Obi Wan Kenobi began his Jedi career as a Padawan Learner apprenticed to Qui-Gon Jinn. Both were accomplished warriors when they were summoned by Supreme Chancellor Finis Valorum to investigate a trade dispute on Naboo. The planet was under an orbital siege by the Trade Federation in an attempt to force acceptance of new taxation policies.
Kenobi and Jinn travelled on the Republic starship Radiant VII to the Naboo system, where they established communication with Trade Federation leader Nute Gunray. The Jedis’ diplomatic party requested permission to land on Gunray’s battleship for a discussion of negotiations regarding the taxation dispute. Gunray invited them on board, but then treacherously ordered an attack on both the ship and the Jedi waiting to see him. The Radiant VII was destroyed by a laser blast but Kenobi and his master were able to escape and elude detection aboard the massive battleship.
Shortly after the termination of the diplomatic mission, the Trade Federation prepared its forces for a ground assault of Naboo to accelerate the submission of the planet. Bewildered by this move but aware of the need to warn Naboo leadership, Kenobi and Jinn stowed away on landing craft to the planet surface.
Upon landing they encountered a native of the swampy region named Jar Jar Binks. Qui Gon Jinn had helped Jar Jar escape the recently deployed Trade Federation war machines, and consequently the creature insisted upon repaying him for saving his life. The Jedi accepted his offer and asked Jar Jar for direction to the secret underwater Gungan cities. Here they hoped to find transportation to Theed, the planet capitol, in time to warn the Naboo queen of the invasion.
Jar Jar guided them to the city where Qui Gon pleaded his case to the Gungan ruler Boss Nass. Kenobi supported his master in the discussion that ensued. Even at a young age he possessed great wisdom and understanding. However, the Gungan monarch bluntly refused any assistance and furthermore ordered the arrest of Jar Jar for returning to the city when he had a life-sentence of banishment. Qui Gon was able to tactfully avert an ill fate for the trio by using a Jedi mind-trick and an understanding of Gungan culture to secure both a transport and Jar Jar’s life. Knowing that speed was urgent to warn the Queen, the two Jedi a very grateful Gungan quickly departed for Theed in a Bongo transport.
Theed was finally reached after some considerable difficulty in navigating the small vessel through the planet core. But despite their efforts, the Jedi Knights were too late to warn the capitol. The city had already fallen with little resistance to the Trade Federation’s surprise attack.
Kenobi and Jinn were able to rescue the captive queen and several members of her party before escaping off world in a royal cruiser. The situation was now beyond their control so they planned on returning to Courescant to discuss the alarming developments with the Senate. This plan was foiled when the cruiser received heavy damage while running the Trade Federation blockade. Only the repair skills of the droid R2-D2 saved the ship, but the vessel’s hyper-drive was leaking and an emergency landing was required. Upon the suggestion of Kenobi, the ship escaped to Tatooine for an assessment of damages.
Kenobi stayed onboard the ship while Qui Gon went to look for a replacement hyper-drive in a nearby settlement. Through a series of gambling adventures, the maverick Jedi Master brought back not only the needed hyperdrive but also a liberated local slave boy named Anakin Skywalker. Qui Gon saw potential in this boy to become a great Jedi Knight and a powerful Force-user. Obi Wan and Anakin were introduced onboard the Queen’s cruiser, but there was little time for socializing as the urgency of their mission had not decreased. The attack of a light-saber wielding warrior shortly before take-off added to the stress and mystery of the situation.
The repaired Naboo cruiser finally arrived on Courescant and its passengers received a welcoming from Chancellor Valorum himself. The Queen entered the sphere of politics to plead her planet’s case while the two Jedi returned to their order’s temple with Anakin Skywalker. Here the boy was tested by the Jedi Council to determine if he would be trained, but failed to pass the test because of his fear.
