Luke, you’re going to find that many of the truths we cling to depend greatly on our own point of view. Anakin was a good friend. When I first met him, your father was already a great pilot. But I was amazed how strongly the Force was with him. I took it upon myself to train him as a Jedi. […]
Bury your feelings deep down, Luke. They do you credit, but they could be made to serve the Emperor.
I will always defend Obi-Wan’s motivations in this scene, given what we know of the prequels, why he made the choices he did and how it’s not lying just for the sake of manipulation.
He’s faced with this good-natured kid (this blond, blue-eyed child from the deserts of Tatooine) who wants to do good in the galaxy, who has such a strong connection to the Force, who is an amazing pilot, who has all these desperately strong feelings and an overwhelming need to find a greater path in life.
Who is going to face a Sith Lord who is a master of manipulation, who takes that desire for an authority/father figure and preys on it, who will twist this good-hearted kid into serving his own will, no matter how well intentioned this kid is. No matter how sure of himself he is, the Emperor, knows how he can fool him and find a way to slither into his heart, to put him in an impossible situation where he has to serve the Emperor because he wants to save someone.
Obi-Wan isn’t omitting the truth to Luke just because it’s easier, but because he’s seen what Palpatine did to Anakin. Sweet, good-natured Anakin, this blond haired, blue-eyed child from the deserts of Tatooine who wanted to do so much good in the galaxy, who so badly wanted to help people, who wanted to save people, who had this tremendous well of feelings roiling around in him, who was manipulated and preyed upon by Palpatine.
Palpatine used Anakin’s feelings against him, to destroy that good in him until nothing was left. Used his desire for a kindly authority figure who validated everything he spent his whole life wanting to hear. Of course he would do the exact same thing to Luke, and telling Luke about Vader (who has fallen so far that he cannot be trusted with Luke, who they fear would only turn him over to the Emperor, because Vader seemed to wholly, truly believe in the Emperor) would only send Luke running to them to be manipulated, to be told everything he’s spent his life wanting to hear, to have a kindly father/father figure put him in another impossible position.
Obi-Wan can’t do that again, not after it destroyed that person he loved so much, not after it killed all the good in Anakin Skywalker.
Thank You.
I would like to add that I see a lot of fans ignore the wording of what Obi-Wan says. It’s a very deliberate word choice.
“You’re going to find that many of the truths we cling to depend greatly on our own point of view.” [emphasis added].
This isn’t Obi-Wan being all “Lol, sorry I lied, but really, go kill your dad.” No. He’s admitting his own weakness and apologizing. This isn’t Luke’s truth he’s clinging to.
It’s Obi-Wan’s.
This was the Point of View he had to view Anakin’s betrayal through. It’s the truth he clung to. The one that chased the pain away, however briefly, those years on Tatooine. He had to believe that Vader had destroyed everything worthwhile about Anakin. Because neither Padme or Obi-Wan was able to bring back their Anakin after he declared himself Vader. The last time he’d seen Anakin, the man had violently attacked his own wife, his pregnant wife, the woman he slaughtered the entire Jedi order for. Why on earth would he ever think that Luke being Anakin’s child would protect him?
I’ve watched those scenes, re-read the script, and all I can think is that what Obi-Wan wanted for Luke was that Luke would be stronger than him, better. It’s what all good parents and teachers want for their children. He hoped Luke would be strong enough to stop Vader when the time was right, strong enough to see past his emotions to do what the galaxy needed, because Obi-Wan wasn’t.
That Luke was instead, strong enough, that Anakin was attached and remorseful enough, for Luke to drag him back into the light, well… I think that speaks to Obi-Wan’s hopes being fulfilled. They’re just ones that he couldn’t let himself admit to having because of the events of Mustafar and the truth he had to cling to in order to keep himself sane.
The last time he’d seen Anakin, the man had violently attacked his own wife, his pregnant wife, the woman he slaughtered the entire Jedi order for.
This is a point that I don’t think gets considered enough and thank you for bringing it up–the last time Obi-Wan saw Anakin, he Force-choked his pregnant wife because he was angry.
Obi-Wan never knew why Anakin turned to the Dark Side. He knew there was so much anger and fear in him, he knew Anakin had problems, but he couldn’t see the depth of them (because he was never objective about Anakin, he loved Anakin too much for that, he was entirely biased about him and believed in him), but he had no idea why Anakin would turn to Sidious. And the last he saw of Anakin was when he attacked Padme while she was super, super pregnant, which is every reason to think that not even the people Anakin loves(/loved) would be enough to stop Vader from attacking them.
Can you imagine what Obi-Wan thought could very likely happen? Luke, going to Vader, begging his father to stop this, to come back with him, that there was still good in him. Just like Padme had done. And Vader’s answer to that was to physically attack her, someone who was absolutely zero physical threat to him, someone he’d spent years loving. Why in the galaxy would Obi-Wan believe that Vader wouldn’t do the same to Luke, someone he doesn’t know, someone he hasn’t spent year loving, now that whatever might still have been left of Anakin Skywalker on Mustafar is now 20+ years dead?
If Vader would attack his pregnant wife, why wouldn’t he attack his fully grown son, too? Obi-Wan wanted to spare Luke from that as much as possible–that Luke was able to bring forth one last decent moment from Anakin Skywalker, bring him back to the light, was nothing short of the miracle that is Luke Skywalker and, honestly, nobody was happier than Obi-Wan that it was still possible, that Anakin came back to the light.
Imagine Obi Wan and Anakin during the Clone Wars having a rare break from the war back at the Jedi Temple deciding to go a few rounds in the practice ring together, eager to test their skill in a controlled environment since they rarely having time to train properly because they’re always in actual battles and having to modify their fighting techniques to the conditions. They use the practice rooms in the evening when everyone’s eating so it’s quieter so they’re less likely to disturb anyone.
In the very corner of the room a young Padawan is practising a kata that she can’t quite get the hang of when Anakin and Obi Wan walk in. She’s stood there completely transfixed, watching as they start warming up and remembering all the stories she’s heard about the front lines of the Clone War and the daring victories of Obi Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker. Then they begin duelling, slowly at first, but gradually fighting more fiercely as the competitive nature of their relationship wins out. Imagine what it must look like – The Heroes With No Fear, unstoppable Jedi duo, war heroes using their battle sharp skills and instinctive understanding of each other’s fighting style against each other.
She skirts around the edges of room and runs down to one of the canteens where the some other Initiates and Padawans are eating, bursting into the room and yelling “SKYWALKER AND KENOBI ARE HAVING IT OUT IN THE PRACTICE CHAMBERS”. The entire room drops their stuff and runs, dragging people they meet in the corridor along with them.
Older Padawans and eventually Knights and Masters get wind that something’s going on and start showing up as well. Pretty soon they’re surrounded by a crowd egging them on and are single-handedly responsible for a sudden surge in some very un-Jedi like gambling trends.
Eventually, Anakin gets distracted being cocky with the crowd and Obi Wan manages to knock him on his arse and disarm him.
Yoda refuses to disclose how much money he won out of the betting pool.
I told myself I was never going to waste any of my valuable time drawing Anakin-piece-of-shit-Skywalker but then I couldn’t get this image out of my head
wrennette 