Warning: Full spoilers for Obi-Wan Kenobi episode 3 follow.
If there’s one thing Star Wars has to offer, it’s a tragic story that puts your favorite Jedi to the extreme. Obi-Wan Kenobi is no stranger to heartache. After killing his master by Darth Maul and training the Anakin Skywalker before his turn on the dark side, Obi-Wan left his protégé as a burning heap to Mustafar. If that wasn’t enough, Obi-Wan went into exile for decades and then returned, only to be killed by his former Padawan under the guise of Darth Vader. Obi-Wan has a hard time, and to make matters worse, he has no family to rely on … or not?
Ewan McGregor has returned with his best tunic for Deborah Chow Obi-Wan Kenobi, as the six-episode miniseries fills the gap between Sith Revenge and A New Hope. The long-awaited autonomous Obi-Wan tells his background story revealing that he did not spend all his exile trapped in Tatooine, but if you listen carefully during Obi-Wan episode 3you will hear an emotional setback in his gloomy years of youth.
Does Obi-Wan Kenobi have a family?
When we first meet Obi-Wan Kenobi (chronologically, that is) in The Phantom Menace of 1999, he is a 25-year-old Padawan apprentice of Qui-Gon Jinn (Liam Neeson). There’s no Karate Kid-inspired training set-up, so we’re left imagining his youthful years under Qui-Gon’s tutelage. What is clear is that Obi-Wan regards his master as a father figure.
In the third episode of Obi-Wan, McGregor’s titular Jedi says, “As Jedi, we are taken out of our families when we are very young.” He adds: “I still have interviews. Flashes, really. My mother’s shawl. My father’s hands. I remember a baby.… Yeah, I think I had a brother. I really don’t remember him.” But this seemingly obscure reference finds its roots in the extended canon of Star Wars and a certain Owen Kenobi.
Who is Owen Kenobi?
Lucas’ original trilogy loves a family twist, and when Return of the Jedi premiered in 1983, the script originally revealed Obi-Wan as Owen’s brother Lars, also known as Uncle Owen. which was left in charge of Luke Skywalker on Tatooine. Although this did not come to an end, the novelization of Return still includes a line referring to “[his] brother Owen “. The 1995 Premiere Limited set of the Star Wars customizable card game also named Owen Lars” Obi-Wan Kenobi’s brother. “
The novelization of the return of the Jedi includes a line that refers to “[his] Brother Owen. “
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This thread continues in the 1999 novel Jedi Apprentice: The Hidden Past, which follows the adventures of Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan before The Phantom Menace, with Obi-Wan having another Owen dream. While this is often a confusing continuum from a very, very distant galaxy, George Lucas finally tried to harden things. The 2002 live Attack of the Clones canonized Owen as Anakin’s brother when Cliegg Lars married Shmi Skywalker. Many assumed that this was the end of Owen Kenobi’s notion. But the Disney + series puts things back in a weird place.
Fortunately, Abel G. Peña’s Lone Wolf: A Tale of Obi-Wan and Luke could explain it all. The short story was published on the official Star Wars website in 2015 and revealed that Obi-Wan’s brother, “Owen,” is actually just a vision of the future. The short story gives rise to Obi-Wan confirming that he was born on the planet Stewjon and was later taken to the Jedi Temple of Coruscant for his formation.
Here, Obi-Wan believes that his visions of Owen Kenobi meant that he had returned to Stewjon at some point to visit his family again. It turns out, however, that instead of Obi-Wan having flashbacks to his own childhood, he was actually looking to the future with Luke and Owen on Tatooine.
Star Wars: The Great Moments of Obi-Wan Kenobi
So does Obi-Wan Kenobi have a brother?
The fact that Joel Edgerton reprises his role as Owen Lars of Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith for Obi-Wan leaves a number of options. We saw a tense confrontation between the couple, with Owen telling Obi-Wan to leave a young Luke Skywalker alone. It would definitely add a different dynamic to your relationship if there is a biological connection, but it would be a retcon of a retcon. Also, if Owen were revealed to be Obi-Wan’s brother, the fact that the latter had no reaction to Owen and Beru’s death in A New Hope would make him colder than Vader.
Remember that the novelization of Return is adapted to the age of legends, which is now largely considered non-canon, should draw a line under things. It seems likely that Obi-Wan’s mention of his brother is just one of those famous Easter eggs that people like The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett have hidden from view. There’s a chance that Obi-Wan’s little brother might still be out there somewhere, but if he wasn’t as sensitive to the Force as his brother, don’t expect him to appear as one of the growing number of Jedi to escape. Order 66.
Then again, yes The Survival of Boba Fett’s Sarlacc i Grand Admiral Thrawn can you resurrect Legends, who will say that Owen Kenobi will not be another forgotten plot point to find a new home? Star Wars loves to expand the family tree, and if there’s anything else in Obi-Wan’s sibling line, the potential to be someone we already know is a tempting prospect. With three episodes left, we’ll be watching this Kenobi bloodline.
For more on Obi-Wan episode 3, check out the story behind the Jedi Kenobi mentioned this week: Quinlan Vos.