The newest trailer for Star Wars: The Last Jedi had lots of great material that has fans buzzing all over the internet. However, it also included a brief reference to one of the earlier Star Wars movies that many fans probably missed. Early in the trailer, we see the moment that Rey hands the lightsaber over to Luke Skywalker, including a close up of the mechanical hand that he had built to replace the one he lost at the end of Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back. However, if you look closely at the image, you'll notice something about the hand. It's been damaged.
A close examination of the back of the palm, where the sleeve ends, shows that the hand has seen some action, and of course, we know exactly when that was. In Star Wars: The Return of the Jedi, when Luke leads the assault on Jabba the Hutt's sail barge, he takes a blaster shot to the back of his hand. After the successful rescue, we see Luke cover the damaged hand with a glove, which is where he leaves things for the rest of the movie. It now appears that Luke never went back to get the damage repaired. Check out the shot in the image below.
The fact that Luke's hand has fallen into significant disrepair by the end of Star Wars: The Force Awakens, isn't too shocking. He's been off on his own for years and probably hasn't had much opportunity to get the artificial skin replaced. However, it appears that he never bothered to get the initial damage fixed once he had some downtime following the events of Star Wars: Return of the Jedi. On the one hand, this is a fun little piece of continuity to add into the movie, but on the other hand, it also raises some interesting questions about Luke. Is there some deeper meaning to the fact that he never had this repaired?
Luke Skywalker appears to be a man who carries his scars with him. In the new trailer for Star Wars: The Last Jedi, we're given the impression that Luke is afraid to train Rey because she is so powerful, similar to the way that Kylo Ren was when Luke tried to train him. He clearly seems distraught over it. Perhaps the physical damage is still there as a representation of the emotional damage that Luke is currently dealing with. We'll find out when Star Wars: The Last Jedi finally arrives on December 15.
