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Luke Skywalker was wielding his father's lightsaber, whose light played across the ceiling of Obi-Wan Kenobi's hut, when the old hermit said:

“An elegant weapon for a more civilized time”

Was Obi-Wan referring to a particular time in the history of the Galaxy that he was visioning or that he had lived or heard about? If so, what time was this?

Obi-Wan's remark on civilized times came back to my mind after watching a scene, from The Book of Boba Fett, where Garsa Fwip tells Krrsantan:

...in a more civilized place, in this more civilized times, what was once celebrated in the bloodlust of the arena, is now seen as horror and cruelty.

The above made me wonder if Obi-Wan was referring to civilized times from a personal or from a galactic point of view.

Still picture of Star Wars A New Hope

Bingo
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    Umm... Before the Clone Wars and the whole Republic-falls-apart thingy? (Not to mention all his friends getting massacred!) – DavidW Jan 19 '22 at 19:34
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    Doesn’t he say “before the dark times. Before the Empire” right after that? If so, that seems like at least a partial answer right there. Before the empire was the old republic and the Jedi order. That’s the more civilized era. – Todd Wilcox Jan 19 '22 at 22:30
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    "....for over a thousand years the Jedi Knights were the guardians of peace and justice in the Old Republic" - so, probably sometime then. Also - given that there is now canon representation of the High Republic (which is the era prior to Phantom Menace) - it can reasonably said retroactively to be referring to that period and before – NKCampbell Jan 19 '22 at 23:08
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    @NKCampbell yes, a more civilised era, which involved slavery being perfectly acceptable etc etc… – Moo Jan 20 '22 at 04:18
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    @Moo - don't shoot the messenger - at least not with a clumsy random blaster :) – NKCampbell Jan 20 '22 at 04:35
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    @NKCampbell if I did, it wouldnt really be clear if I shot first, or if I shot second, or if I was the only person to actually shoot, or whether in some versions it was an entirely different character shooting… – Moo Jan 20 '22 at 04:42
  • As with anything involving Obi-Wan, don't forget that he lies when he opens his mouth. – MaxD Jan 20 '22 at 12:14
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    It looks like before the Empire, Jedi used to be respected. Now with the Empire, the Force is a "forgotten religion", and the few remaining Jedi are in hiding. Since lightsabers are used by Jedi and no one else, they're an obvious give away. It makes sense that Obi-Wan can no longer use his lightsaber, and refers to it as as a weapon that was useful in a previous era, but is now hidden at the bottom of a drawer. – Stef Jan 20 '22 at 14:31
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    @DavidW Spoiler alert! Geez – Clint Warner Jan 20 '22 at 18:43
  • @Stef Well, not no one else... Obviously the Sith use them as well. And whatever General Grievous is - I don't think he's technically either. – Darrel Hoffman Jan 21 '22 at 16:41
  • @DarrelHoffman I don't remember the word "sith" being used in the original trilogy. I think the dark Jedi are simply called dark Jedi? In any case, anyone seen using a lightsaber might end up reported to the Empire and to Darth Vader, no matter whether they call themselves a Jedi or not. – Stef Jan 21 '22 at 17:42
  • @Stef, True, the word "sith" does not appear (though supposedly it was used in Lucas' notes even back then), but given there's only 2 of them at that point, I don't think they're explicitly given any collective name. But they are decidedly not Jedi. – Darrel Hoffman Jan 21 '22 at 17:46
  • @DarrelHoffman Regarding General Grievous, I think he claims that every lightsaber in his possession was stolen from Jedi he killed. So, a lightsaber is still a trail to a Jedi, albeit a dead one in this case. – Stef Jan 21 '22 at 17:48
  • Pedantic: The Obi-Wan quote refers to a more civilized age, not a more civilized time. Doesn't change the meaning much, but if you're actually quoting, it should be an accurate quotation. – ShadowRanger Jan 21 '22 at 21:11

2 Answers2

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In Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace we see the Galactic Republic, the society in which Obi-Wan was raised and trained. We see the grand Temple of the Jedi Order on Coruscant, where generations of Jedi live, meet, and train, the Senate that governs the Republic, and evidence of a safe, inclusive, and prosperous civilization. Even Naboo, a remote planet subject to a blockade and invasion, is clean, safe, and fairly well-off.

In stark contrast we are shown the world of Tatooine, which is outside the jurisdiction of the Republic, where there is visible poverty, slavery is accepted, and crime and random violence, or at least threats of violence, is unremarkable.

In a fairly short period of time the Republic and its society falls apart, with the Clone Wars erupting and leading to the collapse of the Republic and the rise of the Empire. (The Empire being militaristic, human-chauvinistic, and repressive.) In parallel, there is the destruction of the Jedi Order, starting with Order 66, and continuing with the Purge.

So Obi-Wan was born and trained in a period of relative peace and prosperity, only to survive the destruction of everything he was trained to value and protect. The "more civilized time" is the era they did not know was ending when he and Qui-Gon were dispatched to Naboo.

You can even take his previous comment:

Not as clumsy or as random as a blaster.

as a direct commentary on this as well; blasters - in sufficient quantity - being responsible for the deaths of a great many of his fellow Jedi.

DavidW
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He's referring generally to the period before the Empire.

The full dialogue from this scene makes this clear.

OBI-WAN: Your father's lightsaber. This is the weapon of a Jedi Knight. Not as clumsy or random as a blaster. An elegant weapon for a more civilised age. For over 1,000 generations the Jedi Knights were the guardians of peace and justice in the Old Republic. Before the dark times. Before the Empire.

Clearly, he doesn't mean a particular era within the pre-Empire period. He's referring to the 1,000 generations when the Jedi were, as he put it, guardians of peace and justice. This is in contrast to the dark times they were currently in.

The Dark Lord
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