#and obi-wan was like good job! :)
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in a new hope when Obi-Wan tells Vader “if you strike me down, I shall become more powerful than you can possibly imagine” he’s referring to the mommy issues his death is gonna give Luke
#kit to kit#Star Wars#also I paused the movie and laughed soooo hard at like doing bare minimum#‘I think that time I could almost feel the blasters!’ after he tried with his helmet off#and obi-wan was like good job! :)#and a movie later Vader is like I can sense obi-wan has trained you well#that was all Yoda’s work dumbass#you’re sensing the one Kenobi compliment your son received and you’re being jealous about it#/jk
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no no no i got it- you know what would’ve fixed anakin? if obi wan gave him one of these bitches on his forehead every time he did anything remotely of what he was supposed to be doing
#just like a quick ‘good job buddy’ and star sticker on his forehead#instantly cured#it’s because anakin has adhd#anakin would start crying but he would go home and like stick it on the wall next to all the other ones he’s been given#anakin skywalker#obi wan kenobi#obi wan and anakin#star wars
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Xanatos is so funny for treating Obi-Wan as a full-grown adult and hardened criminal on Telos IV and all of Telos was funny for going along with it. Xanatos says "Arrest these men!" and everyone assumes he means the pipsqueak thirteen-year-old and not. idk. The literal adult thief and hacker behind him.
#chit chat#xanatos du crion#obi wan kenobi#'arrest this man' this man hasn't even made it out of middle school#this man still sings in the jedi children’s choir#arrest this man good grief#i really can't take melida daan seriously in fandom because the literal jedi apprentice series is like#'this is obi-wan. he is a full grown man at the ripe old age of 13. if he had a real job he would be paying taxes.#the first time he leaves the temple he kills people but it's fine. because he is a grownup.'
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Oh. ok. Wow. Haden Blackman can you write an Asajj Novel for me please
Star Wars: Obsession #5 (Written by Haden Blackman, art by Brian Ching)
#daily asajj thought of the day#spreading the legends asajj gospel around like it's my job#READ REPUBLIC 60#READ OBSESSION 1-5#this is straight up just the issue btw#non-asajj parts were removed but it's obsession 5#this makes me ill it's so good#legends asajj makes me want to scream that woman is the loml#asajj ventress#ventress#sw#star wars#star wars legends#star wars comics#i know no one will read this and idc I love this issue so much#star wars obsession#ok ok this is just too good#obi-wan and asajj's legends dynamic holy fuckkkkkkk#and the outfit like slay queen#i need legends asajj back idec#unbridled rage asajj come homeeeee
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at first I was like 'Obi Wan can have an intervention by Temple Healers. As a treat.' and did a little fic about Qui Gonn having to handle shit on Telos with Feemor and a Grand Padawan while Obi Wan fucking FINALLY got a little sympathy and help for what he went through on Melida/Daan (And Galla. AND Phindar. AND all the shit before he even got picked up as a Padawan).
But, uh. Well now I can't help thinking 'How much worse can I make things for him if I give him a relationship with Dooku before he fell?'.
#seriously it is so wildly unlikely in both legends canon and current canon that they would not at least#bump into each other in the archives#even if qui gonn and dooku were passive aggressively avoiding and ignoring each other while#as far as i can tell#STUDYING THE SAME DAMN HOLOCRONS OF PROPHECIES AT THE SAME DAMN TIME#it's fine#i'm fine#anyway so i was thinking what if obi wan senses qui gonn's anguish when xanatos yeets himself into a bucket of acid#is like 'oh fuck and here i am all alone with no one who even knows shit is going d- wait a second!'#and meets dooku#who at this point in time is refusing to take diplomatic missions#and also probably just had HIS shit rocked by qui gonn's anguish and whatever connection to xanatos he himself had#and just- do you see? do you see the vision?#Obi Wan fresh off of Melida/Daan all burnt out but determined to throw in with the jedi so he can help the whole galaxy#and a Dooku who would not just understand but sympathize with what obi wan was trying to do#and with BOTH of them painfully aware that this is going to have qui gonn more closed off than ever#avoiding Dooku and the expected 'see i told you betrayal was inevitable'#and shunning a deeper connection with obi wan cuz yeah. sure. That will DEFINITELY work out and xanatos definitely would not have fallen#if only qui gonn hadn't patted him on the head so often. The answer is definitely 'don't acknowledge obi wan's self worth issues#or praise him ever'. good job qui gonn#anyway#so. yeah! just obi wan and dooku bonding and then hurting all the more when Dooku ditches the Order to try to take care of his planet#and massively upping the angst throughout every interaction they ever have after that ❤️#this post brought to you by yjk audio/rereading the jedi apprentice books#stars wars#obi wan#count dooku#qui gonn jinn#fic stuff#i actually might like this one enough to post it someday
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I didn't want to hijack/derail countessofbiscuit's post about opinions regarding Codywan, but another thing for me--and this is actually much less about Codywan than it is about certain writing choices in clone/Jedi ships--is that I like seeing clones as the heroes of their own story, as actors who effect change for themselves without needing to appeal to a more powerful person as though they're helpless to do something themselves. I understand that there's some amount of fulfilling the wish for a more ideal world/a monumental righting of wrongs in writing something where a Jedi is made to understand 'slavery = bad' through their relationship with one of their soldiers, then becoming an unrelenting moral crusader on behalf of all clones, but a lot about that dynamic really does not do it for me. (I could probably articulate why but it might take me a few days to separate out all the threads of that tapestry.)
