Does the EU make Obi-Wan seem incredibly weak?

Through all of LotF, Luke is portrayed variously as an incredible pilot, an incredible warrior/duelist, & a very powerful Jedi Grand Master. Seems like his skills have not only not atrophied over the years, but have increased by orders of magnitude.

Interestingly, from the timelines I make Luke's age during LotF to be roughly the same as Obi-Wan's in ANH. Luke's still kicking A$$ & taking names, but Obi-Wan is relegated to the role of "crazy old wizard"...

I realize that Obi-Wan is effectively hiding from a Sith duo that's already once defeated the Yoda/Obi-Wan duo, & that Luke & Leia are viewed as the last/best hope to defeat the Sith. So Obi-Wan's primary goal has to be to protect Luke so he can ultimately be trained to face Sidious & Vader. And that involves not bringing any untoward attention to himself or Tatooine. But he's an exalted Jedi Master... what's he been doing in the meanwhile? Per Luke's characterization in LotF, Obi-Wan should still have significant force abilities (even if his ceiling was never as high as Luke's)...

I haven't read much from the period between RotS & ANH... are there any EU materials that chronicle Obi-Wan making a difference with his Jedi skills? Arguably he sacrifices himself in ANH to force Luke to claim the Jedi mantle... Is that the most productive use of Obi-Wan's life at that time?

I understand Out of Universe this is the result of extending Jedi's active lives so more stories can be written... are there any explanations In Universe?

I moved this to Lit from EUC since it fits better here.

 

I haven't read the Last of the Jedi series, but apparently Ben has some adventures off Tatooine in the early years after Order 66.

Plotwise, you've already answered it: Ben's goal was to lie low until he was needed. If you're talking in terms of sheer Force prowess and spectacular feats, there's two explanations.

The cop-out is that Luke is the son of Anakin who is arguably the most powerful Jedi ever.

The detailed explanation is that Luke was constantly learning new skills and increasing his power when he fought against the Dathomiri witches, the reborn Emperor, legions of Dark Jedi usurpers, etc. Ben was studying under Qui-Gon's spirit and meditating a lot, but after a point I don't think that can substitute for the genuine article.

 

I always thought he was using the Force as little as possible so his skills may have atrophied a bit, and that he was doing so so that the Emporer/Vader/an Inquisitor would not feel him in the Force on Tatooine and kill/hunt him.

Edit: This may also be because he did not have the darkness of Dagobah to hide him in the Force, reulsting in him using it less and less toa void detection.

 

Kenobi's whole existance is to protect Luke on Tattoine. We do briefly see him in book one of the Last of the Jedi YA series, plus a cameo by communicator in the later books. So he did have a hand in the resistance against the Empire, but an indirect one at that.

We also have him facing down Krayt in that timeframe as well I beleive.

 

Why do people constantly have to compare everyone? They had totally different lives.

Luke has the full cooperation of the government. He IS the government. Luke is IMO overstepping his authority by appointing Jag and other things he's done. He's not really a Jedi Master in the normal sense. His position is unique and always has been.

Obi-wan had the entire Empire out ready to kill him. He was protecting Luke and doing other things as well. But he always had to be anonymous.

Obi-wan is a regular Jedi Master that lived a normal life in his capacity for 38 years, and then his entire world fell apart.

Not comparable.

 

Obi-Wan, post RotS, is conflicted, guilt-ridden, and lost. People make a lot of jokes about his drinking - I do all the time! - but I don't actually think it's an accident that he's the only character ever shown imbibing an alcoholic beverage onscreen...

 

While Luke was the EU example I used, it was intended more as an illustration of a sixty-something jedi than as Luke Skywalker per se. Some of the other Masters might be better examples, I just didn't have handy references to their age...

Really, though, for an accomplished jedi master, it's got to be a little galling to have your sole purpose for ~20 years to be a glorified babysitter.

I understand that when Obi-Wan felt his former padawan's presence on the Death Star, he had to face him. Perhaps he realized that he couldn't defeat Vader in a duel, & so his most powerful move would be a visible sacrifice to cement Luke's path. Surely, though, the Rebellion could have used a jedi master (pre-Luke) in their ranks, & Luke could have benefited from another corporeal teacher... Seems like Obi-Wan would have looked for a couple of alternatives to suicide...

 

I thought that after TUF, Luke would start using the line "I'm getting too old for this..." Especially after his force connection supposedly suffered. Too bad that was never followed up on. It would be the perfect mechanism to have Luke gone out as a hero, active in stories, but more like an Obi-Wan or Yoda character. Advising and staying out of the action. His battle with Shimrra gave him possibly the most legitimate opponent of his career. It would have been a fitting end for him to have saved the galaxy one last time, and then stepped back.

 

Reread Clone Wars 6 TPB, if you think so, Pengu.