STAR WARS: RETURN OF THE JEDI Deleted Scene Shows Yoda Explain Why Obi-Wan Lied To Luke about His Father

So, I’ve been having some fun diving into a lot of Star Wars stuff recently and I’ve been coming across some cool things that I’ve forgotten about over the years. It’s fun to see these things again and be reminded that they exist.

Today, I just wanted to share a deleted scene from Star Wars: Return of the Jedi that features Yoda (Frank Oz) explaining to Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) why Obi-Wan Kenobi (Alec Guinness) lied to him about his father. In the scene, Luke visits his Jedi master on the planet Dagobah and he has a lot of questions on his mind about his father.

Yoda confirmed to Luke in the actual scene in the movie, “Your father he is. Unfortunate that you rushed to face him. That incomplete was your training. That not ready for the burden were you.”

But, in the deleted scene following that moment Yoda explains why Obi-Wan lied to Luke saying that Vader had killed Anakin. It turns out that Obi-Wan would have actually liked to tell him a long time ago if Yoda would have let him. Yoda says in the scene:

“Obi-Wan would have told you long ago had I let him”

Yoda reveals he urged Obi-Wan to lie to Luke about his father. In a way, this redeems Obi-Wan and he lies because he actually wanted to tell Luke the truth! Now neither of the characters wanted to keep Luke in the dark about Vader, but they believed it was the best course of action to give Luke the best chance to take down Darth Vader and The Emperor and save the galaxy. The two Jedi weren’t going to take any chances, so they stuck with the lie.

I’m not sure why this scene was cut from the film, I think it should have stayed in because that one little line explains so much!