Although the Skywalkers have long been treated like the royal family of Star Wars, a case could certainly be made that Obi-Wan Kenobi is just as important as any of the Skywalkers. After all, the original trilogy proved how essential he was to Luke’s Jedi training, the prequel trilogy revealed that he had trained Anakin since he was a young boy, and Obi-Wan Kenobi even added an entire storyline in which Obi-Wan saved little Leia when she was just 10 years old.
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In addition to his prominence among the Skywalkers, Obi-Wan was a crucial figure for many of the most significant events in Star Wars movies and TV shows, from taking down Darth Maul in Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace (even if he wasn’t actually dead yet) to securing the future of the Jedi in myriad ways, including recording a message warning any Jedi survivors of Order 66 against returning to the Jedi Temple. Despite all of these massive contributions, though, there are several things about Obi-Wan that still don’t make sense—and these 5 are among the most significant.
Obi-Wan Didn’t Intervene With Anakin and Padmé
Among the most confusing things about Obi-Wan was his lack of action when it came to the romance between Anakin and Padmé. Yes, Anakin was like a brother to him, but it is still very out of character for Obi-Wan not to raise this issue to the Jedi Council, especially because he was already well aware of how temperamental Anakin was and how dangerous a romantic attachment would be for him. It’s also no longer a question of whether he knew; Star Wars: The Clone Wars confirmed that he did with a joke about Anakin telling Padmé he said hello.
The Clone Wars did also introduce another level of complication into this situation, as the show shockingly revealed that Obi-Wan had his own love interest, Satine Kryze, the Duchess of Mandalore. At one point, Obi-Wan even tells Satine that he would have left the Jedi Order for her, had she asked, which made it clear that this was a real love, not just a crush. With that context, it’s understandable that Obi-Wan would feel conflicted, but it was still a bewildering choice not to bring his knowledge of Anakin’s relationship to the Council, and it had devastating consequences.
Obi-Wan Rapidly Ages Before A New Hope
Ewan McGregor did an excellent job of taking up the mantle for Obi-Wan Kenobi in the prequel trilogy, but there was a glaring issue with this casting choice. Even by the end of Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith, McGregor looked far too young to realistically turn into Alec Guinness’ Obi-Wan Kenobi in A New Hope. Obviously, the character had to be recast for the prequels, and it was never going to be a perfect match. Yet, casting such a young actor was a surprising choice that has meant a glaring visual change.
Some have argued that this is simply from the rough Tatooine environment and perhaps the stress of all the Obi-Wan had endured, but particularly considering Obi-Wan Kenobi showed what Obi-Wan looked like 10 years after Revenge of the Sith (and, therefore, just under a decade before A New Hope), it’s difficult to accept that Obi-Wan’s aging is reasonable even with these elements taken into account.
Obi-Wan’s Alias Is Barely Different From His Name
One of the funniest details about Obi-Wan’s time on Tatooine, which on the whole wasn’t very funny at all, is how minimally he changed his name despite the need to keep his identity a secret. Revenge of the Sith revealed that Obi-Wan had been in hiding on the planet throughout the Dark Times, keeping an eye on Luke while also trying to survive under the Empire. With the Imperial Inquisitors constantly searching for any surviving Jedi and the carnage that Obi-Wan had witnessed, one would think he would be especially careful with this time in hiding.
Yet, Obi-Wan barely changed his name at all. As was established in the very first Star Wars movie, while on Tatooine, Obi-Wan Kenobi had adopted the name Ben Kenobi. Surely, had anyone discovered a Ben Kenobi living on Tatooine, it wouldn’t have taken very long to connect the dots. There has since been an indication that Obi-Wan picked the name Ben because of Satine, but that isn’t nearly enough of an explanation for this glaring oversight.
Satine Kryze Was Incredibly Important…Until She Wasn’t
As mentioned, Satine was a very significant person in Obi-Wan’s life. He had clearly loved her enough to be willing to walk away from the Jedi Order—the only life he had ever known—for her, and she evidently influenced the name he chose for himself and perhaps even how he handled Anakin’s relationship with Padmé. Yet, for all of that importance, Satine has become all but nonexistent following her death in Obi-Wan’s arms in The Clone Wars, and that isn’t just because the character hadn’t existed when the original and prequel trilogies were made.
There have been many opportunities for Satine’s importance to be revisited, most notably in the Obi-Wan Kenobi show itself. This actually would have been the perfect time for Star Wars to revisit what Satine and her death meant to him, but the show came and went without any mention of her. Unfortunately, this issue isn’t solely true of Obi-Wan, as Satine’s own sister, Bo-Katan Kryze, has likewise failed to mention her in new Star Wars shows.
Obi-Wan Doesn’t Take What Count Dooku Tells Him Seriously Enough
Finally, one of the most perplexing aspects of Obi-Wan’s story arc is his failure to take what Count Dooku said seriously when he was being held captive by the Sith Lord on Geonosis. For whatever reason, in Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones, Dooku basically lays out the entire plan that he and Palpatine/Darth Sidious (although he, of course, doesn’t give either name) have concocted, down to the Republic being compromised because of the influence of a Sith.
Had Obi-Wan taken this as seriously as he should have and the Jedi Council immediately jumped to action, perhaps they could have stopped all that transpired in The Clone Wars and Revenge of the Sith or, at the very least least, made the onslaught less effective. Instead, Obi-Wan seemingly waves away most of what Dooku said, and the Jedi only become even more tied up in the Republic, the Clone Wars, and (unwittingly) Palpatine’s plot as time goes on.
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