Obi-Wan Kenobi theory: What if a fight between Vader and Obi-Wan is just a dream?

Recently, a new promotional banner for the upcoming Obi-Wan Kenobi Disney+ series teased a duel between Obi-Wan and Darth Vader. This is not the first time Star Wars fans have had reason to speculate about what this could look like. But no matter the theory you subscribe to, the fan community doesn’t know what’s going to happen. And that might be one reason so many people are unhappy with the prospective reunion.

There are two sides of the upset directed toward a Vader vs. Obi-Wan reunion. Some fans are worried that a meeting between the two before their final battle in A New Hope will contradict the general assumption that the two did not interact between their duel on Mustafar and their reunion two decades later.

Another subset of fans are convinced that a reunion between the former master and apprentice will only be added to the show as “fanservice” to make longtime fans happy.

We’ve heard plenty of whispers about the two characters coming back together after a decade apart. But we obviously don’t know the context in which this could happen. And because this is Star Wars, and there is now over 40 years’ worth of content to draw from, it’s not a stretch to assume Obi-Wan confronting Vader in this show could take place in the form of a dream.

As a storytelling tactic, does it feel a little bit cliche? Maybe. But Obi-Wan is going to have to deal with a lot of his trauma in this show, the same way he did in John Jackson Miller’s Kenobi novel. The man lost his lover, his brother, his friends, and pretty much everything that he’d ever known in basically no time at all. Isolation on a desert planet will make you face some of your demons, even if they’re not really there. Even if he does leave Tatooine, we don’t know where he’ll go or what he’ll do when he’s off-planet. Yet.

It would be a brilliant parallel to both Luke and Rey’s “cave scenes” to have Obi-Wan approach Vader in a similar way, in which the characters were forced to confront their greatest fears and unfulfilled desires. Obi-Wan confronting Vader in a vision or dream would expose him to the emotions associated with discovering Anakin had turned to the dark side — and the role he may or may not have played in allowing it to happen.

As with every Star Wars show that has been released on Disney+ so far, there’s a lot we won’t know going into the first episode. There are plenty of surprises waiting for fans old and new. This isn’t to say that Vader and Obi-Wan can’t meet in person in the show. We just don’t know for sure if that’s the exact way it’s going to go down.

Obi-Wan Kenobi stars Ewan McGregor with appearances by Hayden Christensen and Kumail Nanjiani and is directed by Deborah Chow, who previously directed an episode of The Mandalorian. The series is set to premiere May 27, 2022 exclusively on Disney+.

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