Obi-Wan Kenobi just continually explores the pain that Ben Kenobi has in him after the betrayal of Anakin Skywalker. From the start of the series, we see him throwing himself into this idea of protecting Luke and taking care of him despite Owen wanting nothing to do with Ben. As they continue on, Obi-Wan continues to show glimpses into what he’s actually feeling in regards to the “death” of both Padmé Amidala and Anakin Skywalker. But it takes him realizing that Anakin isn’t dead to really drive home just how hurt he is by everything that happened.
And in episode 3, there is one scene in particular that really gives us a look into how Obi-Wan feels and also how … someone else feels about the past.
**Spoilers for the first three episodes of Obi-Wan Kenobi lie ahead**
When it was revealed that Obi-Wan didn’t know Anakin was alive, I knew that the pain of him seeing his brother as Darth Vader was going to destroy him. But boy was I not prepared for what the show ended up giving us in terms of a “reunion” between the two. As Obi-Wan is trying to get Leia back to Alderaan, he comes in contact with Reva once more, but this time she brings along a friend who is also searching for Ben. That friend? Darth Vader.
The minute that Obi-Wan comes face to face with Vader, the first thing out of his mouth is “What have you become?” to which Anakin responds “I am what you made me” and thusly destroys every bit of my heart in one blow. Now, we know that Obi-Wan isn’t okay. He’s been struggling and we can see it in the way that he talks to Leia. But this kind of pain is so much deeper than just losing his friends.
Brothers to enemies
Ben talking about Padmé to Leia or looking after Luke is one thing. Ben coming face to face with Anakin and seeing what has become of the man he trained, who he saw as a brother? Something much more tragic. The two were partners, two men who relied heavily on each other, and that betrayal was something that I don’t think that Obi-Wan ever recovers from. And seeing how he reacted to seeing Anakin as Darth Vader is proof of that.
His brother is now the leader of the Empire and someone he doesn’t even recognize. The “What have you become?” response bleeds into that pain and it’s clear that Anakin feels that same betrayal with Obi-Wan in his own response too. The two are suffering, and if the longing looks and the dedication to finding one another wasn’t telling enough, this scene really did drive home that neither of them are okay and their love for one another still runs deep enough that they won’t instantly try to strike each other down.
Anakin was dramatic about their fight and could have easily killed Obi-Wan, who was not as strong with the Force as he was before. But he didn’t because I think that somewhere in Anakin, he still cares for Ben. So I hope we get to see more of this relationship and this pain as the series goes on because I was not prepared for that much emotion first thing this morning while watching the episode but I loved every second of it.
(featured image: Lucasfilm)