Come to think of it, a reason I like Republic Commando so much is that it very much does not do that. The decisions our characters make don't have a sweeping impact that upends the entire system--they don't have the power to do that individually--but they do make their own, meaningful choices with what they do have the power to do, even if it's just on the level of "throw my dress blues into a trash compactor and walk off base never to be seen by the wider world again."
#Maze and Ordo are sort of foils for each other and both understand 100% what kind of system they're in#They both have different reactions to it but neither of them appeal to the Jedi to 'save' them or advocate on their behalf or something#Like to the point where they'd be very different people if they did and I cannot imagine that for their characters at all#(I mean just look at Maze's final conversation/confrontation with Skirata on Mandalore)#But back to Codywan (which I never started discussing at all)#aside from fandom-specific issues that turn me off to it#ultimately a lot of Cody's personality is extrapolation and headcanon#And given my understanding of Obi-wan's character and what he's like#I just don't really see it for either of them#though there are three authors whose Codywan stuff I will read because they did a sufficiently good job for me to buy it/like it in their AU#I typed and deleted like three extra paragraphs from this post and it's very early here so this post might be less put together#than it was originally#clone wars#star wars
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Will I ever see you again? Maybe.
「 amelia & obi wan edits. *ੈ✩‧₊˚. @jedimastre 」
#kenobiian#listen#im not going to be able to get them match any closer than this#regardless of the psd i use#I THINK I DID A GOOD JOB ALL THINGS CONSIDERING#like this was hard#&. AMELIA#&. A. REL: OBI WAN
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rewatched star wars ep 1 recently (i have many Many things to say but that’ll come in another post) and i’ve concluded that part of the reason (there are many, mostly relating to pacing, world building and general quality) the new live action properties suck is that there’s a significant loss in the weight to their fight choreography. and i don’t mean that in like an plot relevant sense (altho that is also true) i mean the choreography LITERALLY looks less weighty, like it kinda seems like everyone is just a step too slow in everything and taking a couple too many breaths. the blade crossings don’t have as much of an impact. while that is to be expected w Sabine as a padawan it is very much NOT what i would expect from Shin OR the other guy Ahsoka kills OR Ahsoka herself, esp when compared to like Anakin in episodes 2/3 or Obi-Win thru out
the change really stuck out to me in episode 4 and it just makes the whole thing feel less like star wars and less weighty and it does the cast itself an injustice. i actually think the casting is really well done (natasha liu bordizzo <3) but the literal Everything Else ab Ahsoka in particular is disappointing
#like genuinely i am a fan of Ahsoka!#i LOVED rebels!#but frankly this DIDNT need to be a live action properly and now that it is it feels like another mass produced disney garbage fire#like if you go back and watch obi-wan and mauls duel at the end of episode 1 the choreography is really intense! throughout that movie#the fighting really serves to underscore the competence of the jedi involved ! (minus the speed running)#so to see the fight scenes here so heavily emphasize poses and cool still shots is pretty disappointing#i also think that they could’ve left ezra and thrawn a bit of a mystery and ACTUALLY adapted heir to the empire but apparently that’s asking#too much#which is insane considering how good of an animated show it could’ve been bc timothy zahn did an amazing job on the trilogy#star wars#ahsoka series
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for the character solidifying asks - 49 and 50 for the oc(s) of your choice !
hiiii oh my gosh is this the first time youve been in my ask box. i think so. i am so sorry it has taken me a literal month but here, i offer you my second favorite jedi dad and then a miserable wet rat of a seer character solidifying asks here
49. What about voice? Pitch? Strength? Tempo and rhythm of speech? Pronunciation? Accent? Hellir’-Amderak Edi Drovaddal // Hellir’ has a very smooth, soulful, I won’t say gentle but.. non-domineering voice. He is a Diplomat and must adjust his voice as needed for pretty much any situation but at rest he is quite soft-spoken, and pronounces his words pretty easily? He doesn’t speak so crisp when he’s not on the job. It’s between a mumble, and just on the tip of a smile. He’s VERY deliberate, no matter what the case may be. If he says it, he means it. And he has kept his native Balosar accent to him (which is like a typical Coruscanti Basic accent, just.. slightly to the left of the usual from what you hear on the surface but not quite found on any other level. A bit gruff, choppy at times, but never upset or accusatory or negative. It’s just a little to the left of it all.)