Obi Wan was in agreement with the Council’s decision, but Qui Gon stubbornly insisted that the boy should be trained. The obdurate Jedi Master was convinced that Anakin was the “Chosen One” referred to in an ancient prophecy. When the Council still refused to provide a master to train the boy, Qui Gon said he would take on the responsibility himself. He asserted that Obi Wan was ready for graduation from apprenticeship, and that he would make Anakin his new apprentice. Obi Wan originally resented Qui Gon’s defiance of the Council and argued with his master on the subject, but later he apologized for his rudeness and said he was grateful to be considered worthy of knighthood. Obi Wan’s deep respect for his elders’ authority was a manifestation of the humility and maturity he displayed throughout his entire life.
A new development of the Naboo crisis postponed the settlement of the Anakin debate; Queen Amidala had become frustrated by the corruptness of politics and had resolved to fight for the liberation of her homeworld on its own turf. Kenobi and Jinn were ordered to escort the Queen back to the planet and protect her in the inevitable conflict. The two also hoped to discover the identity of the dark warrior who attacked Qui Gon on Tatooine. Anakin Skywalker accompanied the Jedi.
Upon arriving back on her native planet, the Queen quickly went to work. She rallied local resistance groups and even the Gungan kingdom to form a sizable liberation army. It was then that the Queen disclosed her true identity as a mere decoy, and her handmaid Padme Amidala revealed that she was actually the true Queen of Naboo. She then formulated a plan to capture Trade Federation leader Nute Gunray and force him to stop his occupation.
Kenobi and Jinn stayed by the side of the Queen as she and her guerilla band fought their way back into Theed. The Jedi used their lightsabers to shield the attack force from the laser fire of Trade Federation battle droids. The small group forced its way into the royal palace, where they were once again confronted by the mysterious dark warrior. Kenobi and Jinn engaged this new adversary while the Queen and her forces continued on to find Gunray. They eventually succeeded in capturing him.
The dark warrior proved to be more than a match for the two Jedi, and eventually Obi Wan was separated from his master. Watching from behind a laser-wall security system, Kenobi witnessed his master finally struck down by the double-bladed light saber of his assailant. Filled with rage, Kenobi charged at the killer as soon as the laser-wall deactivated. After an intense duel, Kenobi managed to disarm one of his opponent’s blades but was himself kicked down a massive energy pit. He was able to catch hold of a protruding nozzle, but his lightsaber fell to the depths below.
It was then that Kenobi realized he could not overcome his opponent with sheer power and hatred. That was not the Jedi way. Instead, he calmed his mind and reached out to the living Force. Then, utilizing a massive energy flow from the Force, he leapt out of the pit and simultaneously summoned Qui Gon’s lightsaber using telekinesis. Airborne and armed, he flipped over the dark warrior and sliced him through the waist. The two severed halves of Qui Gon’s murderer tumbled down the energy pit and out of sight.
Kenobi rushed to the side of his master, but the old man was beyond help. His dying request was that Kenobi train Anakin Skywalker to be a Jedi Knight. Although Kenobi still had personal misgivings about the boy’s training, he promised his fading master that he would take Anakin on as an apprentice.
When Kenobi announced his intentions to the Jedi Council, it finally yielded out of respect for the deceased Qui Gon and gave Kenobi authorization to train Anakin. Immediately afterwards, Kenobi was bestowed the title of Jedi Knight. He then took on Anakin as his apprentice and began the long process of training the boy in the ways of the Jedi.
Kenobi and Anakin undertook many missions in service to the Republic during the following years, and developed a strong if sometimes trying friendship. Kenobi’s style of patience and prudence often frustrated Anakin’s proclivity for action and adventure. Nevertheless, the duo worked quite well together as Anakin grew in prowess and skill.
Ten years after the Battle of Naboo, Kenobi and Anakin met an old friend when they were once again tasked with protecting Padme Amidala, now a Galactic Senator. Several assassination attempts had been made against her because of her political stance on a recent galaxy-wide cessation crisis.
Soon after her new Jedi bodyguards arrived, another attempt was made against her life. This time, Kenobi and Anakin were able to track down the assassin after an intense speeder chase. They cornered her in a bar on the lower levels of Courscant and disarmed her blaster. But before they could gather any information from her, she became a victim herself to the poisoned dart of an armored bounty hunter. The mysterious figure then fled the scene before Kenobi could give pursuit.
