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CT Ben Kenobi?! Who is he?!

Discussion in 'Classic Trilogy' started by There_Are_Four_Lights, Jul 4, 2014.

  1. There_Are_Four_Lights

    There_Are_Four_Lights Jedi Padawan star 1

    Registered:
    Apr 30, 2014
    STAR WARS has its share of oops and bloops, as we well know. Has anyone noticed this one?

    Princess Leia knows the old Jedi as "Obi-Wan Kenobi," and refers to him as such in the holographic SOS and elsewhere.

    When Luke blurts out that he's with "Ben Kenobi," the initially skeptical Leia is won over.

    However, the alias of "Ben Kenobi" did not surface until Kenobi went into exile, at approximately the time of Leia's birth. Therefore, she should not have recognized this name, and should have required clarification before flinging herself into action.

    Oops.

    It's funny what you notice, after 20 or 30 years.
     
  2. Seagoat

    Seagoat Former Manager star 6 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Jan 25, 2013
    I don't think many Kenobis have associated themselves with the Organa family. Even if she didn't know that Ben was an alias, she could have figured that "Ben" is just a relative/sibling or something of Obi-Wan who had taken up her request
     
    dyous87 likes this.
  3. DarthIshyZ

    DarthIshyZ Chosen One star 8

    Registered:
    Jan 8, 2005
    And, I'd say it's a pretty good bet that he's been in the loop in the intervening time. Probably met up with Bail in Mos Eisley over a drink and Bail says, "So, you're going by Ben these days? When did that start?" "Oh, it started about five years before 66, but it wasn't that popular. Just some of my shadier sources that didn't understand that my first name was Obi. I just adopted it here to keep some anonymity."
     
  4. Lord Chazza

    Lord Chazza Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Jan 4, 2013
    I had actually noticed that. I always assumed that the name Kenobi was uncommon in the Star Wars universe, so when Luke uses that name Leia knows he's talking about Obi-Wan even if she doesn't recognise the name Ben.
     
  5. thejeditraitor

    thejeditraitor Chosen One star 6

    Registered:
    Aug 19, 2003
    maybe bail organa has called him that. obi-wan is too specific. the name kenobi is less so or he would have changed his whole name. she may have heard the name ben but the whole point of using the name obi-wan is the spark that happens in his eyes when he hears it. it's a serious moment. a call to action.

    what i find touching now when i watch a new hope, especially after the prequels and tcw, is that obi-wan pretty much knows he's not coming back. the long wait is over and his final mission has come. he's old now. he has no hope of defeating vader or the empire and he's going to his death. he also has to introduce luke to the force and put him on the jedi path in a very short amount of time.
     
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  6. DarthRelaxus

    DarthRelaxus Chosen One star 5

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    Apr 23, 2007
    Maybe she just wanted out of her cell really, really badly.
     
  7. Kenneth Morgan

    Kenneth Morgan Chosen One star 5

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    May 27, 1999
    The EU specifies that he adopted the alias after arriving on Tatooine, but the movies don't say. It's possible he told Bail Organa what name he'd be using, and Organa told Leia. The ROTJ novelization includes Ben telling Luke that it was arranged for Leia to look for him (Ben) should she be in serious trouble, so it's reasonable to assume she'd been told about his alias.

    In any case, the movies themselves leave it open for the audience to speculate.
     
  8. Beezer

    Beezer Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Jul 5, 2013
    My assumption has always been that Bail knew that Ben and Obi-Wan were one and the same, and would have made sure Leia knew as much when he sent her to pick him up on Tatooine.
     
    Iron_lord likes this.
  9. Valairy Scot

    Valairy Scot Manager Emeritus star 6 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

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    Sep 16, 2005
    Hey, who are you calling old...:D Ben was the "new middle age."
     
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  10. The_Phantom_Calamari

    The_Phantom_Calamari Force Ghost star 5

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    Nov 10, 2011
    Obi-Wan also used "Ben" as an alias at least once during the Clone Wars.
     
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  11. thejeditraitor

    thejeditraitor Chosen One star 6

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    Aug 19, 2003
    this is why i want some kind of story addressing obi-wan's lack of mobility, etc. he's not that old but in anh he can barely move. maybe address it in rebels or a spinoff.
     
  12. I Are The Internets

    I Are The Internets Shelf of Shame Host star 9 VIP - Game Host

    Registered:
    Nov 20, 2012
    Obi-Wan murdered Ben Affleck because he hated Daredevil, so he changed his own name to escape the crime.
     
