#because he was too afraid to be anything more than the perfect Jedi™️ according to Yoda and the Council

[gch1995]

HELP! I saw a post that compared Obi-Wan to Jesus! What is, in your opinion, the most fucked up thing Obi-Wan’s done??

Oh, while he was never horrifyingly evil at his worst, Obi-Wan Kenobi was far from a saint that so many of his stans paint him as either. He’s had quite a few shitty moments. He was generally a pretty terrible guardian, friend, and mentor to the Skywalker boys. Also, just not a very good person in general.

The worst moments he had would have to be:

• Cutting off Anakin’s organic limbs and leaving him to burn alive in agony on Mustafar-Anakin deserved to be stopped and held accountable for his crimes, but what Obi-Wan did here was just cruel and unusual punishment. He knew it, but he was too cowardly and vindictive to end Anakin’s suffering more swiftly when he had the chance.

• Using Padme, a defenseless pregnant woman, as live bait to lure Anakin into a position that would make it easier to execute him on Mustafar without her consent or knowledge-I get that Anakin was in an unhinged state at that point and needed to be stopped. However, Obi-Wan also knew that Anakin loved Padme deeply. He knew that she would be the last person that Anakin would ever be willing to physically endanger or harm. Considering she was pregnant with his kids, he would have reason to assume that she was one of the last people that Anakin still trusted. He knew that Padme was pregnant with Anakin’s kids.

Yet, he decided to further provoke an already unhinged Anakin by using Padme as bait to lure him into a trap that put him in a position that would make it easier for him to kill him for Yoda without Padme’s consent and knowledge. It doesn’t mean Anakin’s blameless for recklessly force choking Padme unconscious in a blind rage and paranoia like that on Mustafar. Regardless of the compromised sanity, Padme would still have had every right to hate him for doing that. However, between the two of them in that scene, Obi-Wan comes across as the more stable aggressor of that conflict, while Anakin was grappling with his sanity, really didn’t want to fight Obi-Wan, and probably could have been convinced to get back on that ship with Padme or surrendered to Obi-Wan if his friend and mentor hadn’t been trying to bait him into a conflict.

• Letting Anakin speak alone with Palpatine from the time he was a child under his care, in spite of suspecting he was shady. Then, enabling the Council’s decision to let Anakin join them, just so that they could use him as a spy with that friendship between him and the Chancellor in Revenge of the Sith, even though he knew it was wrong. Still, having the nerve to baselessly accuse Anakin of using his friendship with the Chancellor to get a seat as master on the Council afterwards- Obi-Wan wasn’t in the room when Anakin and the Chancellor were speaking. It was not his place to presume that Anakin used his friendship with the Chancellor to get a seat on the Council, which he didn’t. Even if he did, though, it sounded like victim blaming for Obi-Wan to be guilt tripping Anakin for having a friendship with the Chancellor that he and the Council, his guardians, allowed and encouraged for him to have from the time he was a child under their care to protect their public reputation in the Republic and to spy on him for their own benefits, in spite of their suspicions of Palpatine’s shadiness. He knew it was a bad idea for the Council to vote on letting Anakin have a seat, just so that they could use him as a mole to commit treason against Palpatine, but he still carried out their orders to Anakin because he was too much of a cowardly kiss ass to put his foot down and say no.

• Faking his death for a mission and disguising himself as Rakko Hardeen with Anakin because “he was too untrustworthy,” and then guilt tripping Anakin for getting reasonably pissed off about it after finding out- If a parent, family member, friend, or guardian ever pulled the shit that Obi-Wan did with Anakin in the Deception arc on me, then I would cut them off, and stop speaking to them forever. That’s not just an innocent misunderstanding. That’s emotional/psychological abuse.

• Encouraging Anakin to quit worrying about his mother the Jedi Council and Republic left in slavery when he has visions of her in danger, even though it is a fact that they could easily be true, which Obi-Wan knows well-Just bad advice from Obi-Wan that also would have made me cut off someone who ever did something like that to me in real life, too.

• Deceiving and manipulating an innocent Luke Skywalker to try to make him a weapon to finish off the monster of a man he and Yoda inadvertently helped turn his father into two decades earlier-It’s just fucked up to use an innocent man to clean up a mess with his biological father and the Empire that he had no hand in contributing to the creation of. Then, to never even express any signs of regret for it, even in the afterlife, makes it all the worse. At least, Anakin seems to learn to his lesson in the end for Luke. I can’t say the same thing about Obi-Wan and Yoda.

• Voting on Ahsoka’s Execution: The only reason why this one is not higher is because, though the evidence was not that great, I can see why Obi-Wan would doubt her innocence after Barriss framed her. At the very least, they took the trial to the Senate. Still very shitty.

