Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker offers up a glimpse of what exactly Luke Skywalker was up to in the years following Return of the Jedi. With 30 years between Return of the Jedi and Star Wras: The Force Awakens, there was clearly an implication that Luke kept himself busy during that time frame. Though it took some time for the main films to explain what he was up to, the final film in the Skywalker saga appears to have filled in some of the blanks. Finally, there are specifics and story elements that aid in tying up some loose ends that were left behind in previous movies.
In the previous sequel trilogy films, there were only hints of what exactly Luke had going on in the years leading up to his self-imposed exile on Ahch-To. It was mentioned quickly in Star Wars: The Force Awakens that he trained a new generation of Jedi before Kylo Ren destroyed the temple and either killed or recruited Luke's pupils. Star Wars: The Last Jedi didn't take all of this much further, as really all that was shown were a series of retellings of how exactly Kylo and Luke had their falling out.
In this most recent film, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, among all of the Easter eggs and cameos, there was much more detail given into what Luke's adventures entailed in the years leading up to The Force Awakens and why he was in the position he was in during The Last Jedi. Fans eagerly awaited more Luke content and story building in regards to this stretch of time, so naturally this decision to provide more context has been met with little to no complaint, something the rest of the film cannot confidently say.
During the portion of The Rise of Skywalker where Rey, Poe, Finn, Chewie, BB-8, and C-3PO are navigating the festival on Pasaana, they are rescued from the First Order by a mysterious, masked character. It quickly is revealed the character is Lando Calrissian. When asked about the Sith Wayfinder, Lando reveals some interesting details about what he and Luke were up to shortly after the fall of the Empire. In fact, their goal all those years ago was not so different from Rey's.
According to Lando, he and Luke were looking for a person named Ochi, who was a Jedi hunter and loyalist to the Emperor. He was also the owner of a dagger, which was inscribed with the location of the Sith Wayfinder. Luke wanted the dagger and Sith Wayfinder so that he himself could get to Exegol, the ancient Sith homeworld. Luke clearly had a vested interest in finding Exegol, considering he and Lando went on adventures solely to find the individuals who could get him there. They were unsuccessful, unfortunately.
Early on in The Rise of Skywalker, it's discovered by the Resistance that the Emperor has returned and that he has been operating out of the world of Exegol. It was established soon enough that the world was impossible to find without the aid of one of the two Sith Wayfinders. Upon hearing the name for the first time, Rey rushed to the Jedi texts she took with her from Ahch-To in The Last Jedi in order to give some much needed clarity to the group.
Per the notes left behind in the texts, Luke was searching tirelessly in order to find Exegol. After all, a Jedi would clearly want to know what was happening on the Sith homeworld. He was aware of the Sith Wayfinder and himself was trying to find them decades before the events of The Rise of Skywalker. The notes left behind in his journal express just how important this mission was to him, and thankfully his research paved the way for Rey and company to pick up the trail.
While on Ahch-To, Rey expresses to Luke's spirit in The Rise of Skywalker that she is lost. She knows not where to go or what to do after discovering Emperor Palpatine is her grandfather. After a pep talk from Luke, she is reinvigorated and feels the need to act. Before she leaves the island for Exegol, though, Luke bestows upon her another lightsaber, this time the one that belonged to his sister, Leia. In the film, there is a brief flashback to younger versions of Luke and Leia, training in the middle of the forest on Ajan Kloss.
She was clearly far along in her training, indicating that not long after Return of the Jedi, Leia elected to embrace her Force sensitivity and walk the path of the Jedi with Luke as her teacher. It is not explicitly known when exactly she chose to relinquish her saber and stop her training (it was mentioned that the flashback took place at the end of her training), but her life-saving tactic in The Last Jedi hinted that she was far more in-tune with the Force than initially thought. Though Leia's death is a point of contention, it was good to see her get a big of backstory as well into what she was doing after Return of the Jedi.
As is fairly common knowledge by this point in the trilogy, much of Luke's time post-Return of the Jedi was spent not only establishing a new Jedi academy but also training a young Ben Solo. Being his nephew, Ben was a star pupil at the academy prior to his fall to the dark side. His manipulation at the hand of Snoke is what did him in, leading to the destruction of the academy as well as Luke's disappearance from the galaxy.
These are concepts that have been explored at great lengths in The Force Awakens, The Last Jedi, and now a bit in The Rise of Skywalker. At this point the relationship between Luke and Kylo Ren has been well documented and well explored from multiple angles, most recently on the pages of a comic series. The Rise of Skywalker simply drove many of these points home further, which complimented Kylo's redemption arc which culminated at the end of the film.
Suffice to say, Luke wasn't just sitting around lifting rocks for all of these years before he was seen again in The Force Awakens. He led an exciting life after the events of Return of the Jedi, for better or worse. With the Skywalker saga seeing its completion, it is unlikely that there will be much more on-screen representation for this period of time in the Star Wars canon, at least as far as Luke's life is concerned. What was told in The Rise of Skywalker may be all fans get for some time.
Next: Star Wars: Rise of Skywalker's Rey Parents Twist Was The Worst Option
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