The passing of a sword with great power is an arresting image throughout a lot of mythology. So, when Rey presented the famous Skywalker lightsaber to Luke at the end of The Force Awakens, deep, iconic feelings were stirred in the hearts of countless millions. Which is why one new image from Empire is so perfect.
On Friday, amid the frenzy of fans buying new Star Wars toys for #ForceFriday, several prominent fans started noticing the striking new subscriber’s magazine cover of the latest Empire. It’s just Rey’s hand holding up the lightsaber and Luke’s robotic hand extending to accept it.
Obviously, this is cool because you’ve got a dude with a robotic hand getting back a laser sword, but the subtlety of the image is that the reason Lukee has a robot hand in the first place is connected to that lightsaber. The symbolism of Jedi idealism is certainly here, but Luke’s robot hand reaching out to the very thing that scared his entire family is potent stuff.
Again, the image is simple, but it contains multitudes. In Return of the Jedi, when we first saw Luke’s robot hand in action, he wore a black glove to hide the fact that it was synthetic. But … only one episode later, in The Force Awakens, he’d eschewed such modesty. Why?
Hopefully, that, and many other questions, will be answered in a few short months when Luke’s fingers actually grasp the hilt of that weapon once again.
The Last Jedi is out everywhere on December 15.
