"Escape is not his plan."

Why does Vader think Obi-wan is not going to try to escape the DS is ANH after the Falcon is captured after blasting out of Mos Eisly on Tatooine?

Does Vader think Obi-wan came on a suicide mission?
Has he forseen Obi-wan's death?

Point me eslewhere if this has been discussed already. I searched for "Escape is not his plan", but got no results.....

 

I think it WAS a suicide mission, and Obi knew it. He knew he had to confront Vader one more time especially to lead luke on his path.

 

Obi-Wan knew that he would eventually have to face Vader.

 

Vader probably knew that Ben's objective was to confront Vader, in fact I'd say that Vader was quite surprised that he allowed himself to be struck down.

 

I always wondered, why did Obi Wan just give up? Was it because he knew even if he defeated Vader he could'nt get off the DS alive and therefore could'nt guide Luke? Why did'nt he try his hardest to defeat Vader during that duel?

 

Because it was Luke's destiny to stop the Sith, he is really the "one who will bring balance".

Look at it this way. If Vader is dead, the Emperor trains a new apprentice. Possibly Luke himself.

The only thing that kept Luke from falling to the Dark Side or being killed out of turn is his relationship with his father. If Vader is dead, the new apprentice would kill Luke rather than try to recruit him. If Luke is tempted by the Emperor, he WILL fall because he doesn't have his desire to save his father.

Vader HAS to live in order for the Sith to eventually fall.

Obi-Wan knew he had to die in order to allow Luke to find that his "fate lies along a different path than mine".

 

Ohhh boy... Not another Luke is the chosen one thing... >_<
As for how Vader knew, he probably sensed it through the Force.

 

Obi-Wan was distracting Vader so Luke and the others could escape.

 

After 20 years of everyone presuming he's dead, Obi-wan shows up somewhere that Vader can and has sensed his presence. There's no reason for him to try and escape, the Empire would just hunt him down.

 

Well, Vader knew Obi-Wan was there because he sensed his presence, but youre right, "escape is not his plan" assumes quite a lot... Unless their last encounter ends with something definite that would make Vader think that, like "If we meet again..."

As for: "Why did Obi-Wan just give up?", I think its because his mission was complete. He had reunited the twins.
He looks over, sees them together, sees a perfect opportunity to plant some seeds in Lukes head, smiles, and dies at the hand of his former apprentice.

Awesome.

 

Ep3 may also shed light on this. Obi-Wan feels that he'll be able to better benefit Luke as a spirit form, and we still don't exactly know why yet.

"If you strike me down I shall become more powerful than you possibly imagine..."

 

Looking at it from Vader's perspective, his old teacher has come back after almost two decades. The last time they met, Kenobi had nearly killed him, yet then went into hiding.


Now with the Death Star complete and the plans stolen and not yet recovered, Obi-Wan shows up again. It's only natural for Vader to assume that Kenobi has come for him again.


As for why Obi-Wan 'gave up' during their duel, it was obvious that neither combatant could gain an advantage. With Luke, Leia and Han racing to the Falcon and the tractor beam powered down, their escape was certain. Kenobi knows that Luke won't leave while he's still there and if Luke doesn't leave immediately, all that he's planned for nearly two decades could be ruined. Now given that he can't defeat Vader, his only other option is to give up and let Vader kill him.

 

FEAR FOR HE HAS RETURNED!

Thats right, after nearly a year of non-posting, I have returned, don't know who I am? I don't care! But anyway...


I always thought the reason for this was the Force Ghost, but it has to do wit my personal theory about it.

When a Jedi dies, he leaves all his skill and power to waste, all his experience, his life, dies with him. But, when a Jedi dies, and allows himself to become one with the force, he vanishes, letting his entire being transfer to another. That's why Luke was able to become so powerful in such a small time. That would also explain why Luke is the only one able to see them. It then also explains why Luke got his ass royally handed to him when he faced Vader, because Ben could not help him...


Obi-Wan knew this, and since Vader was so close to Ben as Anakin, he sensed this as well...

Though that theory only works if my force ghost theory is correct.

 

New guy here, go easy on me!

I always assumed Obi-Wan sacrificed himself to give the Falcon an opportunity to escape, however as I was reading this thread I got to thinking. (Pure speculation) What if Obi-Wan, as Anakins Mentor, felt responsible for Anakin's turn to the dark side, as a parent might feel responsible for a wayward child's behavior. Perhaps he saw sacrificing himself as an atonement for his perceived failure?

Doesn't really take into account the whole "If you strike me down..." thing though. ?

 

"Escape is not his plan."

Of course it isn't. This is Obi-Wan we're talking about; since when has he ran from anything?

Honestly, I think Vader was gravely worried about Obi-Wan showing up again after all these years. Vader's only conclusion would've have to been that Obi-Wan was back to finish him off. Although Vader was probably wondering why now...