50. What are the prevailing facial expressions? Sour? Cheerful? Dominating? Jupso Onurimaa // He always looks like he’s suffering, because he usually is. It’s the slightly furrowed brow, a little frown to him, lips pressed tightly together, he’s got worry and remorse in his eyes more than anything else. He’s withdrawn even in expression, when anyone’s able to see it. He used to be very good at hiding this away from others but he’s slipped up majorly since resurrection, and if you see him with no veil…
#cheeri inquires#cheeri ocs#oc tag | [hellir'-amderak edi drovaddal]#oc tag | [jupso onurimaa]#IVE BEEN TALKING ABOUT JUPSO MORE RECENTLY THANKS TO @ KIWIKIPEDIA AND MANNNN#i almost feel bad for jupso.#like hellir' certainly had it difficult with being the one picking up in qui-gon's aftermath and he helped obi-wan work through a lot of#different traumas and how to move forward with what He feels is right rather than like.. following what qui-gon asked of him#he's already been a savior many times over and he just loves to see others grow because he himself was taught so well and carried on after#his master “mysteriously disappeared” (cough cough got vanished on purpose)#but then jupso is just kinda. really pathetic#he saw a prophecy that yoda and his four students would ultimately bring down the order if yoda. HIS OWN MASTER AT THE TIME. was not taken#out of the grandmaster position. but instead of going w the prophecy he just left the order entirely and went back home#his family and wife convinced him to go back and save the children at least but he refused to get anywhere near yoda#and thus allowed the prophecy to not only come to fruition but also allowed a consequential prophecy to manifest in one of his padawans#that pretty much said “good job. the force is about to break into physical shards and with it will come hell. have fun”#he couldn't even die in peace bc the grim reaper said no. LOL suffer
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idea: on the other side of things, satine and jango also time traveled! they're both subtly trying to destroy death watch (satine is unraveling maul's end of The Sith Plot, and jango is dealing with dooku's part) without realizing the other is a time traveler. they have very different ideas of how to go about doing so.
at some point before they have the Time Traveler Discussion, mace and obi wan go on the mission protecting satine from death watch. jango shows up hunting death watch. cue all four of them attempting to hide the fact that they're all time traveling.
many years later, obi wan has the idea to go check on kamino/deal with dooku. upon arrival, he and the rest of the time jedi discover jango ran away with a bunch of his favorite alphas (because hey, free army!) and started another war. they go searching for jango around mandalore and instead find that the kryze sisters are temporarily allied for maul-killing purposes. jango (with boba in tow) keeps getting in everyone's way while attempting to rescue arla from the nite owls. bo katan keeps trying to kill him.
for extra fun, maul is also time traveling. he, too, knows most of The Sith Plan, and is also attempting revenge against palpatine & grievous, this time with an alive talzin, savage, and feral.
mace has a massive shatterpoint migraine. palpatine has a Bad Feeling About This.
📓 👀
(for the daydream plot ask meme) TIMETRAVEL, BUT MAKE IT COMPLICATED. Ok, so. Several council members are yeeted back in time at the moment of their deaths, mentally — ie. die, and then wake up back in the past, not body doubles or anything. Mace, Plo Shaak and Kit, all of whom wake up in the halls of healing and proceed to Freak Out very quietly, because, like, what the fuck but also oh my god the sith. They work out that the others are also time travelers, and then proceed to conspiracy theory very quietly attempt to fix, y'know, the whole sith plot attempting to genocide them out of existence.
Mace survived longest — I refuse to believe he died when he got shoved out the window, he was kicking about in the rebellion era for a little while with a cybernetic hand and is very thankful and a little weirded out to have both hands back now — so he's kind of their point man, when it comes to 'oh we need to fix that too, turns out it was part of The Sith Plot.'
This is complicated, somewhat, by the fact that Mace just took Obi-wan on as a padawan. He didn't mean to! he fucked up!! he's not sure what they did but Qui-gon — instead of taking obi-wan as his padawan, as they're all pretty sure happened in the original timeline — was wildly cruel to initiate kenobi, basically accused him of being half a second from a fall, and then made him cry. Which: yikes what the fuck how did they screw up the timeline that bad.
None of them really knew obi-wan until he was, y'know, Adult; prior to that he was qui-gon's padawan, and also, it was like fourty fucking years ago for them. They collectively remember…uh, obi-wan had some fucked missions as a padawan? maybe he went to agricorps on a mission? no one is quite sure, because, like, it was a weird thing that mostly resolved itself, whatever the fuck it was. He grows up to be Obi-wan Kenobi, though, so it's not like they could let him go to the fucking agricorps. Best case, general kenobi doesn't exist and the war goes badly — if they can't prevent the war —, worst case, general kenobi does exist, but like. evil.
Unbeknownst to them, obi-wan was also shot back in time at the moment of his death. And then, because that boy has never met a problem he didn't attempt to solve all on his own, decided he was just going to fake his death and go into the galaxy to, y'know, deal with the sith plot all on his own. He's been alone for twenty fucking years after the genocide of his people. He can handle being alone but knowing they're alive.
He's not about to raise suspicions, though, so he accepts when mace offers to be his master instead of what happened the first time around, with bandomeer and the suicide offer etc — he feels a little bad, because he's 100% going to fake his death at the first opportunity, bc, y'know, sith plot to end, but mace is a busy man who's on the fucking council, probably he's not even going to mind too much, really. Qui-gon certainly wouldn't have.