Left with only the killing dart as a clue to the assassination mystery, Kenobi took the projectile to his knowledgeable friend Dexter Jettster. Dexter was a veteran of extensive travels and was familiar with many different planetary cultures. He was able to correctly identify the dart as being Kaminoan in origin.
Kenobi then attempted to find the Kamino system using the Jedi archive computers, but Dexter’s galactic coordinates pointed to a field of empty space on the map. Puzzled, Kenobi consulted the wise master Yoda on the matter. The sage old Jedi told him that the data for Kamino must have been erased from the archive memory banks. This was a very disturbing prospect, as only a Jedi could perform the deletion.
Yoda said he would contemplate the matter while Kenobi travelled to the location of Dexter’s coordinates in an attempt to find the mysterious Kamino. In the mean time, Anakin would take charge of protecting Amidala by taking her into hiding on Naboo. This was Anakin’s first solo assignment. Kenobi was worried about the great responsibility bestowed on his Padawan, but he soon found more worries of his own.
He arrived at the Kamino system with little difficulty using Dexter’s coordinates, and strangely found that he was expected by the inhabitants. The planet natives ran a massive cloning industry and were finishing the first installment of a clone army allegedly ordered by the Jedi nearly ten years ago. Kenobi was the Jedi expected by the Kaminoans to come and check on the army’s progress. Kenobi was taken slightly off-guard by the false assumptions surrounding his arrival, but decided to act the part. Once he gained a grasp of the situation, he posed as an inspector coming to monitor the final stages of the army’s training.
What Kenobi saw deeply impressed him, and he asked to have an audience with the clone template. This man was a bounty hunter named Jango Fett who resided on Kamino. Kenobi and Fett had a brief and tense discussion, through which Kenobi determined that this was indeed the armored bounty hunter he had seen on Courescant. After leaving Fett’s residence, Kenobi contacted the Jedi Temple for further orders. Master Mace Windu ordered Kenobi to bring Fett back to Courescant for questioning by the Jedi.
Fett, however, anticipated this move and was preparing to flee off world with his clone son Boba. Kenobi attempted to intercept the duo before their departure but failed after a brief showdown with Fett. The bounty hunter’s ship, Slave I was departing from the landing bay when Kenobi managed to throw a homing beacon onto the vessel’s hull. Using this for guidance, he followed Fett at a distance to see where he was headed.
Kenobi followed his quarry all the way to the planet Geonosis. There his target became aware of the pursuit and engaged Kenobi’s ship in the Geonosian planetary rings. Slave I inflicted heavy damage on the Jedi starfighter and forced it into hiding. Presuming Kenobi to be dead, Fett continued on down to the planet’s surface. Kenobi waited for some time before once again following at a safe distance.
When he finally reached the planet surface, he found yet another army in the making. This one was comprised of battle droids. The operation was being overseen by a group of separatist leaders, headed by the ex-Jedi Count Dooku. These individuals were spearheading the galactic cessation movement so adamantly opposed by Padme, and were forging an army to advance their cause by force.
This was an alarming chain of events. Kenobi attempted to contact Coruscant to warn them, but found that his long-range transmitter had been destroyed during the dogfight with Fett. Instead, he relayed the communications single through Anakin’s ship. During the process, Kenobi discovered that Anakin was not on Naboo but Tatooine. This angered and perplexed him considerably, but he proceeded to relay his message to the Senate building on Coruscant.
He managed to summarize the situation on Geonosis before being interrupted by an attack of droidekas. The numerically superior force succeeded in taking him prisoner. In his cell he was visited by the mysterious Count Dooku, who attempted to seduce Obi Wan to the dark side. The staunch Jedi refused to be turned and remained defiant to Dooku’s persuasion.
An attempt to free Obi Wan was made by Anakin and Padme, who had received his transmission onboard their ship. However, they too were caught and all three were sentenced to death in the Geonosian arena. The execution was made a public spectacle, with a bitter Nute Gunray and heartless Dooku in attendance.
