Just finished reading The Life and Legend of Obi-Wan Kenobi, and I have a lot of feels.
Mainly, more than ever, I think Disney’s biggest mistake was not having Anakin involved in the sequels. He was the chosen one!
I’ll just leave my favorite part here while I sit in the corner to cry.
(All images are taken from the Internet and are not owned by me).
Vader grabbed the Emperor and lifted him off his feet. The deadly blue lightning fell away from Luke and arced back from the Emperor's fingertips and crashed down upon the Sith Lords. Vader carried the Emperor across the throne room and hurled him down into the elevator shaft. A moment later, the Emperor exploded in a great release of dark energy.
Vader collapsed near the edge of the elevator shaft. Luke went to his side and eased his armored body to the floor. A thin, wheezing noise hissed from the ventilator on Vader's mask. His breathing apparatus was damaged.
Had Obi-Wan's spirit not witnessed Vader's action, he never would have believed it. Vader, the same mon-ster that Obi-Wan had left to die on Mustafar, had sacrificed himself to save his son. And suddenly Obi-Wan realized where he had failed. For unlike Luke, Obi-Wan had not only believed that Anakin was completely consumed by the dark side, but had actually refused to believe that any goodness could have remained within Vader. And by refusing to allow that possibility, Obi-Wan had condemned not only his former friend but his own capacity for hope.
Fortunately, Luke's unwavering faith in his father's innate goodness had proved to be a stronger force than the power of the dark side.
Obi-Wan recalled what Qui-Gon Jinn's spirit had told him so long ago, when he said that Obi-Wan was not ready, and that he failed to understand. For so many years, Obi-Wan had thought Qui-Gon meant that he wasn't ready to comprehend details about Anakin's conversion to the dark side. But now, he finally understood his Master's words.
I wasn't ready to forgive Anakin. And he won't be entirely free unless I do.
Unfortunately, just as Obi-Wan realized that Anakin Skywalker lived, he also knew that Anakin would not live much longer. As Luke hauled his dying father toward a shuttle, Obi-Wan's spirit shifted his own psyche to another realm. And he waited.
After Anakin died in his son's arms, Obi-Wan called out into the void, "Anakin."
A moment later, Obi-Wan heard a familiar voice return from the darkness. "Obi-Wan? Master, I'm so sorry. So very, very -"
"Anakin, listen carefully," Obi-Wan interrupted. "You are in the netherworld of the Force, but if you ever wish to revisit corporeal space, then I still have one thing left to teach you. A way to become one with the Force. If you choose this path to immortality, then you must listen now, before your consciousness fades."
Obi-Wan sensed confusion and remorse in Anakin's psyche, then Anakin answered, "But Master . . . why me? "
"Because you ended the horror, Anakin," Obi-Wan said. "Because you fulfilled the prophecy. Because you were . . . and are . . . the Chosen One."
But Obi-Wan knew in his heart that those were not the only reasons. He added, "Because I was wrong about you. And because I am your friend."
Anakin answered quietly, "Thank you, Master."
Luke Skywalker managed to haul his father's body into an Imperial shuttle and escaped the Death Star before his Rebel Alliance allies destroyed the battle sta-tion. After landing on the forest moon, he gathered deadwood to build a funeral pyre to cremate Anakin's armored remains. As he watched the flames rise into the night sky, he wished he had somehow been able to help his father sooner.
When the pyre burned no more, Luke rejoined his friends. The Rebels were having a victory celebration with their new allies, the diminutive fur-covered Ewoks, at the Ewoks' treetop village. Shortly after Luke arrived, he looked away from his jubilant friends to see the spec-tral, luminescent forms of Obi-Wan and Yoda appear nearby, against the darkness of the forest canopy. A moment later, a third spirit appeared beside the others. It was Anakin Skywalker.