The Force Awakens gave us a cool nod to Obi-Wan’s role in previous films, but Star Wars The Last Jedi spends its cool cameo points somewhere else this time.
In Star Wars: The Force Awakens, the first time Rey touches the lightsaber, she experiences a vision filled with callbacks to previous films. If you listen carefully, you can hear Obi-Wan Kenobi’s voice as he calls out and says, “These are your first steps.”
For anyone who doesn’t remember, here’s the scene in question from The Force Awakens.
In addition to being a really cool cameo, if you can even call it that, it fueled Rey Kenobi theories to an incredible extent as well. But The Last Jedi doesn’t bring back Obi-Wan Kenobi, unless you count the number of times someone says “Ben” as a ritual to summon him. Because if we went on that alone, ol’ Ben Kenobi could’ve shown up at any minute.
So why didn’t The Last Jedi feature a character so intertwined with the Skywalker history? Could it be because they want to save up their juice for a solo Obi-Wan film?
I mean, the thing about Obi-Wan Kenobi is that he’s such a “been there, done that” character. And a lot of the torment that the Skywalker family faced could’ve been avoided if they’d only heeded his advice. From the moment he first met Anakin in The Phantom Menace, to the moment he failed him in Revenge of the Sith, and all the way to the second he opted to let Darth Vader “strike” him down, he’s always acted as the other side of the coin. And his legacy is just as pertinent to the story as Anakin, and by extension, Luke’s.
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So that being said, I’m definitely curious as to what he would say to the man who shares his name or to the woman who shows as much conviction as he did.