Luke Skywalker‘s most famous mentors in the ways of the Force are Obi-Wan Kenobi and Yoda, but a Legends-era Star Wars comic reveals that Luke’s first tutor was actually none other than his father, Anakin Skywalker.
As Star Wars fans know, both Anakin and his son Luke spent their formative years on Tatooine. They shared dreams of leaving the sand planet and becoming pilots, and both exhibited excellent piloting skills. Of course, the Jedi Order stumbled upon Anakin as a child and whisked him away to receive training under Obi-Wan Kenobi, while Luke remained on Tatooine into his teenage years. Anakin’s stepbrother Owen Lars raised Luke and refused to tell Luke anything about his father in the hopes that Luke would turn out differently, so Luke remained unaware of his Force sensitive heritage.
One of six stories in Star Wars Tales #15, “Sandstorm,” written by Jason Hall with art by Sunny Lee and Randy Emberlin, follows a young Luke Skywalker on Tatooine as a sandstorm approaches. His Uncle Owen has restricted him to the farm for a few days as punishment for asking too many questions about his father, but Luke sneaks out anyway. He’s quickly caught up in the sandstorm and is greeted by a vision of a young Anakin Skywalker. Anakin introduces himself as “Annie” and helps Luke to a cave. The two bond over their wishes to leave Tatooine, but when Anakin senses that they’re about to be attacked, they have to leave the cave. Luke asks how Anakin knew about the attack, and Anakin says that sometimes he just senses things. They are once again attacked, this time by a Krayt dragon, and Anakin completely disappears. Anakin’s words about sensing things come back to Luke, and this leads him to trust his instincts and attack the dragon. Luke collapses and the dragon fades away.
Anakin Was the First to Make Luke Aware of the Force
This vision means the first person to really tutor Luke in the Force was his father’s child self, or some echo of such at least, and so the question now becomes how it was able to happen in the first place. Upon meeting him for the first time, Qui-Gon referred to Anakin as a vergence in the Force. A vergence is a place or a person where the Force is able to flow the most freely, and due to Anakin’s high midi-chlorian count and remarkable Force sensitivity, Qui-Gon believed that the boy himself could be a vergence. Vergences can “store” Force sensitive minds, so Luke’s vision of Anakin could have been an echo of Anakin’s past. Alternatively, Tatooine itself could be the vergence, which would explain why Anakin appeared as he did when he left Tatooine. Anakin’s appearance could also simply be due to the sheer power of the Skywalker line, as many things in Star Wars eventually end up being attributed to.
In the story, Luke never realizes that the boy who helped him was his own father, and because it was released by Dark Horse Comics before Disney acquired Star Wars, it has now been designated a non-canon Legends tale. Whatever the cause of Anakin’s appearance, Luke’s first Force vision gave Star Wars fans an adorable yet bittersweet glimpse of how Luke Skywalker and his father might have interacted if not for Anakin Skywalker turning to the dark side.
