A New Hope subtly revealed Obi-Wan Kenobi’s true feelings about the Clone Wars 25 years before the beginning of the war was depicted in Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones—and they weren’t favorable. The Clone Wars have become one of the most crucial points in the Star Wars timeline, but before Attack of the Clones, Star Wars movies and TV shows had only name-dropped this major event. Specifically, Obi-Wan told Luke that he and Luke’s father had fought in the Clone Wars, but little else was disclosed at that time.

Attack of the Clones, Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith, and Star Wars: The Clone Wars have since revealed how gruesome and ultimately futile this war was. In addition to the loss of life and the fact that this was all a ploy for Palpatine to obtain power, the Clone Wars saw the Jedi betraying their own values by becoming soldiers and getting involved in politics. Based on one subtle moment in A New Hope, Obi-Wan was well aware of these issues and may have even regretted his involvement in the war.

Obi-Wan Referred To The Clone Wars As A “Damn Fool Idealistic Crusade”

Obi-Wan’s Conversation With Luke Heavily Implies This Description Is Regarding The War

When Obi-Wan Kenobi was explaining to Luke why Uncle Owen hadn’t wanted Luke around Obi-Wan in A New Hope, he told Luke that Owen “didn’t hold with your father’s ideals.” What precisely this refers to is a bit unclear—especially knowing all we now know about Anakin Skywalker—but what follows is perhaps even more interesting. Obi-Wan explains that Owen was worried Luke would go with Obi-Wan “on some damn fool idealistic crusade, like your father did.” This is almost certainly in reference to the Clone Wars.

Particularly the notion of a crusade suggests this is regarding the Clone Wars, as that type of language is linked to knights (and therefore is a reference to Jedi Knights). What is especially of note about this conversation and description is that Obi-Wan does not speak about the Clone Wars at all favorably. Rather, Obi-Wan seems almost to lament all that transpired in the Clone Wars, particularly given he calls it a “damn fool idealistic crusade,” as though it was flawed and pointless from the very beginning.

As we now know that the Clone Wars were indeed orchestrated by Palpatine, it makes sense that Obi-Wan would describe the war in this way. The notion that it was idealistic is particularly interesting, though, as the ideals in question aren’t identified. Perhaps it was the ideals of the Jedi, who believed they could bring an end to the war, or perhaps this was regarding the ideals of the Republic. The latter seems less likely, considering Obi-Wan was consistently an ardent defender of the Republic.

Obi-Wan Doesn’t Look Back On That Era With Any Pride

It Certainly Seems As Though Obi-Wan Laments That Period

This description of the Clone Wars is particularly of interest given the ways it contrasts Obi-Wan’s description of Anakin. Obi-Wan describes Anakin as “a cunning warrior” to Luke, which suggests that he has pride in Anakin. This is somewhat surprising, because Obi-Wan knows what Anakin ultimately became, but it does suggest that, while Obi-Wan may look back on the Clone Wars and see it as foolish and detrimentally idealistic, he remains proud of Anakin’s valor and bravery throughout that time.

Arguably, this could be Obi-Wan talking Anakin up to Luke because he wanted him to believe the positive things about his father. This would align with Obi-Wan’s efforts to conceal the truth about Darth Vader from Luke. However, when he says this about Anakin, he does sound nostalgic, suggesting he really meant it.

Obi-Wan Would Have Plenty Of Reason To Regret The War—And He’s Right

The Jedi Aren’t The Bad Guys By Any Stretch, But They Made Many Mistakes

However unpopular this ᴀssertion may be, Obi-Wan would have plenty of cause to regret his involvement in the Clone Wars. On the one hand, this could be because of all that he lost due to this war. After all, with the Clone Wars being orchestrated by Palpatine and the clones themselves being used to carry out Order 66, the war itself is in many ways responsible for the fall of the Jedi, the end of the Republic, and the death of almost everyone Obi-Wan knew and loved (and a fate worse than death for Anakin).

Realistically, though, the Clone Wars also represents one of the Jedi’s worst mistakes in Star Wars. Their involvement in the war was entirely contrary to the Jedi way, as it meant aligning themselves with politicians and required them to become soldiers when they were always meant to be peacekeepers. While that doesn’t mean the Jedi are evil, it does mean their poor judgment in this matter inadvertently contributed to their terrible fate, and that alone is enough to cause Obi-Wan to feel regret.

It would be interesting to hear directly from Obi-Wan how he felt about the Clone Wars, and this feels like a bit of a missed opportunity in Obi-Wan Kenobi. There were certainly moments that hinted at this regret, such as when he sees the clone trooper asking for money on the streets, but it wasn’t as overt as I would have liked. Nevertheless, this line from A New Hope does suggest Obi-Wan Kenobi ultimately grew to regret the Clone Wars and his role in the war.