Why The Vader/Kenobi Duel In Kenobi Will Make Sense
“I sense something a presence I’ve not felt since...”
Those were the lines uttered when Darth Vader sensed the presence of Obi-Wan Kenobi on the first Death Star in Star Wars: A New Hope back in 1977. The implication of that line was that this was the first time in a long time since Vader and Obi-Wan had met each other. Many fans thought they saw that particular event in 2005 when Revenge of the Sith came out and showed the epic duel between Anakin and Obi-Wan on Mustafar. Many fans considered that this would be have been the closing chapter of their relationship, there would be no interactions between them in between Episode III and IV
Until Now!
With the announcement of the Obi-Wan Kenobi series for 2022 it was said that Vader and Obi-Wan would clash with each other once again and fight each other in the upcoming Disney+ series. Many fans have wondered if this would break the “canon” of the Obi-Wan story as it seemed that they did not meet after Revenge of the Sith until A New Hope. However if one really looked at the prequel and original trilogies, nothing really said that they could not meet again. In fact, it is in this author's opinion that meeting again could actually strengthen the overall story of Star Wars in ways we have not thought of before.
There Is Still Good In Him
At the end of Revenge of the Sith, one of the last few things that Obi-Wan heard about Anakin before the end of that film was Padme’s dying words, “There is still good in him.” It was her dying hope that despite turning to the dark side there was still a bit of light inside of him.
Of course if we look at A New Hope, Obi-Wan was all ready and willing to kill him. So thus it seemed at least from what we know that Obi-Wan had completely ignored Padme’s dying words, and believed that there is no good in Anakin anymore. Something had to have happened to get Obi-Wan to this place. Though what that was is uncertain.
However, this was just from Obi-Wan’s perspective via the prequel trilogy. When you look at the original trilogy as well, you would have more context.
Obi-Wan Once Thought As You Do
In Return of the Jedi, it was well known that Luke tried to get his father to return to the light side of the Force. In this scene Vader said, “Obi-Wan once thought as you do,” meaning there was a time when Obi-Wan tried to convince Vader to come back to the light side of the Force. Of course, again, if that were to be true then why did we never see it on screen?
The Kenobi series should show us something about the transition from Obi-Wan who still had a bit of hope to an Obi-Wan who had none. So again, there are some threads that line up with the idea of Vader and Obi-Wan encountering each other before the Death Star.
To Duel Or Not To Duel
At the end of the day, does it really matter whether they meet or not? In this author's opinion, I would say no. There is no real barrier for Obi-Wan and Vader to never meet again, if anything most evidence would say that them meeting again might actually help make things make sense in terms of the overall narrative on display here.
Sure, there is an argument for subtly and perhaps there will be something preventing them from meeting. However, it would be wise to take the marketing right now to the world where they would meet again. Does it undermine A New Hope? I would not think so. Does it change how we view the movie? Of course, it does, but then again doesn't any story beyond the first one already change our perspective?
A retcon is not a bad thing. It is just expanding our minds and causing us to unlearn what we have learned.
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