Warning: contains spoilers for Star Wars: Age of Republic - Obi-Wan Kenobi #1!

Anakin Skywalker doubted his Jedi path long before Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones. In Star Wars: Age of Republic - Obi-Wan Kenobi #1, a moment arises where Anakin voices concern about himself and his life relative to others on a similar path. This moment shows Anakin questioning his training, but also shows a weakness in the Jedi approach to grooming him.

Star Wars: Age of Republic - Obi-Wan Kenobi #1 is written by Jody Houser with art by Cory Smith and Wilton Santos. The Star Wars: Age of Republic series from Marvel Comics are one-shots focused on a range of popular characters from the era. This issue concentrates on Anakin's early training and interactions with Obi-Wan.

Related: Star Wars: Luke & Rey Prove The Jedi Were Wrong To Reject Anakin

Obi-Wan and Anakin are on their way to a mission - Anakin's first trip outside of the Jedi Temple. During this travel time, Anakin poses a question to Obi-Wan. He asks his master what his life was like before he started his Jedi training. Anakin knows that the Order begins training very early, but his experience is different. Obi-Wan's response and the shift the conversation takes shows exactly how different this Jedi master and his padawan are. It also shows that Anakin is having a difficult time adjusting to his new life.

Obi-Wan reveals that he doesn't have a memory of his former life. He was "identified as Force-sensitive" and taken to Coruscant. To Obi-Wan, this must seem natural since it's how many Jedi start their path at this point in the Star Wars timeline. While this answer may seem obvious and casual to him, that's not the case for Anakin. Anakin was picked up late and he knows it. He was at the meeting where the Council said he was too old. At this stage of his Jedi apprenticeship, Anakin is beginning to question things because training the same way is not the same as starting a path at the same point. Anakin realizes that he really is an outlier.

This exchange reveals a lot more about the difficulties that Anakin was having during his earlier training, which would have taken place between The Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones. By Attack of the Clones, Anakin is seen fighting with his emotions and questioning if the Jedi way is the best way. Throughout the film he is shown diverting from Jedi principles more and more. Many of his actions seem to diverge from the path he has been given to walk and he knows it. However, it was previously unclear how he reaches that point and how it differs from other padawans. Based on Obi-Wan's experiences and the Council's remarks about age, it's clear that most padawans are picked up young, before they have many real life experiences or natural familial attachments.

The Jedi become their family. Anakin, on the other hand, has had a lot of experience by comparison. He knows hardship and slavery. He knows loss of home and family. His mother is his family. He is surrounded by strangers who unknowingly make him feel like more of an outsider because of his upbringing. The Jedi avoid attachments and therefore cut off an aspect that Anakin already had engrained in his life experience. Looking at Anakin from this angle, it's easier to see why he never conformed to the Jedi life and why the Jedi masters rarely seemed to understand him.

Next: Darth Vader Uncovers Emperor Palpatine's Secret Weapon