The Jedi and Padme were able to fend off the gladiatorial beasts meant to devour them, but were eventually encircled by droidekas. A timely intervention by Mace Windu and a strike team of 200 Jedi saved them. Dooku expected this move and unleashed his fully prepared droid army to engage the Jedi. What followed was the battle of Geonosis, the first conflict in what would come to be known as the Clone Wars.
Reinforcements of clone troopers fresh from Kamino helped to turn the tide of the battle, and Dooku was forced to flee on a speeder bike. Obi Wan and Anakin gave pursuit in a Republic gunship. The two chased him down to a hanger bay some distance from the arena.
Anakin impetuously charged Dooku against his master’s orders, and was knocked unconscious by a potent blast of Force lightning. Kenobi was left to face Dooku alone. While he possessed great skills as a swordsman, Kenobi was no match for his experienced opponent. Within the first few minutes of fighting Dooku struck Kenobi down wish flesh wounds to the arm and knee. He was about to finish him off when Anakin suddenly reappeared in the scene, having recovered from the blast of Force lightning. Anakin put up a good fight but was also bested by his skilled adversary.
Dooku would have killed them both, but Yoda came to their rescue and finally succeeded in driving the villain away. Kenobi and Anakin staggered to their feet as Padme and a squad of clone troopers arrived at the scene.
Back on Courescant, the Jedi contemplated the chaotic turn of events. They were now faced with a galactic civil war, being fought by clone soldiers and droids. Kenobi originally thought that the Battle of Geonosis would dispel the rebellious separatist faction, but Yoda foresaw a darker future to come; “Just begun, the Clone Wars has.”
And indeed, the Clone Wars dragged on for another four years. Kenobi and Anakin were kept constantly busy leading the Republic armies and countering agents of the enemy. Somewhere during this time Anakin graduated from apprenticeship to the rank of Jedi Knight, but continued to serve side by side with his former master. Together they endured years of harsh war, which would be the beginning of the end for the Republic and the Jedi order itself.
The Republic fought a primarily defensive war, and during the fourth year of the conflict the Separatists made a surprise attack on Courescant itself. Their droid infantry succeeded in capturing Chancellor Palpatine and imprisoned him on the flagship Invisible Hand.
Kenobi and Anakin made a sortie in starfighers to board the ship and rescue the Chancellor. Navigating through a heated space battle, they landed in one of the ship’s ports and fought their way through the droids onboard. They reached the Chancellor with little difficulty, but were then confronted by Dooku. Once again the old foes clashed, this time with Obi Wan and Anakin attacking in unison. Dooku was still able to knock Obi Wan unconscious, and for a short time gained the upper hand. But he could not long withstand the sheer power of Anakin’s assault, and eventually succumbed to the vigor of a much younger opponent. Anakin disarmed him, and then, against his better judgment, killed him.
Anakin then freed the chancellor and carried the unconscious Kenobi on his back as they made their way out of the ship. Kenobi reawakened shortly. Before the trio could escape, however, they were captured by the infamous cyborg general Grevious. He disarmed and taunted his Jedi prisoners, but Obi Wan remained unshaken. At the right moment he seized his lightsaber from Grevious’s cape using telekinesis and cut his bonds. Anakin did the same. The two Jedi quickly overcame Grevious’s guards as the cowardly cyborg fled. They then steered the battered ship down to the planet below and delivered Chancellor Palpatine back to his security. The Battle of Courescant ended in a Republic victory.
Despite this, Kenobi was worried. The Chancellor had been growing in power, using the urgency of the war as an excuse to take drastic measures on his own authority. The Jedi Council noted this too, and appointed Anakin to spy on the Chancellor. Anakin resented this immensely and began fostering animosity towards Kenobi for his role in the Council. These tensions would later explode.
