One last trip for Obi-Wan Kenobi. Image: Lucasfilm
Obi-Wan Kenobi has come to his conclusion and I feel very strange. It is this feeling that you have after finishing a movie, program or book that you have always been waiting for and it has not yet been fully processed. You know it’s over, the mysteries are solved, and yet you can’t believe it’s over. Obi-Wan Kenobi was like this: a show that I absolutely liked, but in the end I only have a few huge questions and I will think about it for a long time.
My main concern for Obi-Wan Kenobi was: would the show somehow make the interactions between Kenobi and Darth Vader cheaper in A New Hope? There is a certain dialogue between them and the mere existence of this show, at first, seemed to go against it. Then, after the first episode, my worries shifted to Princess Leia. Her message to Obi-Wan in that movie didn’t really fit with the fact that she was saved by him several times and had a relationship with him. So coming into the final, with those two questions still on the table, I was a little worried.
Fortunately, the end addressed these persistent concerns. The fight between Vader and Obi-Wan in this episode ended with Obi-Wan directly dominating the Sith Lord, which explains why, several years later, Vader refers to his last encounter as an “apprentice.” Obi-Wan even calls him “Darth” to link him. With Leia, his final interaction with Obi-Wan makes him tell her that they should pretend not to know each other every time they talk again. Which, of course, made sense to her. and another by a Jedi hunter who secretly tried to kill Darth Vader.
I had to get the inn. Screenshot: Lucasfilm
But the fact that coming out of the final episode these were my most important points to take away sums up a lot of what I mean about Obi-Wan Kenobi. These questions only arose because this show exists. Without the show, it would never have been a problem, and 45 years of believing what you want about A New Hope would never have been a problem. And so you were hoping that the show would justify its existence in some profound way, to really help us get into the character … and I’m not sure if it was successful or not. .
At the beginning of Obi-Wan Kenobi, Kenobi is afraid to reveal that he is a Jedi and wants to train Luke on the paths of the Force. In the end, he walks back with his lightsaber and agrees that Luke should be a normal boy. Surely there is deep growth. He even achieves a peace that allows him to finally see the Phantom of the Strength of his former master, Qui-Gon Jinn (called the one back in the premiere, by the way!). Suppose the former teacher and apprentice share the kind of mentor-tutorial relationship they had in the past, and that Obi-Wan will finally have with his new friend, Luke. Still, does any of this justify this six-episode story? Does it matter that we know that Obi-Wan was so in conflict during this time period? Isn’t that implied by the end of The Revenge of the Sith and the beginning of A New Hope? Do we have to look at this particular story to understand it?
“Hello” Screenshot: Lucasfilm
All this in advance of the summary of the episode itself, so yes, it will be long. It all started with Reva (Moses Ingram) looking for Owen Lars (Joel Edgerton) in Tatooine, a sequel to the end of the previous episode. How it came so fast that we will never know, but okay, dark limbs are very good at surviving fatal wounds only with anger. That we were able to see a young Luke (Grant Feely) shopping at a very Watto store, as Owen was warned of his presence, was almost worth his hasty arrival.
The story of Tatooine was exchanged with the ship that escaped from Jabiim. It has been followed by an Imperial Star Destroyer which, in previous Star Wars movies, is considered a big problem. Not here though. Everyone on board is mostly quiet with the massive spaceship bombarding it with laser explosions, and somehow the Star Destroyer has trouble disabling or destroying this slow, damaged spacecraft. Obi-Wan realizes that even the Empire will not be so incompetent forever and decides that the only way to save others is to surrender to himself. “You are the future,” he tells everyone on board. Which never comes to fruition in the main Star Wars stories we’ve seen, but again, that’s fine. Leia (Vivien Lyra Blair) doesn’t want to leave, but thanks to Haja’s help (Kumail Nanjiani), she calms down and understands. Obi-Wan promises to see her again.
