What were Obi-Wan and Yoda waiting for?

One thing that I can't seem to get my head around is what Yoda and Obi-Wan were waiting for before training Luke.

At the end of ROTS Yoda says that they failed and so they will hide until the time is right. So why didn't they ever bother to reveal themselves to him? It took the accidental encounter of Luke and R2 to lead him to Obi-Wan. If that hadn't happened, would they have ever bothered to go and get him?

I realize that a lot of the saga is based on things that seem random but are actually part of a bigger picture. But this connection seems way to random to be considered as "fate." Chances are very slim that Luke would run into R2 for one thing, and even slimmer that he would consider Obi-Wan as being Ben.

And what was the "right time?" Obviously if jedi are best trained as children (which Yoda says is a problem for Luke in ESB), then why did they wait so long? Why not show themselves when Luke was the same age as Anakin? Waiting until he became a teen only caused more problems, specifically Uncle Owen forbidding Luke to associate with Ben.

 

Well their first priority was to keep Luke and Leia safe. Perhaps they thought that the constant use of the Force by Luke over the years as he trained would have alerted Vader or something?

Maybe they were afraid that Luke would turn out like his father, maybe Yoda wanted Obi-Wan to complete his training with Qui-Gon before training Luke. Or maybe they just lost hope

 

I think it is a combination of things. With Obi-Wan, he was basically waiting for the will of the Force... like when Luke followed R2 out there that day. He couldn't really take Luke to Owen and Beru as a newborn and say "Here... raise this kid as though he was your own for a few years, then I will come back and get him to train him for about 16 or 17 years so he can turn around and beat this bad guy that happens to be his daddy and your step-brother, OK?". They wouldn't have allowed it. He couldn't force it on Luke and his family... he had to get Luke alone... Luke had to come to him. That was the will of the Force.

I think a lot of Yoda's problem is the fact that he had given up hope. I think he blamed himself for the downfall of the Jedi. Then he lost the duel with Darth Sidious. Then he spends the next 20+ years secluded on that little swamp planet with the only contact POSSIBLY Qui-Gon. No sign of Obi-Wan... or Luke... or Leia. So he probably has lost hope. The reason he says what he does to Obi-Wan is because he basically had tested Luke ("Yoda! You seek Yoda!") and Luke was arrogant, impatient, etc... everything that Anakin could have been considered.

Ultimately though, they were waiting on the will of the Force to show them the right time.

 

This might be stretching things...

But keep in mind - when they said they'd wait for the right time, they'd still presume Anakin/Vader was dead. For them they may have thought the 'right time' could have been three years or so.

But when they realize that Darth Vader is alive, well, black & shiny, force-grippin' his way around the galaxy, keeping them hidden longer may sound like a better idea - because the situation got a li'l worse!

HHHHHHHHgh-Pphhhhhhhhh!

 

Well regardless of whether Anakin was alive or not, the Emporer and Empire were still there, so that shouldn't really matter.

As for waiting for the will of the force, that's kind of hard to accept because in ROTS Yoda acts like he has a plan in mind that he will later reveal. He doesn't imply that they will just sit around waiting for a sign, it's more like "chill out Obi, I have a plan, but it will take time to happen." It certainly doesn't feel like he has lost any hope in that scene, but more like he has something left up his sleeve.

If anything it probably does have something to do with his comments about training, but what could take 20-30 years?

Also, if they are waiting for the will of the force, then you have to assume that it's predetermined that Luke will find Obi and set into motion the chain of events that leads to Anakin killing the emporer, and I don't think that's true.

 

I think they wanted to wait until he was mature and could make his own decisions.

 

You're joking, right? You're saying Vader being alive and well shouldn't matter? The fact that the biggest threat to the saftey of any Jedi (aka Vader, aka the FATHER of the twins who we know can sense force users like radar) is alive and well shouldn't make a difference?

Let me tell you about a movie I saw in 1980 called The Empire Strikes Back. There was a scene where some officers picked up a small lead as they hunted for the rebel base. Vader looked at the viewing screen and said without hesitation "That's it. The rebels are there, and I'm sure Skywalker is with them."

Um... sorry for completely winning an argument so brutally awesomely.

