The first six Star Wars movies chronicled the adventures of the Skywalker family, but Obi-Wan Kenobi remained an important figure throughout the story, even though he was broadcasting from the afterlife in two of those films. Obi-Wan Kenobi is one of the first characters we see in Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace, as he is one of the two representatives sent to resolve the dispute involving the Trade Federation. Obi-Wan and his master are forced to flee to the planet Naboo, where they encounter Jar Jar Binks.
Qui-Gon Jinn makes it clear in The Phantom Menace that Obi-Wan Kenobi is close to achieving the rank of Jedi Knight. We know that prospective Jedi are taken at a young age and that Obi-Wan is twenty-five years old at the start of the movie, so the two Jedi could have been adventuring together for years. The Star Wars Expanded Universe, and the new canon that has been created since Disney bought the rights to the series, has fleshed out the many important events that happened in the life of Obi-Wan Kenobi before the events of The Phantom Menace, and some of them are worthy of being turned into movies of their own. We are here today to discover the weirdest adventures of Obi-Wan Kenobi that took place before The Phantom Menace – from his bodyguard duty on Mandalore, to his early battle against a corrupted Jedi Knight. Here are 20 Weird Things Obi-Wan Did Before Episode 1:
Obi-Wan Protected A Duchess On Mandalore
Jedi Knights are often sent on assignments that can last several years or more. One of Obi-Wan Kenobi's earlier tasks during his training involved protecting a Duchess against assassins, which lasted for almost a year. Duchess Satine Kryze wanted to bring a new era of peace to Mandalore, but the warlike history of her people resulted in her opposition trying to off her in a situation that turned into a civil war.
Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi had to escort Duchess Satine off of Mandalore and went on the run with her. It was during this time that Obi-Wan and Satine developed feelings for each other, but their romance could never materialize due to their respective careers.
He Protected An Alien Priestess Alongside Qui-Gon Jinn
One of the many matters that Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi were sent to resolve involved two warring factions on the planet Bri'n, where the Metal Clan opposed those who protected the nature of the planet, who were led by a priestess named Th'er.
The conflict between the two factions boiled over, leading to Qui-Gon protecting Th'er from the Metal Clan by using his lightsaber to deflect blaster fire, while Obi-Wan had to swoop in with his shuttle in order to offer them cover and help them escape from Bri'n. Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan then escorted Th'er to Coruscant so that she could be protected during her search for allies.
He Escorted A Force-Sensitive Child To Coruscant
The work of a Jedi Knight isn't always about adventure and glamour as they are meant to be a peacekeeping force and not sword-wielding wizards. Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi once had to perform clean-up duty after Yoda defeated a group of pirates using the Force.
Yoda had been sent to escort a Force-sensitive boy to Coruscant, but the child was being held by pirates. So, Yoda used the Force to make the pirates attack each other, leaving them all unconscious, before pawning the kid off on Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan and telling them to finish his mission for him.
He Had Force Visions Of Owen Lars Being His Brother
The vast majority of prospective Jedi Knights are taken from their home at a very young age, with older children generally excluded from training in the Force, as was almost the case with Anakin Skywalker. Obi-Wan Kenobi was no different from the other Force-sensitive children of the galaxy as he was sent to the Jedi Order at a very young age, to the point where he had few memories of his biological family.
Obi-Wan was convinced that he had a brother named Owen and that the two of them were close during their shared childhood and he thought of him often during his training. It wasn't until much later that Obi-Wan realized that his memories of Owen were actually visions given to him by the Force that were meant to guide him towards Owen Lars and eventually give him custody over the young Luke Skywalker.
He Fell For Another Padawan
All Jedi Knights are expected to follow the Jedi Code, which has several rules regarding the conduct of all those who train with the force. One of the rules that Jedi are expected to follow is the abandonment of romantic love, as they are forbidden from forming individual bonds that may affect their emotions or devotion to the Force.
Training Padawan can be raised around people with whom they may be physically attracted to and Obi-Wan Kenobi was no exception. Obi-Wan Kenobi was trained alongside a girl named Siri Tachi, and both of them became full-fledged Jedi Knights. The two of them shared their feelings after a mission, but realized that their devotion to the Jedi Code meant that they could never be more than friends.
He Was Forced To Fight A Fellow Student Who Fell To The Dark Side
It isn't just romance that blossoms among the kids who train at the Jedi Temple as they are vying for the attention of Jedi Knights & Jedi Masters in the hopes of being taken on as Padawan, which can lead to all kinds of rivalries. Obi-Wan Kenobi had a rival in the form of a fellow student named Bruck Chun, which resulted in the two of them hurting each other in a duel that was meant to attract the attention of Qui-Gon Jinn.
