Star Wars: Could Luke have survived The Last Jedi if he hadn’t cut himself off from The Force?

Yes, Luke Skywalker has become one with the Force in the world of Star Wars, but some comments from Mark Hamill suggest that there was a reason for it.

The moment that made this writer tear up the first time she saw Star Wars: The Last Jedi was not Leia’s channeling the Force. It came, in fact, as the strains of “Binary Sunset” rose and Luke faded away into nothingness after giving the Resistance a chance on the screen, and I sat in my seat and regretted every single life decision that brought me to that point in my life.

Now that the comic book adaptation of The Last Jedi has reached that point, Mark Hamill has made some short but striking comments about how that death happens on Twitter: “THE FORCE KILLED LUKE. You have to acknowledge the irony in his fate. Almost like an addict that kicked his habit cold-turkey, remained clean for decades, only to re-use just once & then, tragically, overdoses.”

Although this writer can’t quite read the same addiction metaphor into Luke’s story, the base idea is worth some merit. The Force is a powerful ally — Yoda teaches us as much in The Empire Strikes Back — but that power works both ways. As a result, one can’t help but wonder: If Luke had not cut himself off from the Force, would he have survived the projection and lived to fight another day against the First Order?

The answer seems to be yes, at least based on Hamill’s comments. This is not to defend the choice on the part of Rian Johnson to actually kill Luke off — even if he presumably had the blessing of the Lucasfilm Story Group. It’s more to explore why this last gasp effort actually does make sense in terms of the story.

First, think about Leia’s save. Although it’s a particularly powerful exertion of the Force, Leia’s not projecting herself across the galaxy, and she’s not consciously doing it. (It seems like much more of an adrenaline-based reaction, just with the bonus of midichlorians doing the heavy lifting.) Presumably, Leia also hasn’t spent the last decade consciously not using the Force. Luke, meanwhile, is trying to do something huge after not doing anything at all — as if his skills have atrophied in some way.

Additionally, from a story point of view, both Skywalker siblings pulling off feats that stretch the limits of credibility would have broken the suspension of disbelief. As it is, plenty of fans have pointed to Leia’s moment as basically being Mary Poppins but in space. While the concept itself is sound, as that linked tweet notes, it’s kind of weird on its face already, and that’s before you add in the possibility of Luke doing something as powerful and surviving it.

Does this mean that Luke had to die? No. Does it mean that he was an addict to the Force? No, though we can see where the comparison comes in due to the sense of a tolerance being lost over time. Does it mean that Johnson wrote himself into something of a corner? Well, perhaps. But at the same time, it’s not like Luke is actually gone. Lucasfilm wouldn’t hurt Star Wars fans by putting Hamill’s name in the cast for Episode IX. (Probably.)

Now, if you’ll excuse us, we have to go be a little sad about this again.