How Powerful Was Old Ben Kenobi - Star Wars Explained

Composer: Whitesand (Martynas Lau)
Year: 2017
Title: Eternity Additional Music Terminus by: Scott Buckley
Released under CC-BY 4.0.

[theauditor]

"Beware of an old man in a profession where men usually die young" damn i love that

[danielkiran]

Yoda, master of the Light side.
Palpatine, master of the Dark side.
Obi-Wan, master of the High Ground.

[RoderickR]

The High Ground is a pathway to many abilities some consider to be unnatural.

[AbsoluteHart]

I find it strange that anyone bring up Obi-Wan's physical body when discussing his power, especially commenting that it somehow weakened due to old age. Bodies weaken, yes, but Jedi do not concern themselves with their body's physical limitations. Yoda said, "Luminescent beings are we, not this crude matter, " when referring to muscle. And look at Yoda. 877 years old in Episode III, requires a cane to walk normally, but then instantly infuses his body with the Force to perform superhuman feats of agility. Dooku was 83 and did much the same. Age doesn't matter for Jedi or Sith due to their ability to infuse their body with the Force. It is why Obi-Wan never weakened, only grew stronger. Why he was able to stalemate Vader (a killer of dozens of Jedi, often multiple at once), and defeat Maul in literally three strikes.

People need to realize that Obi-Wan only appeared weak in Episode IV because of the limitations of 1977 choreography and the use of glass rods they couldn't actually strike together in scenes. If Episode I was shot in 1977, the duel between Qui-Gon, Obi-Wan, and Maul would have looked like Obi-Wan vs Vader. And if shot in 1999, Episode IV's duel would have looked like the Duel of Fates. I do not understand how this is so difficult for some to comprehend.

[jackson_why]

Roses are red,
BB-8 is round,
it's over Anakin,
I have the high ground

[Corthrovin]

I was kind of disappointed at first when I saw Obi-Wan's final duel with Maul, but after I thought about it, it made a lot of sense. Maul was pretty much lost ever since he got cut in half and dropped down that hole, even during his rivalry with Obi-Wan in the Clone Wars cartoon he didn't seem to have much of a purpose beyond doing what bad guys do. 'Ben' on the other hand had found his purpose, had devoted himself to watching over Luke. So when Maul showed up, he was a threat to Luke and Obi-Wan knew what he had to do; neutralize that threat. He had so much more focus and clarity in that fight that he was able to predict what Maul would do and strike him down in 3 moves; 2 blocks and a strike.

He was always one of the greatest Jedi, not necessarily in terms of power but in terms of behaving as a Jedi should. Even when the only woman he ever loved was murdered right in front of him, he never gave in to anger. Even then, he never showed any sign of being tempted by the dark side

[carefreejimbob]

"You can't win darth.
There is a slight incline over there and once I step upon it, I will have the high ground and become more powerful than you can possibly imagine!

[obiwankenobi]

I have and will always have the high ground

[ZakEmber]

I think Ben's power is always understated. "If you strike me down, I'll become more powerful than you could possibly imagine." One of the great things about the subsequent movies and the reveal of who Darth Vader is makes it so this line keeps getting better and better with new contextual information. I don't think it was just about becoming a force ghost... it was about completely cementing himself as the role model for Luke, who always wondered who his father was and grew up wishing to be a hero. He becomes the father figure to Luke that Luke always desired: he's brave, adventurous, selfless, a little mysterious, and powerful. And when he sacrifices himself, it's the final straw: from then on, when Luke thinks of a father/mentor, it will ALWAYS be Obi-Wan.

When you think about it, it's a powerful motivator. Luke finds out his father was a Jedi Knight, and then sees the only Jedi Knight he knows get cut down by Darth Vader, the man who supposedly murdered his father as well. Can you ask for a better motivating force to push the hero along the road of becoming a Jedi? Even when the lie about Anakin becoming Darth Vader is revealed, Luke spends almost no time on any angst over trusting Ben, and instead tries to grapple with having to fight his own father. Ben, in essence, neutralized the single greatest weapon that the Emperor and Darth Vader could wield against Luke, which was his lineage. The reveal, even though being a catastrophic blow to Luke, was nullified by the preparation of Obi-Wan and Yoda, who wisely had replaced Luke's fantasy version of his father with other mentors.

Even so, Luke's training was never completed, so without consciously knowing he was doing it, he started to emulate Vader in "Return of the Jedi". He force choked people, planned the execution of Jabba the Hutt, and started giving in to his dark side. However, it's at the very end that Luke is faced with a choice: he looks at his hand, and realizes he's becoming like Vader... and it's at that moment, I think he thought about Obi-Wan when he fought Vader, and realized what the solution was. In this moment, he finally becomes a Jedi. Obi-Wan, in essence, was much more powerful as a martyred replacement father-figure to Luke.

[randallwalter]

I personally think that while Obi-Wan was not the most powerful in the force or in combat, he is the greatest jedi to ever live. Courage, humility, and wisdom were his weapons of choice, yet his blade was one to be feared.

[christyjia]

Obi-Wan sliced Maul to death during their final battle on Tattooine. He literally broke no sweat. He beat him through a mind trick, essentially fooling him that he would fight Maul using Qui-Gon's technique. Maul fell right into the trap. Thus ended the legacy of Darth Maul. On the other hand, young Obi-Wan got his ass kicked by Dooku....but he still managed to practically kill Anakin Skywalker, supposedly the greatest Jedi ever, at the end of the ROTS. If not the greater lightsaber wielder, Obi-Wan definitely went down in history as one of their best.

[maxwilliams]

the older he got, the higher the ground, still wasnt UNLIMITED POWER!!

[sergiomoney]

He's always been my favorite Jedi. Level headed and smart, while still trying to do what seems like the best option for nonviolence. If he did anything extreme it actually meant something.

[realtedbear]

Who needs the Force when you can die and become more powerful than you can possibly imagine?

[RT]

All these high ground jokes. So damn uncivilized

[TheHumanlpod]

Obiwan is the ultimate example of an ideal Jedi even more so that Yoda- exemplified by his relative weak natural ability with the force (he actually failed his padawan trials and was only selected by qui gon because he saw how desperate he was & his old padawan fell to the dark side), only barely enough to perform feats that most average Jedi are expected to perform with ease. What makes him legendary is his hard work, dedication to both his mindset relinquishing his greed, ego & other dark side lusts, as well as his dedication to the defensive form 3, endlessly drilling to perfection that not even the mega talented Vader could penetrate.

His natural lack of force sensitivity would ultimately result in his deterioration in lightsaber combat due to his age (Despite Yoda being near the end of his life even in prequels he was the best duelist because of his incredible innate force sensitivity). However, his mindset was at its peak and was able to properly mentor another extremely talented Jedi who started his training at 19, and not fuck up like he did with Anakin due to his lack of experience.

[CluelessWill]

You should do what happened if Jango had successfully killed Padme

[cykaxd]

"Beware of an old man in a proffesion where men die young"
The badassitude of Obi summed up in a small Tweet.

[vdun]

Why is this a question? Obi-Wan has unlimited power, far greater than you could possibly imagine. He also has the high ground.

[rodrigomanzo]

remember kenobi didn't even leave a body, i think he wasn't killed by vader, but rather he turned to the force on will