Obi-Wan and Anakin 4

Obi-Wan and Anakin 4 is the fourth, penultimate issue of the canon comic book miniseries Star Wars: Obi-Wan and Anakin. The issue was written by Charles Soule, illustrated by Marco Checchetto, and published on April 20, 2016 by Marvel Comics.

Publisher's summary[]

Obi-wan [sic] and Anakin are trapped on opposite sides of a war…and if they're not careful, they're going to get caught in the crossfire! Plus…why does Anakin want to leave the order?

Plot summary[]

OBI-WAN AND ANAKIN
Part IV

Young Anakin Skywalker has become unsure of his place
within the Jedi Order despite Obi-Wan Kenobi's efforts to
get him to stay.

When Anakin and Obi-Wan receive a distress call
summoning them to the ruined world Carnelion IV, the
two are caught up in a battle between two warring
factions of the planet's primitive residents. When the
fighting ends, three native survivors strike a truce in
order that they might travel with the Jedi to safety.

During the ensuing airship journey, Anakin is befriended
by Kolara. She and Mother Pran, her companion, note
Anakin's affinity with technology. Seeing a possible path
to victory in their endless war, they abduct the young
Jedi, separating the Padawan from his master. Mother
Pran and Kolara take Anakin and escape the airship,
pausing only to shoot it out of the sky--with Obi-Wan still
aboard....

Another rough landing[]

After Mother Pran blasts the airbag of the airship carrying Jedi Knight Obi-Wan Kenobi and Grecker, Kolara questions her leader's action. Mother Pran responds that they had to stop Kenobi and Grecker from following them after kidnapping Jedi Padawan Anakin Skywalker. Meanwhile, Kenobi and Grecker escape their wrecked airship and land in the ruins of an abandoned city in the Celadon Sea.

Kenobi manages to dissuade the Fishers from devouring him and Grecker by flashing his lightsaber at them. Grecker tells Kenobi that Pran and Kolara took Anakin and warns that he can't trust the Open "animals." Kenobi asks where the Open took Anakin. Grecker speculates that they are taking Anakin to one of their mountain fortresses.

Kenobi reassures Grecker that they don't need to find Anakin because he has the coordinates of the distress signal. When Grecker points out that Anakin is still a child, Kenobi disagrees and invites Grecker to accompany him. Grecker agrees to come along but outfits himself and Kenobi with some improvised masks, which prevent the poisoned air from turning them into mutated Fishers. Grecker denies that the Closed did not start the Open-Closed war.

Prisoner of the Open[]

Meanwhile, Mother Pran flies her glider to the Fortress-Home of the Open, a hidden mountain base with harbors for airships. Pran introduces Anakin as a Skygift and recounts how Anakin Skywalker repaired a droid brain, which she uses to activate a Mech walker. Pran tells her followers and a gagged Anakin that he saved them all.

Anakin's other "mentor"[]

In a flashback scene at the Office of the Supreme Chancellor on Coruscant, Anakin and Supreme Chancellor Palpatine discuss their adventure in the Coruscant Underworld which exposed Senator Colandrus' corrupt dealings. Palpatine is concerned that an open attempt to remove him from office could be dangerous and apologizes for getting Anakin involved in a Galactic Senate matter.

Anakin suggests sending the Jedi Order but the Chancellor responds that the Jedi answer to the Senate and that asking them to arrest a senator would be a serious matter. He says that issuing such orders would turn him into a dictator. When Anakin asks who can take out Colandrus, Palpatine responds that is a question that keeps him awake at night. He tells Anakin to keep this matter a secret from his Jedi Masters.

When Palpatine asks if Anakin is happy in the Jedi Temple, Anakin responds that training to become a Jedi is all that he ever wanted to be. Palpatine thanks Anakin for his services and tells him that there will always be a place for him once he has completed his training. Palpatine says he could always utilize an extraordinary young man like Anakin.

Anakin's dilemma[]

Back at the Jedi Temple, Anakin tells Kenobi that he wishes to step away from his Jedi training. Kenobi warns that this is an extremely serious decision which cannot be taken lightly. Skywalker responds that he knows about serious decisions and recounts how Master Qui-Gon Jinn took him away from his mother when he was just nine years old.

While Qui-Gon warned that Jedi training would be difficult, Skywalker recalls that all he saw was a magic man with a "sword made out of light" and a starship. Anakin adds that he chose becoming a Jedi over a life of slavery. Anakin accepts that his training is not complete but says that he feels the galaxy calling out to him. Anakin says that he can always come back. Kenobi accepts his Padawan's words and says very well before taking his lightsaber.

Source of the signal[]

In the present, Kenobi and Grecker reach the source of the signal amidst the ruins of Celadon City. Kenobi is perplexed at being unable to trace the signal. Grecker does not know who sent it and says that everything down here is dead. He blames the Open for destroying their world and driving them into the mountains.

Kenobi asks about Grecker's sudden willingness to work with Mother Pran the moment that he heard that Kenobi was looking for a signal sent from the wastes. Kenobi questions Grecker's claim that the planet Carnelion IV is dead, pointing to the kites. Just then, the two are attacked by a Carnelian dragon. Kenobi draws his blade but is spotted by a hidden figure.

Under the pretext of calling for help, Grecker fires a flare gun but this only draws the attention of more dragons. Just then, a cloaked figure opens a door and ushers Grecker to safety. Grecker thanks the cloaked figure, who tells him to get inside. The cloaked figure wants to bring Kenobi inside but Grecker demands that the figure close the door at gunpoint.

The cloaked figure instead shoots Grecker in the chest. When Kenobi expresses shock, the cloaked figures responds that she saved his life. She explains that Grecker would have left him to the beasts and leads the Jedi into her fortress museum, which is filled with tables, chairs, crates, old technology, statues, and a starship. After asking Kenobi's name, she identifies herself as Sera.

Sera has devoted her life to salvaging remnants from the dead lands in order to sow the seeds for a new future. Kenobi realizes that Sera was the one who sent out the kites. She responds that she sent them out in order to inspire the young people to turn from the warlike ways of the older generation. Sera confirms that she sent the signal and that she has devoted her life to scavenging old technology and records of lightsaber wielding warriors.

Sera believes that the Jedi can help to reunify the Open and Closed. Kenobi tells Sera that he is hopeful because members of the Closed and Open worked together to travel here. However, Sera points out that the Open and Closed both want her dead because they wish to forget the "old time." She explains that the bits of art that she sends up remind the leaders of the two factions of everything they lost. She believes that it is too late for the Open and Closed leaders.

Mustering the Open[]

Meanwhile at the Fortress Home of the Open, Mother Pran tries to convince Anakin to reveal the location of the distress signal by claiming that Grecker was plotting against Master Kenobi to kill him. She thanks Anakin for helping them to activate the Mechs and claims they will save Kenobi. However, Anakin realizes that she is lying but concedes that Grecker was also lying.

Wanting to save his master, Anakin tells them the distress signal was located another half day's travel past where the Fishers attacked on that same heading. However, Pran gags him and tells Anakin that he is too valuable to risk. She leaves Kolara and the other youths to guard a bound Anakin and promises they will return soon. As Mother Pran leads the Open to war in their airships and Mechs, Sera tells Kenobi that the Open and Closed only understand war.