Penny Arcade - Comic - Beb Kineb

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Penny Arcade - Comic - Beb Kineb

Videogaming-related online strip by Mike Krahulik and Jerry Holkins. Includes news and commentary.

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Rhesus Positive

What if Kenobi is like "Smith" and it's just the Obi Wan that's distinctive

(I don't know why I'm spitballing as I assume there's a 17,000 word essay on Wookipedia explaining how this was the greatest act of subterfuge known to the Empire and is the culmination of a Jedi tradition going back 7 centuries or something)

Overkillengine

Jedi Mail Trick: Minor name change + did not file a change of address with the Galactic Postal Service.

MarcinMN

The stationery should also have "Hello there" printed on it. Because that would always be his greeting.

dennis

Because when they find out there's a "Ben Kenobi" on Darth Vader's birthplace, they'll know there's no way that could be the same guy because who would be that stupid?

H3Knuckles

Huh, I thought "Ben" was just the locals' nickname for him because they didn't know better. I didn't think it was supposed to be an alias to hide from the Empire.

Grendus

I always figured just... nobody knew he was there except for Owen and Beru (because he brought Luke to them) and the Organas (because he sent Leia to them). He wasn't trying to hide in plain sight, he lived as a hermit in the desert.

dennis

The whole thing really falls apart the more you think about it. Best not to pull that thread. All Lucas did in subsequent films was add more and more loose threads.

Quid

I am so very tired of studios trying to squeeze every bit of blood out of the original trilogy. Multiple successful media runs with little to nothing to do with it and they still keep going back to "Hey remember this guy?"

Out there somewhere is an executive pitching four seasons and a movie for a Greedo prequel.

dennis

Disney didn't spend $4 billion to not squeeze every bit of blood they could out of it. Getting back their purchase price was just the start.

Remember when we thought the long drought between 1983 and 1999 (punctuated only by semi-canonical books, comics and cartoons) was a travesty?

Quid

No! Because I didn't like the OT to begin with!

Wasn't until KOTOR that my wife and I saw the appeal.

Golden Yak

Ben Kellogg.

RatherDashing

Maybe it was never an alias. Like, Luke met the grumpy old hermit one day at Toshce Station...

Obi: "Greetings, young lad. I am Obi-Won Kenobi. You don't know me yet, but your father was a great..."
Luke, an annoying teen: "Yeah whatever Ben. Quiet down, I'm waiting for them to call my number".
Station Attendant: "I have a power converter and a half caf latte for Obi Won?"
Luke: "Hey, that must be for you, Ben. See ya later geezer."

Back at home...

Luke: "I met this weird old guy at Toshce Station today."
Owen: "I hope it wasn't that Obi Won Kenobi..."
Luke: "Naw, some guy named Ben."

Years later:
Luke: "Hey, I wonder if this droid is talking about old Ben Kenobi."
Owen: "No, that's...never mind. Yes. He means Ben Kenobi."

MarcinMN

RatherDashing89 wrote: »

Maybe it was never an alias. Like, Luke met the grumpy old hermit one day at Toshce Station...

Obi: "Greetings, young lad. I am Obi-Won Kenobi. You don't know me yet, but your father was a great..."
Luke, an annoying teen: "Yeah whatever Ben. Quiet down, I'm waiting for them to call my number".
Station Attendant: "I have a power converter and a half caf latte for Obi Won?"
Luke: "Hey, that must be for you, Ben. See ya later geezer."

Back at home...

Luke: "I met this weird old guy at Toshce Station today."
Owen: "I hope it wasn't that Obi Won Kenobi..."
Luke: "Naw, some guy named Ben."

Years later:
Luke: "Hey, I wonder if this droid is talking about old Ben Kenobi."
Owen: "No, that's...never mind. Yes. He means Ben Kenobi."

Wait, so why did he call him Ben? Is that like people calling someone a Karen? lol

oldtaku

Luckily for him, the Empire really is that dumb. Stormtroopers, nuff sed. Imperial officers can't think outside of a tiny box. Bureaucrats aren't going to show any initiative. The Darths and Palpatine (or Snape) aren't going to do anything as plebian as 'Hey, maybe we should look for someone named Kenobi, even if his first name isn't Obi-Wan'. Look how long it took for Vader to figure out that maybe he should check in with his stepbrother (and only because Leia led him to the planet). There might be some lore excuse for that, but the real reason is that the Empire just doesn't have that kind of initiative.

ATF_Griff

Fuckin space Vespas.

bloodatonement

I need to embed that stationary as the background for all my work emails.

Showsni

Rhesus Positive wrote: »

What if Kenobi is like "Smith" and it's just the Obi Wan that's distinctive

According to at least one Legends novel yes, Kenobi is a very common name on Tatooine, and furthermore it's an accident that he kept that name to begin with - a teenage girl with a crush on him, Kallie, was sneaking around his hut and heard him use it. (Check the green ticked answer here: https://scifi.stackexchange.com/questions/5574/why-did-luke-skywalker-call-obi-wan-ben )

Armored Chocobo

He'd have used "Glup Shitto" but that was taken

Hevach

Grendus wrote: »

I always figured just... nobody knew he was there except for Owen and Beru (because he brought Luke to them) and the Organas (because he sent Leia to them). He wasn't trying to hide in plain sight, he lived as a hermit in the desert.

Yeah, it's not Star Trek where you can say the name of a random civilian from two hundred years ago and the computer has their picture, medical records, and thirty generations of geological records. He's on a planet that doesn't even have accurate maps available and he's in the middle of the Here There Be Dragons area on the far left, and it actually *has* dragons.

dennis

Hevach wrote: »

Grendus wrote: »

I always figured just... nobody knew he was there except for Owen and Beru (because he brought Luke to them) and the Organas (because he sent Leia to them). He wasn't trying to hide in plain sight, he lived as a hermit in the desert.

