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Disney+'s Obi-Wan Kenobi is in the books. So, how has it changed the galaxy far, far away forever?
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00:00It cannot be understated how tough a task it must have been to forge an exciting new chapter within this
00:05precious galaxy far, far away without completely overlooking and rewriting the events fans know and love heading their way in
00:11the years to come.
00:12But the always excellent director of Disney Plus' latest Star Wars adventure, Debra Chow, not only pulled it off, she
00:18also managed to give new meaning to seemingly throw away exchanges, change what you thought you knew about certain iconic
00:24figures, and even justify some of the most bizarre beats to have ever reared their head in this legendary franchise.
00:30Gareth here from War Culture Star Wars and here are 10 ways Obi-Wan Kenobi changes Star Wars.
00:3610. Vader's Head Scars May Have Been Caused in That Rematch of the Century
00:41Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy promised a rematch of the century heading into Obi-Wan Kenobi, and boy did Debra Chow
00:48and co. deliver.
00:49While the second coming together of these former allies within the series, if you're not counting flashbacks that is, very
00:54much caught the eye due to its all-round force-wielding brilliance and emotional gut punches,
00:59said highly anticipated apparent last round before episode 4 actually seemed to give fans an answer to a question many
01:05thought had already been answered.
01:07Let me explain.
01:08With Luke Skywalker eventually unmasking his pops in Return of the Jedi and revealing a gnarly scar on the left
01:14side of his skull,
01:15many had understandably attributed this scorch mark to his initial burning on Mustafar.
01:19However, with Kenobi well and truly smashing his one-time brother in the face with countless force-propelled rocks,
01:25and even slashing the left side of his iconic face covering open with his blue blade in Part 6,
01:30it appears as though Old Ben may have actually caused those eye-catching head wounds in this moment.
01:35And while some are still adamant said Scar had been present since episode 3,
01:39whatever way you slice it, couldn't resist, Obi-Wan is still very much responsible for that particularly painful reminder.
01:469. Obi-Wan Temporarily Turned His Back on the Jedi and Force
01:51Instead of the cheeky and reliable Jedi Master who could regularly be called upon for aid and guidance in a
01:56protagonist's time of need,
01:58Ewan McGregor masterfully brought to life a portion of the legendary character's life
02:02that saw him very much shunning everything to do with the Jedi and Force as a whole in Obi-Wan
02:07Kenobi.
02:07This turning his back on the Order was admittedly understandable,
02:11after feeling incredibly guilty over his part in the fall of Anakin Skywalker and the rest of the Jedi in
02:16Revenge of the Sith.
02:17But this decision to shine a detailed light on his disenchantment with and disconnecting from the Force for a time
02:23also adds some new depth to the Alec Guinness version of the character,
02:27with it now being clear that he had to overcome some serious mental and emotional barriers
02:31before being in a place to become the Master who could eventually guide young Luke down the Jedi path.
02:378. More Survive The Great Jedi Temple Purge
02:40For the longest time, it was pretty much assumed that just about nobody got out of Anakin Skywalker's wrecking of
02:46the Jedi Temple alive.
02:48However, it's now become increasingly clear that a few lucky Force-wielders managed to wriggle out of the devastating siege
02:53with their lives still remarkably intact.
02:56And now joining the likes of the Mandalorian's Grogu is Obi-Wan Kenobi's Reaver.
03:00Instead of somehow being whisked away from the action and remaining hidden in the years following Order 66 though,
03:06Reaver would opt to head down the path of the dark side and join the Inquisitorius in her quest to
03:10get revenge on Vader.
03:12So along with adding another combustible element to the Inquisitor squad that had already ruthlessly made a name for themselves
03:17in the likes of the Rebels animated series,
03:19the arrival of Reaver also provided another reminder of just how ruthless the fallen Skywalker was during the infamous attack
03:26and how resilient some of these seemingly helpless younglings actually were when faced with a truly frightening slaughter.
03:32She hid amongst the corpses of her dead pals for crying out loud.
