Obi-Wan 1

Obi-Wan 1 is the first issue of the canon comic miniseries Star Wars: Obi-Wan. The issue was written by Christopher Cantwell, illustrated by Ario Anindito and Carlos Lopez, and published by Marvel Comics on May 4, 2022. The issue contains the story "Youngling's Challenge".

Publisher's summary

Fast approaches the ultimate destiny of one of the Jedi's most renowned masters! As he spends his final days in the remote deserts of Tatooine, Obi-Wan Kenobi takes time to reflect on – and record – key moments of a heroic life long-lived. Writing in old leather-bound journals from his hermit's hut, Obi-Wan remembers his days as a young Jedi Initiate, his trials as a Padawan, the crucible of Jedi Knighthood and the Clone Wars, and some of the earliest challenges he faced as a true Master of the Force! In this tale, Obi-Wan considers a watershed Youngling adventure he narrowly survived on Coruscant when he was but eight years of age…This is just the beginning of his Jedi journey!

Opening crawl

"Youngling's Challenge" 
The ultimate destiny of one of the Jedi's most renowned masters fast approaches.

As he awaits an inevitable storm in the remote deserts of Tatooine, Obi-Wan Kenobi
takes time to reflect on – and record – key moments of a heroic life long-lived ….

Plot summary

On Tatooine in the Western Dune Sea in the years before the Battle of Yavin, Jedi Master in exile Obi-Wan Kenobi notes that a storm approaches, but it isn’t rain as he’s only witnessed it once in all his time on the planet. Instead it is a sand storm - the kind that blinds and chokes one if they’re unlucky enough to be caught in it. Obi-Wan knows to prepare for the ensuing chaos due to the drop in the pressure, weight of the heat, and the way that his Eopie, Akkani, lies down. Obi-Wan takes shelter inside of his hut, and in order to pass time until the storm passes, he grabs a journal and begins to catalog the storm due to a surge of darkness from it that frightens him.

Flashing back to 49 BBY in the Jedi Temple on Coruscant, Jedi Initiate Obi-Wan Kenobi wakes up in the middle of the night to find that his friend Gehren Rand is gone from her bed, and so he goes searching for her. He eventually finds her sitting outside on the edge of the temple, and when he questions if she came to see the stars, she mentions that it’s pretty hard on Coruscant with all of the city light. Gehren tells Obi-Wan that it wasn’t dreams this time, it was nightmares of her father who is terrified and screaming in great pain. When she says that she can feel that it’s going to happen, Obi-Wan tells her that she shouldn’t be out here and asks if she’s talked to Yoda about this. She responds that she was told what she sees may not be the truth, but she can’t trust this and knows that she needs to go and do something. Obi-Wan attempts to plead with her, saying that they’re leaving soon for the Gathering on Ilum and the Kybuck Clan needs her, but she tells Obi-Wan that this isn’t true as he doesn’t need her and has earned his place on his own. Just then, she wishes that the Force be with him as she leaps off of the edge of the temple and into the city of Coruscant below.

Obi-Wan narrates that Coruscant is a city of layers that never ends as it’s a metropolitan abyss; at its highest pinnacles lay gilded privilege, but at its bottom lie unimaginable horrors. Knowing that Gehren won’t be able to make it on her own, Obi-Wan takes the foolish risk and jumps off after her in an attempt to protect her from harm or doing anything foolish, even though they’d just broken the Temple code. As he uses the little training he has to track her down through the Force, Obi-Wan tells himself that Gehren really was the one who protected and guided him in times of indecision, uncertainty, and conflict because she was strong.

While he had faced tests in the Jedi Temple, nothing would prepare him for his first true challenge as he’s ambushed by an armed group in an alleyway. He attempts to try a Jedi mind trick that he’d only read about in texts, and tries to use the Force to persuade the mind of a Rodian to get him to think that Obi-Wan is of no value to them, but Obi-Wan’ other apprehenders aren’t so weak minded and prepare to move in on Obi-Wan, but the young Jedi uses the Force to his full ability and is able to send the Rodian flying back with a Force push. However, Obi-Wan’s moment of triumph doesn’t last very long as he is knocked to the ground, but before he can be finished off, Gehren Rand leaps down from above and intervenes, saving the life of Obi-Wan. Before the fight can progress any further, a female Zabrak named Nordus Cay - a ranking lieutenant of Black Sun - steps in and puts a stop to the violence. Gehren informs Obi-Wan that she’d met Nodrus earlier, and in exchange for a Eadun Silver necklace, she’ll get her offworld. Obi-Wan learns that the necklace was from her family and it is what she’d been hiding under her mat at the Jedi Temple, and he realizes that he wants to join Gehren in leaving Coruscant because he can’t imagine a life without her kinship or comfort.

However, when the two approach the ship, Obi-Wan grows more unsettled and realizes that something is wrong just as they are placed in binders. With the two subdued, Nodrus explains that the Eadun Silver was more than enough for some street rat, but due to her and Obi-Wan’s display of keen ability, she came to the conclusion that they were Force sensitive and will be very valuable in her service. As they are ushered up the ramp, Gehren tells Obi-Wan to focus and work together, which results in them being able to break free from their bonds and leap away from their captors while being shot at. Once safe, Gehren believes that they are lost, but Obi-Wan is able to use the stars to guide them along. As Obi-Wan starts to head back to the temple, Gehren doesn’t follow because she knows that she has to help her father, so Obi-Wan tells to admit that she’s afraid and is giving into her fear, but she only wishes that the Force be with him as she goes her separate way.

Using the stars as his guide, Obi-Wan returns to the Jedi Temple and is quickly joined by Grand Master Yoda who knows that Gehren is gone. When Obi-Wan says that he tried to get her to stay, Yoda recounts how she kept him safe in their youngling clan, and now it is his own duty to keep himself safe. In order to think about this, Yoda tasks Obi-Wan with cleaning duty and hands him a mop. Obi-Wan narrates that he never saw Gehren again and doesn’t know anything about what came of her or her father, so his only hope is that she didn’t succumb to her fear. In the present in his journal, Obi-Wan writes that he hopes to continue holding back his own fear of what’s to come.

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Collected in

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Characters

Organisms

  • Eopie
  • Nerf (Mentioned only) (In flashback(s))
  • Rat (Mentioned only) (In flashback(s))

Events

Locations

Organizations and titles

Sentient species

Vehicles and vessels

Weapons and technology

Miscellanea

Sources

Notes and references

  1. ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 Marvel-TemplateLogo Star Wars: Obi-Wan Kenobi (2022) #1 on Marvel Comics' official website (backup link)
  2. ↑ StarWars.com A Tale from Obi-Wan's Youngling Days and More from Marvel's May 2022 Star Wars Comics – Exclusive Preview on StarWars.com (backup link) establishes that the frame story in Obi-Wan 1 takes place during Obi-Wan Kenobi's final days on Tatooine, meaning it is set soon before the events of Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope. As Star Wars: Timelines dates the events of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, which days before A New Hope, to 1 BBY. Therefore, the frame story of Obi-Wan must occur in 1 BBY.
  3. ↑ The flashbacks seen in Obi-Wan 1 occurred when Obi-Wan Kenobi was eight years old. As Star Wars: Timelines dates Obi-Wan's birth year to 57 BBY, the flashbacks must have taken place around 49 BBY.

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