Re: Hot Toys - Star Wars: The Last Jedi - Luke Skywalker (Force Projection) - CONFIRM
These are the questions that still dog the sequence:
1. Does Leia know that Luke isn't really there, ie is just a projection (people seem to have taken Leia's "touch" reaction to mean totally different things)?
2. Luke is in essence killing himself - presumably for a reason beyond a morale boost or inspiration - so does he project to Crait with the "distract/escape" plan in mind?
3. If this is Luke's plan, why doesn't he tell anyone (even offscreen, and having it be an audience surprise later) including, importantly, Leia or Rey?
4. Does Luke's plan somehow involve (or even rely on) Rey, who he knows is heading there to help anyway and is outside?
5. If it does involve Rey, why does she not seem to be acting in accordance with any plan?
6. If Leia knows what Luke's plan is, why does she simply stand and watch him walking out like everyone else, and not arrange the escape as precious minutes pass?
6. If the "distract/escape" idea was the plan all along, then why does the movie rely on Poe to randomly realize that's the plan much later?
The point is, Luke Skywalker DIES because of this decision and this moment, so it really is worth discussing.
I know that many here are tired of this subject, and especially it taking over this thread. But I'm replying to your list of questions, TaliBane, out of respect (and because I enjoy this stuff). I appreciate how clear it is that Star Wars has meant a lot to you, and how hard it is for you to reconcile much of what happened in TLJ. Your knowledge about this franchise has been really impressive to me in my time around this forum. So, if you're serious about wanting to know how someone who enjoyed the Crait scene (and most of TLJ in general) would answer your questions, I'm going to give you my serious response. If you don't actually care, then you can just ignore this (obviously). Here goes:
1. Does Leia know that Luke isn't really there, ie is just a projection (people seem to have taken Leia's "touch" reaction to mean totally different things)?
Yes. As I replied to you before, the TLJ novel describes the moment Luke makes "contact" with Leia to hand her the dice as when Leia was let in on a secret the two siblings now shared alone. If you want to ignore the novelization, that's fine; but it was based on actual movie scripts and is "canon" right?
2. Luke is in essence killing himself - presumably for a reason beyond a morale boost or inspiration - so does he project to Crait with the "distract/escape" plan in mind?
We don't know exactly what's in Luke's mind, but I think we can probably agree that he initially projected himself to Crait in order to help in whatever way he could. All the while, I think it's safe to assume that he understood that being a projection was going to limit him to distraction being his most effective (perhaps only) tactic.
3. If this is Luke's plan, why doesn't he tell anyone (even offscreen, and having it be an audience surprise later) including, importantly, Leia or Rey?
He wouldn't need to tell Rey anything as long as he was simply aware of her intentions to go rescue Leia and crew. And it was definitely Rey's intent to rescue her friends - clearly demonstrated on screen! Having a sense for where Rey was, how she was tracking the Resistance, and how long it would take her is all Luke needed. Communicating the details of his appearance there wouldn't have altered Rey's rescue mission; she was already going as fast as she could to reach everyone in order to help get them out of there.
As for evidence of a connection: at the end, Rey feels Luke dying (as does Leia). But Leia would feel it because of their sibling connection. So why would Rey feel it so strongly if Luke hadn't been bonded to her somehow during the Crait sequence? The strong awareness of his death could be the residual/lingering result of his connection to her. Whether he communicated his plan with her directly or not is fairly irrelevant so long as he connected (in some way) in order to know her intentions.
Maybe he didn't even need Leia to understand his plan in full. Letting her know that he was a projection could have been to simply let her know that he was in no danger. So, she wouldn't need to back him up or let anyone go try to help him. As long as Luke was aware of Rey's proximity, and her intentions upon arriving, he would be perfectly able to stall Kylo long enough without Leia doing anything.
4. Does Luke's plan somehow involve (or even rely on) Rey, who he knows is heading there to help anyway and is outside?
Luke is very obviously aware of what's going on with Rey and the Resistance. After all, he only ends his "duel" with Kylo when he realizes that Rey has gotten to Leia's group. His plan relied on, or was connected to, Rey more than anything.
5. If it does involve Rey, why does she not seem to be acting in accordance with any plan?
Rey clearly intends to help everyone escape. Whether she knows that she's working in tandem with Luke doesn't even really matter. She was using her beacon to track the Resistance in order to reach them and bring them to safety. She first had to clear the TIEs away from the speeders. Then she returns (again, with beacon guiding her) with the intent of freeing them from the cave. How is that in conflict with Luke's plan to buy time for their escape from the cave?
6. If Leia knows what Luke's plan is, why does she simply stand and watch him walking out like everyone else, and not arrange the escape as precious minutes pass?
Maybe Leia doesn't know. See my answer to #3. And if Leia did know, then perhaps her failure to act was due to distraction by maternal conflict? Or perhaps awe at what Luke is managing to do? Or a simple mental lapse? Or maybe she didn't fully understand until Poe said it out loud. It didn't change the outcome either way, so again, does it even matter? She might not have needed to know. It's not crucial to the outcome.
6. If the "distract/escape" idea was the plan all along, then why does the movie rely on Poe to randomly realize that's the plan much later?
It doesn't rely on Poe; because Rey was heading to them anyway. She would have still arrived at the rocks (because she was using her beacon, and saw the crystal foxes leaving the cave through them), would have still lifted those rocks, but she would have had to go get everyone herself (continuing to use the beacon) had they not been already led to the rocks by Poe.
All Poe's realization did was make the escape quicker than it would have been. It was meant more to show his evolution; that was one of the ongoing subplots. But Rey was going to help them out no matter what; that's the key! All Luke needed to do was buy her time to get to them. You're focused so much on the Poe versus Leia thing that I think you're forgetting that Rey was going to rescue the remaining Resistance all along. She was already heading there as Poe was following the crystal fox thing. All Poe did was make the escape happen faster (because, yes, Rey would have taken longer).
Whether Luke just counted on someone (likely Leia) recognizing his strategy, or was aware of Rey's intent by connecting with her, he was effective either way. We saw what we needed to on screen. We saw Luke do as much (or more) than likely any other Jedi in history would have been able to do against the odds of an entire line of AT-ATs, troopers, Kylo, and the rest of the First Order resources against a few dozen outmatched people needing to escape. He did more from across the galaxy than he could have in person. He died a hero, and a legend restored. Why isn't that good enough?
Interesting thoughts - I like it. Will be keeping this in mind when I watch this again weekend after next. 
) caved and bought the Bluray so we're going to watch it on his massive UHD TV.
