By George Bate
Obi-Wan and Satine’s relationship is one of the highlights of The Clone Wars, but what if this relationship led to the birth of a child? Some fans over the years have speculated that Korkie Kryze, a character referred to as Satine’s nephew in the series, is the love child of the iconic Jedi master and the duchess of Mandalore. Although this speculation has yet to be addressed in canon (and it’s unlikely to be true regardless), we thought it would be interesting to delve a little deeper into this theory.
Who is Korkie Kryze?
As mentioned, Korkie is the nephew of Duchess Satine Kryze, the leader of Mandalore during the tumultuous Clone Wars. Korkie made his first appearance in the episode “The Academy,” before showing up again in “The Lawless,” one of The Clone Wars’ greatest episodes. Little is known about Korkie’s background, beyond his role in his two canon appearances as of now. Korkie was born into House Kryze, setting the stage for a future in politics for the young man. Although he’s referred to as Satine’s nephew, Korkie’s parents remain a mystery. Satine has one known sibling in The Clone Wars, Bo Katan Kryze, and we know (almost for certain) that Korkie is not Bo Katan’s child. So, the question remains, who are Korkie’s parents?
More than a passing resemblance
There are a number of things that point to the (very unlikely, yet fun to speculate about) possibility that Obi-Wan and Satine are the real parents of Korkie. For starters, Korkie bears a striking resemblance to Obi-Wan as depicted in The Clone Wars. Obviously, this is a little more difficult to tell when watched an animated show, but, if you picture a younger and beardless version of The Clone Wars’ Obi-Wan, the similarities become more apparent.
A secret love child?
Next, and perhaps most telling of Korkie being the love child of Obi-Wan and Satine, is the nature of the Jedi and Duchess’ relationship prior to the events of The Clone Wars. Obi-Wan and Satine first met during the Mandalorian Civil War, in which conservative insurgents, holding the warrior ideals of old Mandalore, sought to overthrow Satine’s passivist leadership. Due to the threat of her life, Qui-Gon Jinn and his apprentice Obi-Wan were sent to Mandalore to protect Satine. During this protective detail, Obi-Wan and Satine fell in love (very similar to Anakin and Padme falling in love in Attack of the Clones). When the conflict resolved, Obi-Wan and Satine’s relationship came to an end. In The Clone Wars, Obi-Wan tells Satine that, if she had asked him to stay with her, he would’ve left the Jedi Order to be with her. It’s not totally out of the realm of possibility that this impassionaied love story may have fostered a child, a child Obi-Wan was not aware of and who Satine kept secret.
The mystery of Korkie’s parents
More evidence comes from the fact that only two Kryze sisters are identified in The Clone Wars. While it is plausible that Satine and Bo-Katan had a sibling who was a parent of Korkie, there’s no indication of this in anything we’ve seen so far. It’s possible that Satine and Bo-Katan had a sibling, who was Korkie’s parent, who died at some point before the Clone Wars. But, the very notion of Korkie’s parents not being identified and the lack of any evidence that there was another Kryze sibling arouses suspicion.
In looking at The Clone Wars as a complete series following its conclusion several weeks ago, it’s interesting to think about the myriad of stories Dave Filoni and his team were unable to actualize in the show. Due to the show’s premature cancelation and subsequent relocation to Netflix for a ‘final’ season, arcs like Dark Disciple and Son of Dathomir were shelved and were eventually depicted in other mediums. So, is it possible that Filoni had plans to explore Korkie’s parentage, but simply didn’t get around to it in the show? Unlikely. However, that doesn’t mean it’s interesting to think about the possibilities with this unexplained mystery.