There are some heavy moments in the new Obi-Wan Kenobi trailer: Uncle Owen warning the exiled Jedi to stay away from Luke Skywalker, Darth Vader’s mechanical body being assembled by other machines, the grim-faced Inquisitors gathering to exterminate their prey…
But two particularly intriguing details from the Star Wars universe are tucked into the corners of a galactic wanted poster for Ewan McGregor‘s fugitive Force-wielder.
You’ll see them around the 50 second mark, right after Moses Ingram‘s inquisitor Reva suggests they have been hunting for Obi-Wan in the wrong place.
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This image from showrunner Deborah Chow‘s new series tells us how the Empire explained Kenobi’s “crime” to the public. It simply has to be decoded from the Star Wars alphabet known as Aurebesh.
The words at the center are somewhat obvious: WANTED, and below that Obi-Wan Kenobi’s name.
In the lower left corner, the poster reveals why: “Offense — High Treason.” Kenobi is officially an enemy of the state, and the Empire has no problem sharing his image far and wide, acknowledging he survived the purge that wiped out his brethren in Revenge of the Sith.
In the lower right corner of the poster is some more Aurebesh text, and we can infer something else curious from what it declares: “Bounty — Upon Capture.”
Captured. Not dead. That’s a notable difference. The Empire wants Kenobi returned. No doubt, Darth Vader himself wants his old friend and mentor back in his grasp. But this shows us that the Jedi’s foes do not want him killed by the rogues and scoundrels they are summoning to track him down.
Maybe that’s how the old Jedi survives for so long, and ultimately evades them. Whatever the case, we know that by the time Vader confronts Kenobi in 1977’s original Star Wars, his patience is at an end. Father strikes Kenobi down, even after being warned this will only make Kenobi more powerful than he can imagine.
That seems to be a lesson Vader once understood.
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