 

They were waiting for their training with Qui Gon to be completed

They were waiting for a time they could do something about the Empire (the stolen Death Star plans)

They realised that babies trained from birth did not always make the best Jedi (the whole Jedi Order trained that way was wiped out)

They were waiting for a sign from the Force as now they were more focused on the Living Force unlike in the PT.

 

They were waiting for that ecounter, actually. Everything that happens is the forces doing, they were waiting for Luke to seek them out. They had to let him live a life of a bored farmer so that he would appreciate the change and the transition into a Jedi. They had their doubts, but it's because he was an offspring of the chosen one and they had to be aware of the threat. Obi Wan wanted to establish a connection with Luke so that he would crave the knowledge of the jedi and want to learn the force.Once again, Yoda was waiting for Luke to seek him out so he could test his patience and not have Luke know it was him for sure. He had to know how Luke would really react to a stranger, not a jedi master.

 

Yes and I'd also like to add, that they were waiting for Luke to be some what mature in his thoughts instead of as little boy just simply wanting adventure(reflection on Anakin).

 

It seems to be them learning from their mistakes. Knowing that raising a Jedi from childhood isn't so great, letting them grow up and make decisions for themselves is the best bet.

 

Qui-gon: "Nothing happens by chance."

This was the sign Obi-wan and Yoda were waiting for. That is why Obi-wan's demeanor changes when Luke says his real name. And seeing Leia's message was the clincher.

Bail learned of the Death Star, but could not go get Obi-wan. So he sends Leia and the droids to get him, but also to intercept the Death Star plans, since a Rebel team was in the middle of obtaining it. Leia arrives at Tatooine, but is attacked and captured by Vader. But before this, she hides the plans in Artoo and records the message to give to Obi-wan. She knows of him as Bail made sure of that. The droids escape without getting shot at. They separate, but are both found by the Jawa Sandcrawler. They arrive at the Lars, where as fate would have it, they were in need of new droids. The R4 unit blows its motivator when Artoo is denied the chance to accompany Threepio. Luke then finds the message and is tricked into removing the restraining bolt, so that Artoo can escape. Obi-wan has forseen Luke in trouble, which is why he is there in time to save him from the Tuskens after he and Threepio find Artoo.

Ah, but as we see fate works in mysterious ways. Owen and Beru are killed by the Sandtroopers who are looking for the droids. Thus Luke can now leave without looking back. And because he was raised by the Lars, Luke's sense of compassion is strong. He also becomes curious about his father which is why he wants to become a Jedi and which leads him to want to save his father, once he knows the whole truth.

 

What would of happened if Leia's ship escaped and came back to Tatoonie , and was able to made contact with Obi Wan ?

IMO Yoda had a plan, maybe even tried to put into action after many years of waiting but he might of saw that it would fail so he backed off. Being a huge Leia Fan, maybe he planned on using Leia first then saw it wouldn't work cause Leia was so stubborn like her dad hahaha
But then that would run into conflict with Yoda saying there is another. Or maybe he could of meant oh well I'll give her another shot. Plus the tone in his voice sounded like he wasn't so sure of the other.

 

If Leia's ship had landed to Tatooine and she seeked out Ben than that would be another story where Leia is the one trained as a jedi. Luke would eventually become a fighter pilot for the Rebels [assumming Leia redeemed her father also.]and he'd meet up and be taught by Leia.


Your point of Yoda highlights the whole theme of star wars. Yoda originally plans to atleast train one of them as Jedi's to defeat Vader and the Emporer but after so long in the darkness of the galaxy he begins to lose hope. A new Hope is the skywalker twins, mainly Luke, and he seeks the force out and becomes the jedi after all.

 

They were waiting for the Force to bring Luke to them, which it did in A New Hope.

 

You know, for such a simple story, it's full of complicated plans.

You've got Padme's plan to take back Naboo, Palpatine's grand plan to take over the galaxy, Luke's stupid plan (which worked..eventually) to recue Leia from the detention block, the rebels desperate plan to destroy the first Death Star, Vader's plan to capture Luke, Palpatine's plan to destroy the rebellion and turn Luke to the Dark Side, Luke's impossible plan to rescue Han Solo...I mean come on...that has to be the most ridiculous one yet...

But all those plans are part of a master plan by the Force to bring everything back into balance.

I swear, if you really sit down and think about Star Wars and look at everything it will do your head in...and people thought the Matrix was complicated?

