly redeemable and worthy of becoming a Master, even after twenty-plus years? Or am I going too far out on a limb here with this thought?

As always, comments are welcome. May the Force Be With You!!