The latest Star Wars novel teases where Luke may have been during the Battle of Jakku, and what role he might have played in the planet's infamous crashed Star Destroyer. Since Disney took over Lucasfilm, they've been working to reshape the canon of the Star Wars universe. With the original Expanded Universe now moved to the Legends line, new comics, books, shows, and shorts have helped to flesh out the characters and events of the galaxy far, far away. Ahead of the release of Star Wars: The Last Jedi, the film's core characters are getting a renewed focus.

Long before the latest trailer for Star Wars: The Last Jedi was released, fans were speculating that Luke may have become something darker and more dangerous since the last time we saw him. It's clear he was afraid of something inside himself, and about what he passed onto Kylo Ren. As such, he went into exile and doesn't seem all that pleased that Rey has found him. The latest Star Wars novel puts the focus on the legendary Jedi, and hints at more of his mysterious past following Return of the Jedi.

EW has an except from Ken Liu's upcoming The Legends of Luke Skywalker. The book consists of six short stories, all told by crew members on ship, that revolve around Luke. The except involves a tale passed down from an Imperial officer who had a somewhat mystical and mythical encounter with Luke during the Battle of Jakku. As the Star Destroyer they were aboard came under fire and began descending to the planet below, a holographic wanted poster of the Jedi flashed and rotated before their eyes. For the original storytelling, there was something sinister about the whole thing:

Star Wars: The Battle of Jakku

"I did not see any rebel star cruisers that could have launched the beams. In fact, the shots all seemed to terminate in the steadily spinning hologram of the Jedi, his machine of death, that red-striped X-wing, hovering over him like a trained bird of prey or a magician’s familiar."

The whole excerpt hints that Luke somehow had a hand in bringing down the Star Destroyer. It's that same ship that now lies in the sands of Jakku in the Starship Graveyard. Given Rey's proximity to the downed vessel when she lived on Jakku, she may share yet another connection to Luke. From the information provided, the whole thing reads like a tall tale. Could this story hint at some deeper connection between Luke and the infamous battle that effectively ended the Empire's reign?

When Star Wars: The Last Jedi arrives, it will spend a good deal of tell filling in Luke's backstory and explaining just where he's been and what he's been doing for the past thirty years. When it does, we may get an answer to his involvement in the Battle of Jakku. We could also learn just how powerful he grew in the years following the original trilogy and what he's so afraid of - when it comes to the continuation of the Jedi in the Star Wars universe.

NEXT: Will Rey Join Kylo Ren in The Last Jedi?

Source: EW

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