I hate to defend bad writing, and I hate even more when fiction feels the need to retroactively try to explain things that don’t need it, but here goes anyway.
In the novel Kenobi the Tatooine locals find out his last name and immediately start wondering if he’s related to any of the other Kenobis they know in the area. So they do at least give a few paragraphs to pointing out that it’s a somewhat common last name.
Then there’s “Skywalker,” where fans say oh it’s a common last name that’s why no one batted an eye at it. But I just assume that Luke went by Luke Lars up until the events of ANH.
There’s probably something in canon that contradicts that, and the Kenobi novel is no longer canon either, but you know what? It’s all made up and I don’t care, I just picture it like I want to.
The post assumes that he is even registered. Kenobi is hiding on a backwater desert planet ruled by a crime syndicate. Unless there is some detail in the movies I forgot, I think it is reasonable to assume that he might not even appear in any imperial registry.
Between ANH and ESB Vader sent Boba to hunt down the pilot that destroyed the death star. This led Boba to Tatooine, where he investigated/interrogated people who knew Luke and eventually found/fought him at Obiwans house.
Boba returned to Vader with only 1 thing. The name Skywalker. This is what revealed to Vader he had a son, and after dueling Luke, a daughter as well.
…
As far as Kenobis name… My head cannon is that he mind tricked people into thinking they knew someone to send vader on a wild goose chase. Obiwan would use a false name instead of putting innocent people with the same last name in danger.
I just assume Darth Vader is generally disconnected from his past life as Anikin Skywalker, and specifically has some serious emotional blockage around Tatooine and avoids thinking of place because of some bad things that happened there in the past.
Sounds about right given how Sidious basically tortured his apprentices and used their most painful memories to trigger emotions that would strengthen their connection to the dark side.
Maybe I am stupid, but I don’t understand what this has to do with Kenobi’s name or him being registered. He is already dead at that point and had revealed himself to Vader beforehand.
In the Radio Drama, Obi-Wan even says to Han Solo that he hasn’t touched money in a long time and has been making his way on his own for some time.
I take that to mean he has no official presence on tatooine.
Plus let’s be honest, rim worlds don’t exactly have good, robust governments that keep track of everyone. They made that clear early on. You can patrol the streets of major cities and their space ports, but without a major presence, the empire has no idea who lives where in the outer rim.
Plus “Skywalker” would definitely be a common name given how historically on earth a lot of last names correspond to trades and careers, so a “Skywalker” was descended from someone who got their name piloting, or generally being someone who spends a lot of time in space.
So combine all those together with the characters being on a planet that Darth Vader has every reason to hate and disregard, (he was a slave there, his mother died there and he feels responsible, and also… Sand…) the empire could comb the desert and not find shit.
I love that George Lucas was in it for the love of the game. He’s a true artist.
edit: fuck me he’s pro AI in movies.
People love to shit on his creative decisions in the prequels… but at least he wasn’t making them for the vapid commercially driven motivations infecting everything now a days.
Dude was passionate about making cool movies in new ways; and he succeeded.
TBF they made some really cool toys. Like the “extending nested plastic sword” for lightsabers. All the lego sets. The video games. I played the crap out of OT side scrollers. The Star Wars trading cards predate Pokémon.
In the novel Kenobi the Tatooine locals find out his last name and immediately start wondering if he’s related to any of the other Kenobis they know in the area.
Kenobi is from a grassworld so I don’t buy the “common name” thing. Doesn’t make sense. In my head cannon he jedi mind tricked people around him into thinking they knew someone with the same last name. If Vader got too close he’d get sent on a bunch of wild goose chases. Also if there were actual Kenobi’s Obiwan would be putting them in danger and probably assume a false identity instead.
But I just assume that Luke went by Luke Lars up until the events of ANH.
Unfortunately he must have gone by Skywalker because after ANH Vader sent Boba to hunt the unknown pilot. Which led Boba to Tatooine, where he interrogated people who knew luke, fought him in Obiwans house, and revealed to Vader he had a son via the name Skywalker; which is probably the only reason Vader gave him future chances.
Easily the biggest plot hole in the entire star wars universe.
So, the storyline on “every last Jedi” gets soft around the edges with all the EU material. Because everyone wants to write a book or do a game or whatever about “the OTHER other last Jedi”. And then you’ve got to explain Joruus C’baoth. And nobody wanted to see Ahsoka Tano die. And they resurrect Darth Maul at some point. And and and…
This means you get a bunch of hand-waving explanations for why this or that professionally trained force user doesn’t fall under Yoda’s strict categorization of “Jedi”, at the moment he says the thing to Luke Skywalker in the Third Movie. And, along the way, it carves out a bunch of caveats and exceptions for why Darth Vader didn’t quite get them all.
Frankly, I think it’s enough to say the galaxy is big and Tatooine is very remote and the Empire doesn’t have a ton to fear from a Jedi survivor who kept his head down for twenty years.
I hate to defend bad writing, and I hate even more when fiction feels the need to retroactively try to explain things that don’t need it, but here goes anyway.
In the novel Kenobi the Tatooine locals find out his last name and immediately start wondering if he’s related to any of the other Kenobis they know in the area. So they do at least give a few paragraphs to pointing out that it’s a somewhat common last name.