03:377. Obi-Wan's Certain Point of View Tale Makes a Bit More Sense Now
03:42Ben Kenobi's initial reveal to young Luke Skywalker that his father Anakin was actually betrayed and killed by Darth Vader,
03:49only to explain this all away as being true from a certain point of view in the wake of the
03:53Jedi in training,
03:54discovering the Sith to actually be his pops was one of the more jarring and obvious rewrites George Lucas made
03:59to his ever-growing epic.
04:00However, in what acted as Obi-Wan Kenobi's emotional climax in Part 6,
04:05Deborah Chow was actually able to successfully justify Ben's A New Hope revelation to the next generation of Skywalker.
04:11With the now revitalized Jedi Master dramatically apologizing to Anakin for all of it,
04:16Vader confesses with a chilling amount of menace that Obi-Wan was not responsible for killing the one-time Jedi
04:21Knight.
04:22He was.
04:23And just like that, Kenobi is forced to face the fact that what remained of his former pupil and brother
04:28was very much killed all those years ago,
04:31paving the way for another rather satisfying justification for a once infamously odd line.
04:36So what I told you was true, from a certain point of view.
04:406. Obi-Wan Had a Brother
04:42In Canon
04:44Obi-Wan Kenobi's charming and unquestionably sweet small-screen relationship with the young Princess Leia Organa
04:49came stuffed with more emotional haymakers than anybody was truly ready for.
04:54But away from the likes of the thoroughly weathered Jedi's revealing of the princess reminding him of her fearless and
04:59stubborn mother,
05:00no, you're crying,
05:01Kenobi also let loose the bombshell of him remembering having a brother for the first time on the live-action
05:06stage.
05:07Now, this actually isn't the first instance of Kenobi having a long-lost sibling being potentially introduced to the series,
05:13with the original screenplay for Return of the Jedi stating that Owen, Lars of all people, was actually Ben's bro.
05:19Owen being Kenobi's sibling would pop up a few more times in various Legends material,
05:23before Attack of the Clones reintroduced Owen as Anakin's stepbrother,
05:27with no clear link between him and Kenobi being made known within current canon.
05:31But this still leaves the door open for a potential Kenobi family reunion with his unknown bro,
05:35should Disney decide to tell more pre-New Hope streaming service stories in the coming years.
05:415. Darth Is Much More Than A Weird One-Off
05:44The iconic Jedi Master's rather specific farewell to Vader during Part 6,
05:49in the wake of thoroughly ripping up a rocky locale,
05:52instantly transported fans back to the pair's last exchange before Anakin fell to the dark side in Revenge of the
05:58Sith,
05:58with Kenobi's goodbye, old friend, this time being replaced by goodbye, Darth.
06:03Along with this callback, Kenobi's bitter use of the title Darth also helps Alec Guinness' longtime bizarre use of the
06:09moniker
06:10in A New Hope make a little more sense in the overall narrative.
06:13While it's clear that Darth was seen more as a first name than a title by George Lucas upon penning
06:18a New Hope script,
06:19that would obviously change in the years that would follow,
06:22and leave the utterance of,
06:26Obi-Wan Kenobi's handling of the pair's final showdown before A New Hope, however,
06:31now suggests that Kenobi's use of the term Darth is his way of separating his beloved fallen friend Anakin
06:36from the relentless Sith who now stands before him.
06:40Number 4, Princess Leia's Blaster Holster Means More Than We Thought
06:44Faced with the reality of once again having to face down the youngster's father if the rest of the path
06:48were to survive,
06:49Kenobi is forced to leave Leia with Roken and Haja in Part 6,
06:53as the pair look to return her safely home to the Organas.
06:56But before he sends a reluctant Leia on her way,
06:59a gift is handed over to the eventual general in the form of Tala's holster.
07:03Far from just being a sweet exchange between the pair,
07:06this handing over of the fallen freedom fighter's holster would act as a symbolic passing of the torch to the
07:10next generation of rebels,
07:12and it likely informs Leia's decision to equip herself with a similar, or perhaps the same, holster,
07:18this time actually boasting a blaster during her later years as a military leader.
