The Star Wars saga has been unfolding on the big screen and the small screen for several years now, and the Star Wars Forces of Destiny web series found a fun way to fill in some of the saga's blanks in a couple of minutes per video. Most of the videos so far have focused on the female characters of Star Wars from the various eras, ranging from Ahsoka to Princess Leia to Rey. A brand new video hit the web with none other than Luke Skywalker as the star, and Mark Hamill himself returned to voice his iconic character for a scene with Yoda circa Empire Strikes Back. Check it out!
In "The Path Ahead," we see Luke struggling with his Jedi training on Dagobah under Master Yoda. Fans of Empire Strikes Back will remember Luke running through the trees on the swampy planet with Yoda on his back, trying to impart lessons about the Force to his impatient student. The Forces of Destiny short reveals Luke doing his best and mostly failing to jump through the trees using the Force without Yoda on board. So, Yoda offers to go with Luke and climbs into a bag for Luke to carry, which makes for one of the most adorable little scenes in Forces of Destiny to date.
Adorableness aside, there are some interesting messages about the Force in "The Path Ahead." Yoda reminds Luke that his mind and his body must be on the same path if he is going to succeed. His instruction for Luke to close his eyes, feel the entire world around him, and breathe is also reminiscent of the lesson Luke tries to impart on Rey in The Last Jedi. Throw in the music that sounds straight out of the original trilogy and Mark Hamill voicing Luke again, and "The Path Ahead" is a fun blast from the Empire Strikes Back past.
Of course, given that Empire Strikes Back premiered almost 40 years ago, Mark Hamill's voice isn't quite the same as it was back when he first played Luke with Yoda on Dagobah. Still, Mark Hamill is quite an accomplished voice actor, and he sounds pretty close to how many of us probably remember Luke as a young man. He certainly doesn't sound like the Joker or any of the other DC Comics villains that Hamill has voiced over the years! Although "The Path Ahead" is a departure from the usual Forces of Destiny shorts insofar as it doesn't feature any female characters, something tells me that Star Wars fans won't have much to complain about with it.
This look back at a young and hopeful Luke Skywalker (even in animation) is especially refreshing after the events of The Last Jedi, which gave Luke an ending that not everybody appreciated. We can only cross our fingers that Luke makes another appearance in Forces of Destiny. There's plenty of time to cover between the original trilogy and the beginning of the sequel trilogy.
For what we learned about the Star Wars saga from the previous batch of shorts, check out our breakdown of all the questions answered by Forces of Destiny. If you're still in the market for TV shows now and in the not-too-distant future, be sure to swing by our midseason TV premiere guide and our 2018 Netflix premiere schedule.
