Warning: Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.
Luke Skywalker's entrance in Star Wars: The Force Awakens where Rey is holding his old lightsaber out to him in a plea to re the fight, many were anxious to see Luke be an all-powerful Jedi Master in The Last Jedi. However, the version of Luke in The Last Jedi was very different from what the majority expected and made Mark Hamill's character a major point of contention.
After a two year wait, audiences watched as Luke grabbed his lightsaber from Rey and tossed it over his shoulder. The moment was played for comedic effect and indicated the different direction The Last Jedi was taking Luke. He had shut himself off from the Force and didn't want to the Resistance or train Rey to be the next Jedi. In the end, Luke Force projected himself across the galaxy to delay Kylo Ren and the First Order. When Luke returns as a Force ghost in The Rise of Skywalker though, he does so by catching the same lightsaber as Rey tries to destroy it and says, "A Jedi's weapon deserves more respect." The line appeared to some to be Abrams criticizing Luke's entrance in The Last Jedi, but he says this is not the case.
Now that The Rise of Skywalker is out in theaters, Abrams is doing his post-release press tour, which includes a screening of the film for of The Academy as Star Wars some awards recognition. Twitter @ar1aster attended the screening and was present for the post-showing Q&A with Abrams and co-writer Chris Terrio. It was during one of his answers that Abrams addressed the early readings of this moment and clarified this isn't the case based on the arc Luke goes through in The Last Jedi. His entire answer about whether or not the film "corrects" decisions made in the previous movie can be heard in the video below, but here is the relevant excerpt.
If the scene in The Last Jedi where Luke tosses the lightsaber over his shoulder was immediately followed by Luke saying "A Jedi's weapon deserves more respect" I'd think it was insane. But, one of the many brilliant things that Rian did in Last Jedi is give Luke an arc. He learns something. He got somewhere. So at the end of that film, he recommitted to the thing at the very beginning of the film he was rejecting. So the idea that even Luke Skywalker can learn something, I think for a kid to hear Luke Skywalker say I was wrong I think is a beautiful thing, and I think it's something we could all probably do with a little bit.
While this could just be Abrams attempting to diffuse some of the The Last Jedi's scene, this explanation does make sense. When Luke delivers the line about the lightsaber needing to be treated with more respect, he does so with a smirk. It is clear he is saying this as a way of itting his own mistake, and with both The Last Jedi and The Rise of Skywalker having themes of learning from past mistakes, this moment plays as Luke making sure to remind Rey he was wrong before and that they should make sure she keeps the Jedi alive.
That said, viewers will still have to decide for themselves whether or not this is how they read the moment. Based on the early reactions to the movie, and this scene in particular though, it appears another retcons of The Last Jedi, even though he has said he has no issues with the prior film. He'll likely continue to say this is the case, but it is clear many fans do not see such statements reflected in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.
Source: Twitter
