Obi-Wan Kenobi – Who is Quinlan Vos and how does he connect to The Mandalorian?

Obi-Wan Kenobi episode 3 spoilers.

While recently discussing Obi-Wan Kenobi, director Deborah Chow told us that "It would not be Star Wars without some surprise cameos!"

She's not wrong. Two episodes in, we've already seen the likes of Temuera Morrison from Boba Fett and even Ewan McGregor's own daughter show up.

But moving forward, episode three has hinted at another, even bigger cameo that's heading our way — and no, we're not talking about Obi-Wan Kenobi's secret brother.

When Tala shows Ben and Leia the secret Jedi sanctuary on Mapuzo, she describes it as something called The Path. According to her, this is where Jedi are smuggled off-world to a planet called Jabim where they can be safe and live "new lives."

Sounds pretty handy given that Darth Vader's more pissed off than ever at his former mentor.

But crucially, Obi-Wan spots some writing at this point which belongs to a Jedi he already knows, someone who could turn out to be a big help later down the line. "Quinlan was here?" Yes, Tala replies. It turns out that Quinlan has been rescuing younglings who are Force Sensitive from the Empire's reach.

That's all we hear about Quinlan for now, but with three episodes to go, this fan-favourite Jedi could still show up properly in person sometime soon. But who is Quinlan and why should we care?

Who is Quinlan Vos?

First introduced in the Legends comics Star Wars: Republic, Quinlan Vos (no relation to Paul Bettany's Dryden Vos from Solo) wasn't exactly your typical Jedi. If anything, he shared one too many uncomfortable similarities with Anakin Skywalker...

Those comics are no longer considered to be canon, so his first official appearance came in the form of a quick mention in Revenge of the Sith when Obi-Wan says "Master Vos" has moved his troops. However, Quinlan then showed up properly in The Clone Wars cartoon where he worked directly alongside Obi-Wan Kenobi. Yep, they have history!

What's most interesting about Quinlan, however, is his leaning towards the Dark Side. In Christie Golden's 2015 novel Dark Disciple, Quinlan actually turns to the Dark Side completely during an infiltration mission, where he also falls in love with Sith Assassin and general badass Asajj Ventress.

After she's killed, Quinlan eventually finds his way back to the Light Side, and Obi-Wan happens to be the person who asked the Jedi Council to reinstate him fully following that fall from grace.

So Quinlan has quite a unique perspective here. Not only has he worked alongside Obi-Wan quite extensively, the fallen Jedi also knows what the world looks like from Anakin's perspective too, which makes confirmation that he's alive very interesting indeed.

Much to Ben's surprise, Quinlan has been fighting back against the Empire since they last met, suggesting that when they do reunite, the bad-boy Jedi will definitely be an ally, not a foe.

Will Quinlan Vos appear in Obi-Wan Kenobi?

Then there's also that quote to consider as well. Quinlan left behind the phrase, "Only when the eyes are closed can you truly see," which could simply refer to his unique powers of psychometry (the ability to see a person's memories by touching an object they have also touched).

However, it's also possible that this could relate to Obi-Wan directly. At the beginning of the episode, Ben is trying to reach the Force ghost of Qui-Gon Jinn, his deceased mentor, so perhaps a Liam Neeson cameo might soon head our way.

Quinlan may have also been referring to Kenobi's relationship with Anakin, which lies at the heart of this show. Perhaps Obi-Wan's trauma from everything that happened between them is holding him back somehow, making him blind to the truth.

On top of all that, Young Leia adds an extra wrinkle to all this when she hears the quote and asks, "see what?" To which Ben replies, "The Way". How this is capitalised in the closed captions suggests that this could perhaps be the same "Way" as the one that Mandalore, and therefore The Mandalorian, follows. "This is The Way," as our fave bounty hunter so often says.

Ok, sure, Obi-Wan Kenobi is set almost two decades before that show, but it's not like Ben is clueless when it comes to Mandalorian culture. And if we're talking about Younglings getting smuggled out, there's also a small chance that Quinlan might have been the one who rescued Baby Yoda from the Jedi Temple during Order 66.

It's a stretch at this point, we know, but perhaps this surplus of young rescued Jedi could even lead to a young Grogu cameo. The adorable little munchkin is around 30 years old at this point in the Star Wars timeline, remember. And it's not like he hasn't shown up in other shows.

If Quinlan Vos shows up on Obi-Wan Kenobi with some blue macaroons, then it's practically a done deal.

The Obi-Wan Kenobi TV series will continue to stream every Wednesday on Disney+.

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David Opie

After teaching in England and South Korea, David turned to writing in Germany, where he covered everything from superhero movies to the Berlin Film Festival. 

In 2019, David moved to London to join Digital Spy, where he could indulge his love of comics, horror and LGBTQ+ storytelling as Deputy TV Editor, and later, as Acting TV Editor.

David has spoken on numerous LGBTQ+ panels to discuss queer representation and in 2020, he created the Rainbow Crew interview series, which celebrates LGBTQ+ talent on both sides of the camera via video content and longform reads.

Beyond that, David has interviewed all your faves, including Henry Cavill, Pedro Pascal, Olivia Colman, Patrick Stewart, Ncuti Gatwa, Jamie Dornan, Regina King, and more — not to mention countless Drag Race legends. 

As a freelance entertainment journalist, David has bylines across a range of publications including Empire Online, Radio Times, INTO, Highsnobiety, Den of Geek, The Digital Fix and Sight & Sound. 

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