Star Wars: Obi-Wan Episode 3 Has A High Republic Easter Egg

Obi-Wan Episode 3 is steeped in all kinds of callbacks to the era of the Star Wars Prequels, as Kenobi (Ewan McGregor) has to face the horrible fact that Anakin Skywalker is now stalking the Galaxy as Darth Vader. However, one scene in Obi-Wan Part III calls back even further than the early days of the Skywalker Saga – it calls all the way back to The High Republic era! 

(Warning: Obi-Wan Episode 3 SPOILERS Follow!)

In "Part III", Obi-Wan and Young Princess Leia try to sneak across the mining planet Mapuzo and get to Alderaan before the Empire (more specifically Darth Vader and his Inquisitors) can locate them. The mission starts out as an undercover job, with "Ben" and Leia pretending to be a farmer and his daughter (respectively). That plan hits the wall when they get to an Imperial checkpoint, where Obi-Wan's identity is exposed by an Imperial Probe Droid. The only reason that Obi-Wan and Leia escape the checkpoint is with the assistance of an Imperial double agent, Tala (Indira Varma). 

Tala turns out to have a safe house in the back of a mechanics shop, where she has been helping to ferry at-risk people like Jedi or Force sensitives to safety off-world. Tala's safe house is inscribed with the names and insignia of various people who have passed through – including this noticeable seal: 

The look and design of Star Wars: The High Republic line has evolved as the series approaches its next wave of content, but this specific seal that we see in Obi-Wan is most directly related to a logo design that was seen on some High Republic merch tied to the series' first book, Light of the Jedi: 

The High Republic occupies a pretty wide range of the Star Wars timeline: it starts 200 years before the Skywalker Saga (Light of Jedi) and will end much closer to the events of the Prequel Trilogy (via the TV series The Acolyte). Why there would be a High Republic logo inscribed in Tala's safe house is anyone's guess, as the need to go underground and avoid the Empire is a more recent one. 

That said, Star Wars has been finding various ways to tie The High Republic into The Original Trilogy era – largely through Star Wars comics. Given that The Acolyte will be the first live-action series set in The High Republic, it wouldn't be far-fetched for the Star Wars TV Universe to start tying together those connections, as well. 

Obi-Wan Kenobi streams new episodes Wednesdays on Disney+