Thus ensues two sets of time travelers being like who the fuck is doing that as team council and obi-wan make changes to the sith plot. Mace would be tearing his hair out if he had hair; not only is the butterfly effect apparently way more complicated than logically makes sense — they fucked up the death stick trade on ryloth, and now somehow three outer rim planets are in revolt???? (it was obi-wan) — but also his new padawan keeps nearly getting killed.
Obi-wan, on the other hand, is losing his damn mind. On the one hand, goddamn, mace is the absolute bastion of kindness and steadfastness and everything he always was! he didn't know that mace and shaak and plo and kit were friends, but it's so nice to see them, and he missed them, and for all his appointment to the council was kind of tainted by the war it was a community of friends who he missed dearly.
On the other hand, please, he is trying to fake his death. Please be less attentive. Please stop rescuing him from seemingly deadly situations. He's fine he just needs to be a little fake dead, and also stop the sith, and also not let anyone realise that he is a sixty year old in a thirteen year old's body.
#star wars#reblogs#time travel au#shaak ti#jedi#mandalorians#dooku hired jango bc he regularly uncovers massive government conspiracies on high profile jobs and is consistently like#'not my circus not my monkeylizards ¯\_(ツ)_/¯'#except in the time travel he now knows that dookus plot leads to his death. so all bets are off#on satines side of stuff#she knows about pre vizsla/death watch/maul/etc#and is attempting to deal with them in a way that does not end in the destruction of mandalore#sometimes her goals align w jangos re: Deposing The Vizslas#sometimes she has to deal with *two* different factions of mandos fighting over sundari#also korkie has been informed about The Sith Plan since he was pretty good at that sort of stuff in the previous/canon version of events#however! neither of them survived the war so therefore have no idea about the long term bits of The Sith Plan#and so keep messing up mace and obi wans plans#with their particular brands of Mandalorian Chaos#by the time they reach geonosis they have an incredibly scrambled galaxy#featuring: a smaller clone army (jango ran away after getting boba)#a bunch of jedi all suspiciously well trained for fighting droids; military tactics; and battlefield force-healing#another bunch of jedi suspiciously well prepared for fighting sith (and also standing around outside palpatine's front door)#a vaguely reformed haat mandoade waging war on death watch and also sending assassins after dooku#the nite owls waging war on the main branch of death watch and also maul#dathomir fully armed for war (complete with war-rancors) and maul preparing an invasion of coruscant#and a bewildered palpatine
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Hi im Sick Still so 🤡
#but we just watched star wars ep 3 and now were watching maze runner so im :)#its been a very emotionally & physically draining last few days#like literally sobbing in my bed for hours punched a wall kinda shit#but obi wan & minho are doing a great job at distracting me for now lmao#yours in good faith && ooc
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Kit kit have you been keeping up with Ahsoka show? Ong the most beautiful thing since the prequels 😫😫🥹
I have not yet watched but I’ve also seen all the spoilers! What a feast! Tbh my most beautiful thing since the prequels was definitely the Kenobi show and will always be the Kenobi show when it comes to Star Wars but these gifsets on my dash are very pretty and everyone’s excitement is infectious!
#asks#Hayden looks good good job everyone#realized recently that I am an obi wan girlie though oops and I am excited for all the new Ahsoka&anakin content#but more like soccer mom in the crowd ag kids soccer game excited#not like I’m on the field myself#(kenobi show was me on the field taking ball after ball to the head)#ahsoka spoilers#just in case
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An interesting codywan au could be Cody’s chip breaking quickly after order 66. Not wanting to join the empire and thinking he killed Obi Wan, he’s able to find some mandalorian armor and settle on Concordia to hide out. Luckily he finds a tribe that vows to never take off their helmets and would never ask Cody to either, making for a good reason for no one to find out he’s a clone. After moving with the tribe a few times he ends up on Nevarro and adopts a foundling no one else seemed to want to take in. The kid reminded him of his brothers when they were still tubies so of course he adopted him. Years down the road he’s on tatooine with his ad’ika and the little green baby (who Cody keeps calling the kid his grand-ad’ika) they found on a job. Later on Cody and Din are led to a small hut by a young man named Luke who said he knows someone who can help them. Cody freezes seeing Obi Wan, he’s older and greyer, but his eyes shine just the same. Cody can’t help himself before he takes off his helmet, much to his sons complete confusion. Cue Cody and Obi Wan having an intense reunion, practically about to kiss each other while Luke, Din, and Grogu just stand in the corner like ???
#Cody would go by Kote as a mandalorian I promise you#and obviously this would be Dinluke as well#star wars#the mandalorian#commander cody#obi wan kenobi#codywan#the clone wars#clones#au#Star Wars au
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The Holiday AU! Been listening to the soundtrack all month and got all the Obikin feels ☃️
So. Newly-single Obi-Wan leaves his home in England and travels to the US for the holidays hoping to forget about his breakup. (He was with Satine but they grew apart.)
