This important ‘Star Wars: The Last Jedi’ deleted scene reveals Rey’s third lesson

Star Wars: The Last Jedi has proved to be a massive blockbuster success, with some critics hailing it as return to the classic George Lucas era. Personally, I wasn’t too fussed and tend to agree with the fan contingent who wanted a bit more from the latest movie.

One section that seemed to feel particularly thin was the interaction between Rey (Daisy Ridley) and her new mentor Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill). Trapped on a desolate island for most of the film, very little seems to take place between them.

Well, it’s now been revealed that an interesting scene involving the two characters was cut from the final movie – which makes sense considering The Last Jedi has the longest running time in the franchise’s history.

According to Slash Film, writer director Rian Johnson has said they are preparing to release 20 minutes of deleted scenes on the upcoming Blu-ray/DVD.

In the deleted scene, “Rey notices boats arriving at the island and there appears to be a big fire from where they’re landing. Luke tells her that it is a group of bandits who regularly come back to the island to plunder and kill the caretakers. Rey is very concerned and wants to help them, but Luke tells her that if you help them now, the raiders will come back stronger and it will make things worse in the future. He asks Rey if she is always going to be here to protect them, saying that a true Jedi Knight would do nothing and would only act to maintain balance, even when people get hurt.”

Independent-minded Rey doesn’t listen, however, and storms over to help them. But when she arrives at the scene, she finds it’s not a raiding party at all but an actual party, with the caretakers dancing around a fire.

“Rey is mad that Luke lied to her and she confronts him. He admits that he’s sorry, but that she ran so fast and he couldn’t stop her. Rey says that she thought they were in danger and tried to do something. Luke responds, seriously this time, that that’s exactly what the resistance needs – not some old husk of a failed religion. He was again trying to teach her a lesson. Rey cries, explaining that her real friends are really dying and ‘that old legend of Luke Skywalker that you hate so much, I believed in it’. Luke is in shock. He realises that he pushed her too far. Rey tells him she was wrong about believing in him and storms away.”

Had this scene been included in the film, it would have gone a long way to fleshing out both of their characters and could have made their relationship much more interesting. But apparently the director was also worried that it would have made Luke even more unlikeable than he already comes across as in the movie.

In fact, in a recent interview, Mark Hamill admitted that even he doesn’t like his own character in The Last Jedi. In a press interview, Hamill said: “He’s not my Luke Skywalker.”

Ouch!

If you’ve seen the film tell us what you thought of it: 

(Image: Lucasfilm Ltd. / Walt Disney Studios)