Star Wars: The Last Jedi Misunderstands How The Skywalker Bloodline Works
The Last Jedi repeatedly depicts the Skywalkers as royalty, but this misunderstands the Skywalker family and how bloodlines affect Force-users.
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Star Wars: The Last Jedi emphasizes the importance of the Skywalker family, but it repeatedly misunderstands the family’s bloodline. The Last Jedi was perhaps the most divisive entry in the Star Wars sequel trilogy, earning the adoration of some filmgoers while others found it to be a poor representation of key characters and concepts in the franchise. The Skywalker family includes most of the key characters in the Star Wars franchise, leading some to incorrectly treat it like a royal bloodline or presume that one must belong to an influential family to be a Force-sensitive of importance, but this has never been the case in either continuity.
A New Hope framed Luke Skywalker as a simple farmer who discovers that his father was a valiant Jedi Knight and veteran of the Clone Wars who was seemingly killed by Darth Vader. The Empire Strikes Back, whether this was pre-planned or not, reframed the entire trilogy by establishing that Luke’s beloved father and his supposed killer are one and the same, complicating Luke’s relationship with his adversary and allowing Return of the Jedi to have some of the saga’s most dramatic and morally complex story beats. Return of the Jedi also retroactively made Luke and Leia siblings, adding another familial connection to the trilogy’s lead characters.
The Last Jedi is often preoccupied with the Skywalker family for the wrong reasons. Luke refers to Ben Solo having “that mighty Skywalker blood,” implying that Skywalkers are intrinsically stronger in the Force than others. Snoke makes even more perplexing statements, not only similarly referencing the Skywalker bloodline but also calling Kylo Ren “son of darkness, heir apparent to Lord Vader,” to unsubtly declare the Skywalkers royalty. Through Luke and Snoke, the film misunderstands the Skywalker family. While they’re important to the audience, they’re hardly the most important family in the galaxy from an in-universe perspective, and the franchise has no shortage of powerful Force-users who come from humble origins, including many of the Skywalkers.
Luke Skywalkers’ “the Force is strong in my family” dialogue in Return of the Jedi was meant to establish a connection between him, Vader, and Leia, revealing to her that she’s his sister and a Force-sensitive. The original and prequel trilogies were never meant to elevate the Skywalkers to royal status, even with Anakin potentially being the Chosen One. Shmi Skywalker was a single mother and slave, with Anakin growing up as a slave as well, regardless of his potential conception by the Force. Padme, who became a Skywalker by marrying Anakin, was a former Naboo Queen, but royals on Naboo were elected, not born. Similarly, Leia was adopted into the royal Organa family of Alderaan, while Luke grew up as a humble farmer with Anakin’s extended family. The Skywalkers have never been royalty.
The original and prequel trilogies included numerous Jedi and Sith who lack royal backgrounds. Obi-Wan Kenobi, Yoda, and Mace Windu were among the most powerful and influential Jedi in the saga, yet they all came from humble backgrounds before joining the Jedi Order. Palpatine’s family was wealthy and politically powerful, but this didn’t affect his superlative strength in the dark side. Count Dooku was one of the few examples of Force-sensitive royalty, but his bloodline afforded him no special treatment by the Jedi or Sith.
The Star Wars Legends continuity included notable examples of exclusively Force-sensitive dynasties and bloodlines, such as the lineages of Revan and Darth Wyyrlok. Still, these families weren’t any more influential or powerful than other Force-sensitives. The bloodline of Nomi Sunrider, a lineage of Force-sensitive human women, began over 4,000 years before the Skywalker Saga and included one member of Luke’s New Jedi Order, yet its members weren’t depicted as stronger or more important than any other Jedi. Star Wars: The Last Jedi, unfortunately, has a superficial understanding of the Skywalker bloodline, misunderstanding its status within the Star Wars franchise.
Link Source : https://screenrant.com/star-wars-last-jedi-force-skywalker-bloodline-misunderstands/