Kenobi Series Thoughts

[Darth Logos]

Yeah, Luke built his Jedi Order differently. There were other married couples in the New Jedi Order. That means he probably realized the failings of the old order. The prequel trilogy did a great job of showing how the Jedi Order's downfall was as much their own fault as it was the Sith's fault. Palpatine was brilliant, he played the Republic and Anakin like a fiddle to get what he wanted, but it still wouldn't have been possible without help from the Jedi. Luke surely would have studied the old order and the last years before their downfall and tried to avoid making the same mistakes.

There were other factors involved as well, that I've discussed before.

[ThreadJack]

Owen was a farmer, and that's all he wanted to be. That's also all he wanted Luke to be. He used stall tactics and lame excuses to try to keep Luke on Tatooine. You could say it was for Luke's protection, but I think he also wanted Luke to be just like him.

That was also likely a huge factor.

I've studied the American Civil War for years, decades at this point, and one thing I can tell you, from reading accounts from the time is that this sentiment was common on both sides. "You want to do what?! But I need you to stay and help here, we can't afford to hire more farm hands. Why would you want to go anyway when you have everything you need here?"

[scifidude79]

That was also likely a huge factor.

I've studied the American Civil War for years, decades at this point, and one thing I can tell you, from reading accounts from the time is that this sentiment was common on both sides. "You want to do what?! But I need you to stay and help here, we can't afford to hire more farm hands. Why would you want to go anyway when you have everything you need here?"

It really wouldn't surprise me if that's where George Lucas got the inspiration from. Especially when you factor in that Luke originally wasn't Vader's son and had no real reason to be "hiding' on the farm. As we know, that plot twist didn't come about until production of TESB was well underway. It may be that George based Owen's attitude off of real life American farmers from the Civil War years.

[Darth Logos]

It really wouldn't surprise me if that's where George Lucas got the inspiration from. Especially when you factor in that Luke originally wasn't Vader's son and had no real reason to be "hiding' on the farm. As we know, that plot twist didn't come about until production of TESB was well underway. It may be that George based Owen's attitude off of real life American farmers from the Civil War years.

Don't even think it was necessarily based on war times. It's not hard to simply attribute Owen preferring Luke to stay on simply because he was raised there and knows the farm better than a hired hand. That combined with the probable hope that Luke (regarded as a son) would simply take over the farm when the Lars passed. Which does give wonder as to how sincere Owen was when he promised to let Luke go to the academy the following year.


OOOOOOOOOOO!!!! How cool would it be if they made a "What If?..." based on SW, and Luke ended up going to the academy and joined the Imperial Navy?  Luke's flying prowess in a TIE Interceptor.

[scifidude79]

Don't even think it was necessarily based on war times. It's not hard to simply attribute Owen preferring Luke to stay on simply because he was raised there and knows the farm better than a hired hand. That combined with the probable hope that Luke (regarded as a son) would simply take over the farm when the Lars passed. Which does give wonder as to how sincere Owen was when he promised to let Luke go to the academy the following year.

Indeed, Owen was Luke's adoptive father and it's possible he just wanted his "son" to take over the family farm. There's plenty of that in real life too. I don't believe Owen was sincere about Luke getting to go to the Academy next year. I think he just wanted to keep Luke there as long as possible. Luke's comment "That's what you said when Biggs and Tank left" tells us that it's an old discussion. Had Owen not bought the droids and the stormtroopers hadn't killed Owen and Beru and life had gone on the same way it always had, I think in another year Owen would have invented another excuse to keep Luke home.

Man, this discussion is putting me in the mood to read the original novel again.

[Darth Logos]

Indeed, Owen was Luke's adoptive father and it's possible he just wanted his "son" to take over the family farm. There's plenty of that in real life too. I don't believe Owen was sincere about Luke getting to go to the Academy next year. I think he just wanted to keep Luke there as long as possible. Luke's comment "That's what you said when Biggs and Tank left" tells us that it's an old discussion. Had Owen not bought the droids and the stormtroopers hadn't killed Owen and Beru and life had gone on the same way it always had, I think in another year Owen would have invented another excuse to keep Luke home.

