New Star Wars Book ‘Brotherhood’ Is Set To Expand Upon Iconic ‘Revenge Of The Sith’ Line

There is a new Star Wars novel on the horizon by author Mike Chen. Brotherhood centers around Anakin and Obi-Wan during the early years of the Clone Wars and expands on how their relationship evolved from Padawan and master to brothers. This is not Chen’s first foray into the galaxy far, far away. He was also involved in the 2020 book From A Certain Point Of View: The Empire Strikes Back, an anthology of stories by many authors detailing and re-imagining the stories from the original trilogy (or Empire Strikes Back in this particular volume), told through the eyes of the background characters.

Brotherhood seeks to show the bond between Anakin and Obi-Wan during the Clone Wars and how the two moved beyond apprentice and master to colleagues, and then to brothers as the threat of war raged around them. This book will demonstrate what led up to Obi-Wan’s anguished “You were my brother” line at the end of Revenge of the Sith. The outburst is an expression of Obi-Wan's feelings boiling over as a result of their strong bond breaking apart. We will be able to see how this connection develops over the time they have spent together. The synopsis of the book is as followed:

"Once a Padawan to Obi-Wan, Anakin now finds himself on equal–but uncertain–footing with the man who raised him. The lingering friction between them increases the danger for everyone around them. The two knights must learn a new way to work together—and they must learn quickly, to save Cato Neimoidia and its people from the fires of war. To overcome the threat they face they must grow beyond master and apprentice. They must stand together as brothers."

RELATED: These Two Characters Will Have The Rematch Of The Century In 'Kenobi'

The relationship between Anakin and Obi-Wan had grown and changed throughout the prequel trilogy, the Clone Wars animated series, and finally A New Hope. Obi-Wan first met Anakin when his master Qui-Gon Jinn rescued Anakin from slavery on Tatooine in The Phantom Menace. It is fair to say Obi-Wan was not too happy with his master’s decision. Note his word choice asking if they had picked up “another pathetic life form?” Obi-Wan voiced his disapproval at his master again for going against the Jedi Council’s wishes and decided to train the boy anyway. As fate would have it, Qui-Gon perished in the duel against Darth Maul. This softened Obi-Wan’s attitude toward the young Skywalker, and he would decide to train him in his master’s stead.

By the time Attack of the Clones rolled around, Anakin was now older and well on his way to becoming a Jedi. We could see how the dynamic between the two had changed. While Obi-Wan was still sometimes exasperated by his young Padawan learner, there was a clear bond between the two. From what we could see and hear, they seemed to operate quite well together most of the time to get the job done. It was also clear that Anakin looked up to and respected Obi-Wan. On a few occasions, he would heed Obi-Wan’s warnings and opted not to act impulsively. Other times, he would jump into action without thinking, causing headaches for his master.

The next time we saw these two chronologically in the Star Wars history was in the fantastic Clone Wars animated series. We would see Anakin training his own Padawan learner Ahsoka Tano. At this point, the relationship between Anakin and Obi-Wan had blossomed from mere colleagues to family. They had gotten so close that the Jedi Council could not tell Anakin of the plan for Obi-Wan to fake his death in order to infiltrate of group of bounty hunters. They felt that it would not believable if Anakin was not emotionally devastated over his former master’s passing. The Clone Wars solidified their bond, and it was amazing to see the banters and interactions between the two played out on screen.

In Revenge of the Sith, we mostly saw Obi-Wan’s side of things as Anakin fell to the Dark Side. We could feel his emotional pain at the discovery. He was quite visibly upset during their duel on Mustafar. He could not even bring himself to deliver the finishing blow and kill Anakin, opting to leave him to his fate instead. It was genuinely heart wrenching to hear Obi-Wan screamed “You were my brother, Anakin! I loved you.”

The last meeting between these two was in A New Hope. Despite their brief encounter, we could see that a rift had formed between them. This was a hero dispassionately squaring off against a villain. Now that the revelation of Darth Vader’s identity as Anakin Skywalker in Empire Strikes Back was no longer a big twist like it was when the movie first came out in 1980, and everyone had already seen the prequel trilogy and the Clone Wars, this scene hit you differently. We had all seen how close they once were. After all they went through together, they now were almost strangers. The bond had been utterly destroyed back on the lava planet of Mustafar.

It certainly sounds like Brotherhood will bring even more depth to what we have seen between Anakin and Obi-Wan on screen. We will be able to view their inner thoughts, and better understand what was going on underneath the surface. I recommend having tissues handy after you go back to watch Revenge of the Sith after having read the book. There will be tears!

Chen’s Brotherhood hits the shelves on May 10, 2022, and is available for pre-order now.

Disclosure: When you purchase something from the retail links that Culture Slate lists, we may earn a small commission on any sales that are made.

READ NEXT: The True Greatest Tragedy Of Darth Vader Revealed

Written By Ross McKechnie

Source(s): Screen Rant

Syndicated From Culture Slate

Join The Team