Obi-Wan Kenobi, brilliant Jedi though he was, made a number of mistakes throughout the Star Wars saga. His biggest almost ensured the Empire’s victory and ended the Rebellion on the streets of Mos Eisley. In Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope, Kenobi used his lightsaber to dispatch Ponda “Walrus Man” Baba (and presumably his partner Dr. Evazan as well) in the Mos Eisley Cantina. It’s a sharp piece of action, and the first chance audiences had to see a lightsaber in action. Unfortunately, it was also a catastrophic tactical error.
At the time of the incident, the Jedi Order had been hunted to the verge of extinction and the Emperor clearly intended to remove all traces of their existence. The presence of an old man wielding a lightsaber with such skill – even in a dusty bar in the Outer Rim – must have set off major alarm bells in the local Imperial peacekeepers, and likely resulted in an entire garrison of troops descending upon them in short order. Furthermore, even having just cut off someone’s arm, Kenobi deigned to remain on the premises and finish negotiations with Han Solo for passage to Alderaan. The fact that only a few Stormtroopers showed up – and that they took their time getting to the Cantina – was the luckiest of lucky breaks.
Click the button below to start this article in quick view.
A Jedi Has Other Options
The mistake is compounded by the fact that, as a Jedi, Obi-Wan didn’t need to resort to the lightsaber so quickly. He’d already used his mind trick earlier in the film when he and Luke slipped through the Stormtrooper patrol, and while one could argue that he attempted the same move against Ponda with his “come let me get you something” line, he still had other options. Passive physical skills were part and parcel of Jedi training, to say nothing of telekinesis and other means to disarm opponents without resorting to the lightsaber.
Indeed, Kenobi’s status as an exile likely meant that he practiced such techniques regularly, and as seen with his Jedi mind trick, he clearly knew how to deploy them subtly without drawing attention to himself. That might account for his rather benign reputation as “a strange old hermit” rather than “a death-dealing member of an illegal knightly order.” Using the lightsaber wasn’t an act of necessity, but rather convenience, which worsens the initial error and makes Kenobi’s actions particularly foolhardy.
Kenobi Might Have Been Too Enthusiastic About Getting Back in the Game
The mistake was very much in keeping with Kenobi’s personality. At the end of Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith, he found himself in exile, guarding the infant Luke to keep him safe from the Empire and possibly atoning for his role in the creation of Darth Vader. It was not a life he was temperamentally suited for. As subsequently seen in the prequels and Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Kenobi fully embraced the swashbuckling aspects of the Order. He took joy in swinging on ropes and cutting villains down with his lightsaber. 20 years on the bench may have left him a little restless, and the prospect of dispatching a pair of ne’er-do-wells may have been too much for him to resist.
Additionally, the issue may lie in the fact that the Star Wars universe hadn’t been fully fleshed out yet, and there was nothing unusual or notable about a lightsaber in the 1977 version of events. And one can always argue that Kenobi simply trusted in the Force, since Luke was on the move and things seemed to be coalescing in a specific direction. It doesn’t change what a blunder it was, or how close Obi-Wan came to ending the Rebellion’s ultimate triumph before it even began. His mistakes make him human – and a richer character in the bargain – but they are still mistakes.
About The Author
