From day one, Star Wars made it very clear there’s no love lost between Owen Lars and Obi-Wan Kenobi. Lars calls Kenobi a “crazy old man” and tries to get Luke Skywalker to pay him no mind. Which, of course, doesn’t work. But that relationship got a fun new twist in the most recent trailer for Disney+’s Star Wars: Obi-Wan Kenobi and now there’s more.
One of the highlights of the recent trailer was Obi-Wan (Ewan McGregor) talking to the younger Owen (Joel Edgerton) and saying that Luke must be trained. “Like you trained his father?” Owen retorts. The insane burn (pun intended to a degree) instantly became a meme in Star Wars circles and Lucasfilm reacted by releasing a bit more of the scene. Check it out.
He must be trained.
Check out this clip from #ObiWanKenobi, and start streaming the two-episode premiere this Friday on @DisneyPlus. pic.twitter.com/gtI5q3vS7f
— Obi-Wan Kenobi (@obiwankenobi) May 24, 2022
Since the father comment has already been memed to death, I think we can concentrate on the other aspects here. When Obi-Wan brought Luke to Tatooine to stay with the Lars family at the end of Revenge of the Sith, the audience knew what came next: the events of A New Hope. What we didn’t really know was Obi-Wan’s mindset. What were his expectations in separating the child from his sister and hiding him on this planet? Now we know he wasn’t just leaving Luke just to live his own life and to keep him safe. He was patiently waiting on him to begin to show signs of an ability with the Force. “Showing,” as Owen calls it. And I think that’s a fascinating take.
Obi-Wan (actually “Ben” already) still has the fate of the galaxy on his mind. He wants this New Hope to begin to learn the ways of the Force. Owen, clearly, does not. At some point though, Owen’s way will win and Ben will just let Luke be Luke. As a result, it’s Luke who comes to Ben, not the other way around. This seems like a very important choice that character must make for himself — and it’s a choice that, at this point during Obi-Wan Kenobi, Obi-Wan did not want him to have.
I’m so excited to dig into all these little nuances later this week when Obi-Wan Kenobi debuts on Disney+
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Editor’s Note: Release dates within this article are based in the U.S., but will be updated with local Australian dates as soon as we know more.