10 Star Wars Controversies That Divide Fans

10. Did Luke Use The Dark Side On The Gamorrean Guard?

The Return of the Jedi marked the end of first trilogy in the Star Wars franchise.

Our central protagonist was in the final stages of his Hero's Journey. He was no longer the naive idealist, who sought adventure, and fancied his sister. He had become a battle seasoned, star fighter and a confident Jedi Knight - he might have still had the hots for his sister, though.

Episode VI saw Luke entering Jabba's Palace, before using a most un-Jedi like technique on a pair of Gamorrean guards: force choking. This triggered a long running debate about whether or not Luke channeled the Dark Side. The debate has been fuelled by all the contradictory material surrounding it.

In Empire Strikes Back, Yoda specifically told Luke that the Jedi use the force only in defence, never to attack. So, throttling a few helpless pig guards seemed a little out of character. In later Star Wars novels Luke's actions were somewhat redacted. In the Heir to the Empire (1991) one line reads: "walking into Jabba's palace on Tatooine five years ago, using the Force to befuddle the Gamorrean guards." indicating that Luke's actions were some kind of mind trick, rather than an act of violence.

On the other side of the argument, this action is indicative of Luke's entire struggle. He was dabbling in the Dark Side throughout Return of the Jedi, evening channeling hatred to cut off Vader's hand in their final dual.