Owen Lars appreciators this post is for you.

One of the few things I really liked about Kenobi was the time to shine it gave Owen and Beru Lars. I know that scene with the inquisitor was absolutely ridiculous in every way possible but it was so in character for those two that frankly I didn’t even care like the whole show is non-canon to me anyway.

It shows the people Luke gets it from, and why. And it gives me all the feelings, especially because I know he probably only realised all of this once they were already dead and he couldn’t make it up with Owen anymore.

Luke deciding to die with his training unfinished and face Vader head on is the most Owen Lars move he could have ever made. He’s a simple man - not stupid, just has a simple worldview - if you’re one of his, you’re his and he’ll go to the ends of the earth (or galaxy) for you. (Yes, I was very affected by “He IS my own.”)

He is the son of OWEN LARS. The man who faced down an inquisitor with a fucking farming pole so Luke could get away. Facing up to an enemy you know you can’t possibly defeat, assuming you’ll die? In the hopes of protecting those you love? Lars family shit.

Owen is stubborn and loyal and despite his rough exterior he’s kind to his enemies. The way Kenobi acted surprised that Owen would defend him, that to me is a big part of Luke’s worldview. Owen hates Obi-Wan’s guts but he won’t sell him out to the Empire to be killed. Luke learned kindness and forgiveness from Beru, and he learned respect, loyalty and mercy from Owen.

Luke grew up on the biggest galactic shithole in all of Star Wars, and he came out of it being the kindest beacon of hope for the Galaxy and restarted the Jedi Order that had failed Anakin. And he learned it from his aunt and uncle, the parents that did their goddamn best to raise their son. He learned it from Biggs Darklighter, his childhood best friend with revolutionary fervour who he buried before he was even out of his teen years. He learned it from the stubbornness of a group of people that settled and farmed in a stupidly harsh environment where they were constantly in danger of being sold into slavery or killed by sand people.

Luke may have inherited Anakin’s midichlorians, but what made him Luke was his upbringing. He’s Owen and Beru Lars’ son. And they raised him well.

Was anyone else disappointed as a kid after watching the prequels? (But not for the reason you think. Read further.)

The answer, broadly, is yes, I know. But not for the reason you’re thinking. Just for one, hyper-specific reason that has little to do with the quality of the films.

Owen and Anakin weren’t actually brothers. Owen and Anakin met like… once. ‘Too much like his father’ the fuck you mean Mr. Lars, the man you met ONCE?

You mean to tell me we were robbed of what had the potential to be the funniest sibling dynamic in ALL of Star Wars? Angry old dirt farmer vs the Chosen One/Dark Lord of the Sith? Objectively hilarious. The implication (in the og film and book) that Anakin just fucked off one day to become a jedi starpilot, leaving Owen at home thinking “What a fucking nob.”? Peak comedy.

Can you imagine if these two were actually siblings? Owen watching the look in Luke’s eyes develop into the wild, idealistic look that cost him his brother. Telling Luke his father was a drug smuggler on some old cruiser because that was an easier story for Owen to tell than the reality of it, and after a while Owen himself starts half believing it. Despising Obi-Wan for both taking his brother from him, and then in his eyes causing him to become a monster. The tragedy of Vader ordering the death of his brother.

Say what you want about the brotherhood between Obi-Wan and Anakin, it’s a brilliant dynamic. But the idea of Anakin and Owen coming from the exact same nowhere, same family, same upbringing and everything… it hits me in the feels. Because they represent two polar opposites that ended up with a sort of reverse parallel fate.

Anakin wanted adventure in the stars and he got it, at the price of everyone he loved and never getting to see his kids. Owen wanted a simple life minding his farming and he got it, at the price of dying without ever seeing the stars and becoming alienated from his son. If these two men had been brothers, the TEARS THAT WOULD HAVE COME OUT OF MY EYES-

It would have humanised Owen to the audience long before Kenobi (which I do still basically consider non-canon even though it was a fun ride) did him the - admittedly a little bit over-the-top/ridiculous - justice he deserved. There have always been appreciators of Owen Lars but a lot of people see him as just a bastard. Give him some real PAIN behind that exterior. Give him a VERY good reason, an even better reason than the one in canon, for being the way he is.

Plus, the idea of Owen partially having the force is objectively the funniest concept ever (although I’d still go for the whole “Anakin had no father.” thing and have Owen be normal).

Sorry for the incoherency of my ramblings, I love Owen Lars.