Why did Obi-Wan say Luke is their final hope?

Yoda corrected him and said there was another, but wouldn't Kenobi know about Leia since he know's Padme gave birth to the twins?

 

Because we (the audience) aren't supposed to know about Luke/Leia

 

QFT

 

Obi-Wan does know Leia is out there waiting. But I don't think that Obi-Wan considered Leia that great of a candidate to bring an end to the Sith. Leia Organa was too much of a politician and had a fiery temper just like Anakin did when he was younger. If Luke did happen to die during his confrontation with Darth Vader then they would have had to contact Leia...she would have been the only hope left of toppling the Sith Empire.

 

also, up until this point Leia has shown no Force ability

she first shows she is strong with the Force only after Luke has failed and she senses him on Bespin.

 

Because despite it all, ultimately Obi-Wan still saw the confrontation between Luke and Vader (and eventually Luke and Sidious) to be a battle matching brute power on power. And because of this type of battle, logic would serve that a son would be more powerful a fighter than that of a daughter.

But as we all know now, this is not how the two Sith Lords were defeated.

Regardless, Obi-Wan (and even Yoda for that matter) could only foresee a situation where Luke defeats Vader and then kills Sidious. Although knowing full well that it was Anakin's children that served the best chance at defeating him, both Obi-Wan and Yoda were effectively clueless beyond that point, trapped by their own cognitive limitations.

 

Obi-wan and Yoda could have believed something else. Maybe they thought if Luke refused to turn to the dark side, it could start a dangerous seed of distrust between Vader and the Emperor. They believed in the competitive nature of the Sith (no more than two) and they knew the possessive nature of Anakin. Under this scenario, Luke is a better candidate because a son would have greater potential as a future Sith.

 

An unfortunate plot contradiction resulting from ROTJ and ROTS. Luke's sister was supposed to be a new character from another part of the galaxy, so it would make sense that Obi-Wan might not know of her. Even after GL decided to make Luke and Leia siblings, the line could have worked if Obi-wan hadn't been at the birth in ROTS. Taking ROTS into account, however, there is really no way to justify the line. True, Luke is their best hope (it's hard to let go of your anger at someone who tortured you and presided over the destruction of your home planet), but he's certainly not their last hope. And Obi-wan knows that.

 

"She's a politician and they're not to be trusted." - Obi-Wan Kenobi

 

My thoughts exactly

 

I'm pretty sure that Leia couldn't see force ghosts, so Obi-Wan could only guide Luke after he died. If he made it out of the Death Star alive, maybe he would have trained both twins.

But Yoda knew Leia could maybe clean up the mess if Luke went bad.

 

the line could have worked if Obi-wan hadn't been at the birth in ROTS. Taking ROTS into account, however, there is really no way to justify the line. True, Luke is their best hope (it's hard to let go of your anger at someone who tortured you and presided over the destruction of your home planet), but he's certainly not their last hope. And Obi-wan knows that.

But Obi-Wan reveals to Luke that she is his sister. Do you think was originally supposed to have Yoda told him after ESB?

It always seemed to me like ObiWan knew leia was his sister all along, even before the PT came out.

I always just figured the "no, there is another" line was just there to make ESB a cliff hanger, and to cast doubt in Luke. And I figured that of course, Obi-Wan could only train Luke. Yoda would have to have trained Leia.

 

Well, he could have said Luke was a carrot, but that wouldn't have made much sense...

 

At the time of TESB, Luke's sister was not Leia. She was some unknown person hidden away far across the galaxy. That is who Yoda was originally referring to. That changed in ROTJ when Lucas decided that there would be no Episode VII, VIII, and IX, that the saga would end with Episode VI. So Leia became Luke's sister and Obi-Wan provided the barely-believable explanation to Luke. In retrospect, Obi-Wan's "That boy is our last hope" doesn't really make sense if he knew of Leia all along. One of the many little plot inconsistencies in Star Wars.

 

bingo, and there it is, the tie in from the PT that explains this quote from obiwan saying that Luke was the rebellions last hope.

 

Obi-Wan's "That boy is our last hope" doesn't really make sense if he knew of Leia all along.

What doesn't make sense is that Yoda would know of a last hope that Obi-Wan never heard of before. That was never really implied to me, even in 1981.

 

Yoda liked to keep Obi-Wan in the dark just to prove who the real Master was. I mean, it's so obvious!

Hey, I don't know what the real story is. All I know is that at one point, the other hope was Luke's anonymous sister hidden away in a different part of the galaxy. Yoda seemed to know of her. Whether Obi-Wan did is unknown. He could have known and simply didn't put much faith in her, or maybe he didn't know, all part of Yoda's plan to keep her a well kept secret.

It's all moot at this point. Leia has been retconned into being Luke's sister. And obviously Obi-Wan knew of Leia.

 

An unfortunate plot contradiction resulting from ROTJ and ROTS. Luke's sister was supposed to be a new character from another part of the galaxy, so it would make sense that Obi-Wan might not know of her. Even after GL decided to make Luke and Leia siblings, the line could have worked if Obi-wan hadn't been at the birth in ROTS. Taking ROTS into account, however, there is really no way to justify the line. True, Luke is their best hope (it's hard to let go of your anger at someone who tortured you and presided over the destruction of your home planet), but he's certainly not their last hope. And Obi-wan knows that.

I don't consider it an unfortunate plot contradiction, considering Obi-Wan's comments about politicians. Despite knowing Padme for a number of years, he had still dismissed her as part of a breed that could not be trusted in AOTC. Considering Leia's profession by ANH, it is understandable that he would only trust Luke to face Vader and Palpatine.

At the time of TESB, Luke's sister was not Leia. She was some unknown person hidden away far across the galaxy. That is who Yoda was originally referring to. That changed in ROTJ when Lucas decided that there would be no Episode VII, VIII, and IX, that the saga would end with Episode VI. So Leia became Luke's sister and Obi-Wan provided the barely-believable explanation to Luke. In retrospect, Obi-Wan's "That boy is our last hope" doesn't really make sense if he knew of Leia all along. One of the many little plot inconsistencies in Star Wars

Why do certain fans still harp on the belief that Lucas should have stuck to his original storyline. It seems as if he's not allowed, as a writer, to change the story to his liking.

 

I'm not saying that at all, I'm just saying that changing his mind creates some continuity issues, is all. Instead of everything flowing perfectly, there are a couple of odd fits.

As for Obi-Wan dismissing Leia as a politician, if that works for you, fine, but that's gotta be the stupidest reason I've heard yet to cover this little plot hole. #1 The Senate was dissolved near the beginning of ANH, so Leia was out of a job. #2 Leia was an active and important member of the Rebel Alliance, an alliance that opposed the Emperor and the Empire, so wouldn't that be to Obi-Wan's liking? #3 Obi-Wan knows Leia is a Skywalker, possibly a Force user, and a link to Darth Vader. Is it really wise to just dismiss that out of hand over some general distrust of politicians? You're really painting Obi-Wan in a bad light, making him out to be so myopic.

 

I don't think it really needs that much introspection. So ObiWan says "that boy is our last hope". Nobody who watched the movies 1-5 up to that point would have thought Leia could kill Vader and the Emperor.

 

But no one who watched 1-5 would give Luke any chance against the Emperor in a fight, either.

 

You two miss this post? It was only the second one..

Because we (the audience) aren't supposed to know about Luke/Leia

 

Haven't found a reason I likes yet.
So, for me, it's an 'oops'.
But I don't mind oopses.

 

Yoda is very old...


...and Obi Wan was testing his memory.

 

That's my favorite answer so far . . .