Owen's Kenobi Hatred Explains 1 Luke Detail In A New Hope

Warning! SPOILERS for Obi-Wan Kenobi.

Owen Lars is hostile to the Jedi and Ben Kenobi in the Obi-Wan Kenobi series, which explains one Luke Skywalker detail in A New Hope. The Jedi Order was destroyed and the few members who survive the Jedi Purge are hunted down by Darth Vader and his Imperial Inquisitors, but despite the order’s destruction being so recent, Luke knows so little about the Jedi in A New Hope. Considering Owen’s behavior and dialogue in Obi-Wan, this makes sense.

Although they’re rarely mentioned in Star Wars material following their deaths, Owen and Beru Lars are among the most important characters in the Skywalker Saga. As Luke Skywalker’s adopted parents, they raised him to be an altruistic and kind person, influencing his eventual place within the Rebel Alliance (despite Owen and Beru wishing to keep him safely away from such groups). Thanks to Owen and Beru, Luke lived a relatively normal life before becoming a Jedi Knight, which helped him make the right choices in Return of the Jedi that he never would have made if he’d been raised as a Jedi.

The people of the galaxy, including those who live on the backwater world of Tatooine, are aware of the Jedi Knights since they were destroyed less than two decades ago. Owen Lars likely keeps Luke in the dark regarding the Jedi Order, but not necessarily out of hatred. Although Lars feigns prejudice toward the Jedi when interrogated by the Third Sister, his earlier dialogue with Ben Kenobi indicates that rather than hating the Jedi, he sees them as a danger to his adopted son. He wants Kenobi and anything or anyone else related to the Jedi Order kept away from Luke so he doesn’t suffer and die as was the supposed fate of his biological father, Anakin Skywalker.

Owen’s first interaction with a Jedi was when Anakin visited his farm in Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones. Although Owen was friendly to Anakin, he saw how much he’d suffered by being taken away from his mother and reunited with her only to watch her die after she’d been kidnapped and tortured by Tusken Raiders. After Palpatine’s fascist coup, Owen and Beru adopted Luke and were told by Obi-Wan that Anakin, his former pupil, died, giving Owen the impression that Luke would similarly suffer if he left Tatooine to become a Jedi.

Owen Lars is shown in the Obi-Wan series to care about Luke as a son, not as the key to defeating the Sith and Star Wars Galactic Empire. He resents Kenobi’s inquiries and gifts for Luke, as he sees the old Jedi as a dangerously bad influence on his son. For this same reason, Owen and Beru likely did everything possible to keep Luke from learning about the Jedi, including lying about Anakin being a navigator on a spice freighter (which is technically true, given his history aboard the Twilight during the Clone Wars). The Obi-Wan Kenobi series shows that Owen doesn’t hate Jedi, strictly speaking, but it does explain why he hides so much from Luke in A New Hope.

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