Learning to Let Go
The greatest thing that Ben Kenobi took with him from Anakin's fall was that in order to begin anew, one's old life had to die. Ben Kenobi died that day on the Death Star, but his presence in the Force would live on forever.
He had to guide Luke to his destiny, and the only way to truly do that, to have Luke be reliant on himself and no one else and have no interference from a well-meaning but strict mentor, was to let go and let Darth Vader strike him down.
He saw all the old friends he had missed for so many years in that brief instance. Mace Windu and the other Jedi Council members. Dex. Qui Gon. Padmé herself.
And then it was on to that in-between stage where he did not exist, but did in the Force. It was where he could watch and nudge Luke onto the right path. He saw the boy nearly fall when Vader told him the truth.
He could not help Luke then. It was up to Leia.
She heard, and rescued.
Luke had, then, a bloody pulp of a soul, bruised and ripe for the Dark Side at the tender age of twenty one. He'd lost his hand, and gained a horrible truth, a truth he was not ready for.
To hear the boy whisper, "Ben…why didn't you tell me?" nearly cost Ben everything he had been carefully setting up. He wanted so badly to explain, to take the boy aside and dress the wounds that no med droid in the galaxy could fix. He wanted to free him from that pain, to soothe it away as only a father and mentor can do, not in the way Darth Vader had preached.
But this was Luke's lava pit, and he would have to choose how to come out of it.
In Luke, Ben's faith had not been proved wrong. The third generation of Skywalkers had the strength and character their father did not. Luke had known love and freedom before. Anakin's knowledge of it was tempered by pain and the burden of secrecy. Both were two different men, and they had chosen two very different paths.
Out of the ashes of the pyre Anakin had fallen in, came the rising phoenix that was Luke Skywalker.
And through him, the prophecy came true.
The ultimate balance of pure good and pure evil in one man had been wrecked by the complex secrets and lies and betrayal that had surrounded Anakin during those dark times. There had been one spark of hope in him, and that spark was ignited by Luke. Ben had believed that spark was too small to start the fire of goodness in Anakin's heart, but he was wrong.
The 'Chosen One,' the 'son of suns,' was redeemed.
And the Light Side vanquished the Dark. The Rebellion had won, and everyone knew it. Without their Emperor, the Empire was more disoriented, more given to bickering. Their strong leaders could not come together as the Rebellion had under the leaderships of people like Mon Mothma and Leia Organa.
The New Republic was threatened many, many times, the greatest threat of that time rising just shortly before the birth of the Solo twins.
And Ben had known then. The watcher need not watch any more. Luke would rebuild the Jedi Order, and peace would be won. Leia and the leaders of the New Republic would forge it strong in time with the aid of the Jedi. And in time, the Jedi would become the keepers of the peace for a new thousand generations.
The greatest thing that Ben Kenobi took with him from Anakin's fall was that in order to begin anew, one's old life had to die. Ben Kenobi died that day on the Death Star, but his presence in the Force would live on forever.
He had to guide Luke to his destiny, and the only way to truly do that, to have Luke be reliant on himself and no one else and have no interference from a well-meaning but strict mentor, was to let go and let Darth Vader strike him down.
He saw all the old friends he had missed for so many years in that brief instance. Mace Windu and the other Jedi Council members. Dex. Qui Gon. Padmé herself.
And then it was on to that in-between stage where he did not exist, but did in the Force. It was where he could watch and nudge Luke onto the right path. He saw the boy nearly fall when Vader told him the truth.
He could not help Luke then. It was up to Leia.
She heard, and rescued.
Luke had, then, a bloody pulp of a soul, bruised and ripe for the Dark Side at the tender age of twenty one. He'd lost his hand, and gained a horrible truth, a truth he was not ready for.
To hear the boy whisper, "Ben…why didn't you tell me?" nearly cost Ben everything he had been carefully setting up. He wanted so badly to explain, to take the boy aside and dress the wounds that no med droid in the galaxy could fix. He wanted to free him from that pain, to soothe it away as only a father and mentor can do, not in the way Darth Vader had preached.
But this was Luke's lava pit, and he would have to choose how to come out of it.
In Luke, Ben's faith had not been proved wrong. The third generation of Skywalkers had the strength and character their father did not. Luke had known love and freedom before. Anakin's knowledge of it was tempered by pain and the burden of secrecy. Both were two different men, and they had chosen two very different paths.
Out of the ashes of the pyre Anakin had fallen in, came the rising phoenix that was Luke Skywalker.
And through him, the prophecy came true.
The ultimate balance of pure good and pure evil in one man had been wrecked by the complex secrets and lies and betrayal that had surrounded Anakin during those dark times. There had been one spark of hope in him, and that spark was ignited by Luke. Ben had believed that spark was too small to start the fire of goodness in Anakin's heart, but he was wrong.
The 'Chosen One,' the 'son of suns,' was redeemed.
And the Light Side vanquished the Dark. The Rebellion had won, and everyone knew it. Without their Emperor, the Empire was more disoriented, more given to bickering. Their strong leaders could not come together as the Rebellion had under the leaderships of people like Mon Mothma and Leia Organa.
The New Republic was threatened many, many times, the greatest threat of that time rising just shortly before the birth of the Solo twins.
And Ben had known then. The watcher need not watch any more. Luke would rebuild the Jedi Order, and peace would be won. Leia and the leaders of the New Republic would forge it strong in time with the aid of the Jedi. And in time, the Jedi would become the keepers of the peace for a new thousand generations.