Obi-Wan Kenobi's Bum Rap

Obi-Wan Kenobi never had it easy. His master Qui-Gon Jinn was a Jedi whose revolutionary views on the "Living Force" continually put him at odds with the Jedi Council and put Obi-Wan in a position of having to choose where his loyalties lay. But when Darth Maul struck down the venerable Jedi Master, Obi-Wan was put into an even more impossible situation--training the supposed "Chosen One" even if it meant directly defying the Jedi Council. This was compounded by the fact that Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon had not even been in agreement in regards to the training of Anakin Skywalker. From the beginning, Obi-Wan felt that the boy was dangerous, but as a loyal Padawan, he could not refuse the dying wish of his Master. Having only recently been promoted to the rank of Jedi Knight, Obi-Wan was now immediately responsible for the training of potentially the most powerful of all Jedi. There was no way he could have been ready for that burden even he actually thought he could train Anakin as well as Yoda could have. Still, Obi-Wan did an admirable job training Anakin in the Jedi arts and eventually the pair moved beyond the traditional mentor-student roles to forge a father-son/brother relationship.  Still, he was never able to help Anakin deal with the younger man's issues with attachment. But perhaps that was due to his own issues on the subject, for as Anakin struggled mightily adhering to the Jedi code forbidding love, Obi-Wan adhered to this tenet to a fault (with the possible exception of Satine Kryze). Even after his time in exile reorienting himself to the nature of the Force under the tutelage of a now-joined-with-the-Force Qui-Gon Jinn, Obi-Wan still couldn't see how Luke's love for his fallen father might be the key to finally destroying the Sith. Although he had earlier claimed that "only a Sith deals in absolutes," Obi-Wan's ardent refusal to consider an alternative to killing Vader forced Luke to disobey his former Master in his quest to save his father and prevented Obi-Wan from seeing that Anakin's redemption from the Dark Side could result in the elder Skywalker finally embracing his destiny as the "Chosen One." All this being said, Obi-Wan's final act in the Star Wars saga was to aid Anakin in his journey to becoming one with the Force. Perhaps as a way to atone for his failings as a mentor, Obi-Wan seems to finally embrace the redemptive nature of the Living Force and allow for the possibility that the universe is not as unforgiving as it might appear. For if there is hope for the soul of Anakin Skywalker, perhaps there is for all those who failed him as well.