"The time of the Jedi is over."
Hello everyone!
Very?
Beyond imagination???
I hope you are at least! Because the past month and a half has been ALL about Star Wars, baby, and I am SO here for it!
If any of you know me at all, you'll know that I've said before I enjoy the Prequel Trilogy quite a bit, and that's mostly because of two characters, Padmé Amidala ... and Obi-Wan Kenobi.
This is helped along immensely by Ewan McGregor and Natalie Portman, of course, but in general these are the stories I'm into the most.
So naturally, when Disney+ announced its limited series, I was stoked.
Let's dig those lightsabers out of the sand, everyone, because Obi-Wan Kenobi needs them!
Links to all my previous Star Wars-related work (of this medium that is) can be found down at the bottom of the page, as per usual.
First off, this story happens ten years after the end of Revenge of the Sith, and our main character - the once fabled Jedi Master and General of the Clone Wars - is ... cutting up a space desert whale in the middle of nowhere, Tatooine?
Seriously, at the time when we start the show, Obi-Wan has about 99 problems, and the Imperial Inquisitors are definitely one once they land, because all he really wants to do is spy on Luke Skywalker from a distance, badgering the boy's uncle Owen that the kid needs training, not that Owen agrees with that.
And I mean, given that the Inquisitors, including but not limited to the Grand Inquisitor as well as the Third Sister, Reva (they're joined by Fifth Brother, played by Sung Kang!) are on the hunt for Jedi ...
The poor Jedi in question tries to enlist Kenobi's help but, welp, Kenobi's not into that these days, and said kid ends up hanged.
What Kenobi IS into, is when he gets a distress call from one Bail Organa that someone's kidnapped Leia - who, mind you, isn't doing a very good job at being a Princess of Alderaan at the moment, but she'll get there, don't worry - so he digs up his lightsaber and off he goes!
Now, what exactly is this kidnapping business, you ask? Well, after figuring out which planet he's going to find her on, and dealing with Fake Jedi Haja, Kenobi actually does rescue Leia - and probably has war flashbacks from dealing with ten-year-old Anakin while he's at it, because Leia is a SASSPOT - and realizes it was all a trap to lure him out.
None other than Reva (Moses Ingram) was the one who cooked it up, because she wants to get closer to the Head Honcho himself, the one with the breathing problem, and she's ALSO the one who conveniently drops a truth bomb on Obi-Wan: Anakin Skywalker is alive.
Ohhh yeah, baby!
I have to give a shout-out to the editing room for this scene, when Obi-Wan is horror-struck in realising his former Padawn did not, in fact, burn to a crisp on Mustafar, because just as he utters the name he hasn't spoken in a decade, the shot cuts to none other than Darth Vader himself (Hayden Christensen) in a bacta tank.
DUN DUN DUN!
Now it has to be said, this shakes Kenobi up BIG TIME. All these years, he was convinced Anakin was dead. Now, he's seeing him everywhere, like some sort of Space Messiah, while trekking with Leia to the meeting spot where they're supposed to hitch a ride back to Alderaanian parts of space, only to end up in a convoy transport with ... Stormtroopers.
Listen, I couldn't make this stuff up if I TRIED, but, after showing off some impressive quick-thinking (and inserting lots of cute little Padmé mournings along the way) and the fact his fighting skills haven't gotten as covered in sand as the rest of him, our duo do, in fact, get picked up by their contact.
And Indira Varma's character is REALLY annoyed that Obi-Wan couldn't just WAIT A GOSH DARNED MINUTE.
But anyway, they've got bigger problems.
See, they're now going to be smuggled out via the Path, a system set in place by Republic survivors - Jedi included! - to get Force-sensitive individuals out of their oppressive situations, trying to get them the hell away from the Empire and its relentless hunt.
Unfortunately for the Path, it's a bad day to be associated with Obi-Wan Kenobi, because our boy suddenly feels like he's having a heart attack, but in reality, that's just Vader showing up.
Obi-Wan and Anakin had such a connection through the Force - and still do - that Obi-Wan is a sure beacon for the Sith Lord to guide him to the Path, which is why (more quick-thinking here) our Jedi separates from the rest to lure Vader away.
He also gets the shock of his life seeing just WHAT his former pupil, friend and brother looks like nowadays, and after a very quick internal debate of whether he even has it in him to ignite his lightsaber again, Obi-Wan dips out of there so fast you can see skid marks behind him.
