CT Why did Obi-Wan allow himself to be killed?

I imagine this must have been discussed here before, but I guess I missed it, so I will go ahead and ask it.

In ANH, Ben lifts his light sabre and smiles, allowing Darth Vader to kill him. I know he said to Darth, "If you strike me down, I will become more powerful than you can imagine" and I'm sure he knew he'd turn into a force ghost, but is there more to it than just that? Wouldn't it be better to guide Luke as a living being than as a force ghost? Wouldn't it be better to kill Vader, if he could (though he probably couldn't have if he wanted to at that point) ?

 

I used to think it wasn't a good choice myself, and part of me still doesn't care for the "old mentor has to die" trope, but really looking at the situation, it kind of makes tactical sense. Obi-Wan not only had Vader to contend with, but also stormtroopers marching towards him, and then Luke suddenly appearing nearby, noticing he was in a duel. Obi-Wan probably figured he wouldn't win, and it was better to just end things before Luke and the others endangered themselves trying to help.

Plus he knew he'd become a Force ghost and Yoda would be around to continue Luke's training.

 

Yeah, Ben looked at all those stormtroopers and basically said to himself, "There is no way that I am going to be able to get to the Falcon alive. And there is no way that Luke is going to leave while I am alive. Luke and the rest need to get on that ship and get away. That is the priority. Therefore, the best thing for me to do is to die ASAP."

 

His light saber was dying, as his powers were weak due to old age. He was also surrounded by stormtroopers as others have mentioned. He saw a chance to help Luke, and help the others escape. You can see the power in his light saber fading in one scene.

 

But, if he had kept up the fight for a few more seconds, and kept the Troopers and Vader distracted just a little longer, then the escape would have been a bit less risky for them.

But then again maybe as long as Obi-Wan was alive he knew Luke would stay and try and save him. He had to make Luke let go and save himself, and everyone else.

 

He looked at the Falcon and thought what it would smell like with Chewie and 3 humans who had just taken a bath in the garbage disposal and he was like, "oh, hell no!!" and he just preferred to become a blue glowie.

 

The Art of TLJ book has an interesting answer to this:

“In A New Hope, Ben Kenobi warned his former apprentice Darth Vader, as they duel aboard the Death Star, “If you strike me down, I shall become more powerful than you can possibly imagine.” The popular interpretation of Kenobi‘s words is that he would return more powerfully in spirit form to guide Luke toward the redemption of his fallen father. But Rick Carter felt otherwise. Early in the development of The Force Awakens, he shared his belief that Kenobi, turning briefly to see that Luke was watching, consciously resolved to sacrifice himself, knowing that Luke would bear witness to his death. And that by bringing father and son together through that selfless act, Kenobi was hastening the end of Darth Vader and therefore, the end of the Empire. So Kenobi trusts in the Force, choosing not to fight.”

 

Obi Wan was clearly no match for Vader at this point because of his age. Vader delightfully points this out. "your powers are weak old man."

 

^I don't know if it was his age as much as Ben was probably really out of practice. Interesting idea that his lightsaber was weaker though. I always just saw that as a bad effects thing.

And that TLJ art book quote is a weird interpretation. If by "bringing father and son together" it means "son will be motivated to kill the father more than ever now, because believing a lie that his father was murdered wasn't enough, Obi-Wan has to add another reason Luke wants Vader dead"... then sure. Real "selfless act" there, Obi-Wan.

Yeah, I'm going to go with the "stalling and self-sacrifice so the others can escape" reason. It just makes more sense.

 

To be fair, I think he invented the whole Old Mentor Dies thing in modern fiction.

But yeah, he probably knew there was no way Luke was gonna just leave him hanging there facing Vader. I mean, even when he did die, Luke continued fighting and had to be cajoled to leaving by the other two.

 

He had nothing else to do in the third act and he didn’t feel like hanging around that hot and humid jungle base on Yavin IV. There was a trap door and he knew a little bit of magic. So, poof! Later Vader!


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Obi-Wan realized that there was no way he was going to be able to contend with Vader and the stromtroopers in order to reach the Falcon. Obi-Wan looks over and sees Luke and Leia, the children of Anakin, getting ready to board that ship and he knew that the torch had officially been passed. Obi-Wan realized his adventures were over and Luke's were just beginning.

 

He had been alone for years before his final meeting with Vader. I believe he felt like he was at the end of the road, and meeting Vader again was full circle, and time to attain closure and a sense of peace.

 

Because George Lucas had to spice up the film somehow after taking out the sex and violence.

 

Yet decided to leave in all the incest.

 

I think Obi-Wan assessed the situation (like Yoda in ROTS) and, realizing he wouldn't be able to beat Darth Vader, let alone get past all the stormtroopers watching, realized there was no way out of the situation. I think he then realized it would be ok cos he could still help Luke as a force ghost.

 

Well Obi-Wan couldn’t defeat Vader on his own.He might damage him a bit or possibly even cut off a limb but Obi-Wan was greatly outmatched by Vader.Then there were troops all around him and even if he did defeat Vader he would be gunned down almost instantly.He sacrificed himself to hold Vader off while Luke escaped because he knew that Luke would be the one to defeat Darth Vader.Only way I could really see Obi Wan surviving was if Han or Chewbacca used the Falcons turrets to shoot down the stormtroopers and have Obi Wan Force lush Vader back fat enough so he could escape.

 

He saved that for the sequel

 

In fact quite a good idea. I never even considered that option. We saw this is possible when the Falcon escaped from Hoth. Han or Chewie should be the one to have thought of that. If precise enough they could even have shot at Vader, at least to drive him back so that Kenobi could escape.

 

I’m inclined to think there was an element of premeditation.

 

Only reason I could see Han saving him is so that he could end up getting paid.Leia probably didn’t know where the guns on the ship were and Chewbacca was busy getting the ship ready to fly.If only Luke were faster or Artoo thought about saving him.

 

Interesting, I've never heard this before. I know that lightsabers are connected to their creator, kind of like the "wand chooses the wizard" concept from Harry Potter, but I doubt that the light saber was dying because of Obi-Wan being old and weak, that doesn't make sense to me.

How did Luke's lightsaber work after Luke died, if so?

 

I don't know but I just always assumed this. Building a light saber is a sign of being powerful in the Force, so I assumed some of the Force went into it otherwise you'd just have to be a handy mechanic. Han only used it for a second and Rey and even Grevious have been trained in the Jedi arts, or in Rey's case, she was strong with the Force. I could be wrong.

 

Finn used it for an entire duel - he isn't Force sensitive is he? I could be wrong about that one to be fair, unless it's covered in a book or I missed an in-passing comment I thought he was just a regular human. Shame though, I had hoped for a Force-sensitive turncoat Stormtrooper.

 

I thought Finn was. But that is a good point. Maybe it's like a battery, and without the Force you can use it for a while.