As Star Wars fans are aware, Obi-Wan Kenobi hid from Darth Vader and the Galactic Empire on Tatooine and watched over Luke Skywalker from afar. However, while the Jedi Master's situation seems pretty straightforward, one fan thinks there may be more to it than that.

Reddit user TheMediocreCritic recently proposed that in addition to the Empire, perhaps Obi-Wan hid from the rebels for three reasons. First, he believed his involvement would make Vader, and by extension the Empire, more determined to stamp out the Rebellion once and for all. By staying hidden, he allowed the Rebellion to grow without the threat of Vader's personal vendetta. Second, he may have hidden Luke from the rebels because he thought they would want to use Luke, the son of a Jedi, as a symbol of hope to increase their numbers. This would've brought unwanted attention to the hidden son. Finally, Obi-Wan may have blamed himself for the way Anakin turned out and feared that the rebels would find out the truth and blame him, too. This would also explain why he didn't train Luke sooner as he may have been afraid Luke would end up like his father.

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Obi-Wan confronts Anakin at the end of Revenge of the Sith

The first point makes a lot of sense. As his former apprentice, Darth Vader held a deep hatred for Obi-Wan but didn't know what became of him after their duel on Mustafar. Had he known that his former master was not only still alive but part of a rebellion actively working against him, Vader probably would've hunted Obi-Wan down and destroyed any rebels that got in his way. While they did eventually form the Rebel Alliance, the Rebellion against the Empire survived as small, unconnected groups for many years prior to this. If Vader had gone after these groups earlier in pursuit of Obi-Wan, he might have squashed the rebels before they ever stood a chance. Consequently, Obi-Wan stayed out of it, keeping his location a secret from all but a few trusted friends, which gave the rebels a slightly better chance at surviving.

As for hiding Luke from the rebels, the reasoning for this decision also makes sense even if there isn't much evidence to support or refute it. As the theory points out, it was not common knowledge that Anakin Skywalker and Darth Vader were the same person. Instead, most believed that Anakin died with the rest of the Jedi in Order 66. In other words, the rebels likely would've considered him a hero. Had they known about Luke, they could've used this knowledge to their advantage by spreading the word that they had the son of a powerful Jedi on their side. But, as with Obi-Wan's involvement, this plan could also have easily backfired. If too many people found out about Luke, the news might have reached Vader sooner and drove him to find his son and squash the rebels. While using Luke could've benefitted the rebels, it would've been too risky.

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luke obi-wan star wars training

On the other hand, it's hard to tell what the rebels would've actually known about the Skywalker name. Anakin was prominent during the Clone Wars, but after the rise of the Empire, the Jedi were painted as an evil, oppressive organization. By the time the Rebel Alliance was formed, many believed that the Jedi and the Force were just a myth. Depending on how old they were and how much they knew about the Jedi, the rebels may not have seen Anakin as a hero at all if they had even heard of him in the first place. Moreover, this also makes Obi-Wan's alleged fear that the rebels would find out the truth seem unfounded. If they didn't even know that Anakin was Darth Vader, they would have no reason to fault Obi-Wan.

Although Obi-Wan's shame would appear to explain why he didn't start training Luke sooner, other Star Wars stories present another reason. According to both the Star Wars comics and the canonical short story, "Time of Death," Obi-Wan stayed out of Luke's life at Owen Lars's request. Owen didn't know that Anakin had become Darth Vader, instead believing that his step-brother was dead and that Obi-Wan was responsible. As a result, he forbade Obi-Wan from training Luke and was adamant that the Jedi stay out of their lives completely. Despite this, Obi-Wan did continue to protect the boy and his family whenever needed but maintained his distance in honor of his and Owen's agreement.

This gives Obi-Wan an external reason not to train Luke, but it doesn't necessarily rule out personal shame as a factor. After all, he did agree to Owen's terms about staying out of Luke's life. As Anakin's mentor, it's only natural that Obi-Wan would feel guilty about the way his former pupil turned out. Because of this, he might have felt out of place in the rebellion when he was partially responsible for the rise of the Empire. As for training Luke, Obi-Wan definitely wouldn't have wanted to make the same mistakes again. While Obi-Wan may not have been around to finish Luke's training, he was probably pretty relieved that it worked out in the end.

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