Qui-Gon would eventually take Obi-Wan as his apprentice, which meant that Bruck Chun would fall under the influence of a Dark Jedi named Xanatos. Obi-Wan and Bruck Chun had one final duel in the Room of a Thousand Fountains within the Jedi Temple on Coruscant, which ended in Chun falling to his doom.
He Stored His Memories Into A Stone To Protect Them From Being Wiped
The Force is part of everything in the Star Wars universe, including non-living matters such as rocks. The crystals that power lightsabers have a strong affinity with the Force, which is why they are so prized by both the Jedi and the Sith.
There are other kinds of rocks that are strong with the Force, though, such as the River stone, which was given to Obi-Wan Kenobi on his thirteenth birthday by his master. The River stone had the ability to protect the memories of those that it was bound to and it prevented Obi-Wan from having his memories erased by shielding them with the Force.
He Helped Resolve A Royal Succession War
The creators of the Game of Thrones TV series will be working on their own series of Star Wars movies once their adventures in Westeros have concluded, and there is a story already written that would be right up their alley.
The novel called Jedi Apprentice: The Mark of the Crown dealt with Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi being sent to the planet of Gaia to resolve a succession crisis, as they have to discover the true heir to the throne in order to prevent a civil war. The Mark of the Crown referred to in the title is a test that only the true heir can pass as it involves being bathed in light and creating an outline. It's up to Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan to discover the true heir and prove their lineage using the Mark of the Crown.
He Temporarily Left The Jedi Order
Obi-Wan Kenobi wasn't always a member of the Jedi Order, as he briefly left the path of Jedi Knight in order to end a civil war on the planet Melida/Daan. Melida/Daan was named after the two warring factions that controlled the planet. Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi visited the planet in order to find a missing Jedi Knight, which led to them encountering a group called the Young, whose membership was made up of war orphans.
The Young wanted to win the war by defeating the ruling factions, which led to a war that was fought from their base within the sewers. Obi-Wan left Qui-Gon's side and joined the Young in order to end the civil war on their world. Once the conflict had ended on Melida/Daan, he returned to the Jedi Order.
He Fought During The Stark Hyperspace War
The last major conflict that occurred in the galaxy before the Clone Wars was the Stark Hyperspace War, which involved several massive battles between the Stark Commercial Combine and the Galactic Republic. The Jedi were forced to intervene, which lead to them entering the fray as combatants.
The Stark Hyperspace War was started by a smuggler named Iaco Stark, who formed a huge army of outlaws to challenge the Galactic Republic as Stark knew that he had the superior fighting force due to the Galactic Republic relying so heavily on the Jedi Order to resolve conflicts. Obi-Wan Kenobi fought alongside Qui-Gon Jinn and other Jedi Knights & Masters during this conflict, which resulted in the victory for the Galactic Republic.
He Was Born On A Planet That Was Named After Jon Stewart
One of the strangest aspects of Obi-Wan Kenobi's backstory is the way in which his homeworld was named. George Lucas had never discussed Obi-Wan's homeworld in a formal capacity and it was up to the Expanded Universe writers to fill in the gaps, with Coruscant being listed as his original birthplace.
Obi-Wan's homeworld was finally named during an interview between George Lucas and Jon Stewart at the Star Wars Celebration V event in Orlando, Florida. Jon Stewart asked George Lucas for the name of Obi-Wan's homeworld and Lucas told him that it was “Stewjon.” What started out as a silly joke at a panel would go on to become canon, with Stewjon being listed as the name of Obi-Wan's homeworld on all official pieces of Star Wars merchandise from that point on.
He Rescued Qui-Gon Jinn From A Scientist
Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace made the mistake of turning the Force into a scientific concept, which could be measured in the form of midi-chlorians in the same way that the scouters in Dragon Ball Z can detect power levels, and there are scientists in the Star Wars universe who want to master the Force using their knowledge.
A twisted scientist named Jenna Zan Arbor managed to capture Qui-Gon Jinn in order to perform experiments on him and learn more about his connection to the Force. As a result, Obi-Wan Kenobi broke into Zan Arbor's lab and managed to free his master from imprisonment, causing Zan Arbor to join the Separatists and later, the Empire, as she had been marked as a criminal.
He Fought Alongside Chewbacca
It seems that Chewbacca is far older than anyone realized as he was fighting battles while Obi-Wan Kenobi was still a young man. There is a moon in the Kashyyyk system called Alaris Prime that was colonized by the Wookies, which brought them into conflict with the Trade Federation.
The Jedi Order dispatched Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi to Alaris Prime, where they helped the Wookies prepare for battle. It was during this conflict that Obi-Wan Kenobi first met Chewbacca, even though they pretended not to know each other when they met in A New Hope.