You could say he made a “vote” to protect Luke. Screenshot: Lucasfilm
Obi-Wan’s plan works and Vader leaves the ship full of sensitive children of the Force and Jedi sympathizers to go after Kenobi. Meanwhile, back at Tatooine, Owen wants to escape the Inquisitor who is chasing them, but Beru (played by Bonnie Piesse, who finally manages to act in Star Wars!) Tells him to stay and fight. I have to say that seeing Aunt Beru with a blaster fighting for her moisture farm was a real highlight of the season. You go Aunt Beru, enjoy a blue milk after this traumatic experience! Really, though, it was extremely cool to have an action scene at Lars’ house, a place where we’ve been several times but never done anything. Of course, the two farmers are no rivals for Reva and Luke is forced to run to save his life, while she follows her with bad intentions.
Vader lowered his shuttle to face Obi-Wan, and unlike my complaints in episode three, this scenario was much, much cooler. The fight was also excellent. Both Kenobi and Vader used all their strength, although they are not in as great a shape as they were back in Mustafar, so things went a little slower. At first, Vader thinks he hit Kenobi and bury him under a pile of stones. But thinking about what’s really at stake, Luke and Leia, Obi-Wan bounces off and yells at Vader like we’ve never seen before. For real. Even when Vader loses duels in Star Wars he looks pretty good. But here? No. Obi-Wan literally crushes her after the chest box first and then the money shot, fans have been waiting for since the show was revealed. A broken mask and Hayden Christensen as Anakin Skywalker below.
Creepy Hayden. Screenshot: Lucasfilm
Star Wars Rebels fans will recognize this aspect, of course; chronologically speaking, Ahsoka Tano will do exactly the same on the other side of Vader’s mask a few years later. But still, in live action, seeing Hayden Christensen mistreated and burned with that dress was a special moment. Also, the exchange between the two here was 100% the best part of this episode and the season as a whole. We see a real return of Vader in later films, as well as Kenobi’s faith that perhaps his old friend Anakin still existed. But Vader seems to be calming the Jedi by saying, “You didn’t kill the Anakin Skywalker. I did.” And so the master is still the master, now fully aware that his old friend is really dead and far beyond being saved.
All this happens when Reva goes back to Luke in Tatooine and, thanks to the speed of light, Obi-Wan returns to the moment. When he arrives, however, he, Owen, and Beru see that Reva is back. Reva is crushed because she believes that by not killing Luke to return to Vader, she failed her friends: the young people he killed so many years ago. Obi-Wan tells her that her mercy honors her fallen friends more than ever a murder, and now her future is what she wants it to be. And believe me, fans will be talking about this future for a very, very long time.
What’s next for Reva Screenshot: Lucasfilm
Obi-Wan Kenobi made his best impression on The Return of the King and wrapped up a bunch of stories in quick succession. Vader informs Palpatine (another long-awaited but welcome cameo of Ian McDiarmid) that he is asking if Vader is too worried about his former teacher. Vader then professes his allegiance to the Dark Lord of the Sith, practically paving the way for several years without seeing Obi-Wan. Obi-Wan returns to Alderaan to see Leia, fulfilling her previous promise, and tells her all the good qualities she got from her parents. It was a very emotional moment, in large part because of John Leia’s theme song that accompanied it. Finally, back in Tatooine, it’s a moving day and Obi-Wan leaves his cave for, presumably, the hut we see in A New Hope. But first, he stops at Lars’ place and meets Luke. “Hello,” the Jedi said in a funny moment. Then the Qui-Gon meeting and the revelation that “You have a long way to go.” Yes, about 10 years or so.
The end of Obi-Wan Kenobi was an entertaining TV piece that had a few really killer moments: the Kenobi-Vader fight, the Lars family slapping their asses, Leia coming into her account and the reappearance of Qui -Gon. But again, I come to the big question: do we need anything? Did we need six hours or more to prove that Obi-Wan Kenobi cared mostly about Leia and Luke? And yet, the show really immersed itself in why? Most fans know why, because they’re children of Darth Vader and could grow up to save the galaxy, but if you hadn’t seen Star Wars before, I’m not sure if that was clear or even relevant.
Fans have been waiting for this for a long time. Screenshot: Lucasfilm
Then perhaps, you say, Obi-Wan Kenobi was the story of Reva, a young Jedi who hid with the Inquisitors to try to take revenge on Darth Vader, but eventually failed but found a new peace. And the truth is, it’s a great story. But now that the series is over, it was barely the third most …