Obi-Wan Explains Himself

Immediately after the end of Empire Strikes Back, Vader watches Luke fly away on the Millennium Falcon then stomps away to the privacy of his own room, struggling to contain his anger. Force Ghost Obi-Wan visits him and the two fight about Luke.

Obi-Wan gently: What did you expect?

Darth Vader seethes: You have poisoned him against me!

Obi-Wan calmly: I did nothing of the sort.

Darth Vader: You told him I was dead.

Obi-Wan: You told me you killed Anakin.

Darth Vader: You had no right to keep him from me!

Obi-Wan: I had every right to keep a Force Sensitive Child far away from you and the Emperor

Darth Vader: He's mine!

Obi-Wan: Like Padme was yours?

Darth Vader: Don't say her name-

Obi-Wan: Didn't stop you from choking her.

Darth Vader: Stop!

Obi-Wan: Luke may not have realized what he was walking into, but you knew who the boy was and it didn't stop you from cutting off his hand!

Darth Vader: He was trying to kill me-

Obi-Wan: Oh, please

Darth Vader: On your orders no doubt!

Obi-Wan: My orders! [he starts to laugh] No, no, the boy is far too much like his father to heed my orders. [Vader looks at Obi-Wan; it was a joke, like how they used to joke. It would have been funny if things were different. They both realize this is the longest, unarmed, conversation they have had in two decades.] I told him to stay where he was. And don't fool yourself; we both know his skill level is nowhere near your own. There were a thousand different things you could have done in that situation besides maiming him for life!

[Vader takes a minute to contemplate, seeing Luke jump down a shaft rather than accept his hand. Losing a hand isn't the end of the world, he should know. But it was their first meeting and it didn't go the way either of them planned. Vader thinks about all the times in the past three years he has had to stop an over-eager storm trooper or general from seriously hurting Luke.]

Darth Vader: Why is that? Why is he still only a beginner? You had 20 years with him, he should be far more advanced than he is now.

[Now Obi-Wan takes a minute. Even as a Force Ghost, he seems to deflate with the burden of guilt. He can't look at Vader, but speaks as if speaking to the living headstone of his friend]

Obi-Wan: Because…maybe you were right about the Jedi. [Vader watches him, for the first time truly disarmed in shock to hear those words come from Obi-Wan] It was wrong to take away from your mother. It was wrong to burden you with prophecy at such a young age. I wanted Luke to have a stable and loving childhood. To grow up and maturely decide on his own whether to become a Jedi or not.

[Darth Vader is still shocked by the confession, but turns it back on Obi-Wan quickly]

Darth Vader: But you didn't tell him. How could he decide when he didn't know everything? [Obi-Wan starts to speak, but Darth Vader cuts him off] There were hundreds of Force Sensitive children that the Inquisitors hunted down and you didn't do anything to protect them. You stayed with Luke because you wanted him to kill me, to use my son to finish what you could not.

[Obi-Wan desperately wants to deny that, and hates that he can't]

Obi-Wan: You don't get to have it both ways. Either you are Anakin and Luke is your son, or you are Darth Vader and the boy will only ever be a threat, to the Sith or to your position in it.

Darth Vader refuses to accept this: I could kill the Emperor. Become the master and take Luke as my apprentice.

[Obi-Wan can't think of a worse outcome, but tries to stay calm]

Obi-Wan: I can sense how much you want to be with the boy. But do you really want this life for Luke? You will just end of killing each other in the long run anyway, that is the way of the Sith.

Darth Vader: We could start our own order, neither Jedi or Sith, and rule the galaxy-

Obi-Wan shakes his head: It won't work. The boy has no ambition to rule over anyone, his pursuit of greatness comes from a drive to be of service to others. He is like his mother that way. [Vader is triggered by the mention of Padme, but doesn't interrupt the explanation of his son] Still, I suppose Luke is not invincible. He's as vulnerable to the Dark Side as anyone. You could beat him down and break Luke like the Emperor did to you.

Darth Vader: It made me strong.

Obi-Wan: It stunted your potential, just as Sidious planned.

Darth Vader: You don't know the power of the Dark Side.

Obi-Wan: And you still don't understand what I told you; I am more powerful than you can imagine.

Darth Vader: You're dead. [Vader throws a nearby tool into Obi-Wan's astral form to accentuate the point]

Obi-Wan smiles, there's a glint his eye as he cocks his head to one side. He raises a hand and Force pushes Darth Vader against a wall across the room. The push was strong but brief. Vader looks about the room, but cannot see Obi-Wan anywhere, but somehow his disembodied voice penetrates past Vader's helmet and whispers in his ear.

Obi-Wan: I am one with the Force.