It's been 10 months since Star Wars: The Last Jedi hit theaters, and the movie is still provoking conversation among the hardcore Star Wars fanbase, which isn't likely to die down until Episode IX arrives. That being said, as we've seen with past Star Wars movies, the movie itself isn't the only way to experience the story's events. Like its predecessors, The Last Jedi was adapted into a novelization, and following behind the previous Disney Star Wars movies, it was most recently turned into a comic book over at Marvel. Naturally the Last Jedi comic book hit the same main beats as the movie, but there was also room to expand upon the material. When it comes to Luke Skywalker's death, the comic book adds some insight by showing the Jedi Master's internal monologue before he departed the mortal plane.
Just like in the theatrically-screened Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Luke Skywalker dies in the comic book adaptation when the toll of Force projecting himself to Crait proved to be too much. In his last moments, Luke looked to Ahch-To's two suns on the horizon. It was clear to longtime Star Wars fans that this was calling back to the scene in A New Hope when farm boy Luke gazed at Tatooine's twin suns, and as the last issue of The Last Jedi comic book (via ScreenRant) showed, this is exactly what Luke was thinking: "And so it ends as it began. By the light of two suns." Fans will also remember that in A New Hope, Obi-Wan Kenobi told Luke aboard the Millennium Falcon that he took his first steps into a larger world, and that how Luke views his demise: not as dying, but as taking the first step on a new journey.
With this internal monologue, Luke Skywalker's death in Star Wars: The Last Jedi can be viewed more similarly to how Obi-Wan Kenobi fell in A New Hope. Granted, Luke did tell Kylo Ren that if he struck him down, he'd always be with him, echoing when Obi-Wan told Darth Vader he would become more powerful than he could possibly imagine. Nevertheless, this comic book issue hammers the point home further that Luke is now one with the Force, just like Obi-Wan, Yoda, his father and Qui-Gon Jinn before him. And like the others, Luke can still interact with the living as a Force ghost, which is likely how he'll fit into Episode IX next year, offering Rey some final pieces of advice and perhaps showing off incredible new abilities.
We'll see Luke Skywalker for what sounds like the final time on the big screen when Star Wars: Episode IX is released on December 20, 2019. Don't forget to also look through our Star Wars movie guide to learn what else Disney and Lucasfilm have in the works for the space opera franchise.