Man, this discussion is putting me in the mood to read the original novel again.

I'm beginning to think we need to rewatch Kenobi. Makes me think we need to hear all the exchanges between Ben and Owen. I'm beginning to think that Ben would have told Owen, when he dropped him off, to keep Luke inconspicuous. Anything that would involve leaving the planet would only start exponentially drawing attention to him.

[scifidude79]

I'm beginning to think we need to rewatch Kenobi. Makes me think we need to hear all the exchanges between Ben and Owen. I'm beginning to think that Ben would have told Owen, when he dropped him off, to keep Luke inconspicuous. Anything that would involve leaving the planet would only start exponentially drawing attention to him.

It's funny how people criticize the fact that Owen didn't even change Luke's last name. But, that sort of thing requires paperwork. Paperwork trails aren't something you want to leave when you're trying to remain inconspicuous. Besides, the family homestead was under the name Lars, not Skywalker. And Obi-Wan was able to hide out by keeping the last name Kenobi. You're definitely right that leaving the planet would also have drawn attention to them. More paperwork trails.

Hiding out in plain sight in the armpit of the galaxy is far from the worst plan, no matter what some people think. After all, it's not like the Empire really had a foothold on Tatooine anyway. The Hutts wouldn't have gone for it, and I don't think the Empire wanted to make an enemy out of them. Just think about the price the Empire probably had to pay just to put some Stormtroopers in and around Mos Eisley.

I do want to watch Kenobi again, and I probably should watch Andor and The Mandalorian S3, and I might just have to re-subscribe to Disney+ since the holidays are now behind us. Besides, I have a 3-day weekend, and there are worse ways to spend it than watching some SW.

[Taegin Roan]

I think my biggest problem with this show is not the storyline, but rather how poorly executed almost everything was.

[ThreadJack]

It's funny how people criticize the fact that Owen didn't even change Luke's last name. But, that sort of thing requires paperwork. Paperwork trails aren't something you want to leave when you're trying to remain inconspicuous. Besides, the family homestead was under the name Lars, not Skywalker. And Obi-Wan was able to hide out by keeping the last name Kenobi. You're definitely right that leaving the planet would also have drawn attention to them. More paperwork trails.

Hiding out in plain sight in the armpit of the galaxy is far from the worst plan, no matter what some people think. After all, it's not like the Empire really had a foothold on Tatooine anyway. The Hutts wouldn't have gone for it, and I don't think the Empire wanted to make an enemy out of them. Just think about the price the Empire probably had to pay just to put some Stormtroopers in and around Mos Eisley.

I do want to watch Kenobi again, and I probably should watch Andor and The Mandalorian S3, and I might just have to re-subscribe to Disney+ since the holidays are now behind us. Besides, I have a 3-day weekend, and there are worse ways to spend it than watching some SW.

Also considering how common it is for unrelated people in our world to have the same surname....can we be sure "Skywalker" and "Kenobi" aren't at least not un-common names? Trillions of beings in the galaxy, names are sure to repeat.

"Luke Skywalker eh? I dated a Hannah Skywalker once, back on Ord Mantel. Know her?"

[scifidude79]

Also considering how common it is for unrelated people in our world to have the same surname....can we be sure "Skywalker" and "Kenobi" aren't at least not un-common names? Trillions of beings in the galaxy, names are sure to repeat.

"Luke Skywalker eh? I dated a Hannah Skywalker once, back on Ord Mantel. Know her?"

Yes, I know all about unrelated people sharing not only last names but first as well. I have a common name and it can be a pain in the butt when it comes to criminal background checks. I had really bad issues some years back where I wasn't even finding employment because of the crap that came up when people ran checks on me, and it was nothing I'd done. I had to have all of that cleared out of my background when people ran checks on me. As it is, I still have things like gun purchases delayed due to having a common first and last name.

