Starman-waiting - Waiting In The Sky

Bear and Robin Welcome Spring by Paul Bransom (1925)

part 2 of the duel between sir didymus and jareth

You know what's kind of a messed up dynamic that's not really explored in the Original Trilogy? How Luke is kind of caught in an ideological tug of war between Obi-Wan (and Yoda) and Darth Vader.

Obi-Wan wants Luke to become a Jedi and bring down the Empire and Vader, thus righting a wrong he was unable to right twenty years prior. Unless I'm misreading motivations here, that's already hecka questionable treatment of your vulnerable student, but it's made worse when he deliberately lies to Luke and stokes hatred/a desire for revenge in him against his father -- without ever telling him that the father he longs for and the monster he thinks killed him are one and the same. I can kind of understand Obi-Wan's line of thinking here, especially if Luke was potentially the only powerful enough to go up against Vader, but I still don't think it was right.

Then you have Vader, who is in some ways playing out the same script. He wants Luke to become a Sith and to be by his side as his son to redeem his failure from twenty years ago. He has a chance to make everything he did mean something because he didn't save Padme, but his son still lives. This desire is of course far from 100% benevolent and it's all twisted up with what the Emperor wants, so it ends with the same sort of vibe as Obi-Wan's treatment of Luke: it reduces Luke into a utility or object rather than a person.

Obi-Wan wants Luke to be the Chosen One.

Darth Vader wants him to be his heir.

The only people who want Luke to just be Luke are Han and Leia.

And then Luke wins by being himself -- by being the compassionate, forgiving son who just wants his father. And miraculously, that saved the galaxy.

Four Seasons, Spring - 1899

Four Seasons, Summer - 1899

Four Seasons, Autumn - 1899

Four Seasons, Winter - 1899

Illustrations by Alexandre de Riquer i Ynglada