Yeah, it's not Star Trek where you can say the name of a random civilian from two hundred years ago and the computer has their picture, medical records, and thirty generations of geological records. He's on a planet that doesn't even have accurate maps available and he's in the middle of the Here There Be Dragons area on the far left, and it actually *has* dragons.

In a normal universe, sure. But we sure as shit have learned that every fucking thing seems to happen on Tatooine.

In that universe, the first place I'd look is Tatooine if I lost my goddamned keys.

(Edit: and yeah, I realize a lot of that stuff took place AFTER A New Hope, but give them enough time and they'll be thousands of years of Tatooine being the nexus of the universe prior to it.)

YoungFrey

dennis wrote: »

Hevach wrote: »

Grendus wrote: »

I always figured just... nobody knew he was there except for Owen and Beru (because he brought Luke to them) and the Organas (because he sent Leia to them). He wasn't trying to hide in plain sight, he lived as a hermit in the desert.

Yeah, it's not Star Trek where you can say the name of a random civilian from two hundred years ago and the computer has their picture, medical records, and thirty generations of geological records. He's on a planet that doesn't even have accurate maps available and he's in the middle of the Here There Be Dragons area on the far left, and it actually *has* dragons.

In a normal universe, sure. But we sure as shit have learned that every fucking thing seems to happen on Tatooine.

In that universe, the first place I'd look is Tatooine if I lost my goddamned keys.

It's as if every major event in the history of Earth took place in Tucson, AZ.

Pyrian

YoungFrey wrote: »

It's as if every major event in the history of Earth took place in Tucson, AZ.

You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy.

Hevach

dennis wrote: »

Hevach wrote: »

Grendus wrote: »

I always figured just... nobody knew he was there except for Owen and Beru (because he brought Luke to them) and the Organas (because he sent Leia to them). He wasn't trying to hide in plain sight, he lived as a hermit in the desert.

Yeah, it's not Star Trek where you can say the name of a random civilian from two hundred years ago and the computer has their picture, medical records, and thirty generations of geological records. He's on a planet that doesn't even have accurate maps available and he's in the middle of the Here There Be Dragons area on the far left, and it actually *has* dragons.

In a normal universe, sure. But we sure as shit have learned that every fucking thing seems to happen on Tatooine.

In that universe, the first place I'd look is Tatooine if I lost my goddamned keys.

(Edit: and yeah, I realize a lot of that stuff took place AFTER A New Hope, but give them enough time and they'll be thousands of years of Tatooine being the nexus of the universe prior to it.)

The prominence of Tatooine honestly only serves to exaggerate that the Star Wars universe has worse records keeping than a shady pawn shop. The world that in living memory gave the galaxy both a legendary tyrant of the Empire and a legendary hero of the Rebellion, and it has at least one city worth mentioning within driving distance of the main spaceport that doesn't appear on the official maps, which a regular visitor hasn't even heard of and which even a resident in the know is calling by an out of date name. Let alone finding that city's residents on any kind of census or registry anywhere.

dennis

I'd say it mostly highlights Lucas' lack of a cohesive vision.

RatherDashing

dennis wrote: »

I'd say it mostly highlights Lucas' lack of a cohesive vision.

Honestly it's probably him having too much vision. Tattooine being too prominent stems 100% from having Anakin be from there. Every other appearance of the planet has been essentially mandatory because of some other character they wanted to include like Jabba.

But there was no reason Anakin had to be from there. Phantom Menace could have happened on any planet. The only reason Lucas had it there was because he wanted everything to "rhyme like poetry". If he had gotten over that idea and just written a story that stood on its own, we wouldn't have this problem: at least as much as it currently is. (We'd still probably have some degree of overusing the same planets because of nostalgia bait).

dennis

This is what I meant by "cohesive". Yeah, he has a lot of vision, much of it very cool. But it doesn't really hang together as a whole.

Overkillengine

I long ago came to the conclusion that the original trilogy was a success in *spite* of Lucas; as he seems to be one of those creative types that functions better under heavy restrictions or at least external direction on how creative they can get.

dennis

Overkillengine wrote: »

I long ago came to the conclusion that the original trilogy was a success in *spite* of Lucas; as he seems to be one of those creative types that functions better under heavy restrictions or at least external direction on how creative they can get.

I think it's sadly common that creators of great movies don't always get why the public at large consider them great. Or just don't care, preferring their own vision. Look at Ridley Scott's return to the Alien universe. Or Spielberg with Indiana Jones (though Lucas had his fingers in that one, it was ultimately Spielberg's call as the director). Or Richard Kelly with Donny Darko (based on his directors cut just crushing a lot of the stuff that was good in the original cut).

Armored Chocobo

RatherDashing89 wrote: »

dennis wrote: »

I'd say it mostly highlights Lucas' lack of a cohesive vision.

Honestly it's probably him having too much vision. Tattooine being too prominent stems 100% from having Anakin be from there. Every other appearance of the planet has been essentially mandatory because of some other character they wanted to include like Jabba.

But there was no reason Anakin had to be from there. Phantom Menace could have happened on any planet. The only reason Lucas had it there was because he wanted everything to "rhyme like poetry". If he had gotten over that idea and just written a story that stood on its own, we wouldn't have this problem: at least as much as it currently is. (We'd still probably have some degree of overusing the same planets because of nostalgia bait).

I don't think that choice is about Anakin. He already had Luke, Obi-Wan, Han, AND Jabba established on Tatooine, and the original movies already went back there TWICE. Seems he put Anakin on Tatooine because of that, not the other way around.

sixtynine

huh. Obi-Wan looks like old dude after 10 beers