The facts regarding Kenobi's youth are the most plentiful of any character in the new trilogy--which means pretty rare. However there are somethings we do know. Obi-Wan has a brother: Owen Lars, known to us as Luke's "uncle" Owen. We don't know exactly at what age Ben began to train in the ways of the Jedi, but eventually he became a student of the Jedi Master Yoda and Qui-Gon Jinn will be his mentor. During the Clone Wars, Obi-Wan eventually became a general of the Republic and he served under Prince Bail Organa of Alderaan who became the Jedi's life-long friend.
"My pride had terrible consequences for the galaxy," Obi-Wan tells Luke in the Return of the Jedi novelization. He was reffering to his past belief that he could train a powerful young Force-sensative named Anakin Skywalker as well as a Jedi Master such as Yoda could. He was amazed at how strongly the Force was with Anakin, who was also already a great pilot, and he gave in to the temptation to make Anakin his apprentice. Anakin was not ready for the responsiblity that came with wielding the Force, and as we all know he fell to the Dark Side.
Somewhere in the films, late in Episode III according to when James Earl Jones said his voice would be needed, Ben will try to dissude Anakin Skywalker from the dark path he has chosen, and the confrontation will result in he and Anakin squaring off in a lightsaber duel near a molten pit. Ben will defeat Anakin in the battle, and Skywalker will fall into the molten pit--his body broken and charred so that he requires the famous metallic structure of Darth Vader to sustain his life.
Anakin did not know that his wife was pregnant at the time of his descent into the Dark Side, and Ben and Anakin's wife greatly feared for the safety of her unborn children. Towards the end of the prequel trilogy Ben will take baby Luke to his brother Owen and Owen's wife Beru on the desert planet Tatooine, where the couple will raise the galaxy's messiah in safe anonymity. Obi-Wan fades into the Jundland Wastes and becomes Ben "the crazy old wizard" Kenobi, waiting for the day when Luke is ready to become a Jedi.
Despite the strong rumors for years the Kenneth Branagh would play the young Kenobi, the role has gone to Ewan McGregor for at least Episode I. Ewan has admited he will be in all three films on UK television, so we'll take his word for it! According to Rick McCallum in the #34 issue of the Star Wars insider, Ben will be 25-28 years old during the first prequel.
Here are two quotes by Ewan McGregor in Details magazine:
"This guy looked me in the eye and said, 'Are you ready?' Then he opened up a brief case-sized box with eight or nine lightsaber handles. I picked up the sexiest one. I realized, I've been waiting twenty years to have my own lightsaber."
It's Ewan's turn to buy a round of drinks, but that doesn't stop everyone from mocking his Jedi haircut. "They're paying me a lot of money to keep my hair like this," he protests. Then he pulls out something surprising that he's kept tucked behind his right ear: a three-inch lock of hair."
Delta Source:SPOILERS! Highlight the area below to uncover them!
From what Delta Source told us, it seems Obi-Wan will not be in any scenes on Tatooine. We can't say this for certain, however. It is possible that Obi-Wan could appear in Tatooine scenes that were not filmed in Tunisia (if there are any).
Unnamed Sources: Obi-Wan will be wearing a closley cropped pony-tail in Episode I. Obi-Wan's costume will be similiar to Mad Martigan's outfit in Willow.
True Fan: True fan told us that Obi-Wan's costume would be like Luke's from Return of the Jedi, except with a larger tunic. That description matches what our source told us about Ben's outfit as well. Mad Martigan's non-armor outfit is quite like Luke's from Return of the Jedi (with a larger tunic). Of course, we all orignally assumed that our source meant the armor costume from Willow, which prompted the cool image by Mike Bastarache lower down on the page.
Imperial Droid: Obi-Wan's hair will be spikey on top, with a braid in it. Ewan McGregor confirmed this in an interview with Details magazine! According to the Droid Anakin will adopt Obi-Wan's hairstyle by the end of the film (a sign that he idolizes the young Jedi.
A Han Solo for the prequels?
According to this particular rumor, in Episode I Obi-Wan is supposed to be a figure remincent of Han Solo. This rumor is supported by the fact that in Star Wars Insider #35 George Lucas calls Ewan McGregor both a young Alec Guiness and a young Harrison Ford. If you look at the cast references in context, Lucas compares the A New Hope cast with the Episode I cast and basically leads the reader to the conclusion that Padme is the Leia of the prequels, Anakin is the Luke, and Obi-Wan is the Han Solo of the prequels...which indirectly adds credence to the theory that Jar Jar is the Chewie of the prequels.
Ever since George Lucas mentioned in the Star Wars Screen Saver that the new trilogy would feature "betrayal amongst friends", fans have wondered whether Kenobi would be the cause of the falling out between Anakin and his wife, for one reason or another. A while back Chris heard that the rumors of a love triangle were true--only Ben wouldn't be a part of that triangle. It does make sense that the close friendship had by Kenobi and Skywalker would deteriorate over one major, personal event like the one this rumor suggests, thus opening Anakin to question the values that Ben passed down to him in the Force. Something like this would be very true to the Aurthurian legends or myths that inspired Lucas' writing. Whether this is valid remains to be seen.
Ever since The Empire Strikes Back there has been a rumor that Obi-Wan Kenobi was actually a clone of the original man, Ben Kenobi. One piece of evidence supporting this rumor is that Owen Lars has seems to have no love for the crazy old hermit that lives out in the Jundland Wastes. Of course, that could easily be explained in that Obi-Wan wants to train Luke in the ways of the Force and Owen will not take the chance of Obi-Wan ruining the child he raised as his own boy the way the Jedi ruined Luke's father. One could also say that Owen had no love for the Kenobi out in the Wastes because that Obi-Wan Kenobi was not his brother Ben, but a clone of him. We don't buy this rumor.
More support comes from the fact that George Lucas disallowed Tim Zahn from using an insane clone of Ben Kenobi in his book trilogy (the character was replaced by an insane clone of Jedi Jorus C'Boath). The only time Lucas doesn't allow authors to do things in when it will bust up continuity. Hmmm. We still don't buy this rumor.
A while back someone on the AICN Forum reported that she had a friend in costume design who said that Obi-Wan will be wearing a blue band around his arm that denotes his royal birth.
Kivlehan: At the end of the first draft of Star Wars, Princess Leia of Aquilae names Annakin Starkiller Lord Protector of her planet. I think we'll see the Lord Protector thing resurface in Episode I, but not with Anakin as Lord Protector...with Obi-Wan in that role. After all, one does not make a 12 year old Lord Protector of a planet. It seems more suited to Ben Kenobi. Also, setting up that Arthurian Love Triangle, this would make Kenobi the young queen's knight, so to speak, as Lancelot was Guinevere's knight. I expect to see the queen a little infatuated with Ben. However, since Ben is 25-28 and she is 14, I doubt anything would come of it.
If you recall, some early drafts of Star Wars refer to Ben as the Leader of the White Legions in the Clone Wars. Perhaps these White Legions are a group of Jedi who don't follow the normal chain of Jedi command...kind of virtous renegades. Picture Kenobi and the leader of these legions, who's ranks include some of the most powerful young warrior-Jedi, including Anakin. During Episode II we could see the White Legions kick some major butt in battles, but by the time Episode II is ending, perhaps the group will split into two factions...one that follows Ben, and one that follows Anakin. While Ben's group remains loyal to the Light, Anakin's falls over to the dark side. The results of this rock the foundations of the Jedi and Kenobi sees the beginings of the effects his pride (in forming this renegede group) has on the galaxy.