  13. DARTHLINK

    DARTHLINK Jedi Grand Master star 4

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    Feb 24, 2005
    @thejeditraitor- He's an old man, has spent the last 20 years surviving on a dusty desert planet. Could you really blame him for not being the backward flipping, window-jumping badass he used to be?
     
  14. thejeditraitor

    thejeditraitor Chosen One star 6

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    Aug 19, 2003
    i talked about this in the kenobi spin off thread.. he's not old. he's in his 50's. dooku was in his 80's and palps and yoda are very old but can still fight better than almost anyone. there has to be a reason why kenobi is so immobile.
     
  15. Iron_lord

    Iron_lord Chosen One star 10

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    Sep 2, 2012
    Vader is the same. When in other works he's more mobile, even in the suit.

    It may simply be a difference of swordfighting style for the first movie.
     
  16. The_Phantom_Calamari

    The_Phantom_Calamari Force Ghost star 5

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    Nov 10, 2011

    He's almost as old as Qui-Gon was in Episode I, but he looks substantially older than Qui-Gon did. The years have clearly not been as kind to Obi-Wan as they were to Qui-Gon, and remember that even then Qui-Gon was feeling the effects of age--he wasn't as acrobatic as young Obi-Wan was, and he was too slow for Maul. Take into account that Obi-Wan's been out of practice for 19 years and the balance of the Force has shifted even more to the dark side, and his physical shortcomings in Episode IV start to make sense.

    But even then, you have to remember that they were fighting in a confined space, as opposed to the more open dueling locations from the prequels.
     
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  17. timmoishere

    timmoishere Force Ghost star 6

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    Jun 2, 2007
    Obi-Wan's been sitting by himself in the desert for 19 years. Not a whole lot of ways to keep up his combat skills, apart from the occasional Tusken Raider attack.
     
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  18. Legacy Jedi Endordude

    Legacy Jedi Endordude Jedi Knight star 3

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    Sep 9, 2012
    I think the work Kenobi gave it away. After all she called for him a little bit ago, I think that name would be fresh in her head.
     
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  19. Primetime_Jedi

    Primetime_Jedi Jedi Grand Master star 4

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    Apr 21, 2000
    Yeah. If Luke had said "I'm here with the Easter Bunny!" Leia would have said: "The Easter Bunny? Where? Let's go!"
     
  20. MOC Vober Dand

    MOC Vober Dand Manager Emeritus star 5 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

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    Jan 6, 2004

    In ANH old age is more of a factor than it's portrayed as later on. Obiwan is not dead 'yet' and he's 'too old' for various things. His age is quite a significant factor in him needing Luke to assist with his mission. It's only later (earlier ... whatever) that we have 900 year olds doing acrobatics and pensioners like Dooku throwing a somersault in just for effect. I don't think, at the time ANH was written at least, that there's anything more to Ben's immobility other than that he's old.
     
  21. thejeditraitor

    thejeditraitor Chosen One star 6

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    Aug 19, 2003
    i think it should be addressed now though.
     
  22. MOC Vober Dand

    MOC Vober Dand Manager Emeritus star 5 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

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    Jan 6, 2004
    Perhaps. Although I don't know whether addressing these types of inconsistencies remedies them or just draws more attention to the fact that they're there. The fact is, Kenobi makes quite a bit deal about the fact that he's old and past his prime in that film. That can't really be changed, so any other explanation is always going to look a bit false IMO.
     
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  23. sir PING1

    sir PING1 Jedi Knight star 1

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    Mar 20, 2014
    Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe there is a conversation between Obi-Wan and Annileen in Kenobi where Annileen tells Obi-Wan to make sure to cover himself when outside because constant exposure to the harsh Tatooine suns will damage his skin and effect his health. Then after she leaves she notices that Obi-Wan lowered his hood, after the mentioned conversation. I took this as Obi-Wan intentionally trying to alter his appearance some so it would be harder for him to be noticed and found. Obviously this would only effect his appearance and possibly not his agility and swordsmanship, but I just take and accept A New Hope's lightsaber duel of being the limitations of the time and the evolution and fleshing out of ideas latter on.
     
  24. Vthuil

    Vthuil Force Ghost star 5

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    Jan 3, 2013
    Which is interesting, because it's kind of a reversal from earlier versions. In the rough draft General Skywalker is described as "apparently in his early sixties, but actually much older" and is very active throughout the script.
     
  25. Valairy Scot

    Valairy Scot Manager Emeritus star 6 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

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    Sep 16, 2005
    His "getting too old for this" is one way of trying to get Luke to "jump aboard and assist the 'old man'."