Obi-Wan Kenobi made one catastrophic mistake during Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace that resulted in Qui-Gon Jinn’s death, and it proves he wasn’t ready to be a Jedi Master. There is no doubt that Obi-Wan grew to be a great Jedi. However, Obi-Wan was only 25 years old when he took on Anakin Skywalker as a Padawan. He had only recently passed the Jedi trials, and he had just lost his master. He wasn’t ready to be a master, and the events leading to Qui-Gon’s death prove it.
At the end of The Phantom Menace, Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan face Darth Maul. However, while they are attempting to take the Sith apprentice together, the two get separated by a series of force fields. Qui-Gon ends up getting ahead of Obi-Wan and facing Maul alone. Tragically, the Jedi Master couldn’t take the Sith on alone, and he was killed during the fight. While Obi-Wan managed to defeat Maul, it was only after his master had been dealt a fatal blow.
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Obi-Wan Kenobi Struggled To Center Himself In The Force
At the beginning of The Phantom Menace, Obi-Wan senses a disturbance in the Force. When Qui-Gon replies that he doesn’t sense anything, Obi-Wan says that it is something beyond the mission, dark and elusive. This is important because Obi-Wan was likely sensing Palpatine’s influence. However, Qui-Gon isn’t happy that his Padawan’s mind is elsewhere. He attempts to get Obi-Wan to be mindful of the Force – to stop stressing and center himself. While Obi-Wan does pull himself away enough to help Qui-Gon escape the ambush the Trade Federation had set up, it bothers him throughout the movie.
While it is impressive that Obi-Wan was sensing Palpatine, Qui-Gon had a point. They were walking into a potentially dangerous situation, and yet Obi-Wan was allowing his mind to wander. Something beyond their immediate mission could be dealt with later; what Obi-Wan needed to do at that moment was file that away for later and focus on his mission. Yet, he struggled to do that.
Obi-Wan’s Weakness Meant He Wasn’t At Qui-Gon’s Side
During the final battle with Darth Maul, Maul is able to separate Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan by taking them through a hallway with a series of timed force fields. This was clearly a deliberate strategy. After all, conquering an enemy one at a time is much easier than trying to take on two at once. This worked, and Maul was able to kill Qui-Gon while his apprentice watched helplessly. Part of the reason this strategy worked so well was because of Obi-Wan’s inability to center himself.
When Obi-Wan, Qui-Gon, and Maul get stuck behind different force fields, Qui-Gon takes the few moments he has before the force field disappears again to meditate. He drops to his knees and centers himself in the Force. Obi-Wan, in contrast, ignites his lightsaber and paces impatiently. He doesn’t take the chance to calm himself and reach out to the Force. He merely stares daggers at Maul while he’s stuck behind the force field.
If Obi-Wan had managed to center himself, he could’ve used his Force Speed ability to get to Qui-Gon before the force fields closed on him again. After all, he used it earlier on in the movie, so he is capable of it. However, Force Speed requires one to be very in tune with the Force, which Obi-Wan wasn’t at that moment. If he had followed his master’s lessons and taken the time to meditate, he could have accessed the Force enough to use Force Speed and ensure that he and Qui-Gon were together. If he’d done this, Qui-Gon likely would’ve lived.
Obi-Wan Hadn’t Learned His Master’s Most Important Lesson
The saddest thing about this is that Qui-Gon was modeling centering himself in the Force at that very moment. Qui-Gon was meditating while Obi-Wan was pacing angrily. This proves that Obi-Wan had not mastered one of the most important Jedi lessons. Unfortunately, Qui-Gon was the one who paid the price for this. As such, Obi-Wan wasn’t ready to be a master. This fault is something that plagued Obi-Wan even as he got older.
Anakin describes Obi-Wan’s teaching style in Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones as overly harsh and critical. The audience sees this in action as well, as Obi-Wan often makes critical, sarcastic comments at Anakin’s expense. While some of these contain teaching (although that isn’t a good way to teach), there are lots of times when he’s sarcastic just for the sake of it. For example, when Anakin is brought into the Geonosian arena in chains and tells Obi-Wan he came to rescue him, Obi-Wan simply looks at the chains and says, “Good job.”
Using sarcasm as a teaching style isn’t the mark of someone who has centered themselves and achieved true inner peace. A Jedi who has mastered centering themselves in the Force won’t use comments that tear their Padawan down, but ones that will build them up. They will use constructive criticism and positive reinforcement to guide their Padawan gently. After all, the point of growing in the light side of the Force is to find peace through a connection to all living things. To teach their Padawan to do that, a master must teach them to love and be kind to themselves.
Obi-Wan never truly masters his frustration and impatience in the prequel trilogy. However, by the time he meets Luke on Tatooine, he finally has. He doesn’t speak harshly to Luke, or criticize him constantly with sarcastic comments. He guides him calmly like a true Jedi Master should. He takes the time to center himself during his final battle with Darth Vader, just as Qui-Gon did. He lets himself go and be one with the Force because he realizes that it is what’s best for Luke and the Rebellion – a lesson from The Phantom Menace that took him a long time to learn.
Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace
- Release Date
- May 19, 1999
- Director
- George Lucas
- Cast
- Ewan McGregor , Liam Neeson , Natalie Portman , Jake Lloyd , Ahmed Best , Ian McDiarmid , Anthony Daniels , Kenny Baker , Pernilla August , Frank Oz , Ray Park , Samuel L. Jackson
- Writers
- George Lucas
- Franchise(s)
- Star Wars
