Lucas' Plan To Have Obi-Wan Survive A New Hope Would've Been A Mistake
Although Obi-Wan Kenobi’s death at the hands of Darth Vader was a tragic moment in Star Wars, George Lucas’ original plan of having him survive the duel would have been a mistake. A New Hope’s script had numerous drafts, with one iteration having Obi-Wan Kenobi survive his duel with Darth Vader and escape with the rest of the heroes to the Rebel Base on Yavin IV. While this would have spared Luke Skywalker from yet another loss, it’d have had a detrimental effect on his characterization and the overarching narrative of the original Star Wars trilogy.
The behind-the-scenes story behind Obi-Wan’s death is the subject of rumors and discussions regarding Alec Guinness’ notoriously negative view of Star Wars in general and Obi-Wan in particular, with Guinness suggesting that Lucas kill off Kenobi being a popular belief. An iteration of A New Hope’s (then simply called Star Wars) script, which was written before Guinness’ casting, details Kenobi’s sacrifice, seemingly debunking this rumor. Despite this, Lucas reportedly was on the fence about having Kenobi die and possibly stuck to the original plan at Guinness’ insistence. Nevertheless, Guinness would continue to play Kenobi, albeit as a Force ghost, in the next two Star Wars original trilogy films.
Related: Star Wars Hints At The True Purpose of Force Ghosts
Another draft of A New Hope’s script has Kenobi survive his battle with Darth Vader, thanks to the Jedi Knight slashing a control panel and trapping Darth Vader behind a blast door. With Kenobi’s swordsmanship and the rest of the heroes’ help, the venerable Jedi would reach the Millennium Falcon and escape the Death Star. Unfortunately, however, this would rob the Empire of much of their threat by omitting the death of a
Read more on screenrant.com
