[HCSF] I havn't gone by the name of Obi-Wan since ooh before you were born

Does this mean GL will be carful to only call him obi wan in the earleir sectiosn of the moive? if the twins are born?

 

I really don't know what is to become of that. All we really know about Obi Wan in Episode 3 is that he has the title of general in this movie but when does the Ben name come into usage. I hope this is clarified.

 

I think he will interpret this somewhat loosely, and at some point Kenobi will start to be called Ben. Someone in another thread had a good point, that after the duel Anakin changes his name to Vader, and Obi-Wan changes his name to Ben, as their former lives have been shattered and they are seeking to change their names and hide from their pasts.

 

Watching one of the web docs Lucas talks about how careful he has to be so as every line rings true in Episode 4.
How is this going to work in Episode 3 answer I dont know but my advice is to relax Lucas wont make a mess of this.

 

What's to make a mess of?

This is again of those things that can EASILY be explained away as Obi-Wan talking "from a certain point of view".

I'm sure we'll see some explanation for Obi-Wan taking the name Ben, and it doesn't necessarily have to be AFTER Luke was born - we know it will be around the same time.

Remember, Luke doesn't know jack when he's talking to Ben. He thinks Anakin was some freighter pilot or whatever.

 

Yeah, this has "certain point of view" written all over it.

But nonetheless it's sort of fascinationg to me how this is all going to play out. Why on Earth would he just change his first name? I guess for the same reason Luke keeps his last name. But it's probably not even a big thing... no one on Tatooine has probably ever heard the name "Obi-Wan Kenobi"... so just changing it to "Ben Kenobi" is undercover enough. I don't know, there's undoubtedly a logical reason, it's just still kinda weird.

 

He probably wanted the slight connection so R2 could come and lead Luke to him.

 

I'm guessing that Ben was a sort of nickname used only by Obi-Wan's closest friends and family. Since we haven't seen any of Obi-Wan's friends or family in TPM or AOTC, it makes sense of that we haven't heard it. After the duel and the Jedi purge, I suspect Obi-Wan will no longer think of himself as a Jedi Knight (at least not in the same way) and will revert to the less formal "Ben."

(The only question mark is Dex, who seems to be more of a friend than a professional acquaintance...)

 

I think it makes perfect sense. Obi Wan is known was obi wan always before luke is born, when Luke is born he goes to Tatooine and takes on a more low key name. As for him saying since "BEFORE" you were born, I think thats just the way to put it when he looks back on it. I mean, he doesn't say "after" obviously, and especially doesn't say "since WHEN you were born." Thats a dead giveaway and is gonna lead to questions. I say theres no problems with it.

 

It is 20 years later, so he's not being exact with his memory, which is totally fine. No need to nitpick an old man's memory.

 

Exactly... I see no problem with it.

It could be explained literally though... scenario: Obi-Wan is protecting/hiding Padme, perhaps taking her somewhere to have the children, so they have to travel under fake names. He goes by Ben and it sticks. Something like that, it works either way.

 

I still think it's a minor issue in ROTS, but I'll throw something else into the mix.

Why keep the last names of Kenobi and Skywalker?

And why "Ben"? Perhaps Ben means something in the GFFA?

 

Indeed, the thing that bugs me here isn't why/when he changed his first name. It's why he didn't change his last name.

After all, his last name was probably much more widely known than his first. Just think about it. What is General Abizaid's first name? Who knew that of the top of their head? Do more people know who your talking about if you say "Ghandi" or "Mohandas Karamchand?"

So why would he change the lesser known part of his name? We know it's not very effective. After all, someone looking at a picture of Ghandi that said, "Mohandas Karamchand Ghandi" would be able to recgonize it as "Mohatmas Ghandi" even though they're familiar with the latter and not the former.

So what was "Ben" thinking?

 

Yeah, I just don't get the last name thing either. On one hand, they're retaining some of their identity, but on the other, people are trying to kill them.

Luke keeping the name "Skywalker" makes sense in the whole Obi-Wan's-trying-to-redeem-Anakin-using-Luke scenario. But yet, it seems rather dangerous because Vader and Sidious could conceivably find out about him too soon. If they think he's dead then they have no reason to look, and Tatooine is really out of the way... but it still seems like a huge risk.

