Obi-Wan Kenobi describes the Force to Princess Leia

Although Obi-Wan Kenobi has forsaken his role as a Jedi Knight after his battle with the fallen Anakin Skywalker, now Darth Vader, there are glimpses of the teacher he once was. And we see this in a scene with Leia Organa.

Earlier in the third episode of Obi-Wan Kenobi, old Ben is on board the freighter heading to the mining planet Mapuzo. Kenobi is fixing Leia’s droid Lola and is reeling from the revelation from the Third Sister Reva that his former apprentice is alive.

When an impatient Leia asks Obi-Wan if he could use the Force to make the freighter go faster, this sparks a conversation between the two about the Force. Obi-Wan tells Leia that using the Force to make the freighter go faster is not how it works.

“How does it work?” An inquisitive Leia asks. “The Force. What does it feel like?” The former Jedi Master gives the daughter of his former apprentice and Senator Padme Amidala a clever metaphoric answer.

“Have you ever been afraid of the dark?” asks Obi-Wan. When Leia shakes her head, Obi-Wan proceeds to ask her “how does it feel when you turn on the light?”

“I feel safe,” Leia responds.

“Yes, it feels like that,” Obi-Wan answers before handing Leia her droid Lola back.

What was interesting about this scene was that it seemed as if Obi-Wan was teaching Leia about the ways of the Force. Some fans could argue that Leia might have been Obi-Wan’s first student since Anakin before he would take on Leia’s twin brother Luke Skywalker as his padawan.

Leia’s curiosity with how the Force works is remanent with how Yoda originally wanted to train Leia instead of Luke. This was detailed in the 2017 anthology book, Star Wars: From a Certain Point of View. This is explained in the short story “There is Another” by Gary D. Schmidt in which takes place after the events of Star Wars: A New Hope.

In the story Yoda has a conversation with Obi-Wan who is now a Force ghost after his duel with Darth Vader aboard the Death Star.  Yoda’s reason for wanting to train Leia where due to seeing similarities between Luke and Anakin as both had issues with their anger and impatience. Yoda dreamt of Leia being a successful Jedi who would bring peace to the Galaxy and even have the chance to redeem Anakin. However, Kenobi would convince the old Jedi Master to train Luke to become a Jedi Knight.

This scene is amazing and one of the highlights in Episode three because of the chemistry between Ewan McGregor’s Obi-Wan and Vivien Lyra Blair’s Princess Leia. While McGregor puts in a new layer to the Obi-Wan character, being that of a tired an d jaded war veteran, Blair does the same thing with the iconic Princess Leia by adding an inquisitive and playful side to the future leader of the Rebel Alliance. These two layers intertwine into a fun and comedic banter between the young princess and the battle-weary Jedi Master.

Furthermore, Obi-Wan’s description of the Force is similar to how some of the Jedi during the High Republic era described the Force. For instance, Jedi Master Avar Kriss described the Force as a song and her close friend Elzar Mann would describe the Force as a vast ocean.

Obi-Wan Kenobi is now streaming on Disney+.

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