'Star Wars: The Force Awakens': Details of Luke Skywalker's Whereabouts

— -- All year, the question every "Star Wars" fan had heading into "The Force Awakens" was "Where's Luke Skywalker?"

The Jedi was noticeably missing from most of the promotional material and from the trailers. We thought we saw his robotic arm at one point alongside R2-D2, but were not sure. Director J.J. Abrams made the point to let fans know that was on purpose.

In fact, he said the movie would answer the key question, "WHO is Luke Skywalker?" not "Where."

All that was featured in clips and trailers thus far was Luke's voice explaining how strong the Force is in his family. He was the last remaining Jedi at the end of "Episode VI." At this week's premiere, Mark Hamill, who plays Luke, even told ABC News that keeping this huge secret has been "terrible. It's been torture."

After Friday's movie release, we know where Skywalker has been and why.

SPOILERS AHEAD

The plan here isn't to give away the film's plot for you or reveal any key details, just fill in the blanks a bit and catch you up on where our hero has been.

The amount of screen time Luke has in this film is key to the plot. Again, we are not going to give away details, but Luke comes in at an emotional time in the movie.

Skywalker is definitely the epitome of an aging Jedi and due to some past troubles, he is basically in a form of hiding. His beard is grey and he's had some grief, which the movie explains.

As the last remaining Jedi, the new regime -- the First Order -- is planning to take over the galaxy and obviously wants this beacon of hope (Luke) out of its way in efforts to total domination.

Well, there it is, all we can say. For the granular details and a few amazing plot surprises, you'll have to actually see the movie!

"Star Wars: The Force Awakens" is produced by Lucasfilm, a subsidiary of Disney, which is the parent company of ABC News.

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