My analysis of Obi-Wan Kenobi will be drawn from his appearances in the Star Wars Prequel Trilogy and its tie-in novelizations, comic adaptations, and visual dictionaries, the 2003 Clone Wars Microseries and its tie-ins, in addition to his numerous appearances in the books, comics, and video games of the Expanded Universe. As I am focusing on the character within the timeframe of Revenge Of The Sith, I will be devoting most of my attention to Clone Wars-era material.
However, I will not be making any reference to the 2008 Clone Wars animated series nor any of its tie-ins. This decision is down to me walking my talk and following through on my position that TCW is not only an unnecessary addition, but actively undermines the characterization and capabilities of numerous figures. In the case of Obi-Wan Kenobi, he is reduced to a flanderized "Master Kenobi" archetype based exclusively on his portrayal in Revenge Of The Sith, whereas the pure Legends continuity version of the Clone Wars provided an effective transition between his portrayals in Attack Of The Clones and Episode III, properly depicting his gradual development and growth over time. TCW, on the other hand, makes it seem as though Obi-Wan simply got a haircut and became Master Kenobi overnight.
A specific example of where TCW messed up in their portrayal of Kenobi was making General Grievous his direct and most persistent nemesis, their numerous fights within the series reducing Kenobi's victory on Utapau to a hollow accomplishment, as all he did was finish off an opponent that he had been making a fool of every other Tuesday since the war began. The basic fact of the matter is that, when Kenobi and Skywalker were marched onto the Invisible Hand's bridge in Episode III, Grievous was very clearly referring to BOTH characters as if meeting them for the first time, not just Skywalker. And on Utapau, Grievous' boasting makes it very clear that he had never fought Obi-Wan before, and had no idea what he was getting himself into.
My analysis of Darth Talon will be drawn from her primary appearance in the Star Wars: Legacy comic series, specifically within the timeframe of the "War" arc, with additional information pulled from the Legacy Handbook and the Legacy-Era Campaign Guide. Background information on both combatants and the overall setting will be drawn from The Essential Guide To The Force, The New Essential Chronology, and the Power Of The Jedi Sourcebook, among others.
The idea for this match-up came from a surprisingly innocuous place: In my abridged versus video, Rahm Kota Vs. Darth Wredd, uploaded back in October of 2018, I cited Master Kenobi and Darth Talon as examples of archetypal members of their respectives organizations, and I found that the side-by-side images of the two I had arranged simply... clicked.
So with all of that out of the way, allow me to present Obi-Wan Kenobi Vs. Darth Talon.
Let's begin:
Sources & References:
- The Cestus Deception - [04:36], [18:50]
- Jedi Apprentice #1: The Rising Force - [04:40], [33:40], [33:44]
- The New Essential Chronology - [04:45], [33:52], [04:45], [06:11], [18:18], [14:05], [34:24]
- Mysteries of the Jedi, Obi-Wan Kenobi (Pg 58-59) - [05:10]
- Revenge of the Sith (novelization) - [05:26], [05:32], [15:57], [35:23], [37:01], [46:02], [05:46], [36:40], [38:28], [38:38], [17:12], [17:23], [17:59], [20:23], [36:22], [38:56], [46:42], [48:01], [36:47], [37:07], [37:10]
- The Complete Visual Dictionary (2006) - [06:47], [06:59], [06:54], [07:02], [14:31]
- The New Essential Guide to Alien Species - [08:15]
- Legacy Handbook (Issue 0), The Sith Empire, Darth Talon (Pg 5) - [09:03]
- The Jedi Path - [11:17], [15:23], [18:09], [34:50], [35:44], [36:01], [37:18], [37:29]
- Scourge - [11:56]
- Labyrinth of Evil - [14:12]. [17:55], [36:17], [46:56]
- Lightsabers: A Guide to Weapons of the Force (2010) - [14:21]
- Jedi Vs. Sith: The Essential Guide to the Force - [14:27], [14:35]
- Fightsaber: Jedi Lightsaber Combat, (originally published in Star Wars Insider #62) - [15:09], [15:31]
- Fightsaber: Mastering the Art of Lightsaber Combat (online supplement), Form V: Shien/Djem So - [15:16]
- Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords - [15:43]
- Legacy Era Campaign Guide - [21:51], [27:43], [41:31], [44:45], [24:15]
- The Essential Guide to Warfare - [22:37]
- Barely Tolerable: Alien Henchmen of the Empire, Part 2 (online supplement) - [24:19]
- Power of the Jedi Sourcebook - [35:05], [36:12]
- Attack of the Clones (novelization), Chapter 18 - [38:20]
