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During the opening dialogue in The Phantom Menace we learn that Obi-Wan is feeling a general disturbance in the Force - although what this relates to he can't quite put his finger on.

OBI-WAN: I have a bad feeling about this.
QUI-GONN: I don't sense anything.
OBI-WAN: It's not about the mission, Master. It's something...elsewhere...elusive.

His unease clearly didn't relate to his current mission. It was more generic. Regardless of what the source of his feeling actually turned out to be, was Obi-Wan alone in having this sense of unease? In sensing a general disturbance in the Force related to Sideous's manoeuvrings? I thought the prevailing sense throughout the prequels was that, to quote Yoda:

the Dark Side clouds everything. Impossible to see the future is.

Clearly, this could just be discounted as sloppy foreshadowing on the part of Lucas. However, in the story Obi-Wan clearly did sense something. I'm interested in whether or not that was unique. In-universe answers only please.

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    I believe that it is the impending arrival of Darth Maul... but this is personal speculation. As nobody could really "see" sidious coming, I am gonna go with the far less experienced apprentice. Sideous spent WAY too long hiding under the Jedi Counsels noses (or olfactory apparatus) to be caught. Jun 23, 2017 at 11:50
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    I figure this is similar to Superman and his Super-Hearing. There are lots of people who argue and make vague or insincere threats all day long, and theoretically Superman hears all of it, but he has to selectively decide which things require a response and which don't, otherwise he'd never get anything done, running (flying) from one argument to another. Likewise, the galaxy is a big place, no doubt filled with lots of "disturbances" in the Force. A well-trained Jedi would have to decide for himself which particular disturbances were worth worrying about.
    – Steve-O
    Jun 23, 2017 at 13:35
  • Lucas needed then to say something in his opening scene, and vague Jedi Force ramblings struck him as what was needed. The more vague, he thought, the better.
    – ThruGog
    Jun 25, 2017 at 5:56

1 Answer 1

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Obi-Wan was the first to feel that disturbance, but I believe Qui-Gon later felt the same danger -- specifically the rise of the Sith. While not aware of it over Naboo, when landing at Tatooine there is this bit of dialogue:

QUI-GON: Don't let them send any transmissions. Be wary...I sense a disturbance in the Force.

OBI-WAN: I feel it also, Master.

Which again, is pretty vague and noncommittal but as Qui-Gon later gets attacked by Maul on Tatooine it does seem to be directly related to the Sith.

I do believe that these two were the only ones who felt it. The script hints at Yoda knowing something but it may just be him being a wise old sage. Emphasis mine:

QUI-GON: ...my only conclusion can be that it was a Sith Lord.

MACE WINDU: A Sith Lord?!?

KI-ADI : Impossible! The Sith have been extinct for a millennium.

YODA: The very Republic is threatened, if involved the Sith are.

MACE WINDU: I do not believe they could have returned without us knowing.

YODA: Hard to see, the dark side is. Discover who this assassin is, we must.

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