Question about Ben and Luke (ANH)

I just re-watched ANH for the umpteenth time, and one thing that's been bugging me.

Ben showed a clear disdain for the Larrs hands-off approach. Talking about how they didn't want Anakin and obi-wan to get caught up in that "nonsense". Then, when it became evident that he would have to get involved in the rebellion, he wasted no time trying to get the aid of the young skywalker.

This makes sense. Knowing who his father is, he knows of Luke's potential. It's a last ditch effort to try to tip the scales. That I'm not questioning.

But Obi-Wan knew about the Jedi purge. He had to have known that this day would eventually come, that at some point Luke's potential would need to be used. Knowing what happened when he took Anakin in at such an old age (which was younger than Luke began his training), why would he risk Luke going down his fathers path? Why even place him in Owen's care, when there was the danger that Luke could someday become his father. It seems like a huge risk to take when Obi-wan should have foreseen this coming.

Also, it's generally thought that in ROTS obi-wan drops Leia off with the with the Organa's then take's Luke with him. But he had to have told Bail where he was staying, correct? Otherwise, how would Leia have known where Obi-wan was?

 

My guess is he didn't wish to train Skywalker really early for two reasons. The first being, the Emperor may feel a disturbance in the Force, that of an individual gaining more powerful with each passing day. And knowing about a strong opponent, he would then stop at no lengths to hunt down and destroy the mentor and the padawan. My second idea is that Kenobi began to believe that the Jedi destroyed themselves by taking the padawans away from their families. Perhaps if he could train someone who had a life outside of the Order, he might be better able to defeat Vader and bring about a new, more glorious reign of Jedi.

 

There wasn't a more perfect time to train Luke than when Obi-Wan chose to start the training. Why?

1. His family is dead. No attachments, nothing for him to think about beyond defeating Vader & the Emperor.

2. He's grown-up. Clearly living with Owen made Luke able to accept sacrifice without reward-something Anakin seems to have trouble with.

3. Taking a 20-year-old away from a place he totally wants to leave is a lot different from taking a 10 year-old away from his mom. And see the difference between Anakin & Luke when they do leave:

Anakin: "I don't want things to change."

Luke: "I want to go with you Ben. I want to be a Jedi and learn the ways of the Force like my father."


Anakin is torn. Luke isn't.

And notice how quickly Obi-Wan is to absolve Luke of any responsibility of what happened to Owen & Beru? It's almost a shame this sort of situation didn't happen to Anakin the first time he left tattooine-his mother dying would undoubtedly have been horrible for him at 10, *but* it would have left him with 1 less future problem.

Think of how the OT might gone if Luke was thrust into the same situation as Anakin-he has dreams of Owen & Beru dying, and returns to find them being slaughtered by stormtroopers. History might have changed radically.

 

Almost immediately after posting the "disturbance in the force" theory hit me. It makes sense. Hopefully the way Palpatine has masked his force ability will be fleshed out a bit more in ep3. It still seems to me to be a very high risk Yoda and Obi-wan would take knowing that they both agreed Anakin was too old to begin training.

However, I don't think it's because Luke's family has died. In fact, when Obi first made his proposition about taking Luke to Alderaan, Owen hadn't yet been killed. Luke doesn't make up his mind until after they had been killed, but obi-wan's intentions were revealed when they were still alive.

Ultimately, I think there were a lot of similarities between Luke and Anakin (Owen even says he's scared that Luke's ambitions sound too much like his father). Both had an urge for something more. And when first confronted by Obi-wan about going to Alderaan, Luke initially denies Obi-wan because he doesn't want to leave Owen. He then suffers a family tradgedy.

 

What Errant_Venture said.