Here's How That Surprise 'Obi-Wan' Cameo Was Possible
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Obi-Wan Kenobi's finale not only wrapped up any potential plot holes, but had a couple of major surprises for Star Wars fans.
The show has been described as a "limited" series and the episode didn't end on a cliffhanger that suggested a season two was on the cards. However, the final scene certainly hinted at where the next season could go if there was one.
One particular appearance during this scene could have confused you as to how it was possible though, so we're here to help to explain just how it happened and what it could mean for Obi-Wan Kenobi's future.
We need to go into some major spoilers though, so look away now if you haven't seen the final episode yet.
FINAL WARNING.
After an epic battle with Darth Vader and reuniting with Leia, Obi-Wan returns to Tatooine to make sure Luke is OK and to reassure Owen that he'll leave Luke alone for his own safety (although Owen does allow him a "Hello there").
Obi-Wan packs up his man cave and heads out into the desert to find a new home when he spots a familiar face: Qui-Gon Jinn. His former Master appears to Obi-Wan as a Force ghost, so this isn't some surprise resurrection following his death in The Phantom Menace.
"I was beginning to think you'd never come," Obi-Wan tells him, with Qui-Gon replying: "I was always here, Obi-Wan. You just were not ready to see. Come on. We've got a ways to go."
And with that, Obi-Wan Kenobi wraps up its first season, but it's easy to see how a potential second season could see Obi-Wan on various missions, guided by Qui-Gon and perhaps learning the ways of becoming a Force ghost.
Before you start worrying that this is potentially the show messing with canon, we're here to reassure you that it's not the case.
We've heard Qui-Gon in the Skywalker Saga since his death as Liam Neeson made vocal cameos in Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith, as well as during the Force ghost sequence in The Rise of Skywalker.
This is the first time we've seen Neeson as Qui-Gon in a live-action Star Wars outing since The Phantom Menace. However, Qui-Gon has popped up in a few episodes of The Clone Wars when he appears as an illusion to Anakin in season five and when he speaks to Yoda in season six.
In season six episode 'Voices', Qui-Gon talks to Yoda about how to become one with the Force and retain consciousness after death. Qui-Gon's training was incomplete, but he guides Yoda to where he can learn more.
It's why in Revenge of the Sith, set after this episode, Yoda tells Obi-Wan that "an old friend has learned the path to immortality" and promises to teach Obi-Wan what he has learned. But if Qui-Gon's training was incomplete, how could he become a Force ghost in Obi-Wan Kenobi?
The answer to that lies in canon short story collection From a Certain Point of View. In Claudia Gray's Master and Apprentice, it's confirmed that at some point after the events of the prequel trilogy, Qui-Gon managed to learn how to manifest himself physically.
"He draws upon his memories of himself and takes shape, reassembling the form he last had in life," it reads.
"It seems to him that he feels flesh wrap around bones, hair and skin over flesh, robes over skin – and then, as naturally to him as though he had done so yesterday, he pulls down the hood of his Jedi cloak and looks upon his Padawan."
So there you have it. We don't know exactly when (or even how) Qui-Gon learned to become a Force ghost, but it's been officially confirmed in canon before his surprise cameo in the Obi-Wan Kenobi finale.
If you want to take it further, it even explains why Obi-Wan is so content with letting Vader kill him in A New Hope. Since he saw his Master as a Force ghost, he'd have known it was possible and it's likely that he even learnt the ways from Qui-Gon himself.
Maybe we'll see it pan out in season two...
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