Miller@SRI-NIC (12/31/82)
From: Henry W. Miller <Miller at SRI-NIC> This is my theory on what happened to Obi Wan in SW IV: Obi Wan realized he might be able to defeat Darth Vader in mortal combat, but then again maybe not. He had trained Luke as best he could in the short time period, and that if he (Obi Wan) were to fail, it would be up to Luke. Luke, along with the others might be able to save the galaxy. but they were about to be captured. If this happened, the chance for victory would be almost non-existant. If Obi Wan could cause a distraction for long enough, the rest might be able to escape. Obi Wan was old, and knew he could not exist much longer in a corporeal form, so, he "phoofed" himself, left this plain and became one with the force, allowing him to help Luke later on, and, in the process, providing a diversion to allow the others to escape. I think he was already gone by the time the saber touched his robe. "Run, Luke, run!!!) -HWM -------
bstempleton (01/04/83)
Obiwan died because of movie reasons. If Obiwan had escaped the Death Star with the rest, he could have fought with the rebels, and being a trained Jedi, could no doubt have blown the whole shebang up on the first run. Luke needed a way to reach importance, replacing Obiwan as lead Jedi was that way.