As Star Wars fans know, Luke Skywalker did not complete his Jedi training before he first confronted Darth Vader in The Empire Strikes Back and paid the price for it.
Yet, in Return of the Jedi, Luke has become a Jedi Master and soundly defeats Vader. That is quite a turnaround.
How did Luke outmatch Vader’s 30 years of experience with only 4 years of training? Much of the explanation has to do with his connection to the Force and with Vader.
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Anakin/Vader and the Force
It is perplexing how Luke learned the Force in such a short time and surpassed Vader. Anakin was the most skilled Jedi yet but it took some time for him to develop.
Qui-Gon Jinn discovered Anakin as a child and called him the “Chosen One” because of his Force powers.
As fans know, Anakin’s strength rested with his midi-chlorian count, which was believed to be the highest in the galaxy. After Qui-Gon’s death, Obi-Wan Kenobi took over Anakin’s training.
Anakin ultimately had a combined 30 years of training and real-life experience.
As a post on Reddit aptly explains, in The Phantom Menace Anakin was only age 10 when he started his Jedi training, but in the next movie, Attack of Clones, “he more or less matches Obi-Wan Kenobi’s skills and fighting abilities” at age 20.
That is quite an achievement, even for the “Chosen One,” since Obi-Wan was presumably the top Jedi under Yoda.
Anakin’s subsequent turn to the dark side and tutelage under Darth Sidious amplified his Force powers.
As Darth Vader, Anakin “spread fear throughout the galaxy” while acting as the Emperor’s “dark enforcer.” Anakin’s power through the Force was immense.
Luke and the Force
We first see Luke Skywalker on the desert planet of Tatooine in A New Hope. Once Obi-Wan Kenobi saves Luke from a Sandpeople attack, he rapidly pursues the Force, albeit with help from Obi-Wan who knows Luke’s potential.
As the son of Anakin, Luke has inherited the Force sensitivity of his father.
As Luke joins the Rebel Alliance, he takes a lead role in the attack on the Death Star and survives the battle while most other pilots are shot down.
It’s not just his flying skills that allow him to succeed but his Force ability.
Vader recognizes how strong the Force is with “that pilot” before Luke takes the famous shot that explodes the Death Star, guiding the proton torpedo solely with the Force.
In The Empire Strikes Back, Luke fails to defeat Vader, but he also demonstrates remarkable advancement as a Commander with the Rebels, surviving a Wampa attack, and completing some training with Yoda.
Audiences do not see his full development until Return of the Jedi, which is only 4 years after he was a farm boy on Tatooine.
Right from the beginning of the movie, we are impressed with his Force powers.
He enters Jabba’s palace with ease, dispatches with a rancor, and saves all his friends on the barge that was meant to execute him.
We do see Luke return to Dagobah to complete his training with Yoda, but that training does not adequately explain his rise in power.
His resolve to be a Jedi partly reveals why he could surpass Vader so quickly.
Luke is committed to the Force and light side and will not be swayed, even by the Emperor.
Luke followed the Force mainly on his own, and that individual pursuit helps partially explain why he outmatched Vader.
How Luke Outmatched Vader in Just 4 Years
One main line of argument is that Luke’s commitment to the Force and natural aptitude for it allowed him to advance extremely rapidly. As one article points out, Luke and Rey have much in common.
They both only trained for short periods, but through their abilities, resolve, and solid connection to the Force, they both rose to Jedi champions.
Because Luke was the son of Anakin and Padmé Amidala, he gained a unique inherent set of skills that included high Force sensitivity, fighting ability, and diplomatic wit.
This genealogy gave Luke an upper hand with inner strength to pursue his Force connection to the greatest possible extent.
The difference between his father and him was Luke’s commitment to the Force and the Jedi allowed him to resist the Emperor and redeem his father.
The just 4 years happened similar to a streak of lightning traveling through his body, the Force channeled through him at lightspeed.
If we reference Legends, this rapid Force advancement is doubly true. As many articles have pointed out, including this one, the version of Luke in Legends is much more powerful than in Canon, especially because many of the stories take place after Return of the Jedi.
In this version of Star Wars, Luke obtains the connection to the Force that Anakin was meant to achieve.
Another Way to Explain How Luke Outmatched Vader
However, there is an alternate way to explain this rise in power–Vader was not trying to defeat Luke. In the discussion on Reddit from above, other posts point out that in The Empire Strikes Back, Vader was trying to bring Luke to the dark side, not kill him.
In Return of the Jedi, Vader had deep misgivings about his role with the Empire and was conflicted about being Luke’s father.
Hence, he ended up throwing the Emperor to his death (or what was supposed to be his death before Disney stepped in).
Hence, the other major line of interpretation is that Luke did not truly outmatch Vader in just 4 years.
Vader just did not want to defeat Luke or was too undermined by his feelings to do so, but still had the ability to do so.
Legends also provides a basis for this explanation. As this video relays, in Return of the Jedi Vader had become doubtful of the Emperor’s and his own powers.
Vader starts considering how an alliance with Luke could be more beneficial. The twist is that Vader wanted to partner with Luke to keep his power strong and not go over to the light side.
Together, they could become “the greatest Sith lords that ever lived.”
Luke Outmatching Vader
One way to explain Luke outmatching Vader in just 4 years is Luke’s strong connection to the Force and his commitment to the Jedi.
Another way to explain this situation is that Vader was not giving his all when he battled with Luke again, or the first time around for that matter.
Canon and Legends provide evidence for both interpretations, but Luke’s path with the light side, and Anakin’s fall from it, tend to support the first outlook.