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Obi-Wan Kenobi episode 6 involved a huge decision from the titular Jedi – and, over a year later, the Star Wars community is still debating the moment.
In the episode, Obi-Wan and Darth Vader clashed in their much anticipated "rematch of the century," and, ultimately, Obi-Wan disabled Vader's suit and broke his helmet. That left the Sith Lord incapacitated, but not dead. In an echo of their Revenge of the Sith showdown, Obi-Wan walked away and left his former Padawan alive.
That, of course, means Vader can go on to cause more suffering. "I hope we can avoid the obvious answer 'because we wouldn’t have Star Wars Episode: 4' but can someone explain why Obi-Wan walked away allowing Darth to live knowing he will cause more pain and death?" asked one Star Wars fan on Reddit.
"I honestly believe he fully intended to kill Vader at first," writes one Redditor in response. "That last blow to Vader's face was a killing strike and Vader was lucky to not have his head sliced off. Of course, that same blow managed to unmask him and led to the whole conversation that shook Obi-Wan's resolve and made him walk away. Killing a masked Sith Lord was one thing, but he couldn't kill Anakin after looking him in the eyes.
"Or maybe ol' Obes Kenobes made the same mistake twice and underestimated what an unkillable cockroach Anakin really was, thinking (quite reasonably, honestly) that being alone on a remote planet with his life support smashed to bits and his breathing helmet cut open would finally do him in," they continue. "Or maybe it was both."
"I assume it's the same reason he walked away in Revenge of the Sith. He couldn't bring himself to kill his old friend," points out someone else, who also notes that Obi-Wan might not know the true scale of Vader's dark deeds.
"Jedi don’t kill a defeated opponent. Anakin disarmed (dishanded) Dooku. After he killed him he says, 'I shouldn't have done that. It's not the Jedi way.' It's not a plot hole despite what too many people will tell you," adds another person.
Another person has similar thoughts: "In the Kenobi show there is a flashback where, while sparring, Kenobi chides Anakin's aggressiveness by saying that 'a Jedi's goal is to defend life, not take it.' I could be overlooking some situations, but I believe the only time Kenobi fought with the intent to kill a living being was against Maul, who had an uncanny knack for unbalancing Kenobi. Please correct me if I'm wrong!"
"Vader's not down for the count, he's getting up for round 2. Kenobi doesn't want to risk that fight when he has a more important job to do in protecting Luke," is another person's reasoning.
We have to say we're glad Obi-Wan didn't kill Vader, because that would have been incredibly heart-breaking (and would've opened up a giant plot hole).
We could be seeing Anakin Skywalker again sooner rather than later, though, with Hayden Christensen potentially returning in the upcoming Ahsoka Disney Plus series.
Ahsoka arrives this August 23, and you can get ready with our guides on how to watch The Clone Wars in order and what to watch before Ahsoka. For everything else, check out our roundup of all the upcoming Star Wars movies and TV shows.
