Much has been written and rumored about the life of Obi-Wan Kenobi on Tatooine between the events of Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope. As I alluded to in this past installment of Pull Wisely, Marvel’s actually going to be covering much of that in their newest installment of their Star Wars comic. James Whitbrook over at io9 does a bang-up job of summing up writer Jason Aaron’s answer to one of the smallest (yet most mysterious) questions around Old Ben’s time on Tatooine: why the hell Uncle Owen hates him so much.
Spoilers follow for Star Wars #15. You’ve been warned.
So basically Uncle Owen is angry at Obi-Wan simply because the old Jedi can’t help but be a Jedi–he has to help people. In protecting Luke and looking out for him from afar, he’s essentially blowing the family’s cover. It’s mighty suspicious when you live out in the Tatooine wastelands and for some reason even Jabba’s henchies steer clear of you. It’s even more suspicious when Jawas start giving you stuff for free. That never happens.
Uncle Owen, in his overprotective-yet-loving-watch dog ways, rails against Obi-Wan’s meddling. To Owen, he’s protecting Luke by keeping him under a veil of obscurity. To Obi-Wan, he’s protecting Luke by, well, physically protecting Luke–which takes him out of that veil more than once. Trying to find a balance between helping and letting nature or life (or the Force) take its course challenges Obi-Wan to his limits. After all, he’s someone who’s spent his entire life trying to help people. When you take away something that’s so central to someone’s character, you can’t be surprised when they start acting a little off–like a weird old wizard, perhaps?
You should check out Whitbrook’s full recap over on io9, and definitely pick up Star Wars #15. Marvel’s really been hitting it out of the park these days with filling in the Star Wars gaps, and you really should see for yourself.
(via io9)
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