 Obi-Wan Kenobi's story has always been so fascinating to me. I love to see characters face failure head on, to see how they respond or react. Obi-Wan is one of the most compelling of the sort because he is kind of the perfect character for it. Obi-Wan, the perfect Jedi, the standard, the quote being that the council assigns for their most important missions. The Jedi that masters hold up as a model, modest, centered, and always kind. He's measured never impulsive, the ultimate Jedi. These are words that are often associated with Kenobi. It's almost like darkness never even reaches out to him. Not even a little bit. Because he is so solid, so steady. It's fascinating however that those closest to Obi-Wan, Bar Yoda, they are all very different from him. Satine can be hot-headed and impulsive, Anakin the poster boy for recklessness and impatience. Masoka is much like her master. Qui-Gon had a quote flare for the dramatic and a casual disregard for rules. These were all people who felt first and thought second. They all had their share of disputes with the Jedi, yet the consummate Jedi was attached to them all. As a Padawan, Qui-Gon was far from the perfect teacher for Obi-Wan, for he was much like Anakin, independent, mysterious, flexible, and he was at odds with Obi-Wan for that reason, because of his need for structure and rigidity. Claudia Grey's master and apprentice informs us that Obi-Wan was horrified every time Qui-Gon deviated from the standard protocols in the slightest, but one of the benefits of the Jedi Order is the vast amount of teachers and of resources that Obi-Wan could pull from. What he got from Qui-Gon he couldn't get from others, and the discipline that he couldn't get from Qui-Gon he instead got from, say Yoda. So when Qui-Gon died, and placed the fate of the chosen one into Obi-Wan's hands, in some ways, the chosen one's fate was already sealed. The relationship between Anakin and Obi-Wan was stronger than the one between Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan, due to the unique dynamics at play, mostly with the young Skywalker. We know that the Jedi code has never been too fond of attachment. While there might be love, admiration, and friendship among masters in Padawan and the Jedi Council, there is no attachment. It's why they raised Jedi so young, so that early attachments don't get formed. Anakin was a unique case, paraded as the chosen one by Qui-Gon, who follows the will of the Force. Because the young Skywalker was already attached to his mother, he then feared for her. At 9 years old, his emotions were already complex and attuned to a regular family. To me, Anakin needed two separate roles, one that was fit by the wrong person. He needed a true father figure, and he needed a master. Obi-Wan was a great master. He thought Anakin had to temper some of that emotion, how to be diplomatic, and how to use his head and not always his heart. But he couldn't navigate that aspect of the father. I think Qui-Gon could have matched Anakin's flair and fire, maybe tempering it and channeling it the way he did. When they met and when he recruited him, he was already playing this father figure type role to the chosen one. But Obi-Wan took upon himself the challenge of mentoring Anakin, because that is the type of man that Obi-Wan was. His master had a dying wish, a dying request, and he made a promise to Qui-Gon that he would fulfill no matter what. Obi-Wan was only 25 years old when he took Anakin on. All of the young Skywalker's questions, fears, and struggles were placed on Obi-Wan's shoulders. Anakin looked to him as a father figure, Obi-Wan saw himself as an older brother. To compare, Qui-Gon was 48 years old when he died, when he took the responsibility of the young Skywalker. Obi-Wan lacked so much experience for the role that Qui-Gon asked of him. Obi-Wan was a great partner, a great master, an exemplary Jedi, but the aspects that made him a consummate professional were ultimately his biggest downfall. Kenobi had his own spats with love and romance, with Duchess Satine, a woman he once loved and even considered leaving the Jedi Order for. Imagining how many times how a life with her would unfold, but his duty, the Jedi, always came first. When it came to Anakin and Padme, Obi-Wan always knew of his Padawan's emotions for the senator. The immense passion and love he felt for her were undeniable. However, Kenobi looked past it, almost expecting that his and the Jedi's teachings would steer Anakin off this path. When it came to Anakin's lingering darkness and fear, the attachment with his mother, Obi-Wan never addressed any of it, but Kenobi was well aware of his penchant for darkness and fear, as it was the very first thing that Yoda addressed when meeting the chosen one. And yet, as a Padawan, Anakin was able to go back to Tatooine and in a fit of rage, completely massacre the Tuscan Raiders, and Obi-Wan never knew about it. The Brotherhood novel by Mike Chen tells us that Anakin wanted to tell Obi-Wan about it, but he ultimately