I’ve had this argument with friends so many times; some think as I do, others remain convinced that Luke ended the original trilogy as a Good Guy.
I say he, in fact, had** turned to the dark side **and we watched it happen in blissful ignorance, choosing to believe that he would always be The Good Guy. Lucas wanted it this way so he could sell more toys. But there’s way more to this story.
Seeing these previews I think my theory might be correct: Luke gave in to the dark side to save his friends and defeat Vader and the emperor. We don’t know what will happen after that, and hopefully we’ll find out in December and we’ll see if I’m right.
Here are my arguments, in no particular order…
Via Jason Kottke [1], “Luke Skywalker, Sith Lord — Medium [2]”
Read the article, and then think back to Luke's actions in “Return of the Jedi [3].” Given the original storyline outlined in the article, it's quite believable that Mark Hamill [4] played Luke as a Jedi falling to the Dark Side. Did Darth Vader take pity on his son and kill the Emperor? Did Luke subtly influence his father to kill the Emperor? Did Luke outright manipulate Vader to kill the Emperor?
I'm trying hard not to have high hopes on “The Force Awakens [5]” because Lord knows how disappointing “The Phantom Menace [6]” was, but George isn't heading this movie, and the last time that happened we got the best Star Wars movie made [7].
[2] https://medium.com/@robconery/luke-skywalker-sith-lord-
[3] http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0086190/
[4] http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000434/?ref_=tt_cl_t1
[5] http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2488496/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1
[6] http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120915/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1