The Forgotten Hero: A Star Wars Story

Tear it Down

The sun begins to set behind a distant island as Y/N, Luke, and Rey gather once more in the top room.

Luke: Lesson two. Now that the Jedi are all but extinct they have been romanticized, even deified. But if you strip away the myth and look at their deeds...

Luke sits by the engraving in the floor with a grunt.

Luke: The legacy of the Jedi is failure. Hypocrisy, hubris.

Rey: That's not true.

Y/N: It may be hard to believe it. But it is. I was there when it happened. At the height of our powers, we let Darth Sidious rise, create the Empire, and wipe us out from right under out noses.

Luke: It was a Jedi Master who was responsible for the training and creation of Darth Vader.

Rey: And a Jedi who saved him. Yes, the most hated man in the galaxy. But you saw that there was conflict inside him. You believed that he wasn't gone. That he could be turned.

The sun shines on Luke's doubtful and tired face.

Luke: And I became a legend... The stories aren't even true. I wasn't the one who killed Palpatine and saved the galaxy.

Rey: What?... but then who was it?

Luke stares absentmindedly past Rey. He looks back and nods his head in his direction. Rey follows his eyes and finds Y/N's. Rey looks at him with wide eyes. She struggles to process the information and wracks her brain trying to figure things out.

Luke: For many years, there was balance.... and then I saw Ben. My nephew with that mighty Skywalker blood. And in my hubris, I thought I could train him, I could pass on my strengths. Han was Han about it, but Leia trusted me with her son... (whisper) I took him, and a dozen students, and began a training temple. By the time I realized I was no match for the darkness rising in him, it was too late.

Rey: What happened?

Luke: I went to confront him. And he turned on me.

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Outside of the jedi temple, the night of the fall, bugs chirp.

Inside of Ben's small little hut, Luke extends his hands out in defense.

Luke: Ben, no!!

The hand of Ben Solo reaches out towards him as the hut caves in around them.

The metallic hand of Luke Skywalker reaches out of the flaming and splintered debris. He can spy the smoldering remains of some of the student's huts. He hears a scream of agony as Ben Solo exits from the jedi temple. He charges forward and catches a glimpse of someone running in the doorway of the temple as thunder rumbles and lightning strikes the temple, sending it all over the place, destroying the temple. A body flies out of the temple, smoking and burning slightly. It screams over Luke's head as he realizes who it is.

Luke clambers over towards R2 who rests and beeps overlooking the ruins. He falls to his knees and rests his robot hand on R2's silver dome as the two watch the flaming remains deteriorate in agony.

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Luke: He must have thought I was dead. When I came to, the temple was burning. He had vanished with a handful of my students. And slaughtered the rest. Leia blamed Snoke, but it was me. I failed. Because I was Luke Skywalker. Jedi master... A legend.

Rey: The galaxy may need a legend. Whether the legend is true or not.

Her eyes flit about the rocky room around them, unsure but steady.