This post contains SPOILERS for Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker
Luke Skywalker's X-wing in Last Jedi plot hole. After Luke heroically sacrificed himself at the end of Last Jedi and became one with the Force, many fans assumed the character would come back in the sequel trilogy's finale as a Force ghost. Smartly, Lucasfilm confirmed Mark Hamill's involvement with the project as production was gearing up, sparing fans from months of speculation concerning the actor's potential return. Just as Obi-Wan Kenobi and Yoda had done before, Luke's spirit would appear before Rey to give his pupil one last bit of advice during a time of need.
That scene takes place shortly after Rey had destroyed the stolen TIE fighter she used to get to Ahch-To, seemingly eliminating her lone mode of transportation off planet. That's when Luke raises his old X-wing out of the water, ing it on to Rey. It's played as an awe-inspiring crowd-pleasing moment, but actually creates a plot hole in The Last Jedi.
Luke's X-wing In The Last Jedi Was the Perfect Trick
Early on in The Last Jedi, after Luke had purposely destroyed his ship since he had no intention of ever leaving the island. As he tells Rey, he came to Ahch-To to die, so it makes sense he would intentionally damage his classic ship, sinking it so it could no longer be used. Along with the revelation Luke had cut himself off from the Force, the X-wing clearly communicated his mindset at the beginning of Last Jedi. The destroyed X-wing also quickly sideswipes any expectations audiences might have had about a scene where Rey or Luke raises the vehicle out of the water in a blatant callback to The Empire Strikes Back.
Additionally, the sunken X-wing is one of the first clues regarding Luke's big moment at the end of The Last Jedi. It sets up he can't physically be on Crait to confront Kylo Ren. Rey had taken the Millennium Falcon, so Luke was without a viable means of transportation off the planet. Force projecting himself across the universe (while demonstrating how powerful Luke had grown since Return of the Jedi) was the only way Luke could help the Resistance, cementing his status as a galactic legend who would reignite the spark of hope throughout the galaxy. Skywalker knew the effort would kill him, and he still went through with it. That helps make his character arc more impactful. He had finally recognized the error of his ways, but his earlier stubbornness would cost him his life. The entire gesture may not have had the same meaning if he was actually on Crait (which still would have been cool to see). It packs more of a punch for viewers knowing they're witnessing the final moments of Luke's life in the physical world.
Rise of Skywalker Fixes the X-wing - And Changes Luke
Luke was in possession of Leia's lightsaber, this fundamentally changes key aspects of Last Jedi's Luke, making his outlook on life less pessimistic and the nature of his self-imposed isolation less severe. For whatever reason, the broken, world-weary Luke who felt it was time for the Jedi to end kept a working ship at his disposal so he could leave the planet whenever. This also raises the question of why Luke willingly killed himself when he had the ability to get off-world, arguably undermining his selfless action.
The easy way around this would be to have Luke's Force ghost appear prior to Rey setting Kylo's TIE fighter ablaze, with Skywalker talking sense into his student before she does anything rash and seals her fate on the island. Even with that alteration, the overall meaning of Luke and Rey's Rise of Skywalker scene, which is a fun inversion of their Last Jedi dynamic, remains the same. much like Rey Palpatine, it's a twist that has no real bearing on the plot, serving no purpose other than to maddeningly contradict the information presented in Last Jedi (and an official tie-in book).
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With The Rise of Skywalker marking the culmination of the Skywalker saga, there was bound to be fan service moments throughout the film (no different than Avengers: Endgame earlier this year). Little bits like Wedge Antilles' cameo, seeing Lando fly the Millennium Falcon again, and hearing Ahsoka Tano's voice in a live-action movie were all fun, but some of Rise of Skywalker's fan service took things a step too far. J.J. Abrams may have thought he was finally paying off one of Empire Strikes Back's most iconic sequences, and it would have been fine to do that if it made sense within the context of the narrative. By Force projecting, Luke's already shown what he's capable of and that he believes. Lifting a ship out of the water is second nature to him. Rey should have been the one to raise the X-wing, but frankly, it should have remained submerged.
