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Luke Skywalker, Del Meeko,
and the lessons of a Jedi
Star Wars Battlefront II
Writers: Walt Williams & Mitch Dyer
Are you looking for some deep lessons and critical insight into the ethos of the Jedi? How do you feel about gaining a better understanding of when and why some Jedi fight back? Would you like to get the best sense of where Luke Skywalker’s head was at when he began his post-Return of the Jedi quest to learn more about the Jedi and seek out artifacts and locations key to their history? Do you also want to destroy some icky space bugs called Scritters? That’s a lot of questions, but the answer should be yes (especially about the Scritters). Sit down, grab your video game controller, and let’s go deep into Battlefront II.
The story of Battlefront II is about Iden Versio and her elite Imperial agent mates in the Inferno Squad, but, along the way, because this is a video game, you get to take a few steps through the galaxy as legends like Lando Calrissian, Han Solo, Princess Leia, and, of course, Luke Skywalker. All the levels help fulfill that inner child-like desire to be these legendary Star Wars characters, but when you join up with Luke Skywalker you get an insightful look into the inner workings of a legend.
The level finds the freshly minted Jedi Knight and Iden’s squad mate and eventual husband Del Meeko on the remote planet of Pillio looking for the same thing: one of the Emperor’s observatories chock full of relics, most of them having to do with the Sith. Del is there to destroy it, Luke is there to find clues. However, both soon need each other’s help to survive. It is through the eyes of Del, a lifelong Imperial raised on Coruscant to fear the Jedi, that we learn our lessons.
Del Meeko is initially saved by Skywalker and questions him as to why. Luke is, after all, part of the Rebel Alliance still fighting the Imperial remnants just after the events of Return of the Jedi. Luke then proceeds to give him, and us, a quick yet mighty lesson in mercy.
“Because you asked.”
An entire squadron of stormtroopers lies dead just outside this setting. Cut down by Luke’s blade. Del points this out, but Luke explains that Del gave him a choice. The stormtroopers didn’t. Star Wars fans spend a lot of time analyzing when it is or isn’t a good time for Jedi to fight. They’re generals in the Clone Wars but claim they can’t fight wars at other times. The answer and debate are never quite clear, but here is Luke explaining his philosophy. You ask for mercy, you get it. We all have a choice.
This also factors into Luke’s mindset later on as it relates to Kylo Ren. Luke gave in to his impulses and attempted to strike young Ben down out of fear. At that moment, he didn’t give Ben the chance to make a choice. It completed Ben’s turn and gutted Luke. The legendary Skywalker betrayed his own beliefs and created a monster in the process. No wonder he ran off to a long-forgotten island (finding it in part with the compass he takes from the Observatory in this game sequence).
It all comes down to choice. Luke and Del go on to finish their collective mission, helping each other along the way (there are so many Scritters to fight). We even gain some insight as to the dark nature of the spin Emperor Palpatine put on the galaxy. He turned the Jedi into villains while hiding his true Force-filled nature from those that served him. (Del is shocked to find the door to the Emperor’s storage closet locked by the Force.) But as they both leave, Del wants to know what is next. How can a Rebel Jedi and Imperial agent walk away from this impromptu partnership?
Luke doesn’t give the hard sell on leaving the Empire. Should Del Meeko turn away from his lifelong service to the Imperials? What can he do as one man who does see what has gone wrong and was always happening? There are no answers given by Luke Skywalker. He just brings it all back to the question of choice.
We all have a choice to be better.
And with that, Del Meeko starts his journey to defection and fighting for freedom. One that he takes alongside Iden Versio after she can no longer turn a blind eye to the choices she sees her Empire continue to make.
It is exciting and invigorating to find that Star Wars, time and time again, serves the powerful purpose set forth by George Lucas: speak to the youth, those twelve-year-olds on the brink of adulthood, and give them timeless lessons in morality. Star Wars always has to come back to that whether it be in its movies, TV shows, books, and, as here, the video games. It’s the lifeblood of the saga. We all want to swing a lightsaber, hack through stormtroopers, and save the day, just like Luke Skywalker. Yet at the end of the day, Luke Skywalker and Star Wars itself, just want you to do one thing: make the choice to be better.