Picture Illustration by Luis G. Rendon/The Each day Beast/Everett/Disney+
It’s no secret that the Star Wars prequels weren't well-received. It’s not one thing we have to rehash, however regardless of their crucial reception—or perhaps due to it—among the greatest and longest-lasting memes which have come out of this galactic franchise stem from these early 2000s movies. There’s Chancellor Palpatine/Darth Sidious’ “Do it;” the tragedy of Darth Plageius the Sensible; and there’s, in fact, Anakin’s hatred for sand.
However there’s one a part of the prequels that stands out among the many seemingly endless content material that these motion pictures produce. And people are two easy phrases, spoken by Obi-Wan Kenobi: “Hiya there.”
If there’s one factor about Episodes I, II, and III that folks only have good issues to say about, it’s the character of Obi-Wan. Ewan McGregor’s portrayal because the steadfast Jedi knight stays one of many constantly acclaimed components of the franchise, even now. Amid the prequel-related content material renaissance that we discover ourselves in—from The Clone Wars to The Dangerous Batch to Jedi: Fallen Order—it was the right time for McGregor, and “Hiya there,” to make a comeback in his personal miniseries, Obi-Wan Kenobi.
It’s a celebration of all issues Obi-Wan, which implies that it should embody his most iconic line.
To completely perceive the historical past of the phrase, we have now to return all the way in which to the very first movie, Star Wars: Episode IV — A New Hope. Although the meme’d model we’re most conversant in comes from Ewan McGregor’s Obi-Wan, the phrases really predate the prequel trilogy altogether. The very first line that Alec Guinness’ Obi-Wan Kenobi says is “Hiya there.”
Because of Kenobi, followers now know way more about Obi-Wan’s time on Tatooine and his connection to Leia and Luke. However even with out that backstory, these phrases signaled a personality who was a pal, not a foe.
The tackle that line that followers are most smitten with today comes from Revenge of the Sith. Towards the film’s finish, McGregor’s Kenobi dashingly utters “Hiya there” to Basic Grievous, within the twilight of the tip of the Clone Wars.
It’s an iconic scene: Obi-Wan drops onto Grievous’ platform, says the road, and has an keen smile when Grievous pulls out his many lightsabers. It’s additionally an essential one: The Republic is aware of that the Separatist common continues to be understanding of this base, regardless that the conflict is coming to an finish. All Obi-Wan must do now could be finish Grievous’ operations proper there and the Clone Wars will likely be over (principally). However nobody is aware of that that is all a part of soon-to-be Emperor Palpatine’s plan and that solely worse issues are on the horizon (like, say, the autumn of the Republic as a complete). However at this second, Kenobi is able to combat this half-alien, half-robot one final time.
Obi-Wan’s greeting to his enemy is what endures, much more than the scene itself. As with most one-liners that change into cultural staples, there isn’t a lot rationale as to why “Hiya there” is such a well-liked meme. Maybe it’s as a result of the second is simply really easy to parody: From the music that accompanies Obi-Wan’s theatrical entrance inside this scene, to Grievous’ menacing response of “Basic Kenobi,” it’s an amusingly dramatic second befitting of memedom.
Since Revenge of the Sith’s premiere in 2005, “Hiya there” has taken on a lifetime of its personal. Followers have created YouTube video remixes of the road, with names like “OBI-WAN SAYS HELLO WHILE I PLAY UNFITTING MUSIC” and “Hiya There (The Democracy on the Excessive Floor Music).” There’s even an hour-long video remixing the three whole instances we hear Obi-Wan say “Hiya there” on-screen—that first time in A New Hope, in Revenge of the Sith, and the newest one from the finale of Kenobi. And as with all good meme, there’s additionally merch impressed by it, together with shirts bearing the phrase on them.
However for those who actually need to understand how massive a meme is, verify TikTok. “Hiya there” has had a fruitful presence on that app too. Just a few common variations of the road exist for folks to recreate the scene and put hilarious spins on it. Cumulative views for movies utilizing these “Hiya there” sounds vary from 32.2 million views to 374.8 million views in whole, relying on which model of the sound is used—an enormous quantity consultant of each the variety of movies on the market and what number of views these movies obtain. The hashtag for this development alone—#obiwanhellothere—has 3.4 million views.
The meme has gotten so massive that even McGregor himself is aware of about it. Through the press tour for Obi-Wan Kenobi, interviewers both requested about or greeted him with the phrase a number of instances, together with throughout appearances on E! Information and Good Morning America. He made certain to point out that he’s very a lot conscious of its pop-cultural significance.
The phrase can also be nonetheless a sure-fire strategy to get some consideration on Reddit, with among the prime posts invoking or meme-ing “Hiya there” getting tens of hundreds of likes and hundreds of feedback. Reddit’s spin on “Hiya there” ranges from edits and remixes to plainly inserting the phrase in several eventualities. The Star Wars fandom may be fairly poisonous at instances, however “Hiya there” proves to be one factor that’s tame sufficient to not likely trigger an excessive amount of strife.
However most likely the factor that the majority proves how far this little phrase has traveled is actress Emma Roberts’ Instagram submit from Dec. 13, 2018. Accompanying a photograph of Roberts in a bejeweled gown the actress wrote the seemingly innocent phrase, “Hiya there” as her caption. It appears extremely unlikely that the actress was referencing Obi-Wan Kenobi, however that doesn’t matter to her followers: The feedback quickly flooded with Star Wars followers responding to Roberts the identical means that Basic Grievous does in Revenge of the Sith, “Basic Kenobi.” No, Roberts didn’t take the submit down or restrict the feedback. And sure, there are nonetheless folks commenting Grievous’ line on her submit to at the present time.
With such a stronghold this tiny phrase has on the Star Wars fandom and the web that not even Emma Roberts is secure from, it was solely pure for followers to need to hear it as soon as extra in Kenobi. That is the primary time McGregor’s reprised the function since he first uttered that phrase, and regardless that animated variations of a number of different characters have stated it since akin to in The Clone Wars—together with the time that Basic Grievous himself received to utter it—it will be a missed alternative to not have McGregor say “Hiya there” to us as soon as extra.
It took some time for us to get that, although. There are a few teasing moments early on the place Obi-Wan chooses to say merely “whats up”. When he and Leia meet Freck, an Empire-sympathizer with a transport, in Episode 3, Leia units Obi-Wan up by saying, “Father, aren’t you going to say whats up?” There’s a pause then that feels monumental, virtually like ready on your favourite group to sink that profitable free-throw level. Nevertheless, Obi-Wan solely gives a lonesome “Hiya.”
It wasn’t till the ultimate moments of Kenobi’s finale that Obi-Wan does lastly communicate these two beloved phrases. As Obi-Wan—now again on Tatooine and going by the title Ben full-time —is heading away from the Lars household's moisture farm, Owen asks him if he desires to say “hello” to Luke. He obliges, and Obi-Wan takes an extended have a look at the younger Skywalker. He says what we wished him to say: “Hiya there.”
It’s a small line to obsess over, and certainly it was by no means meant to win over the web because it has. However its which means to followers makes it simply as excellent a greeting for Luke—and ending for us—in Obi-Wan Kenobi because it was in A New Hope.