Unfortunately, again, however, Vader can anticipate his every move, and they do end up sort of pitifully fighting - I say pitifully because, well, Obi-Wan's heart is NOT in it, so he gets set on fire since Vader wants to rain down every single ounce of pain he's ever felt on his former Master, starting with barbecuing him alive.
Did we order Kenobi originally or extra crispy here?
Luckily, friends remain friends, so Obi-Wan does not, in fact, become BBQ, but Leia gets nicked by Reva and taken to the Fortress Inquisitorius, which is where Obi-Wan is headed next after he heals enough in a bacta tank (more shout-outs to the editors for cutting the scene between him and Vader in their respective tanks and switching from one to the other!).
His new friends at the Path don't like it, but he's not leaving Leia in the hands of the Inquisitors (especially Reva, seeing as she's super torture-friendly and poor Leia just can't catch a break, torture seems to be everyone's MO where she's concerned), so off they go and he gets a little wet to access some underwater entrance ... though I bet he wishes he could still be swimming.
Because the Fortress isn't a prison like they were all assuming.
It's a tomb. Of all the Jedi the Empire's killed in the ten years they've been in power.
GOD that scene is creepy as all get-out, and I'm so glad that Leia doesn't ACTUALLY have to be tortured before Obi-Wan's lightsaber does a little dancey-dance in the dark while Reva's distracted elsewhere, and they all hightail it out of there with a little backup from the Path themselves, though unfortunately not without casualties.
But while THEY'RE sort of in the clear, Reva is not, because Vader comes at her like a freight train (just in case he didn't rage enough in that poor village earlier while attempting to flush Obi-Wan out of hiding and killing people all over the place). She thinks on her feet and lies that she let the group escape, planting a tracker in Lola, Leia's little pet droid, to be able to follow them.
So they do, to Jabim, the waypoint for the Path where a heck of a lot of people have gathered to try and catch the next flight out by the time the Empire sets up their blockade - one Obi-Wan knows won't last because he knows who's behind it.
And in a BEAUTIFUL flashback scene on Coruscant from the time of Attack of the Clones, we see - interspaced throughout this entire episode - Obi-Wan and Anakin training together, fighting, and Obi-Wan imparting a lesson to his pupil that said pupil does not actually apply even all those years later, which is how he gets thwarted, yet again.
See, while Leia is dealing with Lola who blocked the gates for the ship and trying to open said gates, Obi-Wan is fending off Reva and doing what he does best, aka negotiating. General Kenobi the Negotiator is BACK babyyy!
He realizes that Reva was a Youngling at the Jedi Temple the night of Order 66, as this is the only way she could know Vader is Anakin, and she's been rising through the ranks to KILL Vader, not suck up to him. So Obi-Wan improvises - I can't decide if he's pulling an old move or an Anakin move - to get Vader down onto the planet for her, then does what he does best, which is to say he dips out yet again.
Sadly, however, Reva isn't as capable as she thinks she is, and Vader stabs her through with his lightsaber, leaving her to die while he and the Grand Inquisitor (who earlier on gets shanked by Reva herself, only to pop up again like a cockroach) take off to follow the fleeing refugees.
While Obi-Wan senses this, he doesn't actually realize that Haja managed to drop his communicator with Bail Organa's latest message, which Reva finds, and decides to take off to Tatooine, as you do.
Besides, he's kind of busy anyway, convincing the others he needs to buzz off on his own to lure the Imperial Destroyer away as Vader WILL follow him, not them. Which is exactly what happens, and we get a Revenge of the Sith rematch with the ACTUAL DIALOGUE FROM THE MOVIE REPEATED, when Vader lands and sees Obi-Wan waiting for him.
However, it's clear even then that Obi-Wan is STILL reluctant to kill a man he considered his soul-brother, basically (Force-bond, anyone?), which is why Vader ends up dropping a ton of rocks on his head and walking off, because that's what you do when you're a Sith Lord, apparently.
And in the little chamber carved out from the Force, Obi-Wan realizes that he needs to fight for something else - SOMEONE else.
The twins.
He digs himself out and goes after Vader, now finally applying himself to their fight and actually shaking things up a little when he shoots rocks at the Sith like it's a tennis match, until the moment he damages the breathing apparatus ... and slices that dark helmet half-open.
For the first time since Episode III, viewers around the globe get to witness Anakin Skywalker in that