Obi-Wan Kenobi is a Jedi Master in both the original trilogy and prequels of Star Wars. He trains Anakin Skywalker, recognizes his potential, but fails to see his emotional instability. Obi-Wan sacrifices himself to help Luke escape the Death Star and continues to train him in spirit form, eventually helping him destroy the Empire and redeem Anakin.
Obi-Wan Kenobi is the enigmatic Jedi Master created by George Lucas for the original Star Wars trilogies and prequels. In his first appearance in the first produced trilogy, Episodes IV-VI, he is played by Sir Alec Guinness. The trilogy centers on Luke Skywalker’s quest to destroy the Galactic Empire and become a Jedi Knight. Kenobi lives on Tatooine, as does Luke. He is one of the remnants of the great Jedi society, which was nearly destroyed by Darth Vader and the Emperor.
In Lucas’ prequel trilogy Episodes I-III, Obi-Wan Kenobi, played by Ewan McGregor, is still an apprentice of Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn. He and Qui-Gon meet the boy Anakin Skywalker on Tatooine, and Qui-Gon agrees to train Anakin. Obi-Wan strongly objects to this training, arguing that Anakin is too old (nine years old) to begin training and has too many strong emotions to be a good Jedi. In this assessment, Obi-Wan is absolutely right: it is Anakin’s passions that bring about his downfall. However, when Qui-Gon is killed by Darth Maul, Obi-Wan agrees to take on Anakin’s training and recognizes his enormous potential to manipulate the force.
Since the second film in the prequel trilogy, Star Wars: Attack of the Clones, Obi-Wan Kenobi has been elevated to the rank of Jedi Knight and is Anakin’s primary teacher. He’s still young, about 25, and frankly not a great teacher. Anakin’s skills are unquestionably excellent, but Obi-Wan fails to see how much Anakin is driven by his emotions, and especially fails to realize that Anakin has entered into a forbidden relationship with Padme Amidala. In the third film Obi-Wan fully realizes how far Anakin has strayed from the Jedi precepts, and the master must make the very difficult choice of paralyzing, but not killing, his student in a final duel. After the duel, the birth of Luke and Leia, and the death of their mother Padme, Obi-Wan is tasked with watching over Luke and protecting him from the perception of the transformed Anakin/Darth Vader.
The original trilogy, set about 20 years after the prequel, creates some logistical problems. Sir Alec Guinness plays Obi-Wan Kenobi, and he’s clearly much older than Obi-Wan by 28-30 years at the end of Episode III. It would be hard, however, to dispute Guinness’s mastery of this role, that he originally defined the character and made such an impression on movie audiences. Tasked with keeping an eye on Luke, Obi-Wan has spent years relatively in hiding, mastering the ability to come back from the dead and devoting himself completely to Jedi principles. Perhaps his insufficient training of Anakin, whom he initially presents to Luke as “killed by Darth Vader,” aged him prematurely. The original trilogy’s Obi-Wan Kenobi is certainly a much wiser man and lived as a hermit while Luke grew up; so he had plenty of time for contemplation.
He’s definitely learned that it’s possible to come back from the dead, which is hinted at at the end of the prequel trilogy. Toward the end of the original Star Wars Obi-Wan allows Darth Vader to kill him, making it possible for Luke and his friends to escape the Death Star. His ability to come back from the dead in spirit form and continue to direct Luke into training him means that Obi-Wan Kenobi continues to make appearances in all three films of the original trilogy.
Also, even though he is dead, he and Jedi Master Yoda are able to fully train Luke to be a Jedi and help Luke act in the required manner to destroy the Empire and convince Darth Vader to become Anakin again in the last moments of the third original film. Through Luke’s training, Obi-Wan sees his main goal in his life: Anakin’s training and his eventual redemption, come to fruition. He also takes part in the prophecy that Anakin will restore balance to the force, something that will not be achieved until Darth Vader is able to put aside his Sith training and save his son.
Protect your devices with Threat Protection by NordVPN
