Obi-Wan Kenobi’s role in a pivotal Mandalorian dispute during the Clone Wars proved why attachments don’t necessarily have to hinder a Jedi – in fact, it can even make them better. Since audiences first met him in the original Star Wars movie, Obi-Wan Kenobi has come across as a wise and kind soul. When Ewan McGregor took on the part in the Star Wars prequel trilogy, the focus shifted to Obi-Wan’s relationship with his Padawan, Anakin Skywalker, and the role it played in the latter’s fall to the dark side.

Thankfully, the Obi-Wan’s character. Suddenly, we weren’t just watching his fatherly relationship with Anakin morph into a brotherly one, we were also discovering where his sense of duty came from, why he never told the Jedi Council of Anakin’s relationship with Pé – we know he suspected them from the moment they returned from their wedding in Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones – and how his past affected his work as a Jedi.

The Jedi Continued To Let Their Empathy Be Overrun By Politics

Star Wars: The Clone Wars provides valuable context for the Jedi Order’s role in the Clone War conflict. What it does brilliantly is examine how and why the Jedi Order lost its way, becoming too embroiled in the political landscape and too close to the Republic’s governing body – specifically, Chancellor Palpatine. The Jedi weren’t focused on being peacekeepers, as such. They were focused on keeping the Republic alive and well, engaging in death and destruction at someone else’s behest.

This is a running theme throughout The Clone Wars, but one arc highlights the issue particularly well. In season 5, episode 16, “The Lawless,” Mandalore is overrun by criminal syndicates. The Duchess Satine Kryze pleads with the Jedi Council to lend them aid. Council Ki-Adi-Mundi and Grand Master Yoda insist that they cannot help because of the political ramifications sending aid to Mandalore might have in the grand scheme of the war.

Satine Kryze was first introduced in Star Wars: The Clone Wars season 2, episode 12, "The Mandalore Plot."

Satine is an interesting character in this arc because she identifies and rules Mandalore as a pacifist. While her ideology was partially responsible for the revolt on Mandalore and the ensuing crime wave, she’s arguably more in tune with the Jedi’s own beliefs than the Jedi themselves are at that moment. There is, however, one Jedi who recognizes how monumental her plea for help is and doesn’t let himself be swayed by the political ramifications: Obi-Wan Kenobi.

Obi-Wan's Attachments Meant He Was Always Open To Empathy

In response to the Council’s decision, Obi-Wan travels to Mandalore alone to see if he can help. Now, there’s no denying that Obi-Wan’s heart was overruling his head during this narrative arc. Earlier in The Clone Wars, it was revealed that Obi-Wan and Satine had a history while he was still a Padawan; they had fallen in love during a mission, and Obi-Wan even considered leaving the Jedi Order for her. This clearly played a part in his decision to abscond to Mandalore, but that actually doesn’t matter.

the Jedi Order’s fears surrounding relationships (of all kinds, really), Obi-Wan proved that a person doesn’t need to be defined by them.

More importantly, Obi-Wan’s attachments, not just with Satine, but with Anakin, Ahsoka Tano, and others, allowed him to open his heart more fully and truly understand and experience empathy. The Jedi are traditionally sympathetic, yes – they sympathize with those struggling under oppression, but sympathy and empathy are very different things. Most Jedi cannot put themselves in someone else’s shoes and understand the true cost of heartbreak. Obi-Wan could, and it made him a better Jedi.

Obi-Wan Truly Understood The Jedi (But The Council Didn't)

Obi-Wan truly understood what it meant to be a Jedi. Yes, in general, he believed in the Jedi Order’s ideology and adhered to their strict rules, but because of his capacity for empathy, true empathy, he was able to recognize that following the rules wasn’t always the right thing to do. Heading to Mandalore and helping Satine instead of standing idly by was the honorable move.

For most Jedi, the difficulty is finding the right balance between logic and emotion, duty and empathy.

Perhaps, if the Jedi Order had followed Obi-Wan instead of hiding behind their politics, Satine Kryze would not have been killed by Maul. Obi-Wan set out on an impossible mission because he knew he had to help. How might things have changed had the Jedi intervened on a larger scale?

For most Jedi, the difficulty is finding the right balance between logic and emotion, duty and empathy. Anakin Skywalker struggled with his attachments, which caused the Jedi Order to believe they were right to ban them. On the other hand, their political ties prevented them from doing what was right, restricting them from truly becoming the peacekeepers they saw themselves as. Obi-Wan Kenobi found the right balance – he’d loved and lost, and yet he continued to fight for what he believed in.