Talk:Obi-Wan Kenobi/@comment-31778166-20170501133557/@comment-30591854-20180801085634

In Obi-Wan's defense I can say that you must always be careful when disagreeing with your supiriors about your inferiors in the inferior's presence, especially when they have such a rebellious attitude as Anakin. But it also shows that not making your inferior know can also work out for the worst. And I must also not that some people say Anakin has the borderliner syndrome... I know from experience how hard it can be to keep those people in line (having dated a girl who had the same syndrome and met several other people who had it), but at the same time, I do know that setting yourself up as their equal rather as their superior (even when you are their superior in professional sense, as is the case for Obi-Wan towards Anakin) can get you further, and Qui-gon appeared to be doing that, however I cannot say that he would have succeeded where Obi-Wan failed, if he had not been killed by Darth Maul, but for sure Qui-gon was the better Jedi Master. Of course, Obi-Wan is fully aware of his guilt in this tale, which is why he accepted excile on Tatooine as punishment for his failure (it was only convenient he could combine it by watching over Luke disguised as "Ben"). Being a victim myself of errors comparable to the ones made towards Anakin, I can say that not only Obi-Wan was to blame, but the entire Jedi Council appeared to be unable to deal with Anakin's rebellious nature and his fears, while they KNEW he was afraid and that his fear could eventually lead him to the Dark Side (which ultimately happened). Yoda even predicted this: "Fear is the path to the Dark Side. Fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate, and hate leads to suffering. I sense much fear in you". In the end the only person who truly understood Anakin, was Palpatine, but unfortunately he abused his understanding of Anakin in order to manipulate him into becoming Darth Vader, which is quite remarkable as the talent he used to manipulate Anakin didn't work on Padmé, even though she never knew he was THE Sith Lord (not before it was already too late). Of course, Obi-Wan showed himself a wiser teacher towards Luke, than he ever was to Anakin, and it really seems Obi-Wan did gain a lot of self-reflection over the years. When Yoda notes Luke's impatience, arrogance and more big no-no-properties for a Jedi, Obi-Wan's spirit replies with "Was I any different?" Now you may say things about different actor or out-of-character, but there's more to it. Obi-Wan got older and wiser over the years, which happens to basically everybody (well, few exceptions maybe), and it may also be clear that his failure over Anakin was a good teacher.

Of course, there is one quote of Obi-Wan that holds a bit of a constraint for me. "Only a Sith speaks in absolutes". That quote is actually speaking in an absolute, so wouldn't that make Obi-Wan a Sith himself? Just saying... :P

Yes, Obi-Wan failed with Anakin, big way. He made one mistake after another when it came to training Anakin. Of course, nobody can truly say if Anakin would never have become Darth Vader if Obi-Wan did better or if Anakin had a better master, since Palpatine's manipulations outranked many things a good teacher could ever come up with, although Obi-Wan's mistakes, or rather those of the entire council, did make things a lot easier on him. Something also has to be said for Windu for trying to keep Anakin out of the fight against Palpatine (which eventually was the final mistake it took for Anakin to truly fall to the Dark Side at last). Blaming Obi-Wan for all that went wrong with Anakin is far too easy. It was a big pity that the prequel trilogies were directly pretty poorly, as the plot around Anakin and all the mistakes he made himself and mistakes others made are very realisitic, and my own traumas from my own youth, do allow me to view it all from a bigger picture I guess, and honestly... I don't like perfect characters. They are boring (and cliché). Obi-Wan did turn out as a very good character for the plot BECAUSE of his failures as a teacher and a friend... not IN SPITE OF them! Actually, he has scolded Anakin for many mistakes he did make himself, as well. Ironic, eh? Now Obi-Wan is not unique to that. In Harry Potter, Sirius states that you can judge a man by how he treats his inferiors, rather than his equals or superiors, while the way he treats his own inferior, (his house-elf, Kreacher) is not really the way it should be, and likely you'll find that too in many other universes, including the REAL universe!

It also shows that the Jedi are not perfect, even though they pretend to be. And actually that is a good thing to know.