After he arrives he does some brooding in his Airbnb, then goes out to a bar where he meets Anakin. They have what was supposed to be a one-night-stand but caaaant seem to stay away from each other. Later, Obi-Wan finds out about little Luke and Leia. (This was always one of my favorite parts of the movie 😭 The kids are so cuuute) Turns out Anakin is a widowed DILF (sorry Padme). Obi-Wan is a hit with the twins but oh nooo he must return to England and go back to his super successful job. (Doing what? Idk publishing or something) On his way to the airport he’s like, hmm oh wait, I love that DILF. Queue rom-com goodness with Obi-Wan dramatically going back and they reunite and smooch. They then spend NYE together and boom let the credits roll.
The movie’s ending isn’t actually clear on how they work out the distance thing, but in this version I think Obi-Wan eventually moves to be with Anakin and the twins ❤️
#my art#obikin#anakin skywalker#obi wan kenobi#star wars fanart#sw fanart#star wars#the holiday#the holiday au#luke skywalker#leia organa#skywalker twins#skywalker family#christmas romance#christmas romcom#should I draw more scenes??#there’s so many mooore
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Debunking myths in the GFFA: Luke Skywalker isn't the One True Jedi™ and doesn't "reject the Jedi teachings."
The myth:
Luke's Jedi mentors - trained to be dispassionate and mission-driven - callously tell him to let his friends die in service of a greater cause.
"In The Empire Strikes Back, Luke becomes Yoda's Padawan, and there are echoes of Anakin's training and the dilemmas he faced. Like Anakin, Luke is told he is too old to begin the training. Like Anakin, he has a vision of his loved ones suffering in captivity, and receives cold advice from Yoda, who tells him to sacrifice Han and Leia if he honors what they fight for." - Jason Fry, “Family Tradition; Rejecting the Jedi Teachings” Star Wars Insider #130, 2012
The intended narrative:
The Jedi are actually right on all points. Luke isn't ready or fully trained and he's arrogantly letting his emotions rule him and rushing into danger. By ignoring them, Luke gets himself into a spot of trouble that actually jeopardizes the lives of the very friends he tried to help, as they now need to rescue him.
“It’s pivotal that Luke doesn’t have patience. He doesn’t want to finish his training. He’s being succumbed by his emotional feelings for his friends rather than the practical feelings of “I’ve got to get this job done before I can actually save them. I can’t save them, really.” But he sort of takes the easy route, the arrogant route, the emotional but least practical route, which is to say, “I’m just going to go off and do this without thinking too much.” And the result is that he fails and doesn’t do well for Han Solo or himself.”
“Luke is making a critical mistake in his life of going after- to try to save his friends when he’s not ready. There’s a lot being taught here about patience and about waiting for the right moment to do whatever you’re going to do.”
“Luke is in the process of going into an extremely dangerous situation out of his compassion— Without the proper training, without the proper thought, without the proper foresight to figure out how he’s gonna get out of it. His impulses are right, but his methodology is wrong.”
The myth:
The Jedi want Luke to repress his feelings and kill his father, to destroy the Sith, their religious enemies. As emotionally-detached Jedi, it is inconceivable that a Sith would come back from the Dark Side, and thus wrongly believe that the only solution is to kill Vader.
"It's easy to miss that Luke disagrees sharply with his Jedi teachers about what to do. Obi-Wan and Yoda have trained Luke and push him toward a second confrontation with Vader. He is, they believe, the Jedi weapon that will destroy both Vader and the Emperor. When Luke insists there is still good in Vader, Obi-Wan retorts that "he's more machine than man-twisted and evil." When Luke says he can't kill his own father, Obi-Wan despairs, "Then the Emperor has already won." But Obi-Wan could not be more wrong. It is precisely because Luke can't kill his own father that he defeats the Sith." - Jason Fry, Star Wars Insider #130, 2012
The intended narrative:
The Jedi never tell Luke to "kill" his father. That's just a fact.
They tell him to "confront" and "face" him.
Their bottom line is that Vader and the Emperor need to be stopped.
If Luke can manage to do so without killing his father, that's great.
"In Jedi the film is really about the redemption of this fallen angel. Ben is the fitting good angel, and Vader is the bad angel who started off good. All these years Ben has been waiting for Luke to come of age so that he can become a Jedi and redeem his father. That's what Ben has been doing, but you don't know this in the first film." - Star Wars: The Annotated Screenplays, 1998
(credit to @writerbuddha for finding the above quote)
The problem is: Darth Vader has a track record of murdering loved ones who refuse to kill him. Be it his wife...
... his father/brother...
... and if you're going by Canon, his little sister.
As such, there's a very strong chance that Vader might do the same to his son as well.
“A Jedi can’t kill for the sake of killing. The mission isn’t for Luke to go out and kill his father and get rid of him. The issue is, if he confronts his father again, he may, in defending himself, have to kill him, because his father will try to kill him.” - 1981 story conference, from The Making of Return of the Jedi
Now, as the last Jedi left, the fate of the galaxy rests entirely on Luke's shoulders.
If he dies, then the galaxy and its billions of inhabitants are doomed to live in a tyrannical dictatorship forever.
