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.
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.
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.
Vader sent Boba to hunt down the pilot that destroyed the death star. This led Boba to Tatooine
Fucking how?
How the hell would he have figured out which pilot destroyed the Death Star (especially well after the fact)? How would he identify that pilot as Luke? How would he trace Luke back to Tatooine?
All spaceships have transponders that identify them, are vital for fleet/spaceport navigation, and are illegal/difficult to modify or remove; which the rebels did not routinely do.
It makes sense a vehicle make and model would be enough for one of the galaxies best bounty hunters to go off of.
All spaceships have transponders that identify them, are vital for fleet/spaceport navigation, and are illegal/difficult to modify or remove; which the rebels did not routinely do.
Okay, first of all, this is absolutely bonkers for military spacecraft. For a fighter – a spacecraft designed for combat – such a system should be easy to disable with just a switch in the cockpit. To have a transponder that automatically identifies you even to enemies is a huge disadvantage for no reason. Absolutely ruins any pretense of stealth/surprise, could easily be used to augment enemy target tracking…
I don’t quite buy it being difficult to remove, either.
But especially being illegal to remove really shouldn’t be much of an issue for an active rebellion. Removing a spaceship transponder is the very least of the illegal things they’ve been doing.
It makes sense a vehicle make and model would be enough for one of the galaxies best bounty hunters to go off of.
No it doesn’t, not at all! There were dozens of X-Wings involved in the assault on the Death Star. And there were probably hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of X-Wings all over the galaxy. To track one particular one – and its particular pilot – down, you’re going to need a lot more than just the spaceship model.
Also take into consideration, the entire rebellion at this point is taking pains to remain hidden and difficult to find, and they’re not going to take kindly to bounty hunters working on Imperial contracts.
But supposing that Boba Fett is just somehow that magically good at finding people … in that case, the Empire wasted a lot of time and resources trying to track down rebel bases when they could have just asked Boba Fett to find them. If he can track down a single particular rebel pilot based on extremely sparse information, finding an entire rebel base should be no problem at all.
Even in actual militaries there are transponders and IFF systems. Transponders are turned off during combat, but the IFF systems are not, to enable identification for other friendly military aircraft.
If something similar exists in the Star Wars universe, then those IFF systems could be hacked/infiltrated by the enemy or by a particularly skilled bounty bunter.
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.
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.
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.
Darth Vader never once in all those years went to have Thankgiving Dinner with his half brother.
Think of what good for the Empire would have occured.
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.
Do you mean to imply that Kenobi might not have been paying property taxes!?!?
He was the villain all along
The real victims were the billions of people paying for Ben’s free lunch
Give onto the Emperor what is the Emperor’s…
Undeclared income is the real bane of organized crime
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.
Fucking how?
How the hell would he have figured out which pilot destroyed the Death Star (especially well after the fact)? How would he identify that pilot as Luke? How would he trace Luke back to Tatooine?
Vader saw lukes xfighter.
From Wookiepedia:
All spaceships have transponders that identify them, are vital for fleet/spaceport navigation, and are illegal/difficult to modify or remove; which the rebels did not routinely do.
It makes sense a vehicle make and model would be enough for one of the galaxies best bounty hunters to go off of.
Okay, first of all, this is absolutely bonkers for military spacecraft. For a fighter – a spacecraft designed for combat – such a system should be easy to disable with just a switch in the cockpit. To have a transponder that automatically identifies you even to enemies is a huge disadvantage for no reason. Absolutely ruins any pretense of stealth/surprise, could easily be used to augment enemy target tracking…
I don’t quite buy it being difficult to remove, either.
But especially being illegal to remove really shouldn’t be much of an issue for an active rebellion. Removing a spaceship transponder is the very least of the illegal things they’ve been doing.
No it doesn’t, not at all! There were dozens of X-Wings involved in the assault on the Death Star. And there were probably hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of X-Wings all over the galaxy. To track one particular one – and its particular pilot – down, you’re going to need a lot more than just the spaceship model.
Also take into consideration, the entire rebellion at this point is taking pains to remain hidden and difficult to find, and they’re not going to take kindly to bounty hunters working on Imperial contracts.
But supposing that Boba Fett is just somehow that magically good at finding people … in that case, the Empire wasted a lot of time and resources trying to track down rebel bases when they could have just asked Boba Fett to find them. If he can track down a single particular rebel pilot based on extremely sparse information, finding an entire rebel base should be no problem at all.
Even in actual militaries there are transponders and IFF systems. Transponders are turned off during combat, but the IFF systems are not, to enable identification for other friendly military aircraft. If something similar exists in the Star Wars universe, then those IFF systems could be hacked/infiltrated by the enemy or by a particularly skilled bounty bunter.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Identification_friend_or_foe
Nobody said star wars didn’t have plot holes lol
IMO the mitigating factor is the size of the Galaxy with regards to finding the rebels.
Luke wasn’t trying to hide when he went to Tatooine AFAIK.
But ya the transponders thing is hella silly
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.
deleted by creator
Bruh the moves are barely canon any more. A good explanation is a good explanation.
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
If you’re hiding from Darth Vader, you should always make sure you’re hiding somewhere with lots and lots of sand.
I always keep a pocket full of sand just in case the Emperor sends his favourite cyborg after me
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.