But before Kenobi could become too deeply embroiled in politics, he was sent to the planet Utapau to hunt down Grevious. Clone intelligence has spotted him in that sector. Kenobi arrived on Utapau and found the planet occupied by the Separatists. He had little difficulty in locating Grevious, whom he promptly engaged. The cyborg’s battle record had made him overconfident and he insisted that he engage Kenobi alone, unaided by his troops. This was his undoing as the skilled Jedi quickly sliced off two of Grevious’s six hands. Knowing he was bested, Grevious fled the scene as the 212th Clone Attack Battalion arrived to back up Kenobi. In an intense chase, Kenobi lost his lightsaber but managed to corner Grevious and engage him in melee combat.
Grevious was much stronger than Kenobi and initially gained the upper hand. Kenobi faced near death but saved himself by using the Force to grab a blaster and then shooting the cyborg into flaming pieces. He later commented that he deemed the use of such tactics to be “so uncivilized.”
While the battle was raging on Utapau, the Chancellor Palpatine was preparing for the final stages of his secret conspiracy to seize control of the Republic. To this effect, he ordered the clone troopers to treacherously murder all Jedi knights. Upon receiving this order Commander Cody of the 212th opened fire on Kenobi with an AT-TE. The blast knocked Kenobi off his varactyl mount and sent him plummeting to the depths of a sinkhole. He was presumed dead.
Kenobi in fact survived the fall by landing in a deep pool of water. Confused and distrustful, he fled the planet in Grevious’s starship. He met with master Yoda aboard the Sundered Heart and the two Jedi grimly discussed the future of their order, and the Republic. Everywhere the clones were turning on the Jedi, taking them by surprise and slaying them in masses. The two survivors decided that they must return to their temple and issue a warning to all Jedi through the communications beacon.
When they arrived at the temple they found it occupied by the treacherous clones. Many elite troops were stationed there, but they all fell to the onslaught of the powerful Jedi Knights. Kenobi reset the communications beacon, warning all Jedi to stay away. He also looked at the security camera footage during the attack, and was shocked by what he saw. Anakin Skywalker, his own former apprentice and brother knight, had led the attack on the temple. Subsequent footage showed him kneeling before Palpatine, his new Sith master. This came as an overwhelming blow to Kenobi. His close friend had betrayed the Republic, the Jedi, and his now heartbroken former master.
Knowing what must be done, the two Jedi split up to find and destroy the Sith. Kenobi at first couldn’t bring himself to fight his old Padawan, but eventually he realized that Anakin Skywalker was already dead. He had been consumed by his Sith alter ego, dubbed Darth Vader. This monster must be destroyed.
Kenobi first went so see Padme, Anakin’s secret wife. Here he revealed to her that Anakin had fallen to the dark side of the Force. She initially refused to believe him or offer any help in finding him. It was then that Kenobi noticed Padme was heavily pregnant, and began to piece the whole situation together. He realized that Anakin was the father of her child. Kenobi then briefly apologized for what he knew he must do, and exited the room.
He rightly anticipated that Padme would go to find her husband, and quickly stowed away on the Senator’s cruiser. Sure enough, Padme soon boarded the ship and set a course for Anakin’s last known location, the Mustafar system. Anakin had just finished killing the remnant of Separatist leadership there.
When the cruiser arrived, Kenobi witnessed the couple’s exchange. Padme was devastated by her husband’s betrayal of the Republic. He in turn became angry. When he saw Kenobi, the disillusioned Sith accused Padme of bringing the Jedi there to kill him. He rendered Padme unconscious with a Force choke, and then began berating Kenobi. The Jedi tried to reason with the newly christened Darth Vader, but found only hate in the heart of his former friend. The two then ignited their sabers and clashed.
The duel was prolonged and fierce. Both men were skilled warriors, and they fought all throughout a volcanic facility. Eventually the fight moved onto floating platforms in a lava stream. They fought ferociously until Kenobi leapt onto a nearby bank of volcanic rock. Now possessing the upper ground, he told Vader that the battle was over. The Sith refused to believe this and made a brash jump attack at Kenobi. While still in the air, he lost three of his limbs from a single slash of Kenobi’s saber.
