Star Wars: The Clone Wars is quickly approaching Revenge of the Sith in the Star Wars timeline, with Padme's obvious pregnancy pointing toward some of the action going down between scenes in Revenge of the Sith, so the end is nigh for Anakin and Obi-Wan's brotherhood. They've still been on good terms through the episodes of Clone Wars' final season so far, so the question is: how much does Obi-Wan actually know about what's happening with Anakin and Padme?
James Arnold Taylor, who voices Obi-Wan for The Clone Wars, spoke with Syfy about how much Obi-Wan has deduced about the very taboo relationship between Anakin and Padme, saying this:
I think he's always sensed it. He's known ever since the beginning that there was a spark between these two. Dave Filoni and I have discussed this and he's said it in interviews as well, so I know it's safe to say that Obi-Wan's not an idiot; he knows what's going on, but he doesn't know the intensity and magnitude of it. He certainly doesn't know they're married, I think.
Anakin and Padme were close going all the way back to Phantom Menace, and Anakin was clearly taken with her as soon as they crossed paths again in Attack of the Clones. James Arnold Taylor revealed that he and Clone Wars supervising director David Filoni have talked about how much Obi-Wan knows about the relationship, so it's safe to say that Obi-Wan definitely has more than a slight inkling.
Considering Obi-Wan didn't know until toward the end of Revenge of the Sith that Anakin was the father of Padme's babies, it makes sense that he knew their bond was significant but hadn't realized that they were actually married. Obi-Wan and Anakin were as close as family, but Obi-Wan was also a dedicated Jedi. I'd say it tracks that he could see the bond without it occurring to him that his Jedi apprentice had gone and gotten married.
James Arnold Taylor elaborated on how Obi-Wan would view attachments differently from some of the other Jedi:
I always feel like with Obi-Wan, he's the true believer in all of this, even more so probably than Master Yoda or Qui-Gon. He's just a true believer in the code ... he wants to do the right things, and I do believe that if you were to sit down in a one-on-one, if Obi-Wan Kenobi was here on the podcast, and he was just talking one-on-one and he said, ‘Well, nobody's gonna hear this, right? Yoda won't hear this? Yes, I do believe that the Jedi should be able to express their feelings more in this way.’
Clone Wars fans will undoubtedly remember that Obi-Wan had a romantic connection of his own, although he ultimately remained with the Jedi rather than leave the Order and build a life with Satine. His feelings for Satine hadn't gone away even as he grew older and became a Jedi Master, so if any Jedi could relate to Anakin's plight, it would have been Obi-Wan.
After all, Obi-Wan loved Anakin and Padme and knew what it was to have a romantic attachment. If only Anakin had come clean to Obi-Wan, everything might have gone differently! Of course, Anakin didn't come clean to Obi-Wan, and the tragedy of Revenge of the Sith isn't far off in the Star Wars timeline.
The end is nigh for The Clone Wars, with the Siege of Mandalore fast-approaching. See how Star Wars finishes filling in the blanks of the prequel era with the final episodes of The Clone Wars, releasing Fridays on Disney+. With a whole lot of shows stopping production due to the coronavirus pandemic, streaming services could be the place to be for TV in the not-too-distant future.
