Latest Movie Changes A NEW HOPE

[Empress Palpatine]

Now that we have seen the latest movie, it changes the nature of A NEW HOPE, especially how one sees old Ben Kenobi.

When I saw A NEW HOPE years ago, I thought old Ben was this kindly old man. No doubt Alec Guinness' superior acting added to this impression. Now that I have seen the new movie, I think of him as a liar and a deciever. I don't think I will ever watch the old 1977 film with the same eyes again.

What if he had told Luke what really happened? What if he said this:

"Luke, I was a Jedi knight the same as your Father."

"How did my father die?" (asks Luke)

"Vader was seduced by the Dark Side of the Force. I was the cause of most of that. His mother was in trouble, but I ignored him and blew it off as just a dream, even though as a Jedi I should have known that dreams are messages from the Force and should be considered. I must have been pretty out of it not to notice that my padawan was highly disturbed after his clandestine trip to Tattooine. I also was pretty out of it not to know he married somebody. I guess senility had happened to me early in life. I should have wondered as his teacher why he liked Palpatine's advice better than mine. I guess he could not confide anything in me. I was in my own world I guess."

"I should have told the council that giving him a treasonous task to spy on the chancellor was a really bad move. Can you really ask someone to spy on someone they like and respect? It is like we Jedi invited a betrayal."

"Oh, and Luke, were you ever told about the attempted assassination of the Chancellor? We Jedi knights did not want to be bothered with legal proceedure. We just wanted to wipe him out on the spot. It was even considered among us that we should take over the government. I was silly enough to expect Anakin to go along with that one. Anakin cut the would-be assassin's hand off allowing Palpatine to escape. Palpatine retaliated of course."

"Gee, I wonder why he changed sides?"

"Anyway, it was my job to get even. After your father Anakin killed off a number of Jedi in the purge, I followed him. I had a battle with my former pupil on a hot lava planet. I cut his legs off and watched him slowly catch fire and burn alive while I watched and yelled at him. Then I walked away, leaving him for dead."

"I found out later that Palpatine got to him in time, gave him medical care, and a great future career. I wonder why he liked that Palpatine so much?"

"So Luke, are you ready to become a Jedi knight and kill your dad for the rebels?"

(Luke) "Are you out of your mind!"

[Darth Sidious]

What if he had told luke what had really happened? good question.
luke, after being confronted by vader, blows out the jedi/rebellion/republic/etc and joins the empire, most likely becoming a Sith lord.
Or - Luke, in a fit of anger, kills kenobi, joins the empire, etc...
I definately agree with your opinions of him now, tbh i used to respect the character pre ep3... now...

[sindo]

In many ways I can see where Kenobi was coming from. I mean just like you said. If Luke was told the truth he would have turned and I don't think any one would be able to stop the emperor if he had both Vader and Luke at his side.

[Empress Palpatine]

Yes, from Ben Kenobi's side of things, a lie would pay off better than the truth.

When the emporer said to Luke,"you are mistaken about a great many things;" he was quite correct.

[sindo]

Without a doubt

[Mrs. Darth Vader]

I agree with Empress Palpatine 100% on this one. The Empire would continue on because the truth would be out. The Jedi would be seen as traitors and people who did a failed coup-de-tat.

[hannigan1]

Was it treason agaist the republic or agaist the Jedi coucil. There are a few issues we should look at. The coucil did not serve papitine it served the republic. Papitne was not trying to serve the republic he was trying to take it over.

IN obiwons defense i stongly believed that he believed anakin was infact dead before they even fought the last time. That is why i said i am sorry anakin i have failed you meaning anakin was too far gone.

When obiwon took out vader in the fight you can feel his loss and sadness over the fight. He himself did not want the misson but to his duty he had to do it. There was no choice in the matter.

I do not think Obi won really wanted to hurt luke by not telling him who his father was, i think he was trying to shield luke from the pain. Is this wrong, some will say yes and others will say no. If your father was responcible for the death of so many would you really want to know that dark part, or would you prefer to remember the good he has done in his life time. I will be honest if this was a decsion I had to make over a child i do not know what i woudl do. On one hand you need to really think about what the kid could handle. On the other hand you know the kid needs to know the full truth. Perhaps obi won had in mind to tell luke little by little as he felt luke could have handled it, however the fight with vader stopped that communication.

There is one thing many people do over see. Obi won did love ankin like a brother there is not question on that. He did also give anakin a change to give up the fight. He woudl have let him life should anakin surrender his light saber. Anakin became vader through many facters, it was not obi wons fault. If you did have to point fingers i would have to say mace was a huge facter. Mase treated anakin like the red headed step jedi. as well as a few other council members.

[Empress Palpatine]

Why didn't Obi-Wan quickly finish Anakin off? Why did he have to give him a torturous death?

[hannigan1]

I was not there so i can not answer that question. Perhaps he did not want to be directly responcible for anakins death. If he left him to day then in his mind he would not have been the one who killed him. Again that is my opinion.

That scene was extremely power to be honest i could have cried if i was not with my wife. The show of emotion by obi won was compelling.

I am really hoping to read some books about the time gap and what obi won did in the mean time. Well at least vaders book will be coming out soon according to sw.com

By the way we can not forget that we say Obi won, yoda and ANAKIN at the end of rtj. Many people to not like seeing the yonger verson of anakin compared to the old man, but i think they did that beccuase the old man that they used was vader. The were all looking at eachother and smiling. Well atleast it was a happy ending.

Here is a good question why did anakin never appear to luke after that. Obi won appeared once after so anakin could have showed up once or twice.

Speacking of whch in the joiner king r2d2 almost spilled his guts to luke about his father and he showed (agaist his will) a clip of obi won talking to padma expressing his deep concern for anakin and his welbeing. The scene that was described was not in the movie but it was in the book.

One more great question. Why do you suppose vader kept obi wons light saber from the death star? Was it a symbol of killing his old teachor or a sign or respect that the small part that was anakin still had for his old master.

[Empress Palpatine]

But he was already responsible for Anakin's death. There is no way he coud have thought that Anakin could survive that after being just left there.

That brings up an issue: If you create the conditions that will kill someone and leave before they actually die, is it not the same as killing them outright. Obi-Wan could very well reason that he was justified in killing Anakin, but wouldn't he have to take responsibility for passing the sentence?

Is perhaps it is the case that a Sith will take more responsibility. A Sith will heal or kill, no inbetween (unless it is a specific scheme). Perhaps Obi-Wan did not have the guts to take the responsibility. That is like people who dump their pets in the middle of nowhere when they don't want them anymore.

[Darth Sidious]

but then obi-wan had also said to yoda that he would not, or could not kill anakin.
maybe he left simply because he was unable to do anything else