In Star Wars #48 by Charles Soule and Jethro Morales, Luke Skywalker is comforting Leia, as she confides in him that she’s been suffering from horrific nightmares tied to her guilt surrounding the destruction of Alderaan. During their heartfelt conversation, Leia is alerted by Lieutenant Evaan Verlaine, who has an update for Leia regarding the Survivor Fleet, which consists of the last survivors of Alderaan. The Survivor Fleet failed to check in with Evaan, their sole contact in the Rebellion, which led Evaan to alert Leia.
Upon hearing the news, Leia and Luke immediately board a ship to the Survivor Fleet’s last known location, hoping to find some clues as to the fleet’s current location. When they got there, they found a single ship with only one person left on board, and she was on heavy life systems. In fact, the machines were the only thing keeping this woman ‘alive’, as every trace of her organic self was dead. Luke revealed as much to Leia, saying he couldn’t feel the Force within this woman, meaning she was no longer alive.
Luke Skywalker Accidentally Confirms that He Doesn’t Consider Droids to be Alive
Luke says in this issue that if the Force doesn’t flow through something or someone, then he doesn’t consider them to be living, even if they are technically alive. This woman, with the assistance of machines, was alive, Leia’s scanners confirmed it. But, since the Force no longer flowed through her, Luke Skywalker asserted that she was dead. This leads one to ask the pertinent question: what does Luke think about droids?
If Luke thinks that a woman on life support isn’t alive, then he can’t possibly consider droids to be living things either. Indeed, droids do not have access to the Force in any shape or form, something that was recently confirmed in Star Wars’ Dark Droids. Therefore, based on Luke’s statement in this issue, he doesn’t consider droids to be living things, just machines made for organic life forms to use as they see fit – a sentiment that is borderline villainous.
Star Wars Has Made It Clear that Droids are Alive, & It’s Alarming that Luke Doesn’t Agree
It has been firmly established in Star Wars canon that droids aren’t just machines, but are actually alive. Not only was this brought up in Solo: A Star Wars Story, but Star Wars recently doubled-down on this idea with the rise of the Church of the Second Revelation, which was formed by the droid savior, Ajax Sigma. Ajax founded an entire religion based on droid sentience and autonomy, and even established an entire planet on which these enlightened droids can live. And yet, the Force does not flow through them, therefore Luke Skywalker does not recognize them as living things.
Luke’s implied prejudice also completely redefines his relationships with the likes of C-3PO and R2-D2. If he doesn’t even believe they are alive, how could Luke consider them his friends? At best, Luke sees Artoo and Threepio as useful tools, but once their usefulness ends, it seems he’d be fine with trashing them. That’s a borderline villainous outlook, since Star Wars has made it clear that droids are alive, despite the fact that the Force doesn’t flow through them. But, it seems Luke Skywalker would disagree, something that just became apparent after the Star Wars ‘hero’ exposed his biggest hypocrisy.
