George Lucas’ Star Wars: The Clone Wars retconned one of the most important scenes in A New Hope. The Clone Wars is a great TV show that provided a host of new stories and characters, such as Anakin Skywalker’s Padawan Ahsoka Tano, who have gone on to play key roles in the Star Wars universe. Its work fleshing out the Clone Wars and the relationship between Padmé Amidala and Anakin arguably redeemed the prequels. Despite how good it is, it had its fair share of retcons, and one of these is far bigger than it may appear at first glance.
Bail Organa, while named, is not seen at all during the original trilogy. This is because he and his wife, Queen Breha Organa, were on Alderaan when it was destroyed by the Death Star. However, content set during the prequel and the Dark Times eras has fleshed out his character and shown that he played an extremely important role in the birth of the Rebel Alliance. As such, this content has made Bail Organa a popular character among fans. However, there is one Clone Wars detail that has retconned an important part of Bail Organa’s initial original trilogy name-drop.
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Leia Says Obi-Wan Served Bail Organa During The Clone Wars
During her famous R2-D2 message in A New Hope, Leia states, “General Kenobi, years ago you served my father in the Clone Wars. Now he begs you to help him in his struggle against the Empire.” The fact that she calls him “General Kenobi” and says that he served her father implies that Bail Organa was some kind of high-ranking military commander who commanded Obi-Wan during the war. However, Star Wars later proves that this isn’t the case.
… But Star Wars: The Clone Wars Makes It Clear Obi-Wan Never Did
Obi-Wan never worked for Bail Organa. As a senator and member of Alderaan’s royal family, Bail was not even in the Republic’s army, and he certainly didn’t command it. As such, Obi-Wan never actually served Bail. The closest that Obi-Wan came to serving Bail during the Clone Wars was when Obi-Wan and his clone unit saved Bail from a Separatist attack. This, however, doesn’t count as Obi-Wan serving him, as it was no different from what Obi-Wan did daily during the Clone Wars – fighting the Separatist army and protecting senators and regular folk from their attacks.
Bail Organa Was The One Who Helped Obi-Wan
Obi-Wan and Bail’s interactions during the Clone Wars and beyond, while meaningful, were limited, and most were characterized by Bail helping Obi-Wan rather than the other way around. For example, at the end of Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith, Bail helps Obi-Wan escape Order 66 and takes in Leia as his own daughter. Just as Obi-Wan helped Bail when he was being attacked by the Separatists, Bail returned the favor by helping protect Obi-Wan when he was being attacked by the clones. Neither of them served the other at any point during the Clone Wars.
After the Clone Wars, Bail did get more involved in military matters. As an influential figure in the formation of the resistance against the Empire, he worked heavily with the Rebel Alliance before his death on Alderaan. He gave the Rebel Alliance necessary supplies and gathered intel from inside the Imperial Senate that he used to give rebels like Ahsoka Tano missions. As such, it could be said that Ahsoka Tano served under Bail Organa. However, Obi-Wan was not involved in the Rebellion, as he instead focused on watching over Luke Skywalker.
In Obi-Wan Kenobi, Obi-Wan helps Bail by saving a kidnapped Leia. While this could arguably be seen as Bail giving Obi-Wan a mission, and thus Obi-Wan “serving” him in a sense, it isn’t really. He helps Bail because they both know how important it is to protect Leia. This is a case of Obi-Wan fulfilling the mission he gave himself years ago: keeping Anakin Skywalker’s children out of the Sith Lord’s clutches. So then, there wasn’t a single time during the Clone Wars or even after it that Obi-Wan could truly have been said to have served Bail Organa.
Obi-Wan Must Have A Secret Clone Wars Bail Organa Mission
While this may seem like a relatively small retcon – especially given that Obi-Wan and Bail did indeed work together during the Clone Wars – it is a bigger deal than it seems on the surface. Leia’s message is what truly kicks off the events of A New Hope. Without that message, Luke Skywalker may have never gotten involved in the Rebel Alliance. As such, every detail of that message is important. If Star Wars wants to honor the integrity of this pivotal moment, it has to explain why Leia would say this.
One way to do that is to show Obi-Wan going on a secret mission with Bail Organa in which Bail acts as his commander. While this may be a stretch given that Obi-Wan was a general in the Republic’s army while Bail was just a senator, it isn’t impossible. One way it could be done is if Bail was shown to have some kind of special intel that made him essential to a mission. If this were the case, Obi-Wan could go on the mission but, due to his superior knowledge of the situation, Bail is the one to lead it.
If such a mission were to take place, it would be interesting to see. Given Bail Organa’s position as both a senator and a member of Alderaan’s royal family, there is a lot of potential for him to be uniquely positioned to run a key mission against the Separatists. In The Clone Wars, Padmé goes on a secret mission to meet with her Separatist friend Mina Bonteri to try to end the war. If Bail led a similar mission, he could enlist the help of Obi-Wan Kenobi and the Jedi General could have served under him during it.
Star Wars: The Clone Wars
The animated series Star Wars: The Clone Wars takes place between Episodes 2 and 3 of the Star Wars film saga. The fan-favorite series expands the story of the prequel trilogy through characters including Anakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Ahsoka Tano, and more fan-favorite jedi.
- Release Date
- October 3, 2008
- Cast
- Matt Lanter , james arnold taylor , Ashley Eckstein , Dee Bradley Baker , Matthew Wood , Tom Kane , Catherine Taber , Terrence Carson , Corey Burton , Nika Futterman , Katee Sackhoff , Sam Witwer
- Seasons
- 7
- Story By
- Dave Filoni
- Writers
- Dave Filoni , George Lucas
- Network
- Disney Channel
- Streaming Service(s)
- Disney+
- Franchise(s)
- Star Wars
- Directors
- Dave Filoni
- Showrunner
- Dave Filoni
