You Would Never Believe Where Luke Learned Lightsaber Combat From
Luke Skywalker has been a fan favorite character since the debut of Star Wars in 1977. The plucky moisture farmer defied the Empire and inspired fans everywhere with his optimism, clear moral compass, and one-in-a-million shot to bring down the first dreaded Death Star. As the saga progressed, we saw Luke grow into his own, claim the title of Jedi Knight, and resist the seduction of the Dark Side. Luke went through a lot of growth and development over the course of four years fighting in the Galactic Civil War. His training as a Jedi was paramount to these steps and his evolution as a character. While most Star Wars fans are well versed in the lessons taught to him by his Jedi teachers, such as Obi-Wan Kenobi and Grand Master Yoda, Luke benefitted from another instructor. While this tertiary teacher was no Jedi and could not touch the Force, he was nevertheless a dangerous combat instructor and educated Luke in many of the forms of lightsaber combat, albeit in an arrogant and condescending way.
The man known as Kreel was born into battle. Raised on the gladiatorial world of Chagar IX, Kreel witnessed his own parents getting defeated and killed in the fighting pits. Shortly after, in order to survive in this merciless hell-scape, Kreel himself was pressed into fighting in the pits. With the rise of the Empire, and the subjugation of the Galaxy, the fighting pits on Chagar IX were shut down as the warlords who ran them were overrun by Imperial Stormtroopers. Freed from his brutal way of life, Kreel traded one battle for another, volunteering for the Stormtrooper Corps, where his experience as a cage fighter made him an invaluable and deadly asset to the Empire. He was transferred to the Imperial Academy in short order, where he was trained to be an elite operative, learning how to operate undercover behind enemy lines for extended periods of time and inflict maximum damage to any who oppose the Empire. Kreel was hand-picked by Darth Vader for a mission to destabilize the Hutt cartel, infiltrating the palace of Grakkus the Hutt and posing as the trainer of Grakkus pit fighters, known as the Gamemaster. It was here that he met Luke Skywalker.
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After the Battle of Yavin, Luke was left without a stable foundation, save for his new friends within the Rebellion. His aunt and uncle were disintegrated and his newfound Jedi mentor had laid down his life to ensure the Millennium Falcon would escape with the stolen Death Star plans. Determined to forge his own path, Luke began searching the galaxy for any information, relics, or artifacts that would aid him in his quest for knowledge of the Jedi, a quest that was detailed in the 2015 run of Star Wars comics by Jason Aaron.
In these comics, we met Grakkus the Hutt, a notorious collector of these artifacts. Luke's search for Jedi knowledge eventually led him to Nar Shaddaa, home of Grakkus palace and base of operations for his criminal underworld. Given the well-known greed and dragon-like hoarding practices of the Hutts, it is no surprise that Grakkus wasn't exactly keen on parting with any of his collection. It is even less surprising that Grakkus demanded Luke fight in his arena. However, with Luke only practicing his saber work on the short ride to Alderaan aboard the Falcon and under the watchful eye of Old Ben Kenobi, his skills with a lightsaber were underdeveloped, to say the least. Grakkus charged his Gamemaster, the undercover Imperial agent Kreel, to train Luke in the art of saber combat.
The undercover Kreel spars with young Skywalker.
It was a grueling and painful learning experience for Luke, as Kreel mercilessly sparred with him, punishing each mistake with pain and unrelating in his demand for perfection. This may seem like an odd choice for an Imp. Why train a known Rebel to be proficient with one of the most deadly weapons in all of science fiction? Kreel's arrogance, for starters, convinced him that he was more than a match as a fighter for Skywalker. Kreel educated him as a way to belittle him. This young Jedi upstart losing in fight after fight to a well-trained and battle-hardened stormtrooper must have warmed Kreel's cold, calloused heart.
The second, and perhaps better, reason for Kreel undertaking Luke's training, was to ensure mission integrity. If Kreel were to refuse or kill Luke, Grakkus would have become enraged, resulting in Kreel's execution. Even if Kreel were to somehow defeat Luke and escape the palace on Nar Shaddaa, he would have had to deal with the wrath of Lord Vader. The Dark Lord would have beeen furious at Kreel for disobeying orders, compromising the Imperial mission on the Smuggler's Moon, and for destroying a prize that Vader himself wished to claim after his failing at Yavin.
While attempting to turn Luke over to the Empire, Kreel inadvertently triggered a series of events within the Hutt's palace that enabled the young Rebel to escape. While Vader was most displeased that the pilot who destroyed the Death Star had escaped, he had other uses for Kreel, promoting him to the leader of an elite unit of stormtroopers and allowing him to keep his lightsaber, so long as he kept his skills honed enough to be worthy of the Jedi blade. Luke, meanwhile, was able to escape back to his friends in the Rebel Alliance, having received valuable martial training from a dangerous mentor. While we see in The Empire Strikes Back that this training was still not to the extent of a Jedi Knight, Luke gaining knowledge of the proper forms of lightsaber combat and repeatedly sparring against an elite, lethal pit fighter and soldier like Kreel proved to be invaluable on Luke's path as a Jedi.
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Source(s): Screen Rant, Wookieepedia