And if no one really knows about Ben other than some of the local residents then he's probably ok too... but still, kind of a big risk.

It's a small detail, but a pretty interesting one.

 

And the weird thing is, if you watch ANH, you just assume that Obi-Wan hid Luke on Tatooine because it's in the backwater of the galaxy and the Empire would not be likely to find him.

But then in TPM, we see Anakin spends much of his early childhood on Tatooine - sure, he's in Mos Espa which is apparently far away from Mos Eisley, but Anakin must have been pretty famous - he is this little human kid who beat the mighty Sebulba in a pod race.

Then he becomes a Jedi, yadda yadda.

You'd think the legend of Anakin Skywalker would still be floating around Tatooine 20 years later.

 

On the other hand...Yoda and Ben WANT Luke to find his father eventually. It was probably their plan from the very start.

And I think that Vader and Sidious will think the twins dead at the end of ROTS, hence no worries about them being tracked down.

 

Yeah, good point Garth... and you know Watto's going to spread around that Anakin became a Jedi (unless he's too embarassed or something). The book "Tatooine Ghost" touches on the legend of young Anakin and the podrace.

It seems to be the same sort of weird time thing, where in ANH everyone seems to forget everything that happened only 20 years before... the Jedi, podracing Ani, Clone Wars heros Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi...

And it's not like Anakin never went to Mos Eisley. He's been to the Lars' homestead. He knows he has family there, it's the most obvious place to hide Luke (besides maybe Naboo). I can see why he'd never want to return there, but he seems to have no trouble sending stormtroopers in ANH... it's just weird.

And I do agree with you storm, it's just an awfully huge risk, almost to the point of unbelievability.

 

Plus the fact that I'm sure not a single other interesting thing has happened on that dump of a planet in 30 years from TPM to ANH, so there probably wouldn't be anything else to talk about besides the good old days and that kid who won the pod race. Although if the Lars farm is on the other side of the planet, maybe they aren't in the loop in that area.

The only way this makes sense is if he thinks the kids are dead. Then there is no real reason to cover it up, because Vader wouldn't be looking for them. And judging by the way he stalks look in TESB, he really must think the kid is dead up until then.

 

Yes, he has to think they're dead and that's probably explaination enough. But the stack of "what ifs" is huge. What if some sort of uprising happened on Tatooine causing stormtroopers to come and someone in town happened to mention the name "Skywalker" or "Kenobi"; and for that matter, Tatooine is a known hub for all sorts of underworld denizens, if a townsperson somehow spilled either name to the wrong person...

Well I suppose it's equally dangerous putting Leia with a high-profile, anti-Empire Senator.

 

Here's something else to think about in keeping Luke's surname: We all think that Uncle Owen is trying to keep Luke on the farm as a way to prevent him from becomming like his father. What would have happened if he snuck away from home and joined the imperial army earlier. Dont you think there would be some higher-up that would recognize the name of 'Skywalker'.

 

No because the only people in the galaxy that know Darth Vader used to be Anakin Skywalker are Yoda, Obi-Wan, The Emperor and the Lars family.

I believe that at the end of ROTS the galaxy will believe that Darth Vader killed Anakin Skywalker along with the rest of the Jedi.

So hearing the name Skywalker to anyone else in the galaxy would just be a coincidence.

 

In a galaxy with billions of worlds isn't it possible that there are other Kenobi's and Skywalker's. But try explaining that to the masses.

 

No because the only people in the galaxy that know Darth Vader used to be Anakin Skywalker are Yoda, Obi-Wan, The Emperor and the Lars family.

What about Bail Organa and Padme's family, I guess Padme's family isn't as likely to know, but you gotta figure at some point during the whole crisis she turns to a family member for some guidance and tells all.

 

Owen: I don't think he exists anymore. He died about the same time as your father.


Maybe Obi-Wan died like Anakin did, from a cpov

 

I could never stand that "they're common last names" explanation.

It's an ex post facto explanation.

Although, I suppose in Ben's case, maybe Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru are the only ones who call him Ben Kenobi.

And to every other local, he's simply the crazy old hermit.