In "Always Two There Are" (Rebels 2.5), Kanan Jarrus trains Ezra Bridger in the ways of the Force while Captain Rex watches and gives his own advice. The scene is set up to mirror the scene from A New Hope in which Obi-Wan Kenobi trains Luke Skywalker to use the Force and Han Solo offers unsolicited commentary.
In "Always Two There Are," Kanan instructs Ezra to use the Force to lift Chopper, the droid, while they are in the common area on the Ghost. In A New Hope, Obi-Wan Kenobi instructs Luke to practice using a lightsaber against training droids while they are in the common area on the Millennium Falcon. In both scenes, while the training is going on, two characters are playing holochess in the background. And, in both scenes, the training of the Jedi apprentice opens a dialogue between the Jedi master and a skeptical interlocutor about seeing with the Force and seeing with one's eyes.
Kanan tells Ezra, "Look through the Force... Picture it in your mind." Ezra shuts his eyes and tries to lift Chopper, who, with characteristic intransigence, locks himself to the floor of the ship. When the exercise does not go well, Ezra's friends laugh at him. Similarly, after Luke becomes frustrated by his difficulties with the training droids, prompting derisive laughter from Han, Obi-Wan gives him a training helmet that covers his eyes, saying, "Your eyes can deceive you. Don't trust them." Both Jedi masters counsel their pupils to set aside physical vision and see with the Force instead.
Rex, however, offers a contrasting opinion: "Hey, kid. While you're looking through the Force, don't forget to look with your eyes too." Rex's role in the dialogue mirrors that of Han Solo, who only trusts evidence he can see with his eyes: "I've never seen anything to make me believe there's one all-powerful force controlling everything." Unlike Han, though, Rex does respect the Force. He tells Ezra that Anakin Skywalker, the Jedi general he served under during the Clone Wars, "combined the Force with his wits, and it made him a great warrior." Instead of presenting Ezra with a dilemma – use either the Force or his eyes – Rex encourages Ezra to use both the Force and his eyes. Perhaps Ezra becomes a great warrior because he learns from both his mentors.
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Characters: Captain Rex / Ezra Bridger / Han Solo / Kanan Jarrus / Obi-Wan Kenobi
Films: Episode IV: A New Hope
Shows: Rebels
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Concepts: sight and blindness / teachers and students / training / yin and yang
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