First, Lucasfilm’s official stance has always been a year between ESB and ROTJ. And second, I have to agree, if Luke went back to Dagobah to train with Yoda, one would think the topic of Vader’s comments to Luke on Dagobah would come up.
Episode IX Speculation and Discussion
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First, Lucasfilm’s official stance has always been a year between ESB and ROTJ. And second, I have to agree, if Luke went back to Dagobah to train with Yoda, one would think the topic of Vader’s comments to Luke on Dagobah would come up.
After Luke left Dagobah to go try to rescue Han and Leia on Bespin, he didn't go back to Dagobah until immediately after he'd finally rescued Han, and accomplished what he'd left Dagobah to do in the first place, so....
Luke also tells R2 that he has a promise to keep to an old friend. That implies he has not been back to Dagobah since he split and made the promise to Yoda.
A lightsaber isn't the Force. Therefore a Jedi can "slice and dice" attack all day long without contradicting Yoda even a little bit.
I asked Bryan Young, one of the co-hosts of Full of Sith and a writer for Star Wars.Com, if anyone had ever tried to argue that Luke came back to train with Yoda prior to Return of the Jedi and what his response to such an argument was/would be, and his answer was both definitive and conciliatory:
Then the next filmmaker can come in and say it had been four minutes, four hours, four days or four centuries.
Indeed, Luke asking Yoda "Is Darth Vader my father? Yoda, I must know" would be pretty weird if he had just spent several more months with Yoda after getting his hand lopped off by Vader. Would he have been pestering Yoda about it the whole time and finally getting a straight answer now in ROTJ, or what?
Kor
That's not how it works.
SW film writers/directors don't get to rewrite the Canon willy-nilly, and, despite not having been stated onscreen, there having been 4 years between ANH and RotJ is very much Canon.
They can if it makes sense.
But only if it makes sense.
The writers and directors do try to stay consistent where they want to though, and consult with the story group.
No, they can't. That's why the Story Group exists.
I don't think you get it. If the Mouse says 'Jump!', Pablo Hidalgo and whoever else is in this Story Group will ask "How high, sir?" on the way up. The story group doesn't protect sacred texts -- it works for a corporation, and if it doesn't comply with the wishes of the corporation, then a new story group will be put in place.
BillJ said it better, or at least more succinctly...
You said it better, and more politely.
It is just like Discovery. I can register my displeasure at places like this and by not watching. And CBS will continue on their way doing what they want. It is their property.
There just seems to be this delusion that somehow Disney is chained to the minutiae and can't (or won't) change things. Especially things that have never appeared on-screen. If Disney decides that the original trilogy happened in a span of four weeks tomorrow, then everyone working on the franchise has to adjust accordingly. Fans can continue to treat it however they like, but it doesn't affect the corporate product.
On the discussion about ROTJ:
I have no canon sources at hand to point to, but my understanding since 1983 when the movie and novelization came out was that somewhere between 6 months and a year had passed since the events on Bespin. In that time, Luke had not been back to Dagobah.
Which makes perfect sense, because when he does go back in the movie, he asks about Darth Vader being his father. If he had gone back earlier, he probably would have been shouting that question across the swamp as he jumped down from his X-wing. Of course, since he was able to 'search his feelings' in the Force, he already sort of knew the truth- he just wanted to hear it straight up from Yoda.
As to his training/ abilities. For the 3 years between SW and ESB, Luke was forced to muddle along with no true guidance other than what he got from Obi-Wan for a few hours aboard the Falcon. As such, he doesn't know much / can't do a lot. Conversely, after spending several weeks with Yoda on Dagobah he has been introduced to an entire training regimen and been opened to the Force. It makes perfect sense that for the six months to a year between ESB and ROTJ, Luke is able to grow and advance on his own by using the methods Yoda taught him. Since, according to Lucas at the time, Luke was the strongest Force-user who ever was or would be, it makes sense that he makes great strides. That's why Yoda decides he needs no further training- convenient, since he's dying anyway and has to pass the torch. As to him self-identifying as a Jedi, that's pretty natural too, if a conceit. Could be he's also trying to convince a powerful Hutt crime lord to take him seriously- and it doesn't work.
Anyway.
Oh, and there is a fanedit of ROTJ floating around out there that places all the Dagobah stuff BEFORE the Tatooine stuff, making it appear that Luke HAS been training in the interim, and isn't really exaggerating when he tells Jabba that he's a Jedi Knight and not to underestimate his power. It's an interesting take on the story, albeit totally not-canon.
I have no canon sources at hand to point to, but my understanding since 1983 when the movie and novelization came out was that somewhere between 6 months and a year had passed since the events on Bespin. In that time, Luke had not been back to Dagobah.
