Obi-Wan spends more time at Anakin’s side than almost anyone in the Order. He’s there for the missions, the debriefs, the quiet moments in between—close enough to notice the little things Anakin thinks he’s hiding.
And throughout The Clone Wars, we get more than a few moments that strongly suggest Obi-Wan knew about Anakin and Padmé’s relationship. But he stayed quiet. If anything, he acted like he was choosing not to see it.
So why? Why didn’t Obi-Wan report it to the Council—especially when, at the end of the day, Anakin was breaking Jedi rules?
Obi-Wan Stayed Silent Because Padmé Made Anakin Happy
One of the clearest reasons Obi-Wan didn’t expose Anakin and Padmé is simple: he believed Padmé was one of the only things that genuinely made Anakin happy.
This idea was written for Episode III and survives in a cut conversation between Obi-Wan and Padmé. In that exchange, Obi-Wan admits he isn’t blind—he’s been choosing to stay quiet for their sake. He makes it clear he knows what’s going on, and that he “pretends” not to know because it keeps Anakin steady, and because Padmé brings out a side of Anakin Obi-Wan doesn’t want to destroy.
The film version doesn’t include that scene, but the key moment still exists in the Revenge of the Sith novelization. That’s where Obi-Wan spells it out directly—why he stayed silent, why no one spoke about it, and why he let it go on for as long as he did.
Here’s the full exchange from the novelization:
“Senator–Padmé. Please.” He gazed into her eyes with nothing on his face but compassion and fatigued anxiety. “I am not blind, Padmé. Though I have tried to be, for Anakin’s sake. And for yours.”
“What do you mean?”
“Neither of you is very good at hiding feelings, either.”
“Obi-Wan–”
“Anakin has loved you since the day you met, in that horrible junk shop on Tatooine. He’s never even tried to hide it, though we do not speak of it. We . . . pretend that I don’t know. And I was happy to, because it made him happy. You made him happy, when nothing else ever truly could.” He sighed, his brows drawing together. “And you, Padmé, skilled as you are on the Senate floor, cannot hide the light that comes to your eyes when anyone so much as mentions his name.”
Obi-Wan Thought Anakin Needed to Overcome It
The Attack of the Clones novelization makes it clear that Obi-Wan doesn’t start Episode II in “Anakin and Padmé are a problem” mode. His mind is on the bigger threat—Padmé is being targeted, someone is moving pieces in the dark, and Obi-Wan is trying to follow whatever leads he can find. That’s why, even when Anakin’s eagerness to take the assignment sets off warning bells, Obi-Wan still lets the mission go forward. He expects to be too busy chasing the investigation to babysit what he reads as a young Jedi getting emotionally attached again.
But when the situation starts looking more serious, Obi-Wan actually does the Jedi thing and brings it up to Mace Windu. He admits what the Council already suspected: Anakin’s attachment to Padmé didn’t disappear—it’s been there since he was a kid, and now it’s turning into confusion and distraction.
Mace’s response matters because it shows where Obi-Wan’s “hands-off” approach really comes from. The Council has already weighed Obi-Wan’s concerns, and they aren’t changing the decision. Obi-Wan is basically told: you’ve said your piece—now have faith that Anakin will choose the right path.
And Obi-Wan takes that to heart. Instead of treating Anakin’s feelings as something he can solve by force, he starts seeing it as a personal trial Anakin has to pass. Not a scandal to expose, not a relationship to end, but a test of emotional control that Anakin has to overcome if he’s ever going to become the Jedi everyone keeps claiming he’s meant to be.
