Screenshot: Lucasfilm
If you watched yesterday’s finale of Obi-Wan Kenobi, there’s a zero percent chance you’d miss the massive guest star that appeared in the final moments of the episode. If you’re wondering what it cost to take them back to Star Wars after so long, they’ll be happy to explain and why they were so happy to be back.
It was rumored that Obi-Wan’s former master, Qui-Gon Jinn, appeared in the series even before the premiere, thanks to Yoda telling Obi-Wan at the end of The Revenge of the Sith: “In your loneliness in Tatooine, training I have for you. An old friend has learned the way to immortality. One who has returned from the Underworld of Strength. Your old master. How to communicate with him t ‘I will teach.’ Obviously, Obi-Wan has had to communicate with Qui-Gon since he brought baby Luke to Tatooine, but when the show begins, he has lost his connection to the Force and his hope, of course he is not in the proper mood visit of the ghost of the Force of his former master. But after his adventures rescuing the young Princess Leia and confronting his former student turned enemy Darth Vader, Obi-Wan’s connection to the Force is restored, allowing Qui-Gon’s transparent blue form to appear in the final moments of the episode.
It was probably about half a day of work for star Liam Neeson, but his reasons for returning to the role he played the last (and only) in The Phantom Menace of 1999 were more than just a salary. As he told The Hollywood Reporter: “Of course, I didn’t want anyone else to play Qui-Gon Jinn, and I wanted to show my respect for George. [Lucas] and that mythical world he created. Also, Ewan [McGregor] he’s a friend and I loved working with him during The Phantom Menace 25 years ago. ”
Screenshot: Lucasfilm
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I love the idea that Neeson got irritated with the idea of someone else playing the role when Lucasfilm almost certainly wouldn’t have appeared in Qui-Gon without Neeson’s involvement. It is also possible that if the actor had resisted making an appearance in the series, he would have gone to a recording booth, said his small number of lines, and let Lucasfilm’s whistles make a CG version of Who -Gon that would have been good enough. After all, this is exactly how he came back last time, for his brief appearance in the third season of Star Wars: The Clone Wars.
But instead, we have the original Qui-Gon recipe! Now the question is, what role could the late Jedi Master play if Obi-Wan Kenobi gets a second season …?
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