“He knows a confrontation is brewing between Luke and his father. Ben hopes Luke will either save his father or kill him, because whatever extra powers Luke's got in his lineage, he is the one person that can probably fight his father and win.” - The Star Wars Archives: 1977-1983, 2018
There's a time for talking things through... and a time to do your duty. Above all else, a Jedi's duty is to end conflict.
Obi-Wan was once tasked with this same duty.
And while he managed to weaken Vader considerably (thus avoiding the catastrophe of a full-powered Vader being unleashed onto the galaxy)... because of his attachment, he failed to kill Vader.
Twice, if you include the Kenobi show.
(A show which, per Pablo Hidalgo, is one of George Lucas' favorite recent Star Wars projects, a tidbit that doesn't surprise me one bit considering how much the series perfectly aligns with what Lucas said about Star Wars (see here, here and here))
Point being: because Ben failed his duty, the galaxy suffered for it.
Luke is now in danger of doing the same.
If he's unable to end the conflict in a peaceful way, then Luke needs to be ready to do so in a more permanent manner. Because while Luke has qualms about killing his father, there's a very big chance that the feeling won't be mutual.
So Luke isn't rejecting his teachers' orders to kill Vader. He's saying he's unable to confront Vader altogether, because he'll be half-assing the task. In the (very likely) worst case scenario where reasoning with Vader fails, Luke is concerned he won't be able to follow-through and do what he must.
Further, there's also a worse outcome to Luke dying: Luke joining the Dark Side and becoming yet another asset of the Emperor, more dangerous than Vader himself.
It's thus essential that Luke steel himself and mask his emotions, because the Emperor is a master manipulator who'll likely attempt to corrupt Luke via the strong emotions he has for his friends.
Obi-Wan is not telling Luke to repress his emotions. On the contrary, he acknowledges that these feelings do Luke credit. But the fact remains that when your opponent can jiu-jitsu those feelings against you and your friends, you need to keep a poker face.
And judging by how close the Sith Lords come to seducing Luke to the Dark Side...
... that advice is completely on point.
The myth:
"It isn't Jedi teachings that save the galaxy, but bonds the Jedi tried to forbid - such as the love of a father for his son, and a son for his father. Emotional attachments, in other words." - Jason Fry, Star Wars Insider #130, 2012
The intended narrative:
In Return of the Jedi, Luke isn't doing anything different than what other Jedi have done.
He does his best to avoid lethal force unless he deems that it is necessary (see his fight against Jabba's hostile forces).
He sacrifices himself for the greater good and let himself be captured, in order to allow the mission to be carried out.
He tries to reason with his enemy, hoping to avoid conflict.
He spares his enemy, showing mercy.
That's all standard Jedi stuff. We've seen other Jedi do all those things, both in the films and The Clone Wars.
If that isn't enough, just look at how Lucas describes what Jedi normally do (left), versus what Luke does in Return of the Jedi (right):
See what I mean? There’s pretty much no difference.
In Lucas' narrative, Luke isn’t “better than” or “rejecting the teachings” of the Jedi who came before him. He’s following the Jedi path. And he's really good at doing so.
Because this idea that Luke "rejects the teachings" makes no sense! They're Lucas' teachings. He agrees with the Jedi, they're the mouthpieces he uses to deliver the audience his own values.
Lucas having his main character do something he'd ideologically disagree with is something that doesn't make sense.
And part of this confusion comes from a misunderstanding of the word "attachment", in Star Wars.
It doesn't mean "emotional attachments" or "feelings" or "affection." It comes from the Buddhist principle of non-attachment.
It's not about depriving yourself of relationships or affection, it's about accepting that everything comes and goes and letting go of those very things you hold on to, when the time comes.
Lucas makes a distinction in his discourse between attachment and compassion.
"The whole idea of the movie, ultimately is that you have the Light Side and the Dark Side. The Light Side is compassion, which means you care about other people. The Dark Side is you care only about yourself. And you are obsessed with yourself. Getting your pleasure and getting all your stuff. The other one, you give it to everybody. You give goodness and health to everybody else. So the issue of love... there’s a line between loving somebody compassionately and caring about them and helping them. But the other line is not to be greedy or... once you are greedy then you get fearful. You don’t want to lose what it is you have that you are getting. So you have to learn to give up everything. And ultimately for a Jedi Knight, it’s very easy to give up." - Celebration V, Main Event, 2010
In-universe, this is something Anakin knew the theory of, but never really applied all that much.
Luke on the other hand, was able to learn the lesson and apply it.
Speaking in Lucas lingo, it's not Luke's attachment that makes him spare Vader. It's his compassion. And in turn, that compassion inspires Vader to do the same.
