Plot idea based on Mythos Obi Wan figure...

Have you guys seen this figure?

http://nerdist.com/star-wars-sideshow-obi-wan-toy-ewan-mcgregor/

Looks pretty cool IMO, and hits the nail on the head in terms of what I imagine Obi Wan would look like during the the episode 3-4 gap. I know the figure isn't based on an any specific piece of cannon, but one thing got me thinking...Look at his three lightsabers. Obi Wan has his own lightsaber (obviously), Anakin's blue saber (obviously), and Qui Gon's saber (this should have been obvious, but I hadn't really thought about it before). This got me thinking about some basic plots for the Obi Wan spinoff...

As we all know, Obi Wan is supposed to be on Tatooine watching over Luke until ANH. Any spin off movie involving Obi Wan has to start from one of two basic points - either something happens on Tatoonie (such as an enemy coming after Luke or Obi Wan), or something has to happen to make Obi Wan leave the planet and go off on some "damned fool idealistic crusade". Now, the biggest question for me is what would be a good enough reason for Obi Wan to leave Luke unguarded and go off on his own? It's hard to imagine he would break his oath. He is after all, Obi Wan Kenobi - perhaps the most dedicated and pure Jedi knight in the saga.

What if the idea of a lost lightsaber as the main plot device gets recycled from early TFA drafts and makes a return for the Kenobi spin off? Perhaps Obi Wan has been holding on to the lightsaber as a memento of his former master, but also because the fact that it is Qui Gon's lightsaber is part of how he communes with force-ghost Qui Gon from the dead. By meditating on the lightsaber, he can speak to Qui Gon and receive training on how to become one with the force, what the greater end goals of Yoda, Obi Wan and the Jedi are throughout the OT and ST, etc etc. Since it's been hinted that the crystals themselves have *some* sort of force connectivity, maybe he needs the lightsaber and can't speak to Qui Gon without it. Or his connection to Qui Gon is fading, and he needs the lightsaber as a sort of crutch to find him in the force.

The movie starts with what appears to be a plot to assassinate Luke, or some sort of trouble with local gangs / tusken raiders that forces Obi Wan to intervene. Obi Wan saves the day, but either loses the lightsaber in the course of the battle, or returns to his hut to find that he has been duped and the place has been ransacked. Qui-Gon's lightsaber is gone...perhaps even Anakin's. They've been taken by Jedi relic hunters (perhaps connected to Snoke or his agents, perhaps not), or seized by the villain for another purpose, perhaps simply to lure Obi Wan into another trap.

Obi Wan is faced with a dilemma...Without the lightsaber, he is finally completely alone on Tatooine. He can no longer speak with Qui Gon, his training is incomplete and more importantly, he's forced to cope with the fact that he has become hopelessly attached to the memento of his former master, and to the connection that comes with it. He's scared, alone, and uncertain...very unlike the Obi Wan we know...He sets out on a quest to regain the lightsaber, partially because he is honor bound to reclaim it, but partly because without it he feels vulnerable and incomplete...and that's what gets the movie going.

From there it could go in a number of different predictable directions...Obi Wan would obviously get Anakin's saber back, if it was stolen in the first place, and he'd defeat whatever intermediary villain was introduced and complete the quest. But at the end of the movie Qui Gon's saber would be lost and Obi Wan's arc throughout it would be him coming to terms with his master being gone, or finding another way to reach out to him without the saber and overcoming his attachment. Perhaps the villain could even be Snoke or connected to Snoke in some way...Or it could be a new villain, either way.

Really I'm just brainstorming here...What do you guys think? Would you buy that as a motivation for Kenobi to leave Luke unattended?

 

I wonder if they would go there, and just have other characters off in another part of the galaxy...I think most people assume the film will be in the pre-ANH era because that's where your mind defaults to...The idea that there could be a Star Wars movie where Anakin is alive and relevant in the universe, but simply not shown on screen seems really crazy. But it's also one of the easiest explanations, lol.

Here's a question - in Rebels, when Obi Wan kills maul, when is that in the timeline exactly? I guess I was imagining this would happen after the episode in that show, when Obi Wan knows Maul is dead...But I'm not a canon junkie so I'm not clear on how much time there is between that episode and ANH.

