Warning: There are major spoilers ahead for "Star Wars: The Force Awakens."
Perhaps the biggest mystery heading into the new "Star Wars" movie is figuring out what happened to Luke Skywalker.
Mark Hamill's iconic character was cleverly hidden from marketing from "The Force Awakens" and was noticeably absent from trailers and television spots save one shot of his hand and a pre-recorded voiceover in a trailer.
Now that the movie's finally out we know exactly what happened to Luke.
In fact, we learn he's at the heart of the entire film.
Last chance to head back before spoilers!
"The Force Awakens" is a giant manhunt to track down Skywalker.
From the moment the opening crawl appears we learn Luke has disappeared in the years since "Return of the Jedi" and everyone's looking for him.
The new villains of the series, the First Order, want to kill him to wipe any remaining Jedi from existence and the resistance fighters, led by Princess Leia (now General Organa) want to reach Luke before that happens.
Why did Luke go into hiding?
It turns out he was trying to train a group of new Jedi and his new apprentice turned against him to become Kylo Ren.
If that sounds like déjà vu, it's because it sounds an awful lot like Obi-Wan's relationship with Luke's father, Anakin Skywalker, in the prequel series.
Apparently, Luke was haunted by what had happened and disappeared in search of a Jedi Temple.
The reason Luke isn't in any marketing for "The Force Awakens" is because he's barely in the movie. He doesn't even have any lines in the new film.
We don't get introduced to Luke until the movie's final shots, and when we do see him, he doesn't appear to have gone to the dark side as many predicted.
No, he's hiding out on a remote island dressed in Jedi robes, an image that won't be new to anyone who's seen leaked images online.
He looks like a wise Jedi similar to Obi-Wan in 1977's "A New Hope" except he appears extremely burdened and upset as he looks down upon a young Rey (Daisy Ridley).
Though we still have a lot to learn about exactly why Luke ran off and cut out all contact with his family and friends, it's clear the next film will put him in a Yoda-like role where he'll be in a position to train Rey in the ways of the Force.
Join the conversation about this story »
NOW WATCH: Everything that happened in the first six ‘Star Wars’ movies in 4 minutes