Then there’s “Skywalker,” where fans say oh it’s a common last name that’s why no one batted an eye at it. But I just assume that Luke went by Luke Lars up until the events of ANH.
There’s probably something in canon that contradicts that, and the Kenobi novel is no longer canon either, but you know what? It’s all made up and I don’t care, I just picture it like I want to.
The post assumes that he is even registered. Kenobi is hiding on a backwater desert planet ruled by a crime syndicate. Unless there is some detail in the movies I forgot, I think it is reasonable to assume that he might not even appear in any imperial registry.
Between ANH and ESB Vader sent Boba to hunt down the pilot that destroyed the death star. This led Boba to Tatooine, where he investigated/interrogated people who knew Luke and eventually found/fought him at Obiwans house.
Boba returned to Vader with only 1 thing. The name Skywalker. This is what revealed to Vader he had a son, and after dueling Luke, a daughter as well.
…
As far as Kenobis name… My head cannon is that he mind tricked people into thinking they knew someone to send vader on a wild goose chase. Obiwan would use a false name instead of putting innocent people with the same last name in danger.
I just assume Darth Vader is generally disconnected from his past life as Anikin Skywalker, and specifically has some serious emotional blockage around Tatooine and avoids thinking of place because of some bad things that happened there in the past.
Sounds about right given how Sidious basically tortured his apprentices and used their most painful memories to trigger emotions that would strengthen their connection to the dark side.
Maybe I am stupid, but I don’t understand what this has to do with Kenobi’s name or him being registered. He is already dead at that point and had revealed himself to Vader beforehand.
This makes me think about property records in Somalia over the past 30 years or so.
deleted by creator
In the Radio Drama, Obi-Wan even says to Han Solo that he hasn’t touched money in a long time and has been making his way on his own for some time.
I take that to mean he has no official presence on tatooine.
Plus let’s be honest, rim worlds don’t exactly have good, robust governments that keep track of everyone. They made that clear early on. You can patrol the streets of major cities and their space ports, but without a major presence, the empire has no idea who lives where in the outer rim.
Plus “Skywalker” would definitely be a common name given how historically on earth a lot of last names correspond to trades and careers, so a “Skywalker” was descended from someone who got their name piloting, or generally being someone who spends a lot of time in space.
So combine all those together with the characters being on a planet that Darth Vader has every reason to hate and disregard, (he was a slave there, his mother died there and he feels responsible, and also… Sand…) the empire could comb the desert and not find shit.
I love the radio dramas. I also love that George Lucas loved NPR so much that he worked with the NPR station near Skywalker Ranch to make it happen.
I love that George Lucas was in it for the love of the game. He’s a true artist.
edit: fuck me he’s pro AI in movies.
People love to shit on his creative decisions in the prequels… but at least he wasn’t making them for the vapid commercially driven motivations infecting everything now a days.
Dude was passionate about making cool movies in new ways; and he succeeded.
Love of the game and the toy rights.
TBF they made some really cool toys. Like the “extending nested plastic sword” for lightsabers. All the lego sets. The video games. I played the crap out of OT side scrollers. The Star Wars trading cards predate Pokémon.
You had me at “Sand…” :-P
Kenobi is from a grassworld so I don’t buy the “common name” thing. Doesn’t make sense. In my head cannon he jedi mind tricked people around him into thinking they knew someone with the same last name. If Vader got too close he’d get sent on a bunch of wild goose chases. Also if there were actual Kenobi’s Obiwan would be putting them in danger and probably assume a false identity instead.
Unfortunately he must have gone by Skywalker because after ANH Vader sent Boba to hunt the unknown pilot. Which led Boba to Tatooine, where he interrogated people who knew luke, fought him in Obiwans house, and revealed to Vader he had a son via the name Skywalker; which is probably the only reason Vader gave him future chances.
Easily the biggest plot hole in the entire star wars universe.
I don’t think it makes any sense to debate what makes sense in a fictional universe.
I mean, you could just…ignore all that. I never read that particular part of the EU so I just don’t consider it.
I mean the empire hunted down every Jedi, you’d think they could hunt down every Skywalker and every Kenobi as well
So, the storyline on “every last Jedi” gets soft around the edges with all the EU material. Because everyone wants to write a book or do a game or whatever about “the OTHER other last Jedi”. And then you’ve got to explain Joruus C’baoth. And nobody wanted to see Ahsoka Tano die. And they resurrect Darth Maul at some point. And and and…
This means you get a bunch of hand-waving explanations for why this or that professionally trained force user doesn’t fall under Yoda’s strict categorization of “Jedi”, at the moment he says the thing to Luke Skywalker in the Third Movie. And, along the way, it carves out a bunch of caveats and exceptions for why Darth Vader didn’t quite get them all.
Frankly, I think it’s enough to say the galaxy is big and Tatooine is very remote and the Empire doesn’t have a ton to fear from a Jedi survivor who kept his head down for twenty years.
That’s why I choose to believe Luke went by Lars, and just sort of ignore the fact that they knew Ben’s last name.
Bruh the moves are barely canon any more. A good explanation is a good explanation.
Wormie Lars.