How Obi-Wan Kenobi bridges the gap to A New Hope

Warning: This article contains spoilers from Obi-Wan Kenobi Episodes 1 and 2

Since the introduction of the prequel movies to the Star Wars canon, the story weavers have been trying to establish as many definitive links back to the originals as possible.

So far the Obi-Wan Kenobi series has been written almost as a love letter to the original series, with the writers doing everything from bringing John Willaims back to direct the score to inserting subtle references to even background props seen in A New Hope. This series seeks to demonstrate how the youthful version of Obi-Wan as played by Ewan McGregor becomes “Ben” as played by Alec Guinness.

Obi-Wan Kenobi A New Hope connections

The Obi-Wan we meet in A New Hope doesn’t share all too much with the energetic padawan, knight, or master we see through the prequels. In fact, that was one of the harder parts of the canon to accept as a younger fan, I just could not see Alec Guinness as Ewan McGregor or vice versa.

While the series may be consistently reminding us that Ewan is now old and a little long in the tooth, it does work to connect the dots. Even his response to the world around him is dulled, and his only ‘joy’ seems to be feeding his eopie. This worn character seems much more similar to the ‘Ben’ we see depicted in A New Hope and Star Wars: Rebels. While Ben is certainly more hopeful later, I am sure this mini-series will satisfy those lingering questions we may have had about the different Kenobi.

The series doesn’t just link Obi-Wan however, it also tells us why Leia herself is so willing to trust a Jedi who (until now) fans thought she had never met.

We certainly see this mentality in Star Wars: Rebels when Captain Rex and Kanan Jarrus discourage Ezra Bridger from looking for Obi-Wan. They assume that he is dead because how could be possible to have sat by the sidelines for all this time. We are learning that not only did he not sit by the sidelines, but actively took part in saving Leia.

Having already been saved by Obi-Wan once in the miraculous way only the Force can enable, is there any real question why Leia would be so willing to trust Obi-Wan once again as she flees the scene of Rogue One with the infamous Darth Vader in close pursuit? This explains the beginning of A New Hope and makes that narrative so much stronger. No wonder Obi-Wan is “her only hope.”