That’s right. Across the seven Star Wars movies that have been released so far, the audience is continually taught that with old age comes wisdom, perseverance, and power. The various elders of Star Wars serve mainly to provide moral guidance to the young, often rash protagonists; at the same time, they often find themselves involved in the story, willing to go beyond just a voice of reason to an active player in the main conflict.
In A New Hope, Obi-Wan Kenobi serves as perhaps the greatest old-man-mentor in film history. He simultaneously is wise (in that classic old man way), humorous, and powerful. He tells Luke how the Force operates, informs him of his Jedi heritage (sort of) and destiny, and explains the necessity of keeping a cool head amidst galactic danger. At the same time, he is actively involved in the plot, helping to rescue Leia and eventually sacrificing himself to save his companions.
This sacrifice perhaps serves as the most important moment of the original trilogy. Obi-Wan had enough foresight to realize that not only was his sacrifice necessary to ensure that Luke could escape and eventually lead the rebellion against the Empire, but that his death would be the only way Luke could progress as a Jedi. You see, without Obi-Wan’s constant presence, Luke had to learn to fend for himself and develop his own skills; at the same time, from beyond the grave Obi-Wan could provide some moral guidance and support as a Force ghost. This guidance included sending Luke to train with Yoda, another wise old person, who gave Luke the necessary training to make him a full Jedi.
That is why Luke is so successful of a Jedi. Not because of his personal character, because let’s be honest Luke’s a little bratty and annoying, but because he has the proper mentors. He had mentors that not only taught him all the necessary skills and abilities, but who were able to act and demonstrate the Jedi way.
Contrast Luke’s experiences with those of his father, Anakin. Anakin never really has a good old person mentor. In The Phantom Menace, there’s Qui-Gon, but Qui-Gon is primarily the mentor of Obi-Wan. While Qui-Gon does provide some wisdom to Anakin, when Anakin knew Qui-Gon he was only ten; too young to get any major significance from those teachings. More importantly, Anakin was not present when Qui-Gon died. Luke saw first-hand the death of Obi-Wan; he saw the selflessness of his sacrifice, which became ingrained in him, turning him into a better Jedi. In contrast, Anakin merely heard that Qui-Gon was defeated by a more powerful Sith; while Anakin may have been sad as a youngling, it is not that far-fetched to say that by only hearing that Qui-Gon was defeated, Anakin was set on his path to the dark side. Being informed that someone as powerful as Qui-Gon was defeated by a Sith helped foster Anakin’s eventual belief that only the Sith had the necessary power to keep the galaxy safe.
Now, you may say, “A good mentor would make sure that that sort of notion wouldn’t develop.” While, the problem is, after Qui-Gon, Anakin never really gets a good mentor. Sure, he’s got Obi-Wan, but unlike the Obi-Wan of the original trilogy, this Obi-Wan is young. He is almost as inexperienced as Anakin himself and is still searching his own path. Young Obi-Wan isn’t as good of a mentor as his older self, as he is unable to identify the growing dark side sentiments in his creepy padawan. While older Obi-Wan could sense Luke’s anger and provide pieces of wisdom to keep it in check, young Obi-Wan can merely offer warnings, never really trying to fix the roots of the problems Anakin faced.
The other Jedi don’t help much either. The Jedi Order at large is too focused on power that it pollutes Anakin. As the Jedi Order, arguably unjustifiably, tries to usurp power from the Chancellor, Anakin sees the people who are supposed to be his mentors act against basic principles of decency. While Luke’s other mentor, Yoda, lived a life of seclusion and harmony with nature, perfectly illustrating the Jedi values of peace and removal from attachment, the mentors of Anakin are entangled in the political world and seem pretty power-hungry. When you look at it all, Luke really got the better deal in terms of old people mentors.
It’ll be pretty interesting to see if Rey, in the new trilogy, gets equal mentors. In The Force Awakens, an old Han Solo acted as her mentor, taking the place of Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon in the earlier films. He was definitely closer to Obi-Wan in terms of significance, though, as he actually did stuff (like help rescue her from the Starkiller base) and made a very similar sacrifice at the end. If Rey is like Luke, she would learn similar values of selflessness that he learned from Obi-Wan’s death. She also appears to have a good other old-person mentor coming up, as an older, secluded Luke appears ready to take the Original-Trilogy-Yoda role. Just as Yoda was disconnected from politics, the long-missing Luke has become secluded from the outside world, ready to provide Rey with a teaching solely of Jedi values. By looking at the old people surrounding and guiding Rey, we can already see that she’s got a pretty bright future ahead of her.
