The bond between a Jedi master and their apprentice seems to be quite a powerful Force connection in the Star Wars canon. As with many relationships where one is the teacher and the other the student, the dedicated transference of skills and knowledge to the next generation is a very valuable and special thing. As such, this is likely compounded when the skills being taught in the galaxy far, far away are tied to a cosmic energy field. To that end, it’s worth exploring what happened to Obi-Wan Kenobi when his bond with Anakin Skywalker was severed.
Following the death of Obi-Wan’s master Qui-Gon Jinn in The Phantom Menace, Kenobi promised to train young Anakin Skywalker, a powerful child whom Qui-Gon believed was the prophesied Chosen One. Although Anakin was reckless and challenging to train, he eventually became a knight during the Clone Wars, fighting side by side with Obi-Wan as they formed a powerful bond as a Jedi master and his former apprentice. However, the breaking of such a powerful bond when Anakin fell to the dark side should have been brutal for Obi-Wan who should have sensed the moment Anakin’s corruption occurred in the Star Wars timeline.
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The Bond Between Master & Apprentice Is Clearly Powerful In The Force
A Strong Cosmic Connection
On multiple occasions in the Star Wars canon, masters and their apprentices can often sense when the other is in danger or crisis. Case in point, Ahsoka Tano was able to sense that something was deeply wrong with her master while Anakin was being corrupted by Palpatine on Coruscant, even though she was still traveling through hyperspace and not on the planet itself. It can be argued that Obi-Wan was distracted by General Grievous and the Battle of Utapau to explain why Kenobi couldn’t sense Anakin’s fall, though it’s somewhat odd that Anakin’s apprentice sensed he was in turmoil while his master did not (at least not in the moment).
There are instances where even those who’ve fallen to the dark side can still sense their masters’ presence (and vice versa). During the Clone Wars, Count Dooku sensed when Yoda visited the Sith world of Moraband, even though Dooku himself was still a great distance away. Likewise, there’s also evidence between Obi-Wan and Darth Vader that they still had a connection in the Force despite their broken bond as master and apprentice, sensing each other’s presence in both Obi-Wan Kenobi and A New Hope. The same is true of the Sith Lords with Palpatine and his former apprentice Maul sensing each other’s power before facing each other as rivals.
A Severed Master-Apprentice Bond Is Traumatizing
Proven During The High Republic and Prequel Eras
Although the shared connections in the Force seem to remain, it likely doesn’t change the fact that the severing of the said bond between a master and apprentice is deeply traumatizing, whether through death or corruption to the dark side. During the High Republic Era, the death of Bell Zettifar’s master Loden Greatstorm was deeply traumatic. Having been captured by the Nihil marauders and subsequently murdered by a Force predator known as the Nameless, Bell was deeply affected by the loss of his master.
It’s also implied that the deep trauma Bell felt was amplified and sourced by the Force. To that end, Bell is actively searching for the Nihil’s leader Marchion Ro during the High Republic’s third and ongoing publishing phase, potentially tapping into darker motivations like revenge. As such, this theorized trauma sourced in the Force could perhaps be a key reason why the Jedi Order cautions against attachments.
Likewise, one has to wonder what happened to Obi-Wan when he lost his own master after Qui-Gon was killed by Darth Maul in The Phantom Menace. On the surface, it seems as though Obi-Wan held to his Jedi training which allowed him to beat Maul, rather than giving into his emotions and tapping into the dark side which could have given Maul the advantage. That said, one can imagine that the immediate aftermath of losing his master was quite brutal for Obi-Wan after losing such a strong and definitive connection in the Force held by many Jedi with their masters.
Conversely, one would expect that Obi-Wan should have felt an immediate impact when his own apprentice fell to the dark side, despite being on Utapau while Anakin swore loyalty to Palpatine before becoming Darth Vader and slaughtering those within the Jedi Temple with Order 66. Instead, Anakin’s new darkness was something Obi-Wan had to be shown on security footage. While it’s implied Kenobi had already begun to feel and suspect the tragic truth, it’s still strange considering the years he’d spent mentoring and caring for Skywalker as his master (though there is one possible explanation).
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Anakin’s Fall To The Dark Side Must Have Had A Massive Effect On Obi-Wan
Generating Lasting Trauma During Tatooine Exile
It’s interesting that, unlike Ahsoka, Obi-Wan didn’t sense Anakin’s fall immediately in Revenge of the Sith. While this would perhaps indicate that Kenobi never quite succeeded in establishing a strong bond with Anakin as his master, that seems very unlikely. Instead, one could argue that Obi-Wan’s bond with Anakin was too strong to the point of becoming an attachment. After all, a pained Obi-Wan tells Anakin that he was his brother and that he’d loved him after defeating Skywalker on Mustafar.
This could mean that Obi-Wan’s emotions and love for his apprentice either blinded him to the dark truth or it was something he initially denied and ignored, including all the times Anakin brushed with the darkness during the Clone Wars. Furthermore, Obi-Wan obviously carried plenty of guilt and lasting trauma during his exile on Tatooine as seen in Obi-Wan Kenobi. While he might not have sensed Anakin’s fall as immediately as Ahsoka did in the Star Wars canon, the resulting trauma in the Force is quite evident due to all his sleepless nights and struggle to use the Force such as his communion with Qui-Gon’s Force ghost.
Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith
Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith is the sixth film in the Star Wars franchise and chronologically the third in the Skywalker Saga. Set three years after the events of Attack of the Clones, Anakin Skywalker is tasked with keeping an eye on Chancellor Palpatine while other Jedi battle across the galaxy. In the background, however, a mysterious Sith lord begins to make their move to destroy the Jedi once and for all.
- Release Date
- May 19, 2005
- Director
- George Lucas
- Cast
- Ewan McGregor , Natalie Portman , Hayden Christensen , Ian McDiarmid , Samuel L. Jackson , Christopher Lee , Anthony Daniels , Kenny Baker , Frank Oz , Ahmed Best , Temuera Morrison
- Rating
- PG-13
- Runtime
- 140 Minutes
- Genres
- Action , Adventure , Sci-Fi , Fantasy
- Writers
- George Lucas , John Ostrander , Jan Duursema
- Budget
- $113 Million
- Studio(s)
- Lucasfilm
- Distributor(s)
- 20th Century Fox
- Sequel(s)
- Solo: A Star Wars Story , Rogue One: A Star Wars Story , Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope , Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back , Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi , Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens , Star Wars: Episode VIII – The Last Jedi , Star Wars: Episode IX- The Rise of Skywalker
- Franchise(s)
- Star Wars