knew that he couldn't because he knew he would get judged and reprimanded by his master, that he might be pushed out. He knew that Obi-Wan would never truly understand his emotions. Obi, years later, tells Ahsoka that the dark side is strong with her master, and yet he never thought to confront Anakin about any of this. Obi-Wan had everything he needed in the Jedi. It's all he ever knew, that was where he was raised, they were his family. He had brothers and sisters and tons of mentors, a community to guide him and raise him. Anakin came from a family, with external attachments outside the Jedi Order. That was how he learned to interact. So to Anakin, the Jedi were not his family. Not like a true family, that he had but lost. That's not to say that he didn't respect and love and appreciate the Jedi, they simply did not replicate the warmth and the genuine love that his mother, that Padme, that Ahsoka, that Palpatine offered. That Obi-Wan seldom offered. When Anakin became a Jedi Knight himself, their relationship did change to a more comfortable one. From master and student, to equals and best friends, to brothers. Still, even at this heightened level of friendship and camaraderie, the depth of their bond ended at the tip of their lightsabers. Past being a Jedi, past the wars, past the battles, past all that, there was no deeper level of faith and trust between the two. In the Mandalore arc of the Clone Wars, Obi-Wan could barely let Anakin know about his relationship with Satine. Anakin had to piece it together through the dialogue and through context between the former lovers. That is just an example that there was no deeper connection. No blind trust that two best friends, that two brothers should have. There was no vulnerability. And Anakin, as sensitive as he was, felt that. It was a natural barrier that the Jedi created. And why would there be a deeper connection? Obi-Wan and Anakin were brothers through battle, through 13 years of being master and padwan and later fighting side by side as Jedi Knights in the Clone Wars. They weren't brothers through their deep discussions about their emotions and personal problems. And that's what it comes down to. There was never a desire to probe deeper than that. Like Palpatine did, Palpatine made it easy on the Jedi to open up, and ultimately to be manipulated. Because Obi-Wan was never able to step outside being a Jedi. The Jedi lifestyle consumes even their ability to be human sometimes. As Anakin continued to fall further, losing his mother, his padwan, and the nightmares about Padme, his relationship with Obi-Wan began to slip as well, as their duties towards the later stages of the Clone Wars required them to be apart from each other, where Anakin could, quote, indulge in some of his recklessness. Furthermore, the Council, which Obi-Wan was now on, denied Anakin the Mastership that he felt he rightfully deserved, and Obi-Wan kept the real reason from him. But the worst sin in this friendship was that Kenobi was not blind to it all. He knew Anakin's loyalty to those closest to him was greater than his dedication to the Jedi. He knew that Skywalker was a, quote, man loyal to people and not principles. And in Obi-Wan's defense, he tried to persuade the Council away from his decision. He pleaded with Yoda and Mace Windu against forcing Anakin's hand, but Obi-Wan did not go far enough. Even against his better judgment, he simply could not go against the Code. Forcing Anakin to spy on one of his closest and most trusted friends in Palpatine was, to me, the straw that broke the camel's back. You could blame all of this on the Code and on the Jedi, as he is just a man dedicated loyal to a Code. But Obi-Wan in some of these scenarios actively abandoned his own empathy and human instinct, so he is to blame as well. However, it's that very Code that gives him the strength and the faith to keep going, despite all of his losses and failures. Obi-Wan saw the only woman he ever loved get gutted in front of his very eyes by the same man who killed his mentor. Qui-Gon, Satine, died in front of him. Commander Cody, because of Order 66, turned against him. Ahsoka, nowhere to be found. All the younglings and Jedi that he interacted with daily, this large family, this large community that he felt so loved by, they were all gone. Even his droid, R-4, destroyed. All because they lost. Because he lost. Because he failed. Anakin Skywalker is just another one of his failures. His greatest failure. One that he had to cut down in the fiery pits of Mustafar with his own blade. His best friend, his brother. All of these losses, minus his master, happened through a span of about three years. Most of them coming towards the back end. And Kenobi has had to let them all go. He's been forced to move on. And after all this, he was still the being that the council tasked for their hardest missions, as he was asked once again to look after the next hero. For most of his life, Obi-Wan was a dedicated protector, a warrior. And now after being wiped out, he is