Also, I would assume that if Obi Wan DID leave the planet, he'd be leaving Luke under the care of someone he trusts...Perhaps a cameo for Captain Rex or another clone? I'm sure to some degree, any justification for him leaving Tatooine would come under criticism. Similar to Luke being gone in TFA, I know there will be an explanation, but at the current moment, I don't understand how him being gone would fit in his character...It doesn't seem like it. At the same time, another spin off with a classic character after Han Solo and revisiting Tatooine for the entire movie seems like it might be a little bit stale by the time they get to this film. But that's just like, my opinion man...

I would also imagine that for this to work, acquiring the lightsaber and communing with Qui Gon again would have to be critical to the overall plan of Yoda, Obi-Wan, Qui Gon and the Jedi...Yes it seems unbelievable that he would abandon Luke because if Luke dies, all is lost...But if the villain in the film is potentially a real threat to Luke, or not intervening would prevent the Jedi from achieving their larger goals (including properly training Luke), then I think that could be a good reason for Obi Wan to go off on a mission somewhere....Also I think regardless of wether or not it is a good idea, LFL will likely take the story off Tatooine just because it's Star Wars and the opportunity for new stories, new characters, and new revenue is greater if the movie takes place somewhere other than Tatooine. I feel like a lot of more casual "fans" would be disappointed if the entire thing takes place on Tatooine and there aren't a lot of pew-pew lasers and space sequences.

Also, although it fits in with what we expect of Kenobi to have him stay on the planet, making him sit there in one place while events happen to him turns him into a kind of weak passive protagonist, and I have a harder time imagining compelling plots and meaningful additions to the SW universe within that story. If you're telling me that the plot of the Obi Wan movie is gonna be "Obi Wan stays on tatooine to watch over Luke, at some point some bad guys come to get luke, and Obi Wan kicks their butt", then my response to that is "yeah, we all already knew that's what he was doing. why does this story need to be told?"....There must be no shortage of ideas for new scripts at Lucasfilm, the floodgate of Star Wars spinoffs has just been opened...I feel like Obi Wan on Tatooine waiting it out is the least interesting concept for a spin off film out there...So for now I'm gonna give them the benefit of the doubt and assume there's something more to it than that. There has to be a reason THEY think it's a story worth telling, and that doesn't sound like it has enough meat to sustain an entire film.

But like I said....this is just like, my opinion man.

 

That's a good question - maybe he doesn't? Maybe it's just Obi Wan and Qui Gon who speak, and then Obi Wan and Yoda communicate with each other because they are both still living. Obi Wan is like the messenger...Or maybe Yoda is that much further along in the process and doesn't need it, but Obi Wan cannot connect with him without it. I have not entirely plot hole proofed this idea, that's for sure...I'm open to suggestions on how it would work.

I sort of think of it like the lightsaber would be primarily a personal item for Obi Wan, and that maybe he doesn't even need it to connect to Qui Gon, but he believes he does. Almost like he would feel guilty for putting so much meaning on it, but he can't help himself, and because he does not believe he can commune without it, he actually cannot. To paraphrase Yoda...he does not believe, that is why he fails.

Or maybe there is some sort of connection that he can make with Qui Gon using the lightsaber that is more real and more meaningful than hearing a disembodied voice the way force ghost Obi Wan was presented to us in ANH. Perhaps through the lightsaber, Obi Wan can actually BE with Qui Gon somehow, on some other plane...Without it he's like a distant whisper that you can hear but never reach. Perhaps Yoda can speak to him this way, but Obi Wan has to have a more involved connection with him in order to be properly trained.

Again, just brainstorming. I would love to see Liam Neeson reprise his role just as much as Ewan McGreggor...To have those two actors carry a SW film...blast man. That sounds awesome....Way cooler than a Han Solo origin story IMO.

 

Agreed, it doesn't have to be that complicated to give him a reason to go off on a quest. I would buy a lot of different motivations, especially if they are connected to saving Luke. An appearance by Ahsoka or Rex would be pretty cool too, though I hope if they include Ashoka they give her a significant amount of screen time. I know she's known from the cartoons but the general public should get some time in the film to become attached to her, especially if a death scene could be in the cards.

 

I am right there with you man. I was not into the idea of an Obi Wan movie when it first was a rumor, but after thinking about the different ways the story could go, I'm cautiously optimistic...There's potential for a great movie in there, it just depends on what they do with it