Return of the Jedi - Redemption of a Another

"I was once a Jedi Knight...."

Yes, Obi-Wan, you were a Jedi Knight, and even then, at that moment in your hut out beyond the Dune Sea, you were still a Jedi Knight.

A long time before that fateful day, you gave your dying Master your word that you would train Anakin. Why? Was it a decision based on emotion? If you'd had time to think it through would you have suggested that an older, more experienced Jedi take on the young Padawan? Oh, I hope you would have!

Ah, Obi-Wan. My favorite OR Jedi.

I don't fault him for his promise, for he is a good man, a caring man, and he loved Qui-Gon like a father. I can't see him refusing.

And so Anakin was trained, and his exceptional talents blossomed, but so did his arrogance. Perhaps an older, more experienced Master could have curbed that arrogance a little! But Obi-Wan did his best; I have no doubt of that, since he is a man of his word.

But many years later Obi-Wan finds himself face to face with the future of the Jedi: Luke Skywalker. (my favorite NR Jedi) A young man who, although stronger with the Force than his father had been, had some important qualities that Anakin lacked. Like humility.

Obi-Wan had promised Yoda he would watch over Luke, and I suppose he did as best he could in spite of Uncle Owen. But here was his chance to start Luke down the Jedi Path.

How could he not see Luke as the salvation of the Jedi? And with that, the redemption of himself. I don't want to lose you the way I lost Vader. Even then he still feels responsible.

In "Labyrinth of Evil" Obi-Wan feels his destiny is to protect Anakin so he'll live long enough to fulfill his destiny. By the time ANH rolls around, he knows that Anakin's destiny is really Luke's destiny, for Anakin is lost to the dark side, more machine now than man, twisted and evil.

I have no doubt that a stirring in the Force pulled him out of his hut and into the Jundland wastes that fateful morning. And there his redemption begins.

Obi-Wan's death scene is certainly one of the most quietly powerful death scenes ever filmed. He looks over at Luke, the boy he is protecting, the Future of the Jedi, and then closes his eyes and gives himself up to the Force, to protect the future.

I often wonder if he believed death would relieve his torment, and bring him peace from his guilt over Anakin. But his words to him, If you strike me down I will become more powerful than you can possibly imagine, seem to show that he knew he'd not be free of existence permanently.

But perhaps he thought he'd still find peace in being one with the Force. After all, he had Qui-Gon's teachings to carry on across to the ethereal side of the Force.

I like to think that he was alongside Luke during his time with the Rebellion. A "behind the scenes" mentor like we got a glimpse of in "Allegiance". Doing his duty, even after death.

And where ROTJ may have been the return of Anakin to the light, it was also the redemption of Obi-Wan.