However, I get the sense in Star Wars that Skywalker isn't all that common. They seem to know Luke is Anakin/Vader's son when they learn his last name. Besides, a Skywalker in connection to Owen and Beru Lars would have been too coincidental for Palpatine or Vader to ignore. So, anything Owen or Beru did to draw attention to Luke could have been a problem.

[Taegin Roan]

Also considering how common it is for unrelated people in our world to have the same surname....can we be sure "Skywalker" and "Kenobi" aren't at least not un-common names? Trillions of beings in the galaxy, names are sure to repeat.

"Luke Skywalker eh? I dated a Hannah Skywalker once, back on Ord Mantel. Know her?"

However, I get the sense in Star Wars that Skywalker isn't all that common. They seem to know Luke is Anakin/Vader's son when they learn his last name. Besides, a Skywalker in connection to Owen and Beru Lars would have been too coincidental for Palpatine or Vader to ignore. So, anything Owen or Beru did to draw attention to Luke could have been a problem.

It's not completely out of the realm of possibility. We know the Chiss called their Force Sensitive navigators (more nuance to it than that) "Skywalkers", and putting 2 words together to signify something is a very common practice. So I definitely don't think it's terribly far fetched that maybe there were more than 1 family of Skywalkers. After all, Shmi had to get the name from somewhere. Maybe it was once more common than it is now, and has died out a bit. Who knows.
But yeah, I definitely agree with SFD about Palps making the connection between a Skywalker and the Lars family on Tattooine if he heard about it.

[scifidude79]

I rewatched the first 3 episodes back-to-back yesterday. I wasn't going to watch that many at once, but one of the cats joined me and I decided to just keep watching so I didn't have to disturb her. I think this show is even better on the rewatch.

It's a shame Disney doesn't seem keen on putting their SW shows on Blu-Ray, other than expensive a** steelbook "collector" sets. I'd like to own some of their shows, but not at those prices. By comparison, Paramount+ puts a lot of their shows on Blu-Ray (and even DVD) with normal releases and non collector prices. Amazon and Netflix have even been known to put some of their shows on disc, at lower prices than Disney. Disney seems to think everyone wants to pay a premium markup for their s***. 

It's not completely out of the realm of possibility. We know the Chiss called their Force Sensitive navigators (more nuance to it than that) "Skywalkers", and putting 2 words together to signify something is a very common practice. So I definitely don't think it's terribly far fetched that maybe there were more than 1 family of Skywalkers. After all, Shmi had to get the name from somewhere. Maybe it was once more common than it is now, and has died out a bit. Who knows.
But yeah, I definitely agree with SFD about Palps making the connection between a Skywalker and the Lars family on Tattooine if he heard about it.

I mean, anything is possible as far as names go. Like ThreadJack said, it's a huge galaxy. It's just from what we saw in the movies that everyone is certain that Luke is Anakin's son due to the name. Sure, Yoda, Owen and Beru, Bail Organa (and probably his wife) and Obi-Wan know this for certain, but it's a well kept secret. They made it appear that Padme died before giving birth, so that Palpatine and Vader wouldn't be looking for Anakin's kids. So, they had no idea that the children had been born and had survived, yet they were certain Luke was his son.

[Taegin Roan]

I mean, anything is possible as far as names go. Like ThreadJack said, it's a huge galaxy. It's just from what we saw in the movies that everyone is certain that Luke is Anakin's son due to the name. Sure, Yoda, Owen and Beru, Bail Organa (and probably his wife) and Obi-Wan know this for certain, but it's a well kept secret. They made it appear that Padme died before giving birth, so that Palpatine and Vader wouldn't be looking for Anakin's kids. So, they had no idea that the children had been born and had survived, yet they were certain Luke was his son.

I do agree. It's definitely set up as not something super common.

