Obi-Wan Kenobi is here, and with it comes a relatively unexpected plot. The title character, played by Ewan McGregor, is sent on a dramatic quest to rescue the daughter of Anakin Skywalker. Fans know that this is none other than Princess Leia, played brilliantly by Vivian Lyra Blair as the young actress embodies the spirit of the late Carrie Fisher.
After the events of this series, Star Wars fans know that Leia Organa goes on to become a senator, and leader of the Rebellion. She fights the Empire alongside Han Solo, Luke Skywalker, Chewbacca, and more, as well as finding her true familial roots in Return of the Jedi. A few years after the conclusion of the original trilogy, Leia and Han have a child together: Ben Solo, the character that would go on to turn to the dark side and become Kylo Ren in the sequel trilogy.
Ben Solo, whose true name was revealed by his father during the tragic and iconic scene in The Force Awakens, shares a name (in a way) with Obi-Wan, as the latter went by Ben while on Tatooine, where he hid from the grasp of the Empire and his old apprentice. While many simply assumed that Leia named her son after the Jedi that fought with her father during the Clone Wars, this new Star Wars shows signs that she actually chose to honor the man who saved her from kidnapping all those years ago, when she was just a young girl.
In A New Hope, Leia gives her iconic speech to Obi-Wan where she, in a way, introduces herself and explains how she knows of Kenobi’s existence. This included the reference to the Clone Wars, where the princess mentions that Kenobi knew her father. Until recently, it was believed that Leia mentioned this because she had never met Obi-Wan before, and that this was the first time she was contacting him. However, as Obi-Wan Kenobi shows and highlights, the two actually met and had a strong bond years before this message was sent.
Since the premiere of the series at Star Wars Celebration Anaheim last month, where fans were shown the first two episodes a few hours prior to its streaming debut, some audience members have branded the decision to have Obi-Wan and Leia meet as canon-breaking and not in line with the events of the original three films. However, while it certainly may stretch canon (an idea that George Lucas himself was a big proponent of when he ran Lucasfilm), Ewan McGregor’s character never tells Leia that he is Obi-Wan. This fact might not only escape the wrath of fans, but also explain why Ben Solo was named the way he was.
Leia knows the mysterious Jedi only as Ben, and as fans know that the duo both survive this series, it stands to reason that Leia remembered and held on to the memories of the man who saved her when she was a child. Thematically and emotionally speaking, it would make perfect sense that Leia would name her son Ben.
Star Wars: A New Hope also holds a particularly important detail for this theory. When Luke Skywalker tells Leia that it was Ben Kenobi who came to rescue her and answered the message, the Princess responds shocked and stunned before quickly moving on in order to escape her cell. While it may seem like a throwaway moment that means nothing in the grand context of the galaxy, the events of Obi-Wan Kenobi thus far change the way this scene can be perceived. With Leia knowing Ben as the one who saved her all those years ago, this moment now seems to convey her realization that Ben and Obi-Wan are indeed the same person, and that the person she contacted for help was one that she had known all along.
Leia is in grave danger in this series and, even though she has been freed from her captors a second time, looks like she's not out of the woods yet, as Reva has put a tracker on the ship that carried her away. Her time in the crossfire of a brutal battle between the Inquisitors and Vader and Obi-Wan isn’t over quite yet. Again, viewers know that Leia lives beyond this point, as the twin of Luke only passed away in The Rise of Skywalker, years after the series in canon
As the hero of the series, Obi-Wan will undoubtedly be the one to return her home safely to Alderaan, where she will go on to govern and become a senator (and eventually be captured again by Darth Vader, setting off the plot of the very first Star Wars film). Even as she might not know until later that Obi-Wan and Ben are the same person, it’s clear from this new series that the Jedi put his life on the line to save her and protect her, as well as risked the safety of Luke Skywalker, who he personally was assigned to protect. Leia might not know all the secrets of this mysterious figure, but she knows enough to name her son after him, and this series has certainly given a lot of support to this theory.