He Battled Eco-Fighters On The Aurorient Express
Jedi Knights & Masters were often called in to deal with fighter groups in the time before the Clone Wars, due to their skills with diplomacy and ability to bisect those who didn't play nice.
Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi were dispatched to deal with a group of eco-fighters that had taken over a luxury cruise ship known as the Aurorient Express, which was all a cover-up for a plot to eliminate the owners of the vessel. The two Jedi Knights were able to foil the plan, but not without the Aurorient Express being destroyed by a core bomb in the process.
He Was Taught By Numerous Jedi Knights & Masters
The Star Wars movies give the impression that all Padawans spend a short time learning the basics before being paired up with a Jedi Knight. The reason for this is because the few characters we see being trained (Anakin, Luke, Rey) were all trained under unusual circumstances.
Obi-Wan Kenobi was given a traditional education in the Force, which meant that he was trained by numerous different Jedi Knights & Masters in the basics of lightsaber fighting and using the Force before he was considered ready to be shown to a master who would take him on as a Padawan. It has been suggested that the idea of “Jedi school” was created to resolve a plot hole created by The Phantom Menace, as Obi-Wan said in Empire Strikes Back that Yoda taught him, but the prequels showed him being trained by Qui-Gon Jinn.
He Briefly Became A Farmer
The fact that an individual has a connection to the Force doesn't mean that they are guaranteed to become a Jedi Knight, as there are many trials that a prospective Jedi Knight needs to pass before being allowed to officially join the Jedi Order.
The people who fail to be accepted as a Padawan are sent to work for the AgriCorps, which is an organization made up of farmers with a connection to the Force so that they could use their talents to help plants grow. Obi-Wan Kenobi almost ended up as a full-time member of the AgriCorps as he was sent there after failing to win the patronage of Qui-Gon Jinn. It was only due to the discovery of a Dark Jedi plot that he was able to become Qui-Gon Jinn's Padawan.
He Saved The Life Of Dexter Jettster
One of the most bewildering scenes in Attack of the Clones involves Obi-Wan Kenobi traveling to a diner where he encounters a CGI alien named Dexter Jettster. Ewan McGregor had to pretend to act in front of a green screen while exposition was spouted at him in a scene that could have been replaced with a single line of dialogue.
However, the other pieces of Star Wars have fleshed out the relationship between Dexter Jettster and Obi-Wan. The first encounter between the two happened when Obi-Wan saw Dexter dropping bottles in an alley. Dexter would go on to open a restaurant, which prompted Obi-Wan to visit the establishment in order to try some of the food. Later, the two would go on to become friends, with Dexter providing information to Obi-Wan whenever he could.
He Fell For A Woman (Again) Who Was On Her Way To The Witness Stand
Obi-Wan Kenobi must have kicked himself for taking the vows of a Jedi Knight as he kept meeting desirable women who fell for him. The Jedi Council dispatched Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi to the planet Frego so that they could aid and protect a woman named Lena Cobral, who was seeking evidence as part of a trial to try and overthrow the corrupt government that ruled over her world.
Obi-Wan saved Lena's life when assassins tried to stop her from making it to the witness stand, which resulted in Obi-Wan developing feelings for her. Obi-Wan was unable to pursue a romantic relationship with Lena, due to his vows, which left her free to leave her homeworld and seek a peaceful life on another planet.
He Helped To Free A Planet From A Work-Obsessed Authority
There is a plant in the Star Wars universe called Vorzyd IV, which once had a society that was obsessed with work and where no one ever took any time off. Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi traveled to Vorzyd IV and discovered a rebel faction called the Freelies, who wanted to end the work-obsession through acts of sabotage.
The Freelies were aided by the Jedi in their quest and they were able to bring about social change on Vorzyd IV. These peaceful times did not last, though, as the Freelies would go on to attack the neighboring world of Vorzyd V, which led to an encounter with Luke Skywalker.
He Battled A Sinister Jedi Named Xanatos
In Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace, Ki-Adi-Mundi mentions that the Sith have been extinct for over a millennium. It seems that his description of the Sith does not include Jedi Knights who fell to the dark side of the Force, as one of them appeared during Obi-Wan Kenobi's youth.
Xanatos was the second Padawan of Qui-Gon Jinn, but he failed the final test and returned to his family. Qui-Gon Jinn would be inadvertently responsible for the demise of Xanatos' father, leading to a campaign of revenge that lasted several years. Xanatos would attempt to take over the Jedi Temple on Coruscant, but his plan was unsuccessful. Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan would pursue Xanatos to Talos IV, where he chose to leap into a pool of acid to spite his former master instead of being taken alive.
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Do you know if Obi-Wan did anything else before Episode 1? Let us know in the comments!