Vader tumbled to the ground, cursing his former master. Kenobi looked at his old friend with deep sadness in his eyes. He considered slaying Vader right then and there, but decided against it. He would not murder in cold blood. Leaving the Force to decide Vader’s fate, he took one last look and then slowly turned away. He took Vader’s blue lightsaber with him.
Palpatine found Vader shortly afterwards. The charred remnants of the body were immolated but still contained life. Vader was not dead. And this would not be the last time he’d see Kenobi.
Meanwhile, Yoda had failed in his attempt to subdue Palpatine and had narrowly escaped death himself. He then met with Senator Bail Organa who took him to Polis Massa for a rendezvous with Kenobi. Obi Wan had brought Padme Amidala to the medical facility for her childbirth. Here it was discovered that she was carrying twins. The medical droids found that Padme was dying from unknown causes and quickly operated to save the twins. Before she died, Padme named them Luke and Leia. Then, having lost the will to live without her husband, she breathed her last.
Bail Organa adopted Leia, while Kenobi entrusted Luke to the care of his relatives on Tatooine. Yoda went into exile on Dagobah. And the Republic itself crumbled as Palpatine proclaimed himself Emperor of the galaxy. Together with his scarred cyborg apprentice Darth Vader, they crushed democracy.
Kenobi settled in the remote hill country of Tatooine a short distance from the Lars homestead where Luke was to be raised. Here he remained in hiding from the Empire, silently looking after the young boy. He lived the life of a quiet hermit for the next nineteen years. He aged considerably during this time, as the harsh desert climate took a heavy toll on his health. He also changed his name to “Ben” Kenobi to avoid being recognized by his enemies.
Then, 32 years after the Battle of Naboo, Ben Kenobi met Luke Skywalker face to face in the Tatooine desert. Luke had been tracking a runaway R2-D2 who was, in fact, looking for Kenobi. R2’s memory banks contained a message from a captured Leia who was begging the legendary Jedi for help. When Kenobi saw this message, he knew the time had come for him to emerge from hiding and help Luke fulfill his destiny as a Jedi knight like his father.
He invited Luke into his hut, where the two had a long talk about galactic history and Luke’s father. Kenobi told Luke that his father had been betrayed and murdered by a man called Darth Vader. This was metaphorically true; when the monster Darth Vader arose in Anakin’s heart, it killed the good man in him, leaving only a Sith lord where a Jedi once was. The real reason Kenobi told Luke about his father in this way is because the old Jedi knew that Luke could not yet accept the truth. He also didn’t tell Luke that Leia was actually his sister. Instead, he told Luke that he should accompany him to Alderaan to fight the Empire and rescue the captive Leia.
Luke was reluctant to leave his homeplanet, but offered to drive Kenobi to Anchorhead where he could get a flight off world. Kenobi agreed. On the way, they discovered a ransacked Jawa sandcrawler. Kenobi deduced that the vehicle had been attacked by Imperial troops looking for R2 D2, who carried Leia’s message and other important files in his memory banks. Luke then realized that the enemy troops could’ve tracked R2 and his counterpart C-3PO back to his homestead. Kenobi warned against going back, but Luke jumped in his land speeder and raced back home. He returned shortly afterwards, crushed and in a state of shock. His home had been burned by Imperial stormtroopers. Both his aunt and uncle were dead. Now, having no past and only hopes for the future, Luke agreed to join Obi Wan in a crusade against the Empire.
The duo and the two droids then travelled to the Mos Eisely spaceport where they arranged for transportation to Alderaan. The man they hired was a smuggler by the name of Han Solo, who piloted the ship Millennium Falcon with his Wookie friend Chewbacca.
Shortly before takeoff, Luke was harassed by several criminals in a cantina. Kenobi warned the hooligans to back down, but one of them drew a blaster and fired on the old man. Kenobi, though now elderly, had not lost his skill. He quickly drew his lightsaber, deflected the laser bolt, and then hewed off his attacker’s arm. This attracted unwanted attention, and the group left soon afterwards. The take-off was a close call and they were almost grounded by a brigade of Stormtroopers, but Han managed to fend off the Imperial attack until the Falcon was airborne. They then set a course for Alderaan. During the voyage Kenobi began instructing Luke in the ways of the force. Luke accomplished much for so short a time of training. He was clearly his father’s son.
