“Star Wars: The Force Awakens” shocked fans with the surprising death of Han Solo (Harrison Ford) at the hands of his son, Kylo Ren (Adam Driver). It was sad to see such a beloved icon of the original trilogy meet his demise in such a brutal fashion. Although Han’s death was tragic, we’re still processing how emotional Luke Skywalker’s (Mark Hamill) demise was in “Star Wars: The Last Jedi.” While Han’s death was sad, Luke’s death helped restore balance to the galaxy far, far away.

In the film’s climactic ending, Luke duels with his nephew, Kylo Ren, and allows himself to be slashed by his lightsaber. This reveals that Luke isn’t actually dueling at all. He’s projecting his image to trick Kylo Ren. This allows Rey (Daisy Ridley) to bide her time and help Leia (Carrie Fisher), Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac), Finn (John Boyega), and the rest of the Resistance escape. Although Luke doesn’t perish in combat, the energy that it took to project his image drains the life force from him. He disappears into the netherworld of the Force in the same way that Obi-Wan Kenobi (Sir Alec Guinness) did in “Star Wars: Episode IV — A New Hope.”

The symmetry of this scene is part of the reason that “The Last Jedi” is such a masterpiece. Luke has truly mastered all of the lessons that both Obi-Wan and Yoda (Frank Oz) taught him, including self-sacrifice.