As for "if you strike me down, I will become more powerful than you can possibly imagine," well, Obi-Wan does. He becomes a Force Ghost, as it were. We don't see him throwing around the DSII or anything, but if he's operating under traditional ghost rules, he can't be killed. He doesn't feel pain, and he's effectively outside anyone's influence in any fashion. He's the Sith's worst nightmare: an immortal Jedi than cannot be killed. Even if the worst had come to pass and Vader'd been killed and Luke turned in ROTJ, Obi-Wan and Yoda could've certainly tried again. And again, if necessary.

Basically, at this point, it boils down to this: Vader and Palpatine are mortal. Obi-Wan is not.

 

I always thought that Ben let himself be struck down because he would be able to help Luke more as a ghost. But then he tells Luke that if Luke confronts Vader then he can not interfere. So Ben would have been a better use to Luke if he and Luke fought Vader together at Bespin.

 

I always wondered, why did Obi Wan just give up? Was it because he knew even if he defeated Vader he could'nt get off the DS alive and therefore could'nt guide Luke? Why did'nt he try his hardest to defeat Vader during that duel?

Obi-Wan knew his purpose was to sacrifice himself and his own life so that Luke and the others could escape the Death Star. Obi-Wan was also aware that Luke was the only hope for bringing his father back and defeating Vader.

 

I wonder if obi wan didn't also fear he'd be unable to keep Luke from turning into another Anakin.

 

It's only natural for Vader to assume that Kenobi has come for him again.

I've always thought that this was the point of the line "Escape is not his plan". In other words, when Vader senses Obi-Wan, he can only assume that Obi-Wan has returned to complete their "unfinished business".

I'd say Vader has been waiting for this to happen since the Ep. III duel.

Now, how much Obi-Wan foresaw his own destiny in sacrifice is a bit debatable. Hopefully, we may learn a bit about this in Ep. III.

 

This is an excellent question. I think it's one of those tidbits that'll finally be answered in Episode III.

 

I think it is a simple case of Vader (and by implication The Dark Side) obsession with "Destiny" and "Fate". Vader knows that "Destiny" has brought Obi-Wan and he back together and to complete the circle.

Now, it is a sort of self fullfilling prophecy, as Vader then engineers this meeting. But since there with the Jedi/Sith there is a lot of talk about the Force guiding you, I'd imagine this is one more example. I do also believe that Obi-Wan has an inkling through the Force that he is not coming back, (as his final chat with Luke shows), and I'd always imagined that the look he throws when he first sees Vader in ANH, is a sort of "I had almost got away as well."

In reality, I think this is just a slight plot flaw in the script, due to the constant re-writes on set to deal with Obi-Wans premature demise, (that was not planned until shooting had started), the "He did not expect to see Vader" sequences and the "He knew he was sacrificing himself/Confronting Vader all along" seem to not completely mesh. You'll notice Lucas has a history of adding Overdubbed lines in Post production that seem to not entirely gel with the concept as caught originally on film. (AOTC has multiple examples.)

However, the other part, (The sacrifice itself), I would say is as some members have previously stated. He realised he could not defeat Vader physically, he was trapped by all those stormtroopers, and he knew Luke wouldn't go leave him, so he let himself be destroyed, knowing that he could still help Luke through the Force.

UKS

 

Because Obi-Wan no longer served a purpose in the plot.

Because if Obi-Wan were still alive everyone would have wanted him to fly the trench.

Because Obi-Wan didn't want to have to sign a bunch of autographs when he got to Yavin.

They didn't have arthritis medicine in the SW Universe, and Obi-Wan just couldn't cope anymore.

 

As has been discussed above, Vader has sensed Obi-Wan's presence, and expressed his certainty that Obi-Wan doesn't mean to escape, but intends to confront Vader in a final rematch of their ep3 duel. It appears that the outcome of the duel, with Obi-Wan vanishing, was a surprise to Vader, which suggests that in Vader's mind, Obi-Wan's purpose in the duel was to kill him.

Obi-Wan's statement "If you strike me down, I shall become more powerful than you can possibly imagine" indicates that it is his intention to 'sacrifice' himself and become a force ghost, attaching himself to Luke to serve as a guide for him.

One piece of the puzzle that has not been mentioned yet is where Ben is leaving Luke, Han, Chewie, and the droids in the control room to go deactivate the tractor beam.

Luke "I want to go with you."
Obi-Wan "Be patient, Luke. Stay and watch over the droids."
Luke "But he can-"
Obi-Wan "They must be delivered safely or other star systems will suffer the same fate as Alderaan. Your destiny lies along a different path than mine. The Force will be with you, always."

As of this moment, Obi-Wan already can sense that his final confrontation with Vader is imminent, and that he won't be leaving the DS with the others.

Ben's behavior during the duel, maneuvering himself and Vader into the area of the hallway where they are in view of the troopers guarding the Falcon, and waiting until Luke shouts "Ben?!", before he makes his final move, all suggests that he's purposefully trying to acheive three things: (1) become a Force ghost, (2) have Luke witness Vader killing him, which will serve as an additional impetus for Luke to continue Jedi training and confront Vader, and (3) create a distraction for the others to escape on the Falcon.

 

Obi-Wan went to the Death Star to die.