InThe Empire Strikes Back , Obi - Wan KenobitellsLuke Skywalkerhe ca n’t avail him if he chooses to fight Darth Vader , but it ’s never quite been clear why . The Empire Strikes Backis wide considered one ofStar Wars’best movies , if not the individual full , and there ’s good reason for that . In addition to the now iconic Darth Vader twist , The Empire Strikes Backchanged Hollywoodin myriad way .

That does n’t intend that the flick was unflawed , though . As is lawful of many ofStar Wars’movies and TV shows , there are moments that are only minimally explained or simply do n’t make sense . One such confusing moment was Obi - Wan ’s assertion that he could n’t help Luke fight Darth Vader inThe Empire Strikes Back , but I think I ’ve finally enter out exactly why Obi - Wan had to sit out that fight .

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Obi-Wan “Can’t Interfere” … But Why?

InThe Empire Strikes Back , Luke is eager to present Darth Vader . However , Obi - Wan ’s somewhat odd reply is,“If you choose to confront Vader , you will do it alone . I can not interfere . “Obi - Wan does n’t elaborate about why he is ineffective to attend Luke in this competitiveness , and , although Luke says he understands , the audience is left in the dark ( and has continued to be in the dark in the decades since ) about what exactly is preventing Obi - Wan from help oneself Luke .

What makes this peculiarly odd is thatObi - Wan had already raise his ability to aid Luke as a Force shade inA New Hope . After all , it is Obi - Wan ’s vox that differentiate Luke to use the Force before he blows up the Death Star . Yet , inThe Empire Strikes Back , not only does Obi - Wan not serve Luke in his final face - off against Vader , but he also does n’t help on Cloud City . Even inReturn of the Jedi , when Luke must present Palpatine and Vader together , Obi - Wan does n’t seem . The question remain : why could n’t Obi - Wan assistance Luke in these dire moments ?

In some tipple of Return of the Jedi , Luke was go to be joined by the Force Ghosts of Yoda and Obi - Wan in this concluding fight .

Yoda and Palpatine in Star Wars.

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The Jedi Had To Protect An Incredible Force Power

Given Obi - Wan is a Force ghost at the time , it seems only one account really makes sense : the Jedi did n’t want the Sith to discover that they bang how to become Force Ghosts . Becoming a Force Ghost is no light feat , even as the figure of Force Ghosts has mature well sinceThe Empire Strikes Back . This is actually one of theForce force inStar Wars , and it ’s one of the most hard to larn .

The Jedi did n’t want the Sith to name that they fuck how to become Force Ghosts .

This was made clean inStar Wars : The Clone Warswhen Yoda had to learn this power from Qui - Gon Jinn . This was also the training Yoda was referring to inStar Wars : Episode III - Revenge of the Sith , which he told Obi - Wan he would be doing on Tatooine with his former Jedi captain . As unmanageable as it was for the Jedi to learn how to become Force Ghosts , though , for the Sith , it was actually out of the question .

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The novelisation ofRevenge of the Sith , write by Matthew Stover , makes that quite clear . In that Holy Writ , Qui - Gon describes immortality as " The ultimate end of the Sith , yet they can never achieve it . " It makes sentience that this would be the power the Sith sought most of all , as their desperation to obtain and wield power was really what defined them .

buy the novelisation of Revenge of the Sith on Amazon

With immortality , they would be able-bodied to keep back onto that power indefinitely ( at least , in their minds).This would of course become especially dangerous in the hired man of Palpatine , who was more obsessed than most with becoming immortal . As annihilating as this power would have been in the hands of Palpatine , it would also have posture a major risk should Anakin Skywalker / Darth Vader have acquired it , give he wasthe Chosen One .

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This explain why Obi - Wan Kenobi — and Yoda — could not seem as Force Ghosts alongside Luke in eitherThe Empire Strikes BackorReturn of the Jedi . The risk was just too great that Vader and Palpatine would actualise that this eccentric of immortality was possible , and they would no doubt stop at nothing to attain that ability themselves . Although it put Luke , and therefore the future of the Jedi , at peril , Yoda and Obi - Wan had to keep this secret from the Sith .

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The Force Ghosts Would’ve Been Particularly Worried About Palpatine

Palpatine Was (Obviously) Desperate For Immortality

Becoming a Force ghost required altruism , something that the Sith were never open of because of their nature . Even so , the knowledge that such a mightiness was potential would become too dangerous in the hands of the Sith . Palpatine ’s narrative arc , particularly in the sequel trilogy , let on precisely why the Jedi were so wary of the Sith observe this secret .

Palpatine ’s narrative discharge , in particular in the subsequence trilogy , reveals precisely why the Jedi were so wary of the Sith discovering this mystery .

WhilePalpatine ’s resurrectioninStar warfare : The raise of Skywalkerwas incredibly controversial and persist in to be one of the biggest complaints about the sequels , if not among the openhanded complaints throughoutStar Wars’nearly 50 years , his reappearance did push back home how desperate the Sith were for immortality , although Palpatine specifically . Star Warsis still lick to reveal all the ins and outs of how Palpatine return , but it ’s absolved he became possessed with create Force - sensitive clones of himself so he could come back .

Luke Skywalker in A New Hope to the left, Obi-Wan Kenobi in A New Hope to the right and Darth Vader in the middle

Custom Image by Simone Ashmoore

Had Palpatine lie with there was a path fore that did n’t need all this cloning skill and extended trial and error period , he would of path have project everything he had behind adjudicate to learn this power . Presumably , he would have been stillborn , given all we know about the cognitive operation to become a Force Ghost , but that does n’t intend he would n’t have done considerable harm had he recognize enough to strain . Palpatine is also one ofStar Wars’most powerful Sith , and there ’s still plenty not know about the disconsolate side .

In that sense , who knows what Palpatine could have managed to do had he substantiate that Obi - Wan and Yoda lived on as Force Ghosts ? AlthoughStar Warshas never corroborate it , and perhaps a lineal explanation may never derive , this makes the most sensation when it come to why Luke was on his own in his scrap against Darth Vader . In the end , Obi - Wan Kenobiappearing as a Force Ghost to help Luke Skywalker inThe Empire Strikes Backwas simply too risky .

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Obi-Wan Kenobi speaks to Luke Skywalker on Dagobah in The Empire Strikes Back

Emperor Palpatine’s clone from Star Wars: Rise of Skywalker.

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Headshot Of Mark Hamill In The Premiere of Disney’s Star Wars

Headshot Of Harrison Ford In The 29th Annual Critics' Choice Awards

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Obi-Wan Kenobi

Luke Skywalker