New Star Wars Tie-In Novel Explains Luke’s Exact Cause Of Death In The Last Jedi

The climax of Star Wars: The Last Jedi brought the moment fans had spent two movies and a quarter of a century waiting to see: Luke Skywalker as an all-powerful Jedi master. The appearance was revealed as a Force Projection, the energy expenditure of which resulted in his death. And how he achieved it and why it killed him has now been officially explained.

In the climax, Luke faces down Kylo Ren and the might of the First Order, knowing that such a challenge would be impossible for Darth Emo and his whining petulance to resist, thus buying time for the Resistance to escape and giving rise to the now-iconic image of him flicking away an imaginary speck of dust from his shoulder in a perfect display of abject contempt for his enemies. According to Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker – The Visual Dictionary, the ability used to create the illusion was a rare and difficult one.

“In truth, Luke’s presence exists only in the Force, a projection through a technique chronicled by ancient Masters in the sacred texts as Similfuturus. This discipline requires extreme concentration and focus, as Luke essentially pours his Living Force presence into the all-encompassing Cosmic Force, bridging incredible distances. The transition is so complete that Luke gives his all into the Force, finding serenity in this final mortal moments and becoming one with the great beyond.”

Of course, there’s already a precedent for Force Projection and the Fallanassi, a religious order adapt at their creation, with both being mentioned in a trilogy of military sci-fi novels titled The Black Fleet Crisis. This was erased from the canon along with the rest of the Expanded Universe ahead of the Sequel Trilogy’s debut, but the ability’s documentation in the tie-in book has made it official again, in the same way Grand Admiral Thrawn was re-introduced after being incorporated into Rebels.

It’s not the only revelation the dictionary has about the saga, either, also having something to say about Lando that wasn’t made explicitly clear in the film. Overall, the book’s information-based structure allows for the explanation of things only alluded to or not adequately explained in J.J. Abrams’ somewhat mediocre conclusion to the series, offering pre-emptive clarifications that, if we’re lucky, will prevent decades-long arguments over their minutiae.