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Obi - Wan Kenobi was n’t originally slated to meet his terminal in the firstStar Warsmovie . Released in 1977 , the plot of ground of George Lucas ' originalStar Warsis now more or less integrated into the world ’s cultural consciousness , especially when it comes to the epic showdown betweenObi - Wan Kenobiand Darth Vader . After finding Luke Skywalker on Tatooine and starting the young farm boy on a journey towards becoming a Jedi , Obi - Wan draw his companions onto the Death Star to deliver Princess Leia . appropriate the Millennium Falcon to get out , Kenobi face up Darth Vader in a lightsaber affaire d’honneur , but accepts death after prognosticate he ’ll become stronger should Vader strike the fatal setback .
Obi - Wan ’s dying has a profound impact upon the rest of theStar Warsseries . Luke Skywalker is force to try tutelage from Yoda on Dagobah , while Kenobi begins speaking to his final student from beyond the tomb . Fortunately for him , Kenobi also is n’t alive to deal with the full moment of lying about Luke ’s father . In hindsight , Kenobi ’s death feels like a necessary part of the firstStar Warstrilogy . Luke must set out alone to become the Jedi the Rebellion needs rather than relying on the experience and big businessman of Kenobi , whileDarth Vaderkilling Obi - Wan also put up the conception of Force ghosts , which have since become integral to the dealership .
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However , Lucas did n’t in the first place intend Obi - Wan Kenobi to perish during the Death Star conflict . In the pages of an early gulp script posted online courtesy ofThe Peter Mayhew Foundation , the sequence plays out similarly , but with one central deviation . After disabling the Death Star ’s tractor beam , Ben reaches the hanger only to be confronted by Darth Vader and a procession of oncoming Stormtroopers , Luke ’s grouping arrive shortly after with everyone looking to elude in theMillennium Falcon . In the terminal version , Luke watches on as Obi - Wan is vote out by Vader , and is then hurried aboard in nastiness of grief . In the earlier conscription , however , Obi - Wan is being soundly beaten by his honest-to-god apprentice , but manages to beat Vader by shutting a attack door to separate them . Luke , Han , Leia and Chewie then make it to disperse the Stormtroopers , and Luke help a hurt Obi - Wan back onto the Millennium Falcon .
Of of course , George Lucas would afterwards remedy this view so that Obi - Wan was dispatch by Darth Vader and the Falcon would exit with one less Jedi on board than when it arrived , but the exact ground for the change is slightly murky . A version of Lucas’Star Warsscript go steady shortly after the " Obi - Wanlives " draft have the same scene butincludesthe character ’s death as fans lie with it today . Even so , Alec Guinness previously stated thathewas the one who told Lucas to kill off the wizened Jedi . It seems that Lucas was open over which hand to use , so Guinness made the choice for him , since the histrion was magnificently disenchanted with the whole experience and was n’t great on generate for a sequel .
While it surely would ’ve been a treat to see more of the original Obi - Wan Kenobi ( if not so much a treat for Guinness himself ) , the former hermit ’s end is a necessary one for the overallStar Warsstory . Without Obi - Wan , the integral responsibleness of the Jedi falls squarely on Luke ’s articulatio humeri , Vader is set up as a legitimate , deadly threat , and the path is clear for Yoda to be premise . Meanwhile , the concept of fallen Jedi coming back as voice or specters only adds to the mysterious allure of the Force . HadObi - Wan Kenobisurvived the firstStar Warsfilm , The Empire Strikes Back , widely regard to be the strongest of theStar Warsmovies , would have been a very dissimilar suggestion .
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