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When Obi-Wan and Yoda return to the Jedi Temple, they discover that many Jedi knights, padawans and younglings were killed. Obi-Wan records a warning message for all Jedi to stay away from the temple.

He then goes through the security recordings to discover why some padawans and younglings were killed with a lightsaber blade.

Here is the script for that scene:

185 INT. CORUSCANT-JEDI TEMPLE-CONTROL CENTER-NIGHT

OBI-WAN enters the Main Control Center with YODA and heads for the hologram area.

OBI-WAN: Wait, Master. There is something I must know . . .

YODA: If into the security recordings you go, only pain will you find.

OBI-WAN: I must know the truth, Master.

OBI-WAN moves to a panel and flips some switches. He sees a HOLOGRAM of ANAKIN slaughtering JEDI, including the YOUNG ONES. OBI-WAN and YODA react.

OBI-WAN: (continuing) It can't be . . . It can't be . . .

As ANAKIN surveys the carnage, a DARK-ROBED SITH LORD enters. ANAKIN turns to DARTH SIDIOUS and kneels before him.

ANAKIN: The traitors have been taken care of, Lord Sidious.

DARTH SlDIOUS: Good . . . good . . . You have done well, my new apprentice. Do you feel your power growing?

ANAKIN: Yes, My Master.

DARTH SlDIOUS: Now, Lord Vader, now go and bring peace to the Empire.

OBI-WAN watches in horror. Tears well up in his eyes.

As shown in this clip from Rebels, the message did not mention that Anakin had become Darth Vader. This knowledge would have been very important to the exiled Jedi so as not to trust Anakin, yet he does not share it.

You could say that Obi-Wan learned shortly after he made the warning message that Anakin betrayed the Jedi, and not before. Even so, he could have altered the message.

Why did he not warn the surviving Jedi about Darth Vader?

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  • Answered your own question. Because he'd have to dig it out and re-record it.
    – Valorum
    Commented Dec 31, 2016 at 22:14
  • @Valorum I would consider the tiny effort or re-recording it worth the huge benefit to the remaining Jedi.
    – RichS
    Commented Dec 31, 2016 at 22:16
  • He said that he'd made the recording in such a way that the clones would struggle to find it. Perhaps he'd have similar difficulty.
    – Valorum
    Commented Dec 31, 2016 at 22:20
  • Oh, that's like my senile grandmother who can't remember where she left her house keys. Obi-Wan wasn't so old and senile that he forgot where he put the message. I don't think he would struggle to find a message he recorded minutes ago.
    – RichS
    Commented Dec 31, 2016 at 22:23
  • @Valorum Your answer to this question provides more info on what was going on when he made the message, but still leaves unanswered the question of why not mention Anakin's new identity. scifi.stackexchange.com/questions/133193/…
    – RichS
    Commented Dec 31, 2016 at 22:28

2 Answers 2

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Some possible explanations:

a) Obi-Wan was so rattled by what he saw that the thought simply didn't occur to him.

b) Obi-Wan assumed he could find Anakin and deal with him himself long before any other surviving Jedi would encounter Darth Vader.

c) The Force made it plain to Obi-wan and/or Yoda that there simply weren't any other surviving Jedi to be warned (here I am ignoring non-film sources).

d) The Emperor probably wouldn't bother to turn off the warning message as sent (it is a bit redundant - any sensible Jedi would immediately go into hiding at this point), but he might have if it also mentioned this new 'Darth Vader' guy who used to be Anakin Skywalker (which would keep Anakin from being able to betray any stray Jedi in person).

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  • 1
    Can you elaborate on your last point?
    – Edlothiad
    Commented Jan 1, 2017 at 0:23
  • Can you provide citations for each explanation?
    – RichS
    Commented Jan 1, 2017 at 0:31
  • Which possible explanation do you think is the answer?
    – Blackwood
    Commented Jan 1, 2017 at 1:04
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The warning message that Kanan had stored in the holocron was WAY more complete than the message that Obi Wan originally had sent in the films.

So it is quite possible that that message was a later alteration or adding to the earlier message. This would then mean that it also happened AFTER the battle between obi wan and vader. Which means he has thought of Vader as dead at that time and thus didn't feel the need to mention him at all.

(sadly it there is no absolute info if the message was retconned for Rebels OR when the new message was recorded).

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  • 1
    When I first saw Revenge of the Sith, I thought the message was a simple stay-away warning. Kind of like a beacon, not a video+audio hologram. The clip from Rebels made me think that perhaps the original message was more than just a stay-away beacon. And if it was more than just a beacon, then I wondered why Obi-Wan didn't mention a crucial detail in the warning.
    – RichS
    Commented Jan 1, 2017 at 1:07

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