• Shaming and dismissing Anakin for having his own opinions and trying to be a good person by just being himself- Yeah, he wanted him to be a perfect Jedi™️, but that entire lifestyle in the prequels was invalidating and unhealthy.

• His blind hypocrisy- Obi-Wan is very much the teacher of “do as I say, not as I do,” and Anakin clearly learned from example over 37 years in both the Jedi and Sith from those with positions of authority over him.

• The fact that he decided to honor Qui-Gonn’s dying wish to take on Anakin as a padawan, but then spent the rest of his life outright disrespecting his late master’s and his closest friends more balanced, compassionate, idealistic, open-minded, and understanding examples at their best to be Yoda’s blind ass-kisser to get on the Council and fit in repeatedly at all costs instead-Yeah, the Order is a cult that discourages individual emotional/psychological growth in the prequels. Qui Gonn was also corrupt in the way he only took an interest in little Anakin in the first place in his desire to use him as a weapon to destroy the Sith. It’s not just Obi-Wan’s fault he grew up to be that much of an infuriatingly close-minded ass-kissing conformist, but I also find him to be the most difficult Jedi of the prequels to empathize with for being that way because he actively put in an effort to not be anything better than that because he saw that trying to be a good person by trying to be true to themselves and explore possibilities outside of Yoda’s and the Council’s approval didn’t get Qui-Gonn, Anakin, or Ahsoka ahead in the Order.

All of Obi-Wan’s closest relationships were with emotionally-driven people, who, at their best, put in real efforts to be truly kind, spontaneously selfless, and self-motivated heroes for others in the galaxy who they felt needed their compassion and help because they genuinely cared about making a difference for the better, not just because it meant getting ahead or fitting in with the elites who held positions of authority over them in those organizations. It’s just difficult for me to empathize with a character who repeatedly rejected every opportunity he had to self-reflect and self-improve from Qui-Gonn’s, Anakin’s, Ahsoka’s, and Luke’s examples at their best, even though they were the closest to almost having true friends he ever got, so that he could suck up to the cold, close-minded, and elitist Yoda and Jedi Council who really never gave a shit about him or anyone outside of their pre-determined “greater good.”

I get that all the Jedi of the old Order and Republic were guilty of throwing away their agency, consciences, friendships, and relationships to serve corrupt authority figures with positions over them in public because they couldn’t feel safe saying no, and it’s not entirely their fault they grew up to be deeply dysfunctional adults. However, Obi-Wan is one of those old Jedi who rub me the wrong way the most for displaying that attitude in the prequels because he’s genuinely the most complacent with being Yoda’s and the Council’s close minded and subservient ass-kisser at all costs in public and private, and he makes an active effort to not self-reflect and self-improve because he sees it won’t get him ahead or fit in over and over again. While Anakin, Ahsoka, Qui Gonn, Ezra, and other more open-minded Jedi are more vulnerable to the dark side for wanting better outside of just Yoda’s and the Jedi Council’s boundaries in the prequels, they still have moments of self-reflection, they still have individual desires and needs outside of just the Order’s boundaries. They’re not comfortable in the Jedi Order, and while the ones who went dark were morally wrong to perpetuate crimes against them all for the Sith in their fear of the unknown, they weren’t wrong about deserving better than Yoda and the Jedi Council.

Most people in their positions in real life, in spite of all the grooming to be submissive to cult leaders and corrupt authority figures, would not feel truly comfortable being that way. Most would ask questions. Most would at least try to make an effort to be their own person with their own beliefs, ideals, interests, and motives outside of just their cult, even if they were too afraid to go public with it. Obi-Wan almost consistently makes an active effort to have no personal aspirations, identity, or life outside of just the Jedi Order. While it is tragic that he never felt confident enough to be someone outside of just Yoda and the Council, I find that really difficult to relate to because it’s not very realistic. Not to mention the fact that he was closest to people who genuinely cared about being good for something greater than just Yoda’s and the Council’s validation.

Like, why take on Anakin as a padawan to honor his master’s dying wish at all, if he only ever planned to dishonor his memory by making an active decision to be the type of Jedi that Yoda and the Council encouraged him and their recruits to be to fit in and get on the Council instead?

• His fighting style of baiting opponents into duels by egging them on and using their weaknesses against them-I know some people think it’s so cool that Obi-Wan is willing to bait his opponents into duels because it shows cunning and intellect, but it strikes me as a cowardly, dishonest, and dirty type of fighting technique in battle. He can’t just be clean, honest, fair, and direct when fighting his enemies. Obi-Wan always has to make it a game. Sure, later on Anakin attempts the same thing at times as Vader, but he also never got away with it. Obi-Wan kind of did because he was the “hero.”

If anyone who I follow wants to add any more, they’re welcome to:

@tragicfantasy-girl

@leias-left-hair-bun-again

@the-chosen-anakin