forced to hide, while his own creation, his best friend, terrorizes an innocent galaxy. While he does nothing but wait, alone. Then you can just imagine all the emotions that he is forced to deal with in solitude. The guilt. The guilt that he failed Qui-Gon's one request of him. He failed his master. The guilt of not having saved Anakin Skywalker. The guilt of having killed his best friend. Of not realizing what had happened to him sooner. Then finding out he survived, Obi-Wan watched him burn. The guilt of now having to watch the Empire, the Sith destroy planets, people, cultures, watching the great Jedi Purge happen right in front of him, while he hides, and while he grieves, all that he's lost. Being tasked one more time to look after another child, another Skywalker, and every time he looks at Luke's face, and he sees him age, he sees Anakin, Padme, Vader, all in one. The same Darth Vader that terrorizes the galaxy because of him, while being alone. But it's not just the loneliness. How does he keep the fire burning? How does he still believe in the good, in the light, when he's surrounded by darkness, and fear. Guilt, trauma, grief, anger, so much pain. How to still believe in the Jedi when they lost, when those very teachings created a monster. When he had Yoda, and Mace Windu, and Jedi counselors to turn to for guidance, now he had nothing. When he had Anakin to look to, and find solace, and support, and security, now he had no one. He could only meditate, and ask the ghost of Qui-Gon for peace. And maybe even for forgiveness. And yet, by the time a new hope rolls around, we see a hardened, aged Ben Kenobi, and in those films, he looks more hopeful than ever. During that time, he had a duel, an encounter with an old enemy, Maul, the man who killed his mentor, and his only love. And the Obi-Wan we see, he fights now to protect the chosen one. There was no Jedi self-defense, there was no Obi-Wan the negotiator. It was quick and decisive. Though he might have cut Maul down for the second time, he gives Maul the respect and the warmth that he was only ever given by his brother. He cuts him down, and he catches the former Sith Warrior, as if he knew that there was more to this creature than just rage. And he listened to what Maul had to say. Kenobi then closes his eyes, and allows him to die in his arms, even burying his former enemy. And I think that, above anything, represents the man that Obi-Wan is. Somewhere, sometime in that 20 year exile, lamenting over his failures and his losses, Ben Kenobi built himself back up. He has a story of tremendous tragedy, but in a way, in a cruel and twisted way, he was the only man built for what he went through. He has lost just about everyone he's ever loved, everyone he's ever known. He will likely never speak to Yoda again. Why wouldn't he just abandon all hope? How many others wouldn't just wallow and sink and despair and in anger and lash out? So what's stopping Obi-Wan? Again, we have to go back to who he is at his core. Ben Kenobi is a steady, steady man. He rocks back and forth, but at all turns and at all failures. No matter how hard he is pushed, he will always return to the man that he is. He once said that it is important to never sacrifice the code, even if you have to forego Victor, because that risks losing the most important thing to him, his honor. That is the kind of man that Obi-Wan is. His honor, his values, they mean more to him than Victor. Peace means more to him than Victor. His rigidity and his loyalty to what he believes in is why he's able to let go, to let go of everything and everyone that he's ever lost. It's not to say that he doesn't doubt himself and that he hasn't questioned every fiber of his being. He has. He was forced to reflect upon his teachings and take from all those closest to him. To feel first and think second. A man who believed so profoundly in the Jedi Order and every one of their teachings, sometimes to the point of even arrogance. He had to abandon parts of his precious Jedi code. Through his failures there were some ideals that he could not uplift anymore. But fundamentally he remained the same man. He is able to stand again on his own two feet. He is able to hope again. Because it's the only way he knows how, and it's also the only way he can make things right. And maybe hoping again is his way of atoning for his failures. By looking after Luke, he atones for his sins committed against Anakin. Obi-Wan is the only man who could have showed mal-mercy after everything he's done to him. The only man who could have sacrificed himself to become part of the Force, if it meant the chosen one would survive, had bring peace to the galaxy. A man who doesn't see glory or recognition. The Exiled Jedi Master is not a man who is defined by his failures or by his successes. He is a man who is defined by his loyalty, by his honor, and most importantly by his dedication to peace, in whatever form that looked like. With or without a lightsaber, with or without the Jedi. That is Obi-Wan Kenobi.