Which makes perfect sense, because when he does go back in the movie, he asks about Darth Vader being his father. If he had gone back earlier, he probably would have been shouting that question across the swamp as he jumped down from his X-wing. Of course, since he was able to 'search his feelings' in the Force, he already sort of knew the truth- he just wanted to hear it straight up from Yoda.
As to his training/ abilities. For the 3 years between SW and ESB, Luke was forced to muddle along with no true guidance other than what he got from Obi-Wan for a few hours aboard the Falcon. As such, he doesn't know much / can't do a lot. Conversely, after spending several weeks with Yoda on Dagobah he has been introduced to an entire training regimen and been opened to the Force. It makes perfect sense that for the six months to a year between ESB and ROTJ, Luke is able to grow and advance on his own by using the methods Yoda taught him. Since, according to Lucas at the time, Luke was the strongest Force-user who ever was or would be, it makes sense that he makes great strides. That's why Yoda decides he needs no further training- convenient, since he's dying anyway and has to pass the torch. As to him self-identifying as a Jedi, that's pretty natural too, if a conceit. Could be he's also trying to convince a powerful Hutt crime lord to take him seriously- and it doesn't work.
Anyway.
Oh, and there is a fanedit of ROTJ floating around out there that places all the Dagobah stuff BEFORE the Tatooine stuff, making it appear that Luke HAS been training in the interim, and isn't really exaggerating when he tells Jabba that he's a Jedi Knight and not to underestimate his power. It's an interesting take on the story, albeit totally not-canon.
Speculation for EP IX:
Not so much speculation as how I'd like to see it go. Love it or hate it, the ending of TLJ left the door wide open for the franchise to go in any new direction they want.
As such, I'd like to see about a 5 year time gap inserted, as has been talked about. Lots of good reasons for this, foremost among which are the actors will be about that much older, and they can somehow account for the passing of Carrie Fisher. It also means 'things can have happened,' good and bad, and the First Order becoming the new Empire is a little more plausible. Also, the Force-sensitive kid we saw on Canto is now a tween/teen, and ready to begin Jedi training. The last movie of the new trilogy is the place to introduce the hero of the next one, perhaps.
Also, in five years, Chewie's desire for 'fresh poultry' will mean that he has eaten away the Porg infestation on his beloved Falcon.
In terms of story, I'd like to see a story (or the initial chapters of one) involving Rey trying to re-start the Jedi Order. Not necessarily the old-school, child-thieving, midichlorian counting, politically active Jedi Order, but maybe more along the lines of how we imagined it when Kenobi first talked about it in his hut on Tatooine in EP IV.
How does that storyline mix in with the bigger picture and other characters? I'm not sure. Maybe everyone has gone their separate ways for the time being, fighting the good fight in whatever way they can or feels is right, and then something happens that causes them to 'get the team back together.' Although that macguffin needs to NOT BE another superweapon.
Also lots of Chewie and beauty shots of the Falcon going fast and smoking enemy fighters. Definitely that- I'm easily amused.
Not so much speculation as how I'd like to see it go. Love it or hate it, the ending of TLJ left the door wide open for the franchise to go in any new direction they want.
As such, I'd like to see about a 5 year time gap inserted, as has been talked about. Lots of good reasons for this, foremost among which are the actors will be about that much older, and they can somehow account for the passing of Carrie Fisher. It also means 'things can have happened,' good and bad, and the First Order becoming the new Empire is a little more plausible. Also, the Force-sensitive kid we saw on Canto is now a tween/teen, and ready to begin Jedi training. The last movie of the new trilogy is the place to introduce the hero of the next one, perhaps.
Also, in five years, Chewie's desire for 'fresh poultry' will mean that he has eaten away the Porg infestation on his beloved Falcon.
In terms of story, I'd like to see a story (or the initial chapters of one) involving Rey trying to re-start the Jedi Order. Not necessarily the old-school, child-thieving, midichlorian counting, politically active Jedi Order, but maybe more along the lines of how we imagined it when Kenobi first talked about it in his hut on Tatooine in EP IV.
How does that storyline mix in with the bigger picture and other characters? I'm not sure. Maybe everyone has gone their separate ways for the time being, fighting the good fight in whatever way they can or feels is right, and then something happens that causes them to 'get the team back together.' Although that macguffin needs to NOT BE another superweapon.
Also lots of Chewie and beauty shots of the Falcon going fast and smoking enemy fighters. Definitely that- I'm easily amused.
Where did he say that?
That was something that came out in long-past interviews, although I don't think GL ever faithfully held to that tenet, nor did anyone in the EU, or anyone currently in charge. Even back when he said it, his own stories sort of contradicted it. I think when he decided to make 1-6 the story of Anakin Skywalker, 'The Chosen One', his idea that Luke was The Prodigal sort of fell by the wayside. I'm not making any grandiose claims of secret knowledge here- if you go dig around the internet a bit you'll probably find what I'm talking about without a whole lot of effort.
