Obi-Wan Was Confused, Anakin Skywalker is Still the Chosen One

As Darth Maul died in the arms of Obi-Wan Kenobi in the Star Wars Rebels episode “Twin Suns,” he asked his old enemy if a certain young boy — know to us as Luke Skywalker — was in fact “the Chosen One.” Kenobi nodded in the affirmative and millions Star Wars fans freaked out. Wasn’t Anakin Skywalker supposed to be the mythical Chosen One? Did Star Wars Rebels change canon, and thus impact Luke Skywalker’s role in the upcoming movie Episode VIII — The Last Jedi? Turns out, probably not.

In the newly released Rebels Season 3 on Blu-ray, the producer of the animated show — Dave Filoni— clarifies the whole Chosen One situation, and it all hinges on Obi-Wan’s personal point of view.

On the bonus feature titled “Apprentices to Outcasts: Kenobi And Maul,” Filoni outlines the challenges of writing about Obi-Wan at this stage in his life. “You have to write Obi-Wan the character,” he emphasizes. “Not what everyone knows.” This that means that “Twin Suns” shows the audience what Obi-Wan believes to be true, not necessarily what actually is true. In other words, Obi-Wan thinks Anakin was the Chosen One, but because that didn’t work out, he then believes it’s Luke. “We all know it’s Anakin,” Filoni says firmly. “The debate is there and in George [Lucas’s] mind it’s Anakin.”

Refreshingly, Filoni has a playful attitude about this, saying on camera “we could ask George,” and then laughing. But, what is so wise about his statement of writing Obi-Wan as a character is the one thing so many fans miss when discussing questions of canon. Characters in any story don’t say or do things simply to make the rest of the plot work. Instead, their actions are driven by their beliefs, biases, and feelings. As “Apprentices to Outcasts” demonstrates, the parallel journeys of Kenobi and Maul are interesting, specifically because they both end up a little crazy. Maul is clinging on to the notion that Obi-Wan ruined his entire life back on Naboo. Meanwhile, Obi-Wan is reaffirming his prejudices that Qui-Gon was wrong, and the Chosen One has to be Luke, not Anakin.

Filoni even points out that by the time of The Empire Strikes Back Obi-Wan is touting a Luke-centric philosophy when he says “that boy is our last hope.” Famously, Yoda corrects him by saying “No. There is another,” which most fans take to be a reference to Leia. Still, if all we’re talking about is who the “another” hope might be, Yoda could easily be referring to Vader, since Vader does end up taking-down the Emperor.

So, for now, the official Chosen One is Anakin Skywalker. But, the interesting bit of information missing with all of this “bringing balance to the Force” stuff is still the source of the prophecy. The majority of the Jedi we meet in the prequels seem for lack of a better word, less religious than Yoda does in the classic movies. In other words, the idea of the prophecy is largely regarded as something the Jedi no longer really believe in, mostly because they’re too busy fighting a war, and not letting their knights have sex. But could some of those older beliefs come to light soon?

The Last Jedi is poised to show us ancient Jedi texts, as well as little alien nuns who know a ton about the history of the Force. From the perspective of Obi-Wan, Luke is the Chosen One. From the perspective of Star Wars canon and George Lucas, Anakin is the Chosen One. But…when Luke reads a bunch of old ancient Jedi books in The Last Jedi, who will he personally believe is the Chosen One? Because if there’s one thing Star Wars is obsessed with, it’s reminding us of Obi-Wan’s immortal words in Return of the Jedi: “You’ll find that many of the truths we cling to depend greatly on our own point of view.”

[Star Wars Rebels Season 3](https://www.amazon.com/Star-Wars-Rebels-Complete-Blu-ray/dp/B072KPNFZK/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1504015634&sr=8-1&keywords=star+wars+rebels+season+3) on Blu-ray is out today.