07:22The overall connection explored between Kenobi and Leia throughout the show
07:25also adds much more emotional weight to Leia's decision to call upon Kenobi as her only hope in Episode 4,
07:31and Kenobi's eventual sacrifice to ensure both Skywalker children escape the Death Star unscathed.
07:383. Obi-Wan and Vader Are More Powerful Than You Can Possibly Imagine
07:43Largely due to the fact the original trilogy came about during a time when it wasn't exactly easy
07:47to commit ridiculous feats of Force wizardry to film as it is today,
07:51the likes of Darth Vader and Obi-Wan Kenobi's impressive commanding of the Force
07:54was largely restricted to the odd mind trick and choking of an unsuspecting officer.
07:59Yet with the introduction of the always-evolving tool of CGI,
08:02both figures have increasingly had their true potential exposed in various prequel and video game entries,
08:08but arguably the pair's most jaw-dropping displays of Force prowess on the live-action stage to date
08:13were saved for Deborah Chow's small-screen saga.
08:15In the show, Vader can be spotted literally yanking a ship out of the air mid-takeoff
08:20before making a mockery of Reva in the pair's duel.
08:23Vader's former master would also finally get a chance to show off what he was truly capable of,
08:27taking levitating rocks to new heights as he hurled countless boulders at the Dark Lord in their rematch of the
08:33century.
08:33That being said, the pair's freakishly powerful Obi-Wan Kenobi displays
08:37do make their eventual final showdown on the Death Star now feel a tad underwhelming in comparison.
08:442. Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru were packing some firepower but still got scorched
08:49The sight of Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru's charred remains outside of their Tatooine homestead post-Stormtrooper raid
08:55told the story of a couple who simply did not stand a chance when faced with the might of the
08:59ruthless Empire in A New Hope.
09:01However, with the pair's re-emergence in Disney Plus' Obi-Wan Kenobi tale
09:05came the revelation that these two humble Tatooine residents
09:08were packing much more firepower and resilience than fans initially thought.
09:12Upon discovering that Reva was on her way to kill their precious Luke,
09:16Beru informs her husband we both knew this day might come,
09:19before revealing a secret stash of blasters to fight off the former Grand Inquisitor.
09:23Very much risking their lives to ensure the safety and secrecy of one of the most important beings in the
09:28galaxy,
09:29the show successfully alters fans' perceptions of a pair who once seemed like little more than bit-part players.
09:34In truth, Owen and Beru were brave as all hell,
09:37and even managed to keep a powerful Force user at bay for a spell.
09:40It's just a shame their aim wasn't quite as sharp all those years later.
09:451. Qui-Gon did actually find a way to become a Force Ghost
09:49The live-action return of Liam Neeson's Qui-Gon Jinn left fans the world over fist-pumping with glee during
09:55the show's finale.
09:56However, his Force Ghost comeback did actually bring with it a rather intriguing development.
10:00Up to this point in time, it was believed by most that Qui-Gon hadn't actually been able to fully
10:05physically manifest himself
10:06in the way Yoda, Obi-Wan, and Luke eventually would in later appearances.
10:10Because he simply hadn't been able to complete his training before his untimely death.
10:14Clearly though, in the time after his Clone Wars appearances in a vocal and vision capacity,
10:19and as corroborated by canon short story collection from a certain point of view,
10:22Jinn was able to finally complete his training and take his place as the first ever Force Ghost in Star
10:28Wars canon.
10:28So, perhaps a potential Season 2 will ultimately give us some long-awaited answers
10:33as to how the unorthodox Jedi Master was able to pull off this game-changing feat.
10:38In short, we want Season 2. Give it to us now, baby.
10:41And that's our list.
10:42Know of any other ways Obi-Wan Kenobi changes Star Wars?
10:45Let us know all about them in the comments section right down below,
10:48and do not forget to like, share, and click on that subscribe button while you're at it.
10:51I've been Gareth from WhatCultureStarWars.
10:53Thank you as always for clicking on this video today.
10:55May the Force be with you, and hopefully I will see your faces very, very soon.
10:59Bye-bye!
11:01We'll see you next time.
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