You may be wondering whether Obi-Wan Kenobi knew if Anakin Skywalker survived their duel on Mustafar.
Following the fight, Obi-Wan took Anakin’s lightsaber and left him to die. So did he realize the man terrorizing the galaxy and hunting down the remaining Jedi was his old apprentice?
Obi-Wan discovered Darth Vader was Anakin when the Inquisitor Reva revealed it to him in the miniseries Obi-Wan Kenobi.
Before this, he believed Anakin died following their duel on Mustafar, and it shocked him that his former Padawan survived the confrontation.
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How Did Obi-Wan Find Out Darth Vader Was Anakin?
When Darth Sidious rechristened Anakin Skywalker as Darth Vader, he used it as an opportunity to relay Order 66 to his clone troopers. This order forced the troopers, without hesitation, to kill all Jedi accused of treason.
Jedi like Obi-Wan Kenobi and Yoda were able to survive their attacks. Obi-Wan used the Force to break his fall while Yoda beheaded the two clone troopers seeking to kill him.
Order 66 initially killed most Jedi fighting on the battlefields alongside their clone troopers. To kill the rest of the Jedi Order, Sidious ordered Anakin and the 501st Legion of clone troopers into the Jedi Temple. This resulted in the mass slaughter of Jedi younglings.
And to help ensure no other Jedi would survive the attack, they calibrated a beacon ordering remaining Jedi back to the Temple, claiming the war ended.
Bail Organa met with and informed Obi-Wan and Yoda of this unfortunate event, prompting the duo to return to the Temple.
Anakin Consumed By Vader
Obi-Wan and Yoda managed to kill the rest of the Legion, only to discover the deceased younglings. Knowing only a Jedi who led the clone troopers during the war could be responsible for such an act, Obi-Wan sought to learn the truth against Yoda’s warnings.
Here, a hologram showed Anakin succumbing to the Sith as Darth Sidious’ apprentice, and being rechristened as Darth Vader. Obi-Wan wished to go after Emperor Palpatine, but Yoda insisted otherwise, stating he must go after Vader.
While Obi-Wan stressed he could not kill Anakin, claiming his former apprentice was like a brother, Yoda stated the following: “The boy you trained, gone he is, consumed by Darth Vader.”
When Did Obi-Wan Find Out Darth Vader Was Still Alive?
After he defeated Anakin on Mustafar, Obi-Wan went into exile believing Anakin would die from his injuries.
However, ten years following Order 66, Third Sister, better known as Reva, grew obsessed with finding and killing Obi-Wan, something the Grand Inquisitor disapproved of.
Obi-Wan, who had since abandoned the Force, spent the last decade watching over Luke Skywalker on Tatooine under the name Ben Kenobi.
Meanwhile, Reva’s bounty hunters kidnapped Leia Organa, prompting her adopted father, Bail Organa to reach out to Obi-Wan for help.
Reluctantly, Kenobi agreed, ultimately locating and rescuing Leia. Reva placed a bounty on Kenobi when she learned of his location.
This placed a target on Kenobi’s back, prompting Leia to stop trusting him until he saved her from falling to her death via the Force.
In the chaos, Reva caught up and revealed to Kenobi that his former apprentice was still alive.
Does Obi-Wan Call Darth Vader Anakin?
During the climax of Revenge of the Sith, we are treated to two epic duels.
One involved Yoda confronting Emperor Palpatine, who he conveniently called Darth Sidious. The second duel involved Darth Vader and Obi-Wan Kenobi.
When you watch the duel, Obi-Wan twice referred to Vader as Anakin. He already knew about Anakin’s fall to Darth Vader thanks to what he witnessed at the Jedi Temple via hologram.
However, at this point, it is important to distinguish between Anakin and Darth Vader.
While they are the same person, Anakin Skywalker was a respected Jedi Knight while Darth Vader was a power hungry Sith Lord.
Vader wielded the dark side of the Force, and he used it to help hunt down the remaining Jedi and to wreak havoc throughout the galaxy.
