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In Kenobi (2022), a key plot arc involves Leia

being kidnapped

and Obi-wan

rescuing her

This takes up much of the season, and the tone of the last episode suggests that Obi-wan will now be staying on Tatooine and focusing on Luke, rather than involving himself further in Leia's life. So it would seem that this is their last interaction.

Why is it then, that when Leia reaches out to Obi-wan for help, and encodes a message into R2-D2, she says

Years ago, you served my father in the Clone Wars; now he begs you to help him in his struggle against the Empire.

rather than what (now) seems obvious, something along the lines of

Years ago, you rescued me when I was kidnapped by the Empire.

I realize the order of production! I'm wondering if any canonical retcon has addressed this.

Machavity
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AakashM
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    It's a vicious cycle in which fans demand stories that are like what they are familiar with, which leads to continuity and worldbuilding issues, which leads to fans complaining that the franchise has been changed beyond recognition, which leads to them demanding stories that are like what they are familiar with. – Adamant Nov 30 '22 at 14:49
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    I don't really see what the problem is here, she's not asking for help for herself but rather on behalf of her father so surely using a shared experience Ben and her father had makes more sense than one she and Ben had. – TheLethalCarrot Nov 30 '22 at 15:02
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    Does it need a retcon? The statement from the original source material is not false. It's just not as full of information as it could be. And that could be for many reasons, not least of which that the involvement in the Clone Wars is a matter of "public record", as Bail Organa was a Senator of the Republic and Kenobi was a General in the Grand Army of The Republic, whereas the involvement in her kidnapping and rescue was largely kept quiet. – CaptAlgorithm Nov 30 '22 at 15:04
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    @Adamant There were a lot of stories that could please the fans by giving them fresh stories yet familiar, they are called Legends now, poor production and lame writers are to blame, not fans. – Mrc4t987 Nov 30 '22 at 15:14
  • Oh, Legends was the worst example of exactly what I mentioned! Clone Palpatine, clone Luke, clone of clone Luke, Skywalkers up the wazoo for a century or two after the battle of Endor, lightsabers and droids hundreds of thousands of years in the past.... The Yuuzhan Vong at least were a step out of that comfort zone, disliked as they were. – Adamant Nov 30 '22 at 15:17
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    @CaptAlgorithm It's "true, from a certain point of view". :-D – FuzzyBoots Nov 30 '22 at 15:24
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    @CaptAlgorithm True, but in the same message she also openly talks about the rebellion and her and her father's "struggle against the Empire", so it's odd to try for plausible deniability in the rest. – Milo P Nov 30 '22 at 16:49
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    @MiloP I would argue that it'd be unwise to include more information than necessary. All the things you mention are about Bail and Leia Organa, and as of the events at the end of R1/beginning of ANH, Leia is certainly already "blown" with respect to being a known Rebel. If the Empire intercepts the message before it gets to Kenobi, all they know is that she reached out for help to what seems to be a tenuous contact, at best. If she starts spouting off about the events in "Kenobi", it seems more interesting to the Empire, and perhaps they search harder for Obi-Wan that they might otherwise. – CaptAlgorithm Nov 30 '22 at 17:01
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    @CaptAlgorithm: To add to the part of it being part of the public record - it's the part of the public record that's been effectively wiped. the events of Kenobi wouldn't require the Empire to acknowledge anything they were trying to hide; the Clone Wars...does. – Alexander The 1st Dec 01 '22 at 05:11
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    @Adamant I think it's safe to say the fans were very worried about Obi-Wan crossing paths with people he should not have - especially since the connotation of Star Wars was Vader hadn't sensed Obi-Wan since the War now . Obi-Wan series could have done any number of spaghetti western samurai plots on Tatooine instead and no one would have complained. Fans are not the problem. – lucasbachmann Dec 01 '22 at 18:05
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    Having known a number of 10-year-olds that grew up, I wouldn't put it past her to forget it was him who saved her by the time New Hope rolled around, and only remember him from her father's stories. How many of you completely forgot distant relatives you saw a handful of times at weddings and funerals a few times in childhood, then didn't see again until you were in college? Granted, rather more intense interaction when they're saving you from kidnappers, but if you literally never talk about it for nine years, then your dad asks you to contact an old friend nearly a decade later? Believable. – ShadowRanger Dec 02 '22 at 19:15
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    Plus, have you seen how badly Obi-Wan aged in those nine years? If she forgot the name, the face wouldn't remind her. :-) – ShadowRanger Dec 02 '22 at 19:16
  • @MiloP, Organa's "struggle against the Empire" isn't exactly a secret. He's a known and open agitator, speaking out against the Empires abuses. In that role, he does two things (one good, one not so much). He keeps news of the Empire's abuses in a state where it has to do those things with at least a modicum of subtlety, and he serves as 'proof' that "the Empire can't be as bad as he says, or he'd have been killed to shut him up". – Theo Brinkman Dec 02 '22 at 21:20

1 Answers1

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There's no retcon needed.

At the end of Kenobi, the following exchange happens:

Leia: Will I ever see you again?

Kenobi: Maybe. Someday. If you ever need help from a tired, old man. But we must be careful. No one must know, or it could endanger us both.

All that happens in A New Hope is that the adult Leia keeps the implicit promise she made as a child, even thought there's no particular reason for her to do so. It could have been ingrained habit at that point.

There is one bit of the original movie that could be considered retconned due to Kenobi, although it requires absolutely no change in what appears on screen. When Luke announces he's there to rescue Leia and says he's with Obi-wan, Leia reacts with a lot of enthusiasm at the news. Originally, of course, it was that her appeal for help to an acquaintance of her father had been answered. Now, it can be trivially interpreted as her being excited her personal hero had come to rescue her again.

Of course, that requires a reverse bit of retcon later because she doesn't react as intensely to Obi-wan's death as Luke does, however the interpretation there is that by this point she's a somewhat hardened Rebel leader who recognizes that the loss of life is cost that must be paid, as she'd just shortly before witnessed the sacrifice of Rogue One and a large Rebel Alliance task force in order to get her the Death Star plans.

And, of course, her known family and home planet just got blown up in front of her out of pure spite, so one could understand why her reaction to yet another death might be understated.

Keith Morrison
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