When they arrived at the Alderaanian coordinates, the planet was nowhere in sight. I massive asteroid field was in its place. Kenobi began to realize that the planet had been entirely destroyed. He had felt its destruction earlier as a great disturbance in the Force. There was little time for mourning, however, as an Imperial TIE fighter soon flew into view. Han decided to destroy the small craft and followed it in close pursuit.
Unbeknownst to him, this was the bait for a trap. The fighter led them straight to the Death Star, an Imperial superweapon. This was the battle station that had destroyed Alderaan. The massive installation quickly seized the Falcon in a tractor beam and pulled the ship into one of its hangers. Kenobi and the crew hid in the smuggling holds to elude search parties, and then ambushed a scanning team sent onboard. They quickly took the armor of the crewmen and disguised themselves in the Imperial uniforms. Emerging from the Falcon, they overpowered security in the hanger.
Kenobi then went to deactivate the tractor beam generator so that the Falcon could escape. Luke and Han eventually went to rescue Leia. Both parties were successful in their missions. Darth Vader, however, was not oblivious to what was happening. He sensed Kenobi’s presence onboard the Death Star, and he set out to find his former master. He encountered Kenobi en route back to the Falcon. The two once again ignited their sabers and engaged in battle. As the battle progressed, Vader taunted Kenobi because of his age. Kenobi replied with a cryptic warning: “You can't win, Darth. If you strike me down, I shall become more powerful than you can possibly imagine."
Then, Luke reappeared on the scene, retreating with Han and Leia to the freed Falcon. Kenobi knew that his friends would never escape with Vader present. It was here that he made a choice to surrender his life to the living Force. Smiling, he held his lightsaber before him and stood defiantly before lord Vader. The Sith then swung his saber at Kenobi, but the blade never hit him. The saber passed through Kenobi’s empty garments as his body dissipated and became one with the Force. This bought enough time for Luke and his comrades to escape. Luke would soon return to the Death Star, sending the entire battle-station to its doom.
Though Kenobi was physically dead, he continued to guide and council Luke as a Force ghost. He eventually directed Luke to Dagobah, where he received further Jedi training from an exiled Yoda. It was on this planet that Kenobi revealed to Luke the true story of his father. And finally, Kenobi was present in spirit after the Second Battle of Yavin when Death Star II was destroyed.
Obi Wan Kenobi is an interesting type of knight in battered armor. Most of his battering seems to have come from the outside world rather than his own personal flaws. Granted, he did have his shortcomings, but the real testimony to his knighthood comes from the overwhelming amount of evil he faced in his lifetime, and the courage with which he faced it.
At a young age, Kenobi witnessed his master’s death. Immediately afterwards he was faced with the task of training a brash and impetuous student, leaving him little time for grief. Ten years later the Clone Wars began, tearing apart the galaxy and claiming the lives of many of his friends. The horrors he witnesses and the trials he underwent during this time must have been significant. And when peace was finally in sight near the end of the war, the clone army he had fought with for four years betrayed him in cold blood. His order was annihilated and the temple, his home, was ransacked. The Republic had fallen. And this was all done by the hand of Anakin, his fellow knight and friend. Kenobi was forced to fight Anakin himself and confront the monster his former Padawan had become. Finally, he left his old friend in an inferno of flames to live or die as the Force willed. Nineteen years of solitude and exile followed.
Yet through all of this, Kenobi never lost hope. He was battered to the core by betrayal, death and sorrow. Still he would not break. He followed the path of the light side to the very end, even to his death at the hands of Darth Vader. Kenobi is an outstanding example of how we should handle hard times in our lives that just seem to batter us beyond hope. We’re proud to have him as an honorary member. Obi-Wan 'Ben' Kenobi, welcome to KIBA.
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