This is why, toward the end of Return of the Jedi, Anakin was able to return as a Force Ghost. Before he ultimately died from the injuries Emperor Palpatine’s Force lightning caused, he returned to the light side, shedding his Darth Vader moniker.
Does Darth Vader Know He Is Anakin Skywalker?
Much like we need to distinguish Vader from Anakin Skywalker, we also need to distinguish Obi-Wan Kenobi from Ben Kenobi.
They are the same person, but as we saw in Obi-Wan Kenobi, Ben Kenobi is broken, weakened, and aging prematurely during his exile on Tatooine.
However, in A New Hope, Ben Kenobi still remembers he is Obi-Wan Kenobi when Luke inquires about him.
The same thing held true for Vader, although he rarely acknowledged it, as seen in the pre-climactic scene in Return of the Jedi.
When Luke stated he accepted the fact Vader was once Anakin Skywalker, Vader turned and forcibly replied the name no longer has meaning.
This was one of many instances where Vader remembered who he was, and that there was still good in him. Something Padmè Amidala insisted to Obi-Wan before her death in Revenge of the Sith.
Vader’s Kashyyyk Campaign
The first major incident that reveals Vader knew he was Anakin occurred in Kashyyyk. In Star Wars Legends, Vader led a stormtrooper attack on Kashyyyk’s largest city after the Empire received word that surviving Jedi ventured to this planet.
The surviving Jedi knew Yoda, who survived Order 66, was last stationed on Kashyyyk, and they hoped to gather on the planet.
While the surviving Jedi remained hidden, Vader and his stormtroopers killed thousands of Wookiee warriors in a show of force and an attempt to lure the Jedi from their hiding places. The Jedi took the bait, and Vader struck down all but one.
During the Battle of Kashyyyk, Vader dueled this unnamed Jedi Master in a manner reminiscent of his duel with Kenobi.
The Jedi Master even overpowered Vader, until the Sith Lord became filled with rage and used the Force to severely injure him.
As the Jedi Master lay dying, Vader revealed his former identity. After promising the mortally wounded Jedi that Kashyyyk would pay for harboring them, he ordered an all-out assault on the planet’s major cities.
Finding Ahsoka’s Lightsaber
The final scene of The Clone Wars also implies that Vader knew he was Anakin Skywalker.
During this scene, he discovered Ahsoka’s lightsaber on the unnamed moon she and the clone troopers crash landed on prior to Order 66.
With the moon flooded with imperial stormtroopers and snowtroopers, Vader visited the moon and uncovered a lightsaber buried in the snow. While this scene contained neither monologue nor dialogue, Vader’s body language tells us a lot.
The first giveaway involved Vader standing over the crash site. When you watch the scene, you will notice that he takes his time here, showing that he realizes this was indeed Ahsoka’s aircraft.
When he slowly knelt to pick up Ahsoka’s lightsaber, you can almost feel Vader’s emotions, although he did a good job hiding them. Vader ignited the blade, as though wanting to know for sure that it belonged to his old Padawan.
He also looked into the distance and saw a morai, an owl whose presence is implied to be connected with Ahsoka in Star Wars Rebels. Here, we see Vader’s eyes almost shimmering behind his helmet, implying that Anakin may still be inside, but not at the moment.
Snapping back into his Sith Lord status, Vader quickly turned off the lightsaber before heading back to his craft. This final scene to The Clone Wars symbolized the end of his relationship with Ahsoka. The crash site also implied that Vader could confirm Ahsoka did not survive Order 66.
Conclusion
Obi-Wan Kenobi knows Darth Vader is Anakin Skywalker, both in Revenge of the Sith and before the Original Trilogy. He knew this given Reva’s statements in the miniseries Obi-Wan Kenobi.
Meanwhile, Darth Vader also knew he was Anakin Skywalker because of his statements to the unnamed Jedi Master during his Kashyyyk Campaign. Vader also implied he knew of his old identity given his body language when he found Ahsoka’s old lightsaber.