#the episode is now basically the same age Faith was in S7

[nativehueofresolution]

thoughts on obi-wan and ahsoka's relationship?

ahsoka and obi-wan are one of my favorite pairs, thank u for asking!! i think of one the most telling things about obi-wan and ahsoka's relationship is that at the beginning of tcw movie, obi-wan is the one who has put in a request for a padawan and is eager to have a new student; however, once it becomes clear yoda's placed ahsoka with anakin, obi-wan doesn't bother requesting a padawan again. it's fairly obvious to me that obi-wan's automatic response to anakin getting a padawan is 'well obviously i'm going to be her REAL master'.

that's maybe a biiit of an exaggeration - he certainly never tries to overstep and challenge anakin's choices with ahsoka. i'm hesitant to assign labels in the obi-wan/anakin/ahsoka family dynamic, mostly because the characters themselves seem to have conflicting opinions about their relationships (anakin: "obi-wan is basically my dad"; obi-wan: "anakin is my like my brother"; me: "is it any wonder these two can't successfully get through a conversation?")... but that said i personally read obi-wan and ahsoka as very indulgent grandpa/favorite grandchild. he half loves ahsoka running into danger because how does it feel now anakin? and half frets because he thinks he's the only responsible one in this family. he calls her 'our padawan' when speaking to anakin, and he's clearly just as invested in her growth as a person as anakin is.

but i think the distance of obi-wan not feeling like it was his specific job to scold ahsoka in a lot of ways helped ahsoka to have a more positive relationship with obi-wan than anakin did. anakin and obi-wan constantly bicker, and while most of it is done with love, there's some real resentment from anakin underneath it all about obi-wan constantly criticizing him. ahsoka never felt that way, and there's never an instance that i know of where obi-wan's teasing touched a nerve. she has the closeness of obi-wan being family without the resentment of him being her only parental figure, and i think they share a similar sense of humor that helps endear them to one another. half the time, the two of them are ganging up on anakin.

which brings me to another interesting point about their relationship... obi-wan in some ways thinks of ahsoka as being more emotionally mature than anakin, despite her age and rank. now, i don't think there can be any doubt obi-wan had complete and utter faith in anakin as a jedi.... but he also never quite learned how to handle anakin's outbursts, and despite good intentions, his worries often came across as condescension. he rarely ever takes that attitude with ahsoka; in fact during arcs like the zygerrians he basically confides in ahsoka his worries about anakin and tells her to look after him. he's rarely that open with adult anakin, you know 15 year old anakin would never have gotten into that circle of trust. ahsoka grows up so terribly fast because of the war that i'm not sure she even recognizes at the time how much trust obi-wan had in her, but i think adult ahsoka would often think back to those moments.

i also feel a lot of their relationship dynamic comes down to the two of them having a shared cultural background that anakin can't 100% relate to. they both know what it is to grow up with no familial bonds, and ahsoka seems to be perfectly at peace with the idea of being raised by her community rather than a specific person--again alleviating some of the expectations obi-wan struggled with as a master to anakin. she's far more deferential to jedi masters than anakin, which both helps her relationship with obi-wan (she is not upset at all with him for faking his death because she understands it was a mission from the council, while anakin feels utterly betrayed) and creates a formal distance between them that never quite goes completely away, for all their warmth and affection.

ahsoka occasionally slips and calls anakin by his name, especially when emotional. the only time ahsoka uses obi-wan's given name is during their meet up just before mandalore, and her use of his name is quite pointed and almost a bit of an insult--she's making it clear that she no longer answers to him as a jedi master. notably, when ahsoka's softened a bit later on she refers to him with her usual 'master kenobi'. her version of an olive branch to obi-wan is a gesture of respect, whereas with anakin it would be an inside joke or knowing smile.

similarly, while obi-wan thinks the world of ahsoka he does NOT go to bat for her in the same way anakin does when she's on trial. i've always found this quote from dave filoni regarding obi-wan's actions during 'the wrong jedi' arc to be incredibly insightful. "In Obi-Wan we really see the Jedi because he is compromised. Obi-Wan doesn’t believe Ahsoka is guilty of these crimes, but he has a very hard time arguing politically that the Jedi Council shouldn’t do what they do to her. He trusts in the Force, which is what they love to say when they don’t know what they’re doing, and they expel her. He can’t argue the logic. He doesn’t like Tarkin’s logic [but he can’t argue] that they can’t try her within the Jedi because the public, which we show in this episode arc, who are losing faith in the Jedi, would cry foul ball.” obi-wan disagrees with what is being done, but he's careful to not obviously take her side and throw politics to the wind. he will stop himself from looking too attached. one small moment that breaks my heart is when ahsoka says she's leaving the jedi order, anakin runs after her and obi-wan immediately goes to follow, but plo holds him back and he stays. and isn't that just the story of obi-wan kenobi? he felt something, and then he let himself be held back.

i was pleasantly surprised that despite the quick pace of s7, ahsoka gets several moments where she expresses some resentment of obi-wan. really, these are more moments where she feels resentment for the jedi order, because that's what obi-wan represents to her in a way anakin doesn't. but despite that, she also wants to make sure she has his approval before he leaves, and it means something to her when he gives it.

in the same way that ahsoka still wants to honor many aspects of the way she was raised despite no longer being a jedi, ahsoka loves and respects obi-wan, even if she realizes they have some fundamental disagreements. the adult ahsoka we see later on echoes obi-wan almost as often as she does anakin. part of the reasons she is one of the (maybe the most?) well balanced force wielders is because she had multiple masters that she drew from and yet she didn't become an imitation of any of them. and her relationship with obi-wan is an important part of that.