"It really has to do with learning. Children teach you compassion. They teach you to love unconditionally. Anakin can’t be redeemed for all the pain and suffering he’s caused. He doesn’t right the wrongs, but he stops the horror. The end of the Saga is simply Anakin saying, ‘I care about this person, regardless of what it means to me. I will throw away everything that I have, everything that I have grown to love - primarily the Emperor - and throw away my life, to save this person. And I’m doing this because he has faith in me, loves me despite all the horrible things I’ve done. I broke his mother’s heart, but he still cares about me, and I can’t let that die.’" - The Making of Revenge of The Sith; page 221
Or, to put things more simply:
Attachment (selfish love), is what makes Anakin do this:
Compassion (selfless love), is what makes Luke do this:
Now, could Lucas have made his narrative more explicit, to avoid confusion? Maybe.
But I think it's also fair to point the finger at the biggest cause of these muddied waters:
Simply put, the Expanded Universe (the Star Wars books, novels and games that spun out of the films) established new lore elements that didn't necessarily align with Lucas' vision of things. Namely:
Jedi can get married, and Luke marries Mara Jade.
Jedi can begin their training as adults, and Luke takes on many apprentices that are already adults.
When considering George's minimal involvement in the development of EU stories, it's easy to see why these plot points were allowed to come through.
But when he made the Prequels, his headcanons came to light and the above plot points needed to be retconned.
George Lucas' narrative:
"Nope. You can't be a Jedi and be married."
This isn't actually coming out of left field.
When Timothy Zahn asked for Luke and Mara to be married or engaged, back in 1993, Lucasfilm initially vetoed the idea.
And over the years, Lucas and other Lucasfilm employees have made it it clear that "Luke getting married" did not align with his vision (so much so that it's a plot point in Attack of the Clones).
So the question becomes: why can't Jedi get married?
It's about commitment.
Simply put: you can't have two marriages. Eventually, your commitment to one of them will falter and you'll ruin them both. A Jedi is already married to the cause and to the Order.
If they want to get married, they have to leave the Jedi.
"One of the things [the Jedi] give up is marriage. They can still love people. But they can’t possess them. They can’t own them. They can’t demand that they do things. They have to be able to accept the fact, one, their mortality, that they are going to die. And not worry about it. That the loved ones they have, everything they love is going to die and they can’t do anything about it. I mean they can protect them as you would ordinarily protect, you know, ‘Get out of the way of that car.’ Somebody charges you with a gun, you knock the gun out, but there is an inevitability to life which is death and you have to accept that." - Celebration V, Main Event, 2010
And this is another example, really, of how Lucas' own values and past experiences shape the Jedi's teachings.
Marcia Lucas divorced George because he was constantly working on Star Wars, even when he wasn't directing it, which she said led to an emotional blockage in their marriage...
... and this leads us to the reason why George didn't double-down on the success of the Original Trilogy: he decided to take time off to raise his three kids as a single Dad.
He learned his lesson, reasoned that he wouldn't be able to be both a good, present father and a successful blockbuster film director.
When you're dealing with time-consuming commitments of this scale, you need to make a choice, or you'll end up (half-assing and thus ruining) both of them.
"Nope. Jedi get taken in as babies for a reason."
Once again, this has to do with Lucas' definition of "attachment."
"Jedi Knights get taken from their families very young. They do not grow attachments, because attachment is a path to the Dark Side. You can love people, but you can't want to possess them. They're not yours. Accept that they have a fate. Even those you love most are going to die. You can't do anything about that. Protect them with your lightsaber, but if they die they were going to die. There's nothing you can do. All you can do is accept that fact. In mythology, if you go to Hades to get them back, you're not doing it for them, you're doing it for yourself. You're doing it because you don't want to give them up. You're afraid to be without them. The key to the Dark Side is fear. You must be clean of fear, and fear of loss is the greatest fear. If you're set up for fear of loss, you will do anything to keep that loss from happening, and you're going to end up in the Dark Side. That's the basic premise of Star Wars and the Jedi, and how it works. That's why they're taken at a young age to be trained. They cannot get themselves killed trying to save their best buddy when it's a hopeless exercise." - The Star Wars Archives: 1977-1983, 2018
Jedi need to maintain objectivity and neutrality, in their day-to-day lives of mediating peace between planets.
And learning to "let go of your attachments when the time comes" is part of that training. But it is something that takes discipline and time, and thus the child needs to be young enough to develop this skill. Otherwise, they end up like Anakin, who always struggled to properly learn it and eventually was doomed by his greed.
This being part of Lucas narrative is also evidenced that in his earlier plans for the Sequel trilogy, he'd have Luke train children, not adults like he does in the EU.
"Luke is trying to restart the Jedi. He puts the word out, so out of 100,000 Jedi, maybe 50 or 100 are left. The Jedi have to grow again from scratch, so Luke has to find two- and three-year-olds, and train them. It’ll be 20 years before you have a new generation of Jedi." The Star Wars Archives: 1999-2005, 2020
The EU's retcons of Lucas' narrative:
Now, obviously, the addition of all these rules and other elements such as midi-chlorians... it does something to the older audience. They grew up on the Original Trilogy, dreaming they could be a Jedi too if they just believed enough. Now that bubble is burst.
"Wait, if I'm a Jedi I can't get married?! And I need to be taken in as a toddler, with a certain kind of blood score?! That's bullshit!"
