Warning: Spoilers for Obi-Wan Kenobi episode 3!
Several moments in Obi-Wan Kenobi suggest the titular Jedi had romantic feelings for Padmé Amidala (Natalie Portman) but was that really the case in the Star Wars universe? After portraying the Jedi in the Star Wars prequel trilogy, actor Ewan McGregor returned to the role for the Disney+ series centered on his character. The show takes place a decade after the events of Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith, which saw Anakin Skywalker (Hayden Christensen) fall to the dark side and his wife, Padmé, die of a broken heart.
Anakin met Padmé, the Queen of Naboo, on Tatooine when she was under the protection of Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan in Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace. A decade later, Padmé reunited with Anakin, now the apprentice of Obi-Wan, and the two secretly fell in love and got married. The Queen turned senator revealed her pregnancy a few years later, but the truth about her romance with Anakin was kept under wraps as Jedi weren't supposed to have attachments. Despite exploring the dark side as a way to potentially save the love of his life, Anakin let his anger take control. After becoming Darth Vader, Padmé followed her husband to Mustafar in a last-ditch effort to stop his transformation.
Anakin seemed to believe that something romantic could have happened when Obi-Wan revealed himself on Padmé's ship to Mustafar. This fell in line with various fan theories and non-canon novelizations that suggested Obi-Wan and Padmé had an affair sometime during the Clone Wars. In the Star Wars prequel movies, Obi-Wan often has a duty to protect Padmé, but there was never any sense of romantic feelings. The Jedi visited Padmé in Revenge of the Sith rather than fellow members of the Council because he knew that she was the only one in Anakin's life who would do anything to help pull him back from the dark side. Obi-Wan likely loved Padmé, but as a friend, not a potential lover. Obi-Wan Kenobi has brought up the questions of Obi-Wan's feelings toward Padmé again, but there's still no confirmation of anything romantic.
Obi-Wan Kenobi's Padmé References Stemmed From Guilt, Not Romantic Love
In Obi-Wan Kenobi episode 2, McGregor's character goes on a mission to rescue a young Leia Organa (Vivien Lyra Blair) from kidnappers. The mission takes him to Daiyu, where he successfully finds the feisty princess. At one point, Obi-Wan tells Leia that she reminds him of someone who was also fearless and stubborn, implying he meant her mother, Padmé. There's a sense of loss and longing in this interaction, which occurs again in episode 3. As Obi-Wan and Leia find themselves in a sticky situation while on Mapuzo, the subject of Leia's birth parents comes up. Obi-Wan once again says how much Leia reminds him of her mother, causing Leia to later ask if he's her real father. He answers with, "I wish I could say I was, but no, I’m not."
An argument could be made that Obi-Wan wishes he was Leia's dad due to romantic feelings for Padmé, but that's not the case. Obi-Wan grew to care for Padmé as a friend, and he still struggles with immense guilt for her death due to his feelings of responsibility in Anakin's turn to the dark side, especially now in the presence of Padmé and Anakin's daughter. Padmé cried out for Obi-Wan on her death bed, but her distress stemmed from Anakin and the fate of her twins.
Obi-Wan doesn't wish to be Leia's dad as a way to say he was in love with her mother; he wishes he could give the girl answers to bring a satisfying end to her questioning. It would be much easier for Leia to discover Obi-Wan as her dad than it would to learn that her birth father is a terrifying Sith Lord that had a hand in her mother's untimely death. The only other character that Obi-Wan had deep romantic feelings for was Satine Kryze in Star Wars: The Clone Wars, but he chose the Jedi Order over her. They still had feelings for one another when she was killed by Darth Maul, seemingly proving he never had his sights on anyone else. Even though Obi-Wan Kenobi is set a decade after Satine's death, it's possible she could appear in flashbacks, reiterating that Padmé was never a romantic interest.
New episodes of Obi-Wan Kenobi release Wednesdays on Disney+.