No human being is ever perfect – Obi-Wan Kenobi made a large number of mistakes during his lifetime. During his titular series, Obi-Wan Kenobi, we’ll see him in utter depression. A decade will have passed since that fateful day on Mustafar, where he cut down his best friend and brother, Anakin Skywalker. The story will drag Kenobi off his hiding place of Tatooine and into the wider galaxy once more. While the details as to why he leaves the remote desert planet are still unknown, it is clear he will have time to think of his past.
We know he will feel that he failed Anakin, but will he question another aspect of his former life few are aware of? For those wondering what we’re referring to, we’re talking about Obi-Wan’s love life and his relationship with Duchess Satine Kryze of Mandalore.
This post weighs up which of Obi-Wan’s two biggest tragedies was hardest on him.
Satine’s Death
Was Obi-Wan’s romance with Satine one of his biggest mistakes? We don’t believe so. He couldn’t control his feelings for her, and while he chose his career over his own happiness, there is no way he could have predicted her murder at the hands of Maul.
While Obi-Wan’s mission was to protect the people of Mandalore, Maul focused on his bloodlust. All the former Sith Lord wanted was to make Kenobi suffer, and killing his longtime love in front of him was the ultimate revenge.
Maul never got over Obi-Wan cutting him in half on Naboo all those years earlier. As any dark side user would know, revenge is a dish best served hot. For the Sith, the dark side pulsed through their veins. The more they fed off it, the more entrenched they became in the darkness.
Obi-Wan was never vengeful towards Maul after cutting him in half.
Losing Anakin To The Dark Side
Obi-Wan will be going through a LOT during the Obi-Wan Kenobi series. However, that leads to us the biggest of his mistakes; not seeing the signs of what led to Anakin’s fall to the dark side. Kenobi always knew that Anakin wrestled his fair share of demons. Many of them he knew about such as his history being a child slave.
However, there was someone else who knew this information too; Palpatine. The Chancellor used the information to twist the knife deeper into Anakin’s back. He even used Padmé’s pending death to get Skywalker to trust him further. With the feeling that his so-called longtime friend could be the one person who could save his wife, Anakin entered the lion’s den.
Obi-Wan always felt like something wasn’t right when Palpatine had remained in office even though his term had ended. Each time he criticised the Chancellor in front of Anakin, he’d get rebuffed. This should’ve set off alarm bells every time. It’s unclear whether he was aware of how Palpatine treated Ahsoka. She too had her problems with the Republic’s leader. He would make her wait outside his office every time he wanted to talk to Anakin.
Kenobi understood why Anakin was defensive, but he often questioned why a man in Palpatine’s position would hang onto such power. It wasn’t until it was too late did he realise how far Anakin had fallen into the trap.
It wasn’t Obi-Wan’s fault that he stumbled upon the truth too late. Palpatine hid his manipulations so well that it caught everyone by surprise, but it was too late to stop.
Obi-Wan’s Mistakes Shouldn’t Define Him
Obi-Wan was human. He fell in love. At the same time, he lost his best friend to the biggest scourge in the galaxy. These shouldn’t be seen as mistakes. He couldn’t control the narrative any more than he could stop his feelings.