More importantly... it goes against about a decade's worth of established EU lore (which Lucas never factored into his storytelling)!
So what does Lucasfilm Licensing do? They go with it.
They take these "weird" rules the older audience and authors don't like, and retcon a new narrative around them to ensure both the books and the new films all stay canon within the EU own continuity.
George Lucas revealed new information about his universe in Episode II that ran counter to earlier stories of the Expanded Universe. Among the surprises: the Jedi Order is monastic, with love and marriage forbidden to its members. This would necessitate reforms to the Jedi Code over time to separate the ancient era when Nomi Sunrider was married to a Jedi, seen in the Tales of the Jedi (1993–94) comics, as well as the post-Empire era when Luke Skywalker married Mara Jade in the comic series Union (1999–2000). LucasBooks also needed to create plausible exceptions for Ki-Adi-Mundi, a Jedi Master who had multiple wives in the Prelude to Rebellion comics (1999). - Pablo Hidalgo, The Essential Reader’s Companion, 2012
When it comes to Luke specifically, the narrative becomes:
"Uh... y-yes. The old Jedi Order forbid marriage, only took in toddlers and had a blood pre-requisite... which was weird, wrong, too detached, too systemic, and part of why their Order failed! But, uh, Luke's New Jedi Order allows marriage, unlike his dogmatic predecessors, because anyone can be a Jedi guys!" Hahaha! (fuck's sake George)
But as already explained above: those new rules aren't meant to be perceived negatively. It would make no sense if they were, they're based on Lucas' own values.
You know what it does do, though?
It cements the narrative that Luke is the One True Jedi™, who rejected the dogmatic teachings to forge a new path forward.
That's not the intended narrative of the Original Trilogy, nor the six-film saga as a whole.
If you've made it this far in the post (congratulations) and are interested to read another all-encompassing post about that, you can check out the link below :)
#long post#REALLY long post#meta#luke skywalker#anakin skywalker#ben kenobi#star wars#george lucas#jedi order#yoda#jedi#empire strikes back#return of the jedi#the empire strikes back#original trilogy#tesb#ESB#ROTJ#star wars rotj#sw rotj#darth vader#sam witwer#dave filoni#attachment
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Lightsaber Theory: Obi-Wan "Sith Lords are Our Specialty" Kenobi consistently loses duels to Dooku not for any reason of technical form mismatch or lack of ability, but because Dooku is not even pretending to try to kill him. Resultantly, Obi-Wan can’t figure out what the fuck is going on when they fight.
Obi-Wan: (preparing to defend an expected lethal strike) You’ll answer for your enormities, Count!
Dooku: (giving him the lightest love tap on the leg) Don’t be so sure, my special good lineage baby boy, so perfect in my eyes.
Obi-Wan: …What?
Dooku: What?
Which Dooku and Obi-Wan proud lineage moment is even the most unhinged? There are so many to choose from! Is it Dooku’s frequent inability, both in AotC and TCW, to keep from spontaneously gushing about Sidious’s plans and even his own dark secrets to Obi-Wan?? Is it the time in Labyrinth of Evil where Dooku drags a long-suffering, bored Grievous over to watch a holorecording of Anakin and Obi-Wan thwarting his plans yet again, to point out how beautifully they’re working together as a team and how much he likes watching their lightsaber work evolve? Is it in the recent Brotherhood novel, where Obi-Wan just has to casually namedrop Qui-Gon to get Dooku to do exactly what he wants?
Obi-Wan is a big problem for Sidious in his mission to destabilize and corrupt Anakin, and Sidious knows it. He needs him out of the picture to do the same isolating, evil bullshit that worked so well when ensnaring Dooku himself. But the war has been going on for years now, and guess who remains inconveniently alive? And whose job was that to take care of? Oh yeah. I remember. His useless, Padawan assassin-collecting apprentice: fucking Count Dooku. By the time of RotS, Sidious has specifically ordered Dooku to make fucking sure Obi-Wan is dead only for him to completely ignore the command about a half-dozen times.
Going by the Stover RotS novelization, in the same scene where Dooku also literally refers to Obi-Wan as his fucking grandson actually, add that to our earlier list, Sidious reiterates that KILL OBI-WAN is the plan (over the sound of Dooku’s loud complaining) moments before that final duel. I kind of wish we’d gotten a shot of Sidious's incredulous, enraged expression as Dooku knocks Obi-Wan unconscious and pins him safely out of the way. He is, once again, going out of his way to not kill Obi-Wan in that duel, and this time directly disobeying his Master to his face after they just had a conversation about it. You just know exactly what Sidious must be thinking at that moment. Oh, Dooku. You are so fucking fired.
#count dooku#obi wan kenobi#darth sidious#disaster lineage#lightsaber nerd stuff#the clone wars#revenge of the sith#star wars books#Sidious is so done#you know he had to wake up every morning of Dooku's apprenticeship and just repeat a calming mantra about not killing him yet#oh no the notoriously defiant rule breaker Jedi I corrupted is acting like a notoriously defiant rule breaker#but really#I love that Dooku was secretly (not so secretly) proud of Obi-Wan
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