Who Is Obi-Wan Kenobi’s Brother? The Answer Is More Complicated Than You Think

Star Wars continuity is a weird and wonderful thing. Every new TV series provides new opportunities for storytellers to fill in the gaps between existing canon, gaps which are already populated with Star Wars novels, comics, video games, etc. The timeline is dense, and when you take into account that this is Star Wars’ second timeline, things get even more confusing. All that leads us up to Obi-Wan Kenobi, “Part III,” a story that ventures where very few previous stories have dared: Obi-Wan Kenobi’s origin story.

This is somehow an area of Star Wars continuity that has never been explored, and it looks like the Obi-Wan show might venture into this uncharted territory. While hitching a ride on Zach Braff’s truck, Leia (Vivien Lyra Blair) and Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor) share a moment of emotional honesty. Leia’s figured it out. Obi-Wan knew her real mother, even if he’s still being cagey about it. Obi-Wan tries to relate to Leia, saying that like her he also left his family as a child. He barely remembers them; he recalls his mother’s shawl, his father’s hands, and a baby that he believes was his brother… but that’s it.

So, Obi-Wan Kenobi has a brother? He certainly seems to think so. Who is Obi-Wan’s brother? That’s a convoluted and complicated answer that involves two timelines and a retcon or two (or potentially more, depending on where the show takes this development.)

If we were answering this question prior to the release of Star Wars: Episode II — Attack of the Clones, the answer to this question would be Owen Lars.

Yeah, Obi-Wan Kenobi’s brother was originally Uncle Owen. This was going to be revealed in Return of the Jedi, but this revelation was edited out of the script — possibly because, wow, there’s already a lot of information dumped on Luke in that movie. But the idea that Obi-Wan placed Luke in the care of his own brother remained in the novelization of Return of the Jedi, and it was confirmed in 1995’s Star Wars customizable card game. When McGregor debuted as a young Obi-Wan in Episode I — The Phantom Menace in 1999, a tie-in series of YA novels mentioned Kenobi having visions of his brother Owen.

So, Owen Lars is really Owen Kenobi, right? Wrong! That’s because all of this canon was rebooted when Disney purchased Star Wars and wiped the continuity slate clean outside of the films and Clone Wars series. That means that the novelization, card game, and YA novel that all mentioned Owen as Obi-Wan’s brother were removed from continuity.

Still, for some reason the canon-keepers at Lucasfilm felt the need to really make sure everyone knew that Obi-Wan and Owen were not brothers. In a 2015 short story published on StarWars.com, it was revealed that Obi-Wan’s vision of a brother named Owen was not a vision of the past but rather of the future. Young Obi-Wan saw a vision of Owen, which subconsciously guided adult Obi-Wan to Owen when it came time to hide Luke Skywalker. Sure!

What does that mean for Obi-Wan now? That remains to be seen. While there have been attempts to give Obi-Wan a brother in the past, none of them are canon anymore. The show could do the absolutely ridiculous thing and re-confirm that Owen is Obi-Wan’s brother, but that would just make the already convoluted Skywalker family tree even more so. The thing is, we don’t have to know who Obi-Wan’s brother is. The point of this scene could — and arguably should — just be that Obi-Wan had a family that he was taken away from, and that’s what’s relevant to this story. It’s more important to know that Obi-Wan had a brother than to know who that brother is. And dear lord, if we have to find out who Obi-Wan’s baby bro is, please let it be a new character.

Stream Obi-Wan Kenobi on Disney+