I have mentioned in the last couple of days that I have made some predictions that have come true in movies. But I also have had a LOT of predictions that though I thought would have been awesome, turned out to not happen at all.
I thought today I would like to share one of my more interesting theories that I mentioned in passing in yesterday’s article.
Obi Wan Kenobi would die in the prequels and the Ben Kenobi of the classic trilogy would be revealed to be a clone.
This theory was born in my simple mind from one brief moment in the Episode 2 theatrical trailer where we see Anakin lashing out in anger beheading a shadowed figure. I speculated that this would be Obi-Wan.
Stay with me here a moment. Imagine this is how it plays out, and tell me this wouldn’t have made the prequels more interesting.
In a conflict between the ever more frustrated Anakin Skywalker and his master ObiWan Kenobi, he lashes out and assassinates him. This begins the more rapid spiral of Anakin’s consumption of the Dark Side.
Now, imagine the chaos this breeds in the fanbase. Kenobi can’t die… he was in the following movies!! This creates a buzz and momentum that makes the third (sixth) chapter even that much more impressive.
This also lends to my hopes that we would actually see a Darth Vader in action in the third movie.
So here is the resolution.
In the Third Movie, the Jedi are nearly wiped out by Vader and his new clone army, and some of the remaining Jedi masters in hiding devise a plan to clone some of the Jedi to bolster their numbers. Among them, Obi-Wan Kenobi. Anakin is surprised by the presence of his fallen master and in an epic battle with the Masters and their clone allies take on Vader. Vader limps away, only Yoda and ObiWan’s clone remain.
Now flash forward 18 years to Luke (cleverly hiding in plain sight) Skywalker is whining on his moisture farm. ObiWan’s clone has been living as a hermit watching Anakin’s offspring grow. Struggling with his own identity and faced with a lot of time to think, he assumes the name of Ben Kenobi.
Here’s the clencher.
When Luke meets him, he says “The droid says he belongs to an Obi-Wan Kenobi, do you know him?” and Ben gets a little lost in thought. Imagine the process tumbling through his mind.
No one alive knows I am a clone
I may or may not have these implanted memories from the original Obi-Wan and I dont recall owning a droid.
I know the whole story of what happened with Vader and the truth about Luke’s lineage.
“Obi-Wan Kenobi. That’s a name I have not heard in a long time”
And the deciding moment.
“He’s Me!”
And the rest is history. It fits, and I think it would have been an awesome twist for both the plot of the movie and the outlying benefits it would give the movie as a franchise. Considering everyone knew how the prequel was going to play out in the long run and the backstory was already put in place, no impending worry or suspense was ever felt in a situation where Obi-Wan or Yoda were in danger. This would have rocked.
But it didn’t happen.
Would you have liked this better?