 

Well when the twins are born the Empire is just begining to forge itself. Hunting down the remaining Jedi, putting in place govenors and so forth. I think waiting until the time is right means waiting until the Emperor is more complacent in his power. When they aren't looking for Jedi anymore. This way they can train the twins w/o being detected. Over the coming years Owen tells Obi-wan to get the heck away from him and his family. He's grown to love the boy and doesn't want to see him follow Obi-wan and end up dead or worse like his step-brother. Obi-wan couldn't very well go to Alderan to get Leia b/c that's a core world and he'd be found quickly. So all in all if it hadn't been for that chance encounter (which very well could have been the will of the force) the whole plan would either not have happened or Obi-wan would just say the heck w/ it, I'm not getting any younger and go talk to Luke.

 

I think that the transition from III TO IV is interesting and surprising with regards to Luke. If somebody is watching it in order they may expect the next episode to be abut Luke's training, especially with Obi-wan and Yoda's talks at the end of III, but then Luke shows up as an adult without a clue as to what the force is or who his father and mother were. Then Obi-wan implies that, although he tried, Owen wouldn't let him be trained. It's an overlooked twist in the story.

 

To be fair, that plan was unexpected and spur of the moment. At least the others had time to plot out theirs.

 

Luke needed to be ready for it, not them. Before they hadn't waited to train him, they had gathered the kids before they could even rthink of being ready. Now they had the wisdom to let the students come to them.

 

I think Obi-Wan and Yoda had the intent to recruit either Luke or Leia or both to become Jedi at some point, they just refrained from making the decision prematurely.

A consideration of primary importance was the fact that once Luke or Leia began training in earnest, their usage of the Force would be noticed by Vader and the Emperor. Even Luke's untrained use of the Force in ANH was noticed by Vader at close range. Later, when Luke was training on Dagobah, the Emperor took notice immediately: "There is a great disturbance in the Force. We have a new enemy - Luke Skywalker."

Both Obi-Wan and Yoda knew that once this happened, Luke would be in danger. Had Luke been a child, he would have been less able to defend himself. Even as a young man, Luke was no match for Vader, but that's where the other key factor comes in: kinship.

Obi-Wan and Yoda knew that Vader had a weakness for family. His feelings for his mother and his wife had been key factors in his behavior at certain critical moments in the past, and they were counting on the possibility that his feelings for his own children would be a kink in his armor. It was not essential that Luke be able to defeat Vader in combat, it was enough that Luke's presence would trigger an elemental conflict within Vader that would enable Luke to survive the encounter with Vader. (This is probably also why Luke kept his own last name.)

Obi-Wan and Yoda might have waited longer, or tried to take more time to train Luke, except the completion of Death Star forced them to speed up the plan, so as to avoid galaxy-wide carnage on a scale not previously contemplated.

As Keith Martin speculates here, Obi-Wan and Yoda may have been communicating through the ghost of Qui-Gon (or directly), and Obi-Wan may have been in contact with Chewbacca, and thus their decision-making may also have been informed by developments in the Alliance and the ongoing efforts to assemble the military might to challenge the Empire. Since they would have a limited time to train Luke before his presence would be felt by the Emperor and Vader and they would have a chance to track him down, it stands to reason that they would want to do this at a time when the Empire was also occupied with hunting down the Rebels.

 

Maybe Yoda and Obi-Wan hoped for a sign from the Force as to when the right time was. And when Luke turned up looking for R2 Obi-Wan knew then that it was time; that it was the will of the Force for them to do something now.

 

They were just waiting for Owen and Beru to die.

 

This was spot on. Nothing more needs to be said.

Except for Yoshifett's entirey pointless and useless comments. Why do you waste your time? You can't possibly enjoy writing about something you hate so, so much.

 

The sign that they were waiting for is Bail.

The plan unfolds when Bail realizes that the Empire has this ultimate weapon of destruction, and that the galaxy needed to the Jedi, Obi-Wan and the son of Skywalker to come back.

I suspect that Obi-Wan has been in some contact with Bail which is why R2 knew where to go, and not the Lars compound.

Also I remember, but not sure where that Obi-Wan has kept a watchful eye over Luke from afar, and he saved Luke and a friend before when they were in trouble.