From a certain point of view, several aspects of Darth Vader and Ben Kenobi’s interactions in A New Hope make little sense. These strange inconsistencies also extend to one Darth Vader conversation in Return of the Jedi, and perhaps, unsurprisingly, to one moment in Revenge of the Sith. But, as the sixth, and final episode of Obi-Wan Kenobi approaches, one plot leak suggests a specific setting that could knock out three Jedi birds with one swipe of the lightsaber.
Here’s why one aspect of the Obi-Wan finale might set the stage for tidying up a few loose ends throughout the saga. Possible massive spoilers ahead.
Obi-Wan Kenobi Episode 6 leak, explained
According to several leaks reported by Making Star Wars, The Direct, Bespin Bulletin, and elsewhere, the events of Obi-Wan Kenobi’s final episode will take Ben and Vader to Mustafar. Meanwhile, Reva will head to Tatooine, though her fate is a bit unclear. But the big reveal here is that Ben seems to lure Vader to Mustafar, which is interesting, because, presumably, Darth Vader lives there. In any case, both this setting and the details of the leak suggest three very big Star Wars questions are going to get answered very soon.
3. Qui-Gon Explains Force Ghosting
In the recap which began Obi-Wan Kenobi, the audience was reminded that the last conversation between Kenobi and Yoda in Revenge of the Sith was all about talking to Yoda about how to commune with Qui-Gon Jinn’s Force ghost. This seemed to imply that at some point during its run, Obi-Wan Kenobi will actually going to show Ben talking to Qui-Gon through the Force, which would imply a cameo from Liam Neeson.
All the plot leaks about the Obi-Wan finale indicate this will happen on Mustafar. In some ways, this could fix that moment in Attack of the Clones where Yoda hears some terrible moment with Anakin, combined with Qui-Gon’s voice. As far as we know, that thing that Yoda foresaw was abstract, but Obi-Wan Kenobi could make it concrete. On top of that, we could finally see Obi-Wan learning the Force ghosting method, which also could explain how Vader picked up on it after he turned back to the light.
2. Vader’s Line in Return of the Jedi
Part of the leak suggests that at some point during a re-match on Mustafar, Obi-Wan will tell Vader what Padmé told him on her deathbed — that she believes there’s still good in Anakin. (This was also in the recap!) In Return of the Jedi, when Luke Skywalker tells Vader that he too believes there’s still good in his father, Vader responds, “Obi-Wan once thought as you do.” Up until now, we've never had a moment where it seemed like Obi-Wan believed there was still good in Anakin.
If Ben tries to turn Anakin back to the light in the finale of Obi-Wan — during a duel on Mustafar — then suddenly Padmé’s dying wish will be honored, and Return of the Jedi will make sense.
1. “Only a master of evil, Darth”
In A New Hope, Obi-Wan Kenobi does not accept Darth Vader as Anakin. This is a far cry from Revenge of the Sith when he begs Yoda not to send him to stop Anakin. In fact, in A New Hope, Kenobi even calls Darth Vader by his Sith title. In the Sith culture, the term “Darth,” isn’t really part of the name of a Sith Lord, but rather a kind of honorific, a word that comes before the new name.
The fact that Obi-Wan Kenobi is so comfortable using this term, just saying “Darth,” is very telling. But how did he get to this place of emotional detachment? In the series Obi-Wan Kenobi, Ben is still very much thinking of Vader as “Anakin.” The moment that changes and Ben accepts Anakin is no longer in there is the moment Star Wars has never actually shown before. Because once Ben can casually throw out “Darth” as a kind of insult, he’s lost a part of himself, too.
Obi-Wan Kenobi is streaming now on Disney+.
