Ezra's gut reaction is to deny that Ben is that old, or washed up, but he swallows that impulse down. Right this minute, that would just send Ben into withdrawing more, he thinks.

"Your family would care," he says, softly, entreating. "If you were...home, but for some reason you couldn't go out into the galaxy, or sit on the Counsel, or any of that. They would still care, wouldn't they?"