Luke joined Leia, Han and Chewie for a mission to infiltrate Cymoon 1, site of an Imperial weapons facility. There, he was intercepted by Darth Vader. The Dark Lord overwhelmed Luke in a brief lightsaber duel, which Luke barely escaped. After that dark encounter, Luke returned with R2-D2 to Tatooine, hoping to better understand his relationship with the Force.

Later, the Rebels had set up a new base on Hoth. While patrolling Hoth's frozen wastes, Luke was attacked by a savage Wampa and hung up in the creature's cave as a future meal.

Luke escaped, but was lost in the icy Hoth night. With his strength ebbing, he had a vision of Obi-Wan Kenobi, who told him to go to the Dagobah system and continue his Force studies with a Jedi Master named Yoda.

Han Solo rescued Luke, who recovered from his injuries. But Imperial forces led by Darth Vader had discovered the Rebels' hideout, and launched a massive attack on Hoth.

Luke flew a snowspeeder against Imperial walkers, a delaying action meant to buy time for the Rebels to flee Hoth and disperse. Barely escaping with his life, he boarded his X-wing fighter with R2-D2. But Luke wasn't going to regroup with the Rebels -- he was headed for the mysterious planet Dagobah.

Luke and Artoo crash-landed on the murky jungle world, where they encountered a strange, wizened green creature. This turned out to be Yoda, who agreed to train Luke as a Jedi.

Yoda taught Luke much about the Force -- but he also tested his young pupil. In a vision in a dark-side cave, Luke seemed to strike down Vader -- only to have the Sith Lord's helmet crack open to reveal Luke's own face.

Yoda urged Luke to believe -- at one point lifting the young Jedi's X-wing free of the swamp after Luke failed to do so. But Luke cut short his training after he had a vision of Han, Chewie and Leia being tormented in a city in the clouds.

On Bespin's Cloud City, Luke stumbled into a trap set by him by Vader, who sought to capture the young Jedi. Luke dueled Vader, but proved no match for the Sith Lord's Force powers and experience with a lightsaber.

Vader slashed off Luke's hand and revealed his terrible secret: He was Luke's father. He urged Luke to join him so they could destroy the Emperor together. But an anguished Luke refused, choosing instead to let himself fall down a vast shaft in Cloud City.

Leia, Chewie and Lando Calrissian rescued Luke, and narrowly escaped Vader thanks to Artoo's quick repair of the Falcon. Droid surgeons created a cybernetic hand for Luke, who promised to soon join Lando and Chewie in an effort to rescue Han from the crimelord Jabba the Hutt.

On Tatooine, Luke, Leia, Chewie and the droids infiltrated Jabba's palace and rescued Han, fighting their way free of his goons in a wild battle in the desert. The others headed for the Rebel fleet, assembling for an assault on the as-yet-incomplete second Death Star. But Luke had a promise to keep.

He returned to Dagobah to resume his Jedi training, but Yoda was very sick, and soon died. The spirit of Obi-Wan told Luke that to become a Jedi he must confront Vader again, and revealed that Leia was Luke's sister. Luke stubbornly insisted there was still good in Vader, and told Obi-Wan he couldn't kill his own father.

Returning to the Rebels, Luke joined Han, Chewie, Leia and the droids on a mission to the Forest Moon of Endor, where they sought to destroy the Death Star's protective energy shield. They fought Imperial troops on speeder bikes, but Luke realized he was endangering the mission -- Vader could sense his presence in the Force.

Luke surrendered to the Empire, urging Vader to resist the Emperor's will and let go of the darkness that had claimed Anakin Skywalker, his true self. But the Dark Lord said it was too late for him, and took Luke to the Emperor. Palpatine, he told his son, was Luke's master now.

Aboard the second Death Star, Luke confronted Darth Sidious in his guise as Emperor Palpatine -- but learned another terrible secret. The Death Star was operational, and a legion of troops was hidden on the Forest Moon, waiting for Han and Leia's strike team.

The Emperor had lured the Rebels to Endor to destroy them, and he taunted Luke with this knowledge, trying to goad him into succumbing to his anger and taking up his lightsaber -- which would complete his journey to the dark side. Luke's will finally broke and he dueled Vader as Sidious cackled in satisfaction.

Luke defeated Vader and slashed off his hand, and a pleased Sidious told him it was time for him to take his father's place as Sidious's new Sith apprentice. But Luke refused, casting his saber away and declaring that he was a Jedi, like his father before him. Sidious accepted this, but then blasted Luke with Force lightning.

Near death, Luke begged Vader to help him. His pleas awakened something in Vader, who picked up Sidious and hurled him into the Death Star's reactor shaft. Luke's love had brought about the return of Anakin Skywalker, who had finally fulfilled his destiny by bringing balance to the Force.

Anakin died and Luke fled the second Death Star just before Lando and Wedge Antilles destroyed it. On Endor, he burned his father's armor as X-wings launched fireworks to celebrate the Empire's fall.

Returning to his friends, Luke saw a trio of Force spirits -- Obi-Wan, Yoda and Anakin, redeemed by his sacrifice. Luke's love for his father had saved the galaxy, and brought about a chance to restore the Republic and the Jedi Order.

Luke trained Leia in the ways of the Force. But his sister broke off her Jedi training after experiencing a vision that her Jedi path would end with the death of her son. She returned to the political arena, leaving her lightsaber with her brother. One day, she predicted, it would be picked up again by someone who’d finish her journey.

With the Sith defeated, Luke wandered the galaxy in search of lost Jedi lore he hoped might help him recreate the Jedi order. But his efforts ended in tragedy, with one of his apprentices – the future Kylo Ren -- turning on his fellow students and leaving Luke’s plans in ruin. Luke then vanished, the site of his exile unknown.

With the Sith defeated, Luke wandered the galaxy in search of lost Jedi lore he hoped might help him recreate the Jedi order. But his efforts ended in tragedy, as his nephew Ben Solo fell to the dark side and destroyed all Luke had tried to build. Ben became the dark side warrior Kylo Ren, while Luke vanished, the site of his exile unknown.

With the galaxy in turmoil, both Kylo’s First Order and Leia Organa’s Resistance desperately tried to discover Luke’s location. A fragment of an old star chart led the Jakku scavenger Rey to Maz’s castle on Takodana – and a Jedi weapon once wielded by the Skywalkers.

BB-8’s clue combined with data in R2-D2’s memory banks to reveal Luke’s location. Accompanied by R2-D2 and Chewbacca, Rey made the long journey to the site of Skywalker’s exile, and a fateful meeting with the long-lost Jedi master.

To Rey’s shock, Luke refused to return or to teach her. He told her it was time for the Jedi to end and he had come to Ahch-To to die. His life had shrunk to rounds of chores and bitter memories of how he had failed Ben Solo as a teacher.

But Rey refused to accept that answer, and wore Luke down. Understanding that she was strong with the Force, Luke agreed to teach her just enough for her to understand his decision. Once revealed, her raw power with the Force frightened him – he had seen such strength only once before, in Ben Solo.

As her powers grew, Rey understood that Luke had cut himself off from the Force – and began to question the truth of what had happened between Luke and Ben Solo years before. When Luke re-established his connection with the Force, momentous events were set in motion.

Disturbed by Rey’s growing connection with Kylo, Luke ordered her to leave the island. When she demanding the truth about what had happened with Kylo, Luke revealed that he had sensed the rising darkness in Ben and briefly ignited his lightsaber -- a moment of weakness that led his nephew to lash out and destroy the temple. Luke tried to stop Rey from seeking to turn Kylo back to the light side, and once again refused to leave his island. Disillusioned, Rey left Ahch-To.

With Rey gone, Luke was determined to finally burn the Jedi library and bring the Jedi Order to an end – but once again couldn’t bring himself to take this final step. Yoda’s spirit appeared to Luke, calling down lightning to ignite the library. Yoda told Luke he’d needed to look past some old books and help Rey. Having lost Ben Solo, he added, Luke couldn’t lose her.

On Crait, the surviving Resistance members were astonished to see Luke enter their hideaway in Jedi robes. Luke apologized to Leia, warning his sister that while he would face Kylo, he couldn’t save him. But when Leia said she’d accepted her son was gone, Luke assured her that no one was ever really gone.

Luke then walked out to face down the entire the First Order, shrugging off a fusillade of destructive fire. He apologized to Kylo for failing him, but told his nephew that his rampage would accomplish nothing: the Resistance would survive, the war was just beginning, and Luke would not be the last Jedi. To Kylo’s shock, his lightsaber passed through Luke. His uncle had projected himself across the galaxy to distract him and save the Resistance.

This superhuman effort left Luke drained. On Ahch-To, his body faded away as he passed into the Force, his last moment filled with peace and purpose.

After Rey found and lost the Emperor’s Sith wayfinder on Kef Bir, she returned to Ahch-To, setting fire to Kylo’s TIE and hurling away the Skywalker lightsaber. But it was intercepted in midair by Luke’s spirit. A Jedi’s weapon deserved more respect, he chided her wryly.

Luke knew what Rey had discovered – that she was Palpatine’s granddaughter. But he assured her that her spirit was stronger than blood, a lesson he’d learned as the son of Darth Vader. He urged her to confront her fear and face Palpatine, and gave her something she’d need – the lightsaber Leia had left in his care years earlier.

He also used the Force to lift and repair the X-wing he’d left derelict in the sea at the beginning of his own exile. With it and Vader’s Sith wayfinder, Rey could find her way to Exegol. Once there, she would face the resurrected Emperor with the lightsabers of both her mentors.

Helped by the spirits of all the Jedi, Rey defeated Palpatine, destroying him and his dark dream of a resurrected Sith empire. She then made a pilgrimage to Tatooine and the moisture farm where Luke had grown up. There, she buried the lightsabers wielded by Luke and Leia in the sand, watched approvingly by the spirits of the Skywalker twins.