Star Wars' Greatest Quote is in The Last Jedi - MCE Notices | California State Portal

The Star Wars franchise has, in recent years, become one of the most hotly debated and controversial series in modern pop culture history. Though it has had its fair share of universally beloved masterpieces, most notably in the form of the original trilogy, there have also been quite a few franchise entries that have not been hugely popular with fans.

Perhaps the most controversial entry in the franchise, Rian Johnson’s Star Wars: The Last Jedi, also happens to be the film that contains the single most important line of dialogue in the entire series. There have been plenty of incredible and iconic quotes over the years in the Star Wars franchise, but none are nearly as meaningful or impactful as six simple words from The Last Jedi.

The Last Jedi Wasn’t What Fans Expected, But That Is A Good Thing

Image via Jules Heath /© Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures / © Lucasfilm Ltd. /Courtesy Everett Collection

For general audiences who were hot off the heels of enjoying Star Wars: The Force Awakens, a film that, despite being a lot of fun, is nothing more than a rehash of the original Star Wars film from 1977 with a few tweaks and a fresh coat of paint, The Last Jedi was a shock to the system. The film is nowhere near as nostalgia-ridden, fan-service heavy, or reliant on what had come before as The Force Awakens, and that seemed to rub some fans the wrong way. Rian Johnson’s Star Wars film did something that no other entry in the franchise had done for decades: took risks.

Instead of returning to the same tired formula, Johnson’s The Last Jedi dared to actually explore the world of Star Wars and the characters within it. It was an emotional, complex, and somewhat messy piece of blockbuster magic, and it deserves far more respect. In fact, The Last Jedi is arguably the first Star Wars film not involving George Lucas that truly feels original, unique, and boundary-pushing. The characterization of heroes like Luke Skywalker, Rey, and Poe Dameron is complicated. The characters aren’t just cardboard cut-outs designed to quip and shoot lasers. They’re living, breathing human beings, complete with complex thoughts and contradictory feelings.

One of the things that made a lot of fans angry was the treatment of Luke Skywalker in The Last Jedi, but, in all honesty, his portion of the story might just be the very best. Mark Hamill is excellent once again in the role that made him a star, but he’s playing a much older, far different version of Luke than fans expected. He’s bitter, angry, and resentful of his past. He’s made mistakes, and audiences seemingly didn’t want their hero to struggle and fail before. Luke’s struggle with faith, however, is exactly what gives the Star Wars saga its greatest quote.

Master Yoda Imparts A Piece Of Wisdom On Luke That Defines The Entire Saga

In one of the film’s quieter, more emotional scenes, Luke Skywalker, who has, up to this point, struggled with his own faith regarding the Jedi order, its teachings, and his own place in a galaxy full of legends and stories, takes a torch and plans to burn down the hollow tree containing several sacred Jedi texts. When the Force Ghost of Master Yoda appears, he pauses. Despite his misgivings on the Jedi Order, he cannot bring himself to burn the last remnants of it to ash. Just then, Yoda summons a lightning bolt and sets the tree ablaze.

Luke is horrified. He turns to Yoda, believing that this act means that it really is time for the Jedi to end, but Yoda imparts one of the most important pieces of wisdom on Luke in the entire series. Knowledge and wisdom don’t only come from books, and knowledge and wisdom aren’t the only things that one needs. Failure is just as important as success, and in order to pass something on to the next generation, wisdom, knowledge, and experience must be provided alongside failure, regret, and fear. The Last Jedi is all about legacy, and Yoda’s words are the thematic crux.

He informs Luke that there is nothing in the Jedi texts that he or Rey doesn’t already possess, and that the most important facets of himself, failure included, are what have been passed on. Luke himself didn’t succeed in every single aspect of his mission, but nobody does. The best that anyone can hope for is that they do enough to let the next generation push things a little further. Yoda puts it best when he says, “We are what they grow beyond,” a simple, powerful sentiment about the nature of change and legacy. The Last Jedi gets a lot of flak, and while there are certainly parts of the film that don’t work as well as others, the moment between Luke and Yoda is one of the single most impactful character moments in Star Wars history.