Did Obi-Wan Really ‘Fail’ Anakin?
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A very crucial scene in Return of the Jedi established that Obi-Wan Kenobi (a Force ghost by that point) blames himself for Anakin’s fall to the dark side. He explained to Luke, “I took it upon myself to train him as a Jedi. I thought I could instruct him just as well as Yoda. I was wrong.” His guilt was apparent in Revenge of the Sith, when he explicitly told Anakin in the heat of their duel on Mustafar, “I have failed you, Anakin. I have failed you.” These words have become established Star Wars lore. However, did Obi-Wan really fail Anakin? Was he just blaming himself for Anakin’s fall because he was Anakin’s teacher, master, mentor, friend, and “brother?” Was the blame he (and perhaps others) placed on himself over Anakin’s dark fate warranted?
Obi-Wan Failed Anakin
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In The Phantom Menace, Qui-Gon Jinn rescued Anakin from a life of slavery with the intention of training Anakin as a Jedi because Qui-Gon believed Anakin may be the prophesied “Chosen One” destined to bring balance to the Force. The Jedi Council initially rejected Qui-Gon’s request to train Anakin as a Jedi due to his age and concerns about Anakin’s attachment to his mother, who was unavoidably left behind on Tatooine. Even Qui-Gon’s Padawan, Obi-Wan Kenobi, initially argued against training Anakin, which caused conflict with Qui-Gon. Unfortunately, Qui-Gon was slain on Naboo, which led to Obi-Wan agreeing to train Anakin in response to Qui-Gon’s dying request, without the support of the Council if necessary. The Jedi Council, sensing the strength of Obi-Wan’s defiance, reluctantly agreed to allow him to train Anakin, despite their previous reservations.
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Ten years later, in Attack of the Clones, Anakin was tasked with protecting Padme, while Obi-Wan investigated the assassination attempts against her. Due to their proximity, and partially influenced by then-Chancellor Palpatine, Anakin and Padme fell in love and got married, something that was explicitly forbidden by the Jedi Order. Obi-Wan likely suspected something was going on between the two during the Clone Wars, yet said nothing, leaving Anakin bereft of his support later on when he needed it the most. It also left Anakin in a vulnerable position that Palpatine later took full advantage of.
Some might point out that the Jedi Order seemed to alienate Anakin and, more importantly, drive him right into Palpatine’s waiting arms. During the Clone Wars, Obi-Wan had to fake his death in order to go undercover to thwart an assassination plot against Palpatine. Anakin, who was left out of the loop, was understandably devastated. This would be the beginning of Anakin’s lack of trust in the Jedi Council when the deception was revealed after Obi-Wan accomplished the mission.
The Council’s actions towards the end of the Clone Wars during Revenge of the Sith further push Anakin away. Perhaps the most disastrous was ordering Anakin, who had become close to Palpatine, to spy on Palpatine. Even Obi-Wan tried to convince Anakin into investigating Palpatine. Later on, when they accepted Palpatine’s order to place Anakin on the Jedi Council as his personal representative, they refused to grant him the customary rank of “Master,” which clearly upset Anakin. Even though Obi-Wan sat on the Jedi Council at this time, he did not speak up in support of Anakin. Obi-Wan and Mace later implied to Anakin that he would be granted his rank later once they felt he had earned it, which did very little to assuage him. From Anakin’s point of view, he could no longer rely on Obi-Wan’s support and had to seek counsel from someone else.
Obi-Wan Did Not Fail Anakin
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Anakin himself made a series of wrong decisions and took a series of steps that led him to the dark side and two decades of service to Emperor Palpatine as his apprentice. Anakin’s most egregious mistake was deciding to marry Padme even when they both knew that it was forbidden by the Jedi Order. That error was compounded by not coming clean about it when he sought guidance from Yoda in Revenge of the Sith about his fears of losing Padme. Obviously, he had legitimate fears about being tossed out of the Jedi Order. However, as “the Chosen One,” it is possible to imagine that the Order might have been reluctant to dismiss him despite what he had done.
There is some evidence from scenes in the latter seasons of The Clone Wars that Obi-Wan knew and/or suspected that Anakin and Padme were romantically involved. He may have been sympathetic to Anakin’s plight had Anakin been honest with Obi-Wan. At any rate, Anakin’s fears about losing Padme in Revenge of the Sith and assuming that the Jedi Order could not (or would not) help him and Padme ultimately led him to seek help from Palpatine, which in turn, led him down the path to the dark side of the Force. After all, Palpatine offered what seemed to be an actual solution to his problem. On the other hand, all Yoda was able to offer was the cold comfort that, in death, Padme would become one with the Force and thus Anakin should not mourn her, nor fear her loss. Would Yoda have given different advice if he had known who exactly Anakin was referring to and why? We do not know for certain, but at any rate, therapists Jedi are not.
Even with everything that had happened, it appeared Padme would be willing to run away with Anakin so that they could be a family. However, his arrogance in believing that he would be able to overthrow Palpatine ended up being his greatest downfall. In his anger, he attacked Padme and took on Obi-Wan in a duel to the death, which ultimately left him crippled for the rest of his life.
Was Qui-Gon Jinn The Key To Anakin’s Salvation?
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Some have argued that maybe Qui-Gon Jinn’s premature death sealed Anakin’s fate long before his actual fall. Had he lived, Qui-Gon might have altered the series of events that could have prevented Anakin from falling to the dark side. A more “maverick” Jedi himself, Qui-Gon could have provided Anakin with flexibility in his Jedi training that Obi-Wan, who strictly adhered to the Jedi Code, could not. Qui-Gon could become Anakin’s “father figure,” and Anakin would not have to build the same relationship with Palpatine that led him to betray the Jedi Order.
Conclusion
The issue of who or what is ultimately to blame for Anakin’s downfall is perhaps too complicated and nuanced for it to fall on any one person or thing, as is often the case in real life. While Obi-Wan may have been too hard on himself in his later years, blaming himself for Anakin’s downfall, taking on excessive (or unearned guilt) is a very human thing to do. Despite his earlier reservations, Obi-Wan decided to train Anakin with the best of intentions and had every reason to believe that Anakin would make the right decisions, and become a shining beacon of hope for the Jedi Order.
Parents are the same way. We raise our children the best we know how and hope against hope that they manage to become the best versions of themselves that they can possibly be. Sometimes they do, but when they do not, it is very easy for parents to feel guilty. Losing Anakin to the dark side, along with the loss of the Jedi Order that sheltered and raised him his entire life, had to have been a very difficult and painful process for Obi-Wan. It was only natural for him to feel at least partially responsible for those losses. Hopefully, in his afterlife, Obi-Wan gained a measure of solace, knowing that Anakin did ultimately redeem himself and brought balance back to the Force.
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Source(s): Screen Rant, CBR
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