
He was not what Luke expected - small, alien, and green, with a unique backwards way of speaking. Luke headed to Dagobah as instructed and found Yoda. Luke recovered from his injuries and lead the Rebel defense against the Empire’s ground forces, including massive AT-AT walkers, giving the Alliance time to evacuate the planet. Han eventually found Luke, keeping him warm inside a tauntaun’s belly until help could arrive. There, he would learn the ways of the Force from Yoda, a Jedi Master. It was also at this time that he was visited by the spectre of Obi-Wan Kenobi, who instructed him to go to the Dagobah system. Though Luke escaped the ice creature’s cave, severing the monster’s arm with his lightsaber, the young Jedi nearly died from the frigid surface temperatures. Before he could inspect it, however, Luke was viciously attacked by a towering wampa. While out on patrol, Luke spotted what he thought was a meteor impact on the surface - in reality, it was an Imperial probe droid. The Alliance built a new secret base on the ice planet Hoth, with Luke now a commander. Though the Rebel Alliance had struck a major blow against the Empire with the destruction of the Death Star, the war was far from over. Calling on the Force with guidance from Obi-Wan’s disembodied voice, the Jedi-to-be delivered a precise shot, and the Death Star was destroyed. Vader closed in, ready to destroy Luke's starship - noting that “the Force is strong with this one” - but a surprise blast from Han and the Millennium Falcon sent Vader's fighter tumbling into space, clearing Luke for the shot. One of the last remaining pilots, Luke flew through the Death Star trench at blinding speed with the goal of shooting a volley of proton torpedoes into a small exhaust port. In the ensuing battle, the Rebels suffered heavy losses, and Darth Vader entered the fray in his TIE Advanced. With the Death Star plans successfully delivered, Luke joined the mission to destroy the battle station, piloting an X-wing under the call sign Red Five. The small band of heroes regrouped with the Rebel Alliance on Yavin 4. Luke saw it happen shortly before escaping in the Falcon, and was deeply affected by the loss of his mentor. The Jedi Master, however, encountered his old student, Darth Vader, and was killed in battle. Luke and Han, in stormtrooper disguises, staged a rescue while Obi-Wan disengaged the tractor beam. The Falcon was soon caught in the tractor beam of the giant space station, but it proved fortuitous Princess Leia was being held there. But when they arrived, the planet wasn’t there - only rubble, as it had been destroyed by the Empire’s Death Star. Stoic, he decided to leave Tatooine, vowing to learn the ways of the Force and become a Jedi like his father.Īlong with hired pilot Han Solo and his co-pilot and friend Chewbacca, Luke, Obi-Wan, and the droids headed for Alderaan aboard the Millennium Falcon. Luke raced to the moisture farm, only to find the charred remains of his guardians. However, he and Obi-Wan found that the Jawas who sold his uncle Artoo and Threepio had been slaughtered by stormtroopers - and they may have traced them back home.

Obi-Wan implored Luke to come with him, but the farmboy refused. It was a holorecording of Princess Leia, stating that she had hidden stolen plans for the Empire’s ultimate weapon, the Death Star, in the memory banks of Artoo she asked that Kenobi deliver the plans to her father on Alderaan. Obi-Wan and Luke soon discovered that Artoo was indeed carrying a message after all. The old Jedi said that his former student, Darth Vader, turned to the dark side and killed him. Luke knew none of this, and asked how his father died. Obi-Wan said that he and Luke’s father were both Jedi Knights, strong with the Force, and good friends.

Ben revealed that he was indeed Obi-Wan Kenobi, and had something that belonged to Luke’s father: a lightsaber, the weapon of a Jedi. Before he could be taken captive, friendly hermit Ben Kenobi appeared and frightened off the Sand People.

When Luke went looking for the lost droid, he was attacked by Tusken Raiders and knocked unconscious. Artoo, a plucky astromech droid, wandered off in his first night on the farm, telling C-3PO he had to deliver a message to someone named Obi-Wan Kenobi. With his Uncle Owen’s purchase of new droids R2-D2 and C-3PO, a chain of events was put in place that would change Luke - and the galaxy - forever. He knew nothing of the Force or Jedi, but longed for a more exciting life. Raised by his aunt and uncle on a Tatooine moisture farm, Luke Skywalker never knew his mother or father.
