This Obi-Wan Kenobi Fan Theory Reconsiders the Real ‘Chosen One’ In ‘Star Wars’ – Esquire.com

Obi-Wan Kenobi is a badass dude. He chopped Darth Maul clear in half. He ripped all six lightsaber-wielding arms of General Grievous apart. And not even Anakin Skywalker, an angry Sith convert at the height of his youthful vigor and rage, could cut Kenobi down in a one-on-one lightsaber duel.

Of course, Kenobi would eventually yield to his former Padawan in Episode IVA New Hope. But that doesn't mean Vader got the last laugh. As the story goes, by Kenobi allowing Vader to strike him down at the finale of the first Star Wars film, Old Ben was able to become an important spiritual ally to Luke Skywalker, helping to save the Rebellion and finish off the The Empire once and for all (or so they thought). So the question is, why the hell is everybody always saying that Anakin is the "chosen one?" A recent fan theory on Reddit makes the case that Kenobi didn't get the respect he deserved. And, if the theories about Rey's parentage are true, the Kenobi bloodline may serve a wildly very significant purpose in the upcoming Rise of Skywalker.

Reddit user wesskywalker made a post in the r/FanTheories subreddit titled "Obi-Wan Kenobi was the strongest force user and Palpatine knew it." According to the theory, there is evidence in every episode of Star Wars that Kenobinot Yoda, not Sidious, not Anakinwas the most powerful player in the game. This even includes Luke Skywalker as well. The user writes, "In Episode I, he is able to kill Darth Maul after his master was slain by him...In Episode II, Obi-Wan was the only Jedi who sensed that Anakin was not ready for the mission to protect Padme." And, for Revenge of the Sith, he says, "Yoda tells Kenobi that he 'is not powerful enough' to face the Emperor towards the end of the film. Yoda was stuck in the dogmatic Jedi ways and couldnt fathom that a pupil could be more powerful than him. Palpatine knew it." Of course, wesskywalker notes, that Obi-Wan was the first known Jedi to fully achieve immortality at the end of A New Hope too. That's pretty huge.

While it may seem arbitrary to judge the power levels of force users in Star Wars, wesskywalker may be on to something here. Especially because Luke Skywalker tells Rey in The Last Jedi that the whole "chosen one" thing is a bunch of bullshit based on Jedi hubris and religious mumbo jumbo anyway. In fact, regarding Rian Johnson's film, wesskywalker says, "In Episode VIII, the darkness was stronger than ever and it is no coincidence that this is the only film that Kenobi does not appear in. His power was alluded to when Skywalker says that it was a Jedi who was responsible for the creation/training of Darth Vader."

And as per Rogue One, most viewers may not recall, but the whole mission of getting access to the Death Star plans ends with Leia setting up her quest to bring the Empire down in the beginning of A New Hope. And those plans, of course, begin with the Young Princess calling out for the strongest Jedi she ever heard of, saying "Help me Obi-Wan Kenobi, you're our only hope."

For years, fans have been theorizing that Rey is somehow a descendant of Kenobi. It's not clear how, exactly, the new Jedi could share ancestry with the Ewan McGregor / Alec Guinness character (people have many, many ideas), but the idea of Rise of Skywalker concluding the original trilogy's saga with a Kenobi facing down a descendant of Anakin feels very, well, Star Wars. It'd make the nine-episode saga thematically and narratively whole, and bring back the first lightsaber duel that sparked the events of the entire series. But who would win, in the end? Kylo, a Skywalker? Or Rey, a potential descendant of Obi-Wan?

The Rise of Skywalker debuts on December 20, 2019.

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This Obi-Wan Kenobi Fan Theory Reconsiders the Real 'Chosen One' In 'Star Wars' - Esquire.com