Obi-Wan Kenobi recorded a warning to the Jedi in Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith, but that message wasn’t unveiled in its entirety until Star Wars Rebels premiered. Star Wars is a massive multimedia franchise, with its canon spanning across movies, TV shows, video games, and comics – and that includes shows like Clone Wars and Star Wars Rebels. Not long after Disney acquired Lucasfilm, they de-canonized the Expanded Universe and canceled Clone Wars. Then shortly afterward, they launched their first real Star Wars property with Star Wars Rebels.
While Lucasfilm was gearing up for Star Wars: The Force Awakens‘ release, they began planning ways to expand the franchise with spinoff films like Rogue One: A Star Wars Story and shows like Star Wars Rebels, both of which built upon the mythology that was created by George Lucas. One way Star Wars Rebels did that was through the Jedi and Sith holocrons. In fact, a holocron was used in its two-part series premiere to determine whether or not Ezra Bridger was Force-sensitive. And then, that same holocron later revealed a secret message from Obi-Wan Kenobi.
After Palpatine enacted Order 66 in Revenge of the Sith, Obi-Wan infiltrated the Jedi Temple on Coruscant alongside Yoda and coded a message to warn all Jedi away. Unfortunately, fans never got to hear what was in Obi-Wan’s message – that is, until Star Wars Rebels season 1, episode 2, “Spark of the Rebellion: Part 2”. At the end of that episode, Kanan Jarrus was meditating when he unlocked his holocron, which contained Obi-Wan’s Jedi warning:
“This is Master Obi-Wan Kenobi. I regret to report that both our Jedi Order and the Republic have fallen, with the dark shadow of the Empire rising to take their place. This message is a warning and a reminder for any surviving Jedi. Trust in the Force. Do not return to the Temple. That time has passed. And our future is uncertain. We will each be challenged. Our trust… our faith… our friendships. But we must persevere. And in time, a new hope will emerge. May the Force be with you… always.”
In Star Wars Rebels, this message is one that Kanan carried with himself for over a decade. It came to define a part of him, the part that sought to make sure the ways of the Jedi continued and were passed on to his apprentice, Ezra. What’s interesting, though, is that Obi-Wan’s message makes no mention of Palpatine or Darth Vader – but there’s a reason for that. Obi-Wan didn’t know his apprentice, Anakin Skywalker, had turned to the dark side and became Darth Vader until after he recorded this message. It was only as he and Yoda were leaving the Jedi Temple that he went into the archives and saw Anakin’s dark deeds.
While Kanan/Caleb Dume’s message came through a holocron, Obi-Wan’s message was originally recorded in a Jedi beacon, which Darth Vader actually tried to use to lure Jedi back to the Temple. Aside from Kanan, though, Jedi: Fallen Order‘s Cere Junda also got the message and stayed away. She managed to survive for years in hiding, avoiding any run-ins with Darth Vader and his Inquisitors.
