Star Warsis no stranger to a retcon, with the saga’s biggest reveal ofLuke Skywalker being Darth Vader’s sonbeing a retcon itself. As a transmedia franchise,Star Warsencompasses books, comics, movies, TV shows, and more, which has opened the door to even more retcons over time. This has led to wonderful collaboration in storytelling, but also some complications.
As mentioned, the revelation of Luke’s parentage inThe Empire Strikes Backchallenged so many notions ofStar Warsat the time. It made Obi-Wan a liar with his claim that Vader killed Luke’s father, lying for Luke’s benefit. The fatherhood revelation, however, also created a plot-hole withinStar Warscomics that wasn’t fixed until 36 years later.
One Official (Wonderful) Star Wars Tie-In Doubled Down On Obi-Wan’s ANH Lies
Marvel Star Wars Annual 1 (1979)
After the release of the originalStar Warsfilm in 1977, Marvel Comics continued the story with monthly issues of the properly titledStar Warscomic series. These sometimes-zany adventures took Han, Luke, Leia, Chewbacca, and the droids to new worlds all the time, expanding the galaxy past the film for the first time.Since they weren’t written by George Lucas, however, these comics simply had to take the film’s word as it was – like Obi-Wan telling Luke that Vader and Anakin were separate people.
Marvel’s 1979Star Wars Annual #1by Chris Claremont and Mike Vosburg perpetuated this even further. On a visit to the planet Skye, Luke Skywalker and his allies help locals fight off an Imperial garrison’s forces andDarth Vader’s first apprentice. A local explains that years earlier,during the Clone Wars,Obi-Wan Kenobi visited their world with not one, but two apprentices: the man who would become Vader, and a man who wielded Luke’s inherited lightsaber – his father, presented as separate individuals.
The Clone Wars was another example of something taken from the originalStar Warsfilm and referenced many times in the 70s Marvel Comics, to varying degrees of accuracy to what the prequels would later depict.
Star Wars Actually Fixed This Plot Hole 36 Years Later
SkyeWalkers: A Clone Wars Story
In the year 2015, the final months of theStar WarsExpanded Universebrought about the novellaSkyeWalkers: A Clone Wars Storyby Abel G. Peña. This story, commissioned by theStar WarsFan Club, tells that very story mentioned above, of Obi-Wan Kenobi and his two apprentices visiting Skye during the Clone Wars. In this story, famedStar Warsnerd and author Peña put the pieces together, fixing this continuity error once and for all.
Why Did Obi-Wan Kenobi Almost Leave The Jedi Order?
Obi-Wan Kenobi was a model Jedi, but even he sometimes had his doubts. At one point, he even considered leaving the Jedi Order altogether.
AsSkyeWalkersexplains,Obi-Wan did indeed visit the planet Skye, but with Anakin and another EU character named Halagad Ventor. Later aDark Jedi, Ventor was a Jedi during the Clone Wars who had lost his master, and was thus under the temporary tutelage of Kenobi. On this mission, Skywalker and Ventor exchanged lightsabers due to a very niche Jedi ritual, explaining that the man wielding the Skywalker saber was actually not a Skywalker, and that Obi-Wan Kenobi was indeed with two of his apprentices on Skye - clearing up the first bigStar Warsplot hole decades later.
Star Wars
Star Wars is a multimedia franchise that started in 1977 by creator George Lucas. After the release of Star Wars: Episode IV- A New Hope (originally just titled Star Wars), the franchise quickly exploded, spawning multiple sequels, prequels, TV shows, video games, comics, and much more. After Disney acquired the rights to the franchise, they quickly expanded the universe on Disney+, starting with The Mandalorian.