[Darth Logos]

It's funny how people criticize the fact that Owen didn't even change Luke's last name. But, that sort of thing requires paperwork. Paperwork trails aren't something you want to leave when you're trying to remain inconspicuous. Besides, the family homestead was under the name Lars, not Skywalker. And Obi-Wan was able to hide out by keeping the last name Kenobi. You're definitely right that leaving the planet would also have drawn attention to them. More paperwork trails.

When you think about it, it makes perfect sense.

1) Vader didn't know that Padme survived long enough to give birth.
2) Of the umpteen hundred trillion beings in the galaxy, you could have a giant neon sign saying "Son of Skywalker right here. SUCK IT, EMPIRE!" and they still would take some time to find you even if they were looking.

Hiding out in plain sight in the armpit of the galaxy is far from the worst plan, no matter what some people think. After all, it's not like the Empire really had a foothold on Tatooine anyway. The Hutts wouldn't have gone for it, and I don't think the Empire wanted to make an enemy out of them. Just think about the price the Empire probably had to pay just to put some Stormtroopers in and around Mos Eisley.

Lesser known fact: The Empire was perfectly aware of the Hutt Cartel's holdings in the outer rim. Despite the Emperor being a noted xenophobe, he allowed the Hutts to continue doing business because of similar methodologies; maintaining control through fear. The Hutts, in return, knew to not interfere when the Empire stepped in.

...and there are worse ways to spend it than watching some SW.

Meh...I'm currently watching Batman the Animated Series.

I think my biggest problem with this show is not the storyline, but rather how poorly executed almost everything was.

Please elaborate. I actually thought that this had far fewer flaws than expected.

Also considering how common it is for unrelated people in our world to have the same surname....can we be sure "Skywalker" and "Kenobi" aren't at least not un-common names? Trillions of beings in the galaxy, names are sure to repeat.

"Luke Skywalker eh? I dated a Hannah Skywalker once, back on Ord Mantel. Know her?"

Yeah....but, y'know....Disney.

However, I get the sense in Star Wars that Skywalker isn't all that common. They seem to know Luke is Anakin/Vader's son when they learn his last name. Besides, a Skywalker in connection to Owen and Beru Lars would have been too coincidental for Palpatine or Vader to ignore. So, anything Owen or Beru did to draw attention to Luke could have been a problem.

There's also the fact that SW (sadly) has never had the best security protocols. Something about "It's an older code, but it checks out." Or not being able to look up classified information unless the terminal sees your face? Not even facial recognition, JUST that there is a face. (Maybe it was a take on "I am not a robot.") There's a really good chance that Luke could have made waves on the Holonet by being a stellar racing pilot. Highly doubt that the Empire would be trolling the net for a name, that for their knowledge, no longer exists.

[Taegin Roan]

Please elaborate. I actually thought that this had far fewer flaws than expected.

I've talked about it in other places, but I don't remember where (or all my thoughts), but I'll see what I can remember.
The biggest things that stand out to me are Reva's survival several times, and the teleportation. The first series started off strong with Obi-Wan attempting to deal with the fact that he'd killed his best friend, and that the Republic had been destroyed, because he'd trained Anakin. I wish they would've explored that a bit harder, but it was fine. At least it was there.

It's the small details that really get me. Like the kidnappers chasing Leia, the lack of consistency with character designs (Grand Inquisitor), the teleportation (as I already mentioned), the fact that somehow Leia could hide inside Obi-Wan's coat and nobody noticed (even the actress thought that was dumb), and just in general the sets just being extremely confined due to everything being filmed on the Volume. Everything just feels cramped. And I know most of this isn't story things, but it kind of is, because it all affects the storytelling. The ideas being played with, and for the most part the acting, was all really good. They just needed to not confine themselves quite so much, and instead play a little.


EDIT:
Also, the story constantly felt like it was progressing because the plot needed it to. Not because it made sense for the characters, or the story itself. They just needed a way to have 6 episodes, and so they had to force things forwards. Had they been driven by the actions of Obi-Wan, it would've flowed much better.
Also, Obi-Wan's trauma was might near dropped as a plotline. There was a bit of it after the first episode, but not nearly enough to be believable.