The Jedi are nothing if not mysterious. Even at their height, during the High Republic era, Jedi were a rare sight across the galaxy. And yet their reputation preceded them as guardians of peace and justice. As the centuries passed and the Jedi Order changed its philosophy, mainly due to tragic events, their reputation became tarnished. Some might say their hubris was the death of the Jedi. Immediately following the Clone Wars, the Republic fell, as did the Jedi Order. Then a new hope emerged through the dark times, helping to defeat the Empire.

The legend named Skywalker scoured the galaxy, searching for clues and artifacts to help teach him about the Force and what it meant to be a Jedi. Finally, after the defeat of the Empire and the death of his master, Luke Skywalker vowed to carry on what he had learned, rebuilding the Jedi Order by forming his own Jedi Academy, starting with his first Jedi Temple. But where was this temple located? That is the mystery.

Living up to the mysterious reputation of the Jedi, the location of Luke's new Jedi Temple has never been revealed. By reviewing what we know about Luke's travels, an educated guess is our best bet. Besides the mystery part, why did Luke decide to keep his temple's location a secret? For years, the Empire desecrated any Jedi monuments or temples they could find, taking what minerals or resources they could to keep the machine running. In the process, the Empire destroyed so many precious Jedi artifacts. Luke would have wanted to keep his temple safe from those who would disrespect the ideals of the Jedi. Thus, he kept his temple on a remote world far from the chaos of the Core Worlds, like Coruscant, while maintaining a stronger connection to the living Force.

Chances are Luke Skywalker's Jedi Temple was located on a vergence planet. As the hologram image of Yoda explained in Star Wars #20, vergence planets are locations where the Force is more sharply focused. These places could be dangerous and should not be explored without training and preparation. Examples of vergence planets are Lothal, Ilum, Dagobah, and Jedha. We know none of those planets was the correct answer just by looking at their terrain. Luke's temple was on grassy, hilly terrain, while all of those planets were swampy or rocky. We know it was not Lothal (which had a matching landscape) because we saw Luke visiting Lothal in Star Wars #19 and then left without any indication that he would return.

In Star Wars #19, Luke said to Leia that R2 had downloaded a list of planets the Empire knew had Jedi connections. Luke explained to Leia that he had to leave and visit each of these planets for personal reasons. Luke first mentioned the Outer Rim planet Tempes where a Jedi outpost from the High Republic was located, but immediately crossed that one off the list as he was already there once trying to retrieve a lightsaber, and that was where Vader nearly killed Luke. No to Tempes.

Another location on R2's list was Brighthome. Brighthome was a space station in the Mid Rim and home to a Jedi outpost. So obviously, Brighthome was automatically eliminated. Then there was Al'doleem, also known as the river moon of Al'doleem. During the Jedi purge, Jedi Master Kirak Infil'a lived here in seclusion. Al'doleem was another rocky world that would eliminate it from the list. However, Luke did find a Jedi holocron on Al'doleem. Arashar remained a possibility only because it appeared as a blue-green planet from orbit. When Luke arrived in his X-wing, he saw a pair of Imperial Star Destroyers and decided to avoid trying to land. Let's keep Arashar as a maybe.

Elphrona was a definite no, but it was intriguing regardless. Luke brought a young Ben Solo to Elphrona with Lor Sawn Tekka to explore a Jedi outpost full of Jedi artifacts. Here was when Luke faced the Knights of Ren and defeated them pretty handily, but they still left an impression on young Ben. Elphrona also played a prominent role during the High Republic era.

That brings us to Gazian. This was not a possible location for Luke's temple, but it was a significant Jedi vergence planet. Gazian was covered in hallucinatory mushrooms, which Luke fell into upon "landing," causing him to see past Jedi such as Stellan Gios. Gazian was a living planet that kept an imprint of each of its visitor's mind at that moment. The term living planet reminded me of the planet Zonama Sekot from the New Jedi Order series. Gazian was also where Luke found one of the Jedi texts we saw in The Last Jedi.

This brings me to Tython. Tython was a significant planet for the Jedi in both Legends and canon. In Legends, Tython was where the Jedi began. And while some believe the first Jedi temple was built on Ach-to, others thought it was on Tython. Clearly, Luke visited Ach-to or another planet with similar huts and modeled his temple on their design. Tython's terrain somewhat matched the landscape where Luke's Jedi Temple was located. It was located in the Deep Core, hiding in plain sight. Also, Luke just happened to be relatively close to where Grogu was in The Mandalorian “Chapter 16: The Rescue” to take him back to his new academy. Again no one truly knows where Luke's temple is, but Tython seems to be the most logical choice right now. With Arashar a close second.

As each layer of this proverbial onion peels away, more and more gets revealed. Someday, hopefully, we will learn precisely where Master Luke's Jedi Temple was located. But, for now, it is still shrouded in mystery, just as the Jedi prefer it.

Written By Eric Onkenhout

Source(s): The Rise of Kylo Ren, Star Wars #19, #20, Wookieepedia

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