Obi-Wan Kenobi is without a doubt one of the most influential Jedi in all of Star Wars. Depicted as a mysterious old man in the original trilogy, the prequels showed a whole different side and background to the popular character. Now, the comics are digging deeper into Obi-Wan’s padawan days.

Star Wars: Jedi Knights #1, written by Marc Guggenheim with art by Madibek Musabekov, a young Obi-Wan is training with Yoda, learning how to focus and find his balance in the Force. However, something is disturbing Obi-Wan’s center and preventing him from maintaining the internal calm a padawan must master.

Earlier in the issue, Qui-Gon was the target of an assassination attempt, though Obi-Wan was not present during the incident. Despite his absence, Obi-Wan’s mind becomes plagued with visions of his master's imminent death at the hands of an unknown assassin.

Obi-Wan's Talent For Foresight Is Both A Gift And A Dangerous Ability

Star Wars: Jedi Knights, By Marc Guggenheim And Madibek Musabekov

Though Yoda warns Obi-Wan that the visions Jedi are given through the Force are unreliable, the end of Jedi Knights #2 reveals that Obi-Wan disregarded Yoda’s advice and continued to fret over the possibility of his master’s death. After glimpsing the would-be assassin in his vision, Obi-Wan searches through the Jedi archives until he tracks down their identity. During training, Qui-Gon senses the uncharacteristic troubles affecting his young padawan and inquires why Obi-Wan’s thoughts are far off. Finally, Obi-Wan reveals the truth about his vision, to which Qui-Gon responds the same way as Yoda: “the Force only reveals potential futures.”

Though Jedi teachings forbid attachments, Qui-Gon is the outlier who encourages bonds, thus making his and Obi-Wan’s relationship more than an apprenticeship.

Obi-Wan, however, cannot accept neither Yoda nor Qui-Gon’s reassurance in the ways of the Force and presses on, imploring his master that the vision he experienced felt too viscerally real to be just a possibility. Obi-Wan’s stubbornness and the way he pushes against Qui-Gon’s teachings is a stark difference from the Obi-Wan everyone knows and loves. However, he is a young boy here, still learning his place and attached to his master. Though Jedi teachings forbid attachments, Qui-Gon is the outlier who encourages bonds, thus making his and Obi-Wan’s relationship more than an apprenticeship.

With Qui-Gon’s philosophies imparted to his padawan, it is easy to see how a young Obi-Wan would worry so fervently about a Force vision to the point of continual investigation, even after Yoda--of all Jedi--advised him otherwise. Obi-Wan’s fear of his master’s life and unrelenting urge to discover any information he can to prevent his vision from coming to is not simply reminiscent of how Obi-Wan’s own padawan, Anakin, would behave in the future, but an exact mirror.

Out Of Every Other Jedi, Obi-Wan Was The One Most Akin To Anakin

Obi-Wan's Force Talent Is Very Much Like His Apprentice's

Jedi Knights establishes Obi-Wan’s precognitive talent is exceptional, even among other Jedi. The fact that he, out of anyone else, experienced just how anxiety-inducing it can be to not only fear, but to witness a loved one’s death, should have made him the perfect person to mentor Anakin. But seeing young Obi-Wan struggle with the burden of dark and dreadful foresight contrasts with the way he would go on to train Anakin to deal with the same talent and resulting stress that accompanied such a heavily burdened Force talent.

In most ways, Obi-Wan was a wonderful master to Anakin, despite his reluctance to initially accept Qui-Gon’s wishes to train the unconventionally discovered padawan. But when Anakin begins to struggle with nightmares of his mother’s torture and death at the hands of the Tusken Raiders, Obi-Wan advises him that such thoughts are exactly what Anakin said: nightmares. The fact that Obi-Wan did not view the nightmares as latent Force visions led Anakin on his mission to Tatooine to rescue his mother, resulting in his first use of the dark side in massacring the Tusken Raiders.

In Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, Anakin’s nightmares shift to focus on Pe once he discovers she is pregnant. Anakin is barely able to sleep, as visions of his beloved wife dying in childbirth haunt him and drive him to do whatever it takes to prevent the future he continually sees from coming to fruition. Though Anakin confides in Yoda, who warns Anakin about the unreliability of Force visions, he cannot bring himself to confide in his master, despite Pe’s repeated suggestions.

Anakin's Failure To Confide In Obi-Wan Is A Reflection Of Obi-Wan's Teachings

Obi-Wan Did Not All Of Qui-Gon's Lessons To Anakin

Perhaps it was Obi-Wan’s initial downplaying of Anakin’s nightmares of his mother that prevented him from taking Pe’s advice and seeking out the council of the man who essentially raised him, both as a person and a Jedi. Anakin’s failure to entrust Obi-Wan with his visions of Pe’s death led him directly into Palpatine’s trap and to the dark side; a move that could have been prevented with Obi-Wan’s guidance. However, Anakin’s actions are not necessarily fully to blame.

As Jedi Knights delves into Obi-Wan’s own connection and struggles with Force-precognition, it can be assumed that it was a weakness that Qui-Gon helped him master. As Anakin’s master, Obi-Wan should have instilled the same training regarding the various unknown factors of the Force in his own padawan, ensuring Anakin did not make the same mistakes he had. The fact that Anakin, a fully grown man and Jedi in Episode 3, does not know how to handle the visions that plague him definitively shows that failed to equip Anakin with all the skills he needed to avoid the temptation of the dark side.

Star Wars: Jedi Knights #1-2 are available now.

Obi-Wan Kenobi

Created By

George Lucas

Cast

Ewan McGregor

First Appearance

Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope

Died

Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope

Alias

Ben, Rako Hardeen

Alliance

Jedi

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