STAR WARS: EPISODE VII - THE LAST JEDI (with a better story)

Six - Bad Memories

Luke leads Rey on a snaking path up to the highest point on the island. There, they step inside the crumbling ruins of an ancient stone structure. Light falls in through gaping holes in what's left of the ceiling, illuminating walls that are covered in strange symbols.

Some walls are bright with dark text, others are dark with light text. The ruins open up on a central room that has completely lost its roof. In the center of the floor is a small pool of water. The bottom of the pool is split. One side is white, and the other is black. However each side reaches slightly into the other. A white limb reaching into the black, and a black limb into the white. A mirrored figure of white and black sits between the two.

"These ruins, as far as I can tell, are all that's left of the very first temple of the Jedi order," Luke explains. "I found the starmap to this place just before Ben...turned. He doesn't know about it. I had hoped we'd come here together, but..."

"What exactly happened to him?" Rey asks. "Why did he really turn?"

Luke stiffens.

"Luke...you're going to have to tell me at some point."

Luke looks back at her. After a moment, he sighs.

"...fine. I suppose you deserve to know."

Rey stands up straight , giving Luke her full attention.

"I wish I could simply say that it was all Snoke. That he forced Ben to turn, manipulated his mind. But to say that wouldn't be telling the whole truth. Ben always had darkness in him. Even as a youth. Leia and Han did their best raising him but...well he had a mother who was trying to piece together a broken galaxy, and a smuggler for a father. Seeing that side of the galaxy he did at such a young age...well lets just say it tends to have an affect on you.

"Han he...well he wasn't around as much as he wanted to be. Han was Han. He was always going on dangerous mission for the New Republic, trying to keep the old days alive, I think. Han offered to bring Ben along, but Leia would never let her kid do something risky like that." Luke laughs weakly.

"I think that might be part of the reason Ben started to resent him. When he was a teenager the two of them had a big fight. I don't know all the details, but after that, Leia sent him to me. I'd already started to train other students but Ben, he surpassed them all in no time. He was just so eager to learn. And I was so eager to teach. So eager I didn't notice things I should have. Like how he was mostly interested in how to use the force in battle. Or his fascination with his grandfather. At first I thought He admired Anakin Skywalker for his return from the dark but..." Luke shakes his head.

"...he didn't care about Anakin Skywalker. The one he really admired was Darth Vader, dark lord of the sith. I should have noticed sooner. Noticed how much his hunger for power was growing. Ben wasn't the only one, either. Some of my other students, Ben's friends, followed his lead. Together, they were a team of some of my strongest disciples. I often sent them off together on missions to look for ancient Jedi artifacts. But over time they'd all becomed fascinated with the dark side.

"When I realised what was happening, I confronted Ben. Told him that he was going down a path of pain and destruction. He called me a stubborn old fool that cared more about my Jedi Order than the galaxy. We both lost our temper that day. Maybe if I'd been kinder...but I can only wonder. Ben left in a rage. He and his friends took a ship and went to search a patch ruins in the outer rim we'd learned about. I let them go. I've regretted that decision to this day."

Ben and the other students are walking through a dark temple.

"What happened in that ancient temple, I don't fully know. But, I do know that's where they met Snoke."