captain red dog wrote:I don't think anyone had a problem with the concept that Luke would die, it was just the way it was done. His entire arc after ROTJ (aside from the Mando stuff) just goes against everything that he developed from in the OT.
It follows the classical hero's journey into late life. While that can take any one of a few different forms, depending on who you read, the old hero trapped by despair needing to be saved by the young protagonist is up there - and it's an arc Lucas himself was probably going to use, going by concept art and interviews we've had since.
It doesn't go against the OT Luke, it develops him. He's not going to stay the same perfect good boy his entire life - he has flaws, he strawberry floats things up, and he becomes disillusioned with himself, his capacity to do good, the power and utility of his legend, and the entire concept of the Jedi (whose teachings he followed pretty dogmatically) as a result.