Warning: Contains SPOILERS for Obi-Wan Kenobi
The Clone Wars-era history of Obi-Wan Kenobi and Bail Organa is referenced in the Obi-Wan Kenobi series, but when did the two interact during the war? As shown in Star Wars: The Clone Wars, their partnership was brief and indirect, but meaningful. With this in mind, the real Clone Wars-era partnership between Obi-Wan Kenobi and Bail Organa occurred at the tail end of the war, from a certain point of view.
In A New Hope, Princess Leia’s famous holographic message to Obi-Wan refers to his service to Bail Organa during the Clone Wars. In the Obi-Wan episode “Part I,” their history is referenced again by the Third Sister, an Inquisitor who is obsessed with finding Kenobi. Both canon and Legends non-movie material strangely lack any direct teamwork between Kenobi and Organa during the height of the war, aside from one episode of The Clone Wars and a book whose canonicity is unclear.
Bail Organa rescues Obi-Wan Kenobi from his clone troopers following Order 66’s activation (triggering the clones’ brainwashing) and the two rescue Yoda, learning the full scope of Palpatine’s treachery in the final moments of the Clone Wars. While this technically counts as Kenobi and Organa working together during the Clone Wars, canon includes another example in the Clone Wars episode “Cat and Mouse,” where Kenobi’s tactics and use of an experimental stealth ship (flown by Anakin Skywalker and a crew of clone pilots) save Organa’s life at the Battle of Christophsis, showing even more of their history. The 2008 novel The Clone Wars: Wild Space has the best example of Obi-Wan and Bail working together during the Clone Wars, but the book, unfortunately, doesn’t fit into the canon or Legends continuities.
The Battle of Christophsis, as shown in “Cat and Mouse,” is the closest thing to Kenobi and Organa canonically working together during the Clone Wars. Bail Organa traveled to Christophsis to provide aid to both the planet’s indigenous human population who suffered from Separatist oppression and to support the Republic’s clone troopers. Bail Organa, in a direct reference to A New Hope, tells General Kenobi that he’s his “only hope,” and perhaps told Princess Leia stories of the Jedi General who’d served him well by saving his life during the Separatist blockade.
Wild Space has Obi-Wan and Bail fall into a trap set by Darth Sidious on the Wild Space world of Zigoola. The two survive the perils of the dark side-corrupted world together, which would have made their mission the best example of Kenobi and Organa’s friendship, if not for the novel’s unclear canonical status. The book ties numerous bits of Legends-era lore with canon’s The Clone Wars, and since the 2008 series itself doesn’t fit into the Legends timeline the book is most likely non-canon to either universe.
Another possibility is that there was another mission or battle during the Clone Wars where Kenobi and Organa work together directly, but canon simply hasn’t told this story yet. A future Clone Wars-era story in the canon universe could easily add more to Kenobi and Organa’s Clone Wars-era history. In this case, Princess Leia’s words in A New Hope and the Third Sister’s in Obi-Wan Kenobi would hold even more weight.
Episodes of Obi-Wan Kenobi air Wednesdays on Disney+
