The Star Wars timeline has always been more convoluted than normal, with projects jumping back and forth without necessarily any signposts to establish exactly when it takes place. George Lucas had to compress his sprawling galaxy into a single screenplay with the original Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope. When it became a hit, he shocked the world by referring to Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back as “Episode V” instead of “Star Wars 2.” Ever since then, establishing the precise point when a given project takes place can be tricky.
Obi-Wan Kenobi is a particularly daunting case, especially when it comes to determining his age. When Alec Guinness first played the part, the Jedi was at the end of his life -- an old man who sends Luke on his way before accepting his fate and dying at Darth Vader’s hands. Ewan McGregor played him in the prequels and is set to return to the role in the upcoming Disney+ series Star Wars: Obi-Wan Kenobi, both of which take place before A New Hope. In addition, both Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Star Wars: Rebels feature animated versions of the character interwoven with McGregor’s appearances, which doubles down on the potential confusion.
The good news -- at least from a timeline perspective -- is that Obi-Wan died shortly before the Battle of Yavin, which is used as the zero-point in the canonical Star Wars timeline. That sets his final age firmly in the canon calendar, but, beyond that, it falls into the realm of at least partial conjecture. The Topps Star Wars: Card Trader app lists his date of birth at 57 BBY, which would match the age of his death. The canon status of that detail remains unclear, however, though it may be further clarified once Obi-Wan Kenobi begins to air.
The upcoming Disney+ miniseries also has a set place in the canon. Lucasfilm head Kathleen Kennedy placed it at “10 years after the events of Revenge of the Sith” during the official announcement for the show in 2020. With that film set 19 years before the Battle of Yavin, that puts his exile on Tatooine in Obi-Wan Kenobi at 9 years before the Jedi’s death -- three firm place markers to center the character in the timeline.
The age of the actors makes a good barometer, too. Guinness was 63 years old when A New Hope was first released in theaters, which is loosely in the realm of the Topps app. McGregor, for his part, was 34 when Revenge of the Sith opened and turns 51 on March 31, 2022. That’s loosely in keeping with Obi-Wan’s stated age from Topps, though there’s some wiggle room on either side since actors often play slightly older or younger parts than their actual age.
Fitting that into the timeline dates sets a reasonably firm age for the character at each stage of his appearances. Counting backward, he dies in his late fifties or early sixties, while the events of Obi-Wan Kenobi take place while the character is in his early 50s. He goes into exile in his early thirties and begins the events of Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace in his early to mid-twenties. That matches both the actors’ ages and the timeline dates within a few years and can be used to get a rough place of where the character’s given appearance falls in the timeline.
Kenobi’s case is interesting for a far less technical reason as well. He’s a strange bellwether of the saga’s periodic leaps back and forth in time. But while most of the other characters are either dead or aliens with extended lifespans, Obi-Wan's the human face for the changing eras of the Star Wars universe. The creators have taken great care in where they place him, and while the various pieces don’t perfectly fit, they all get close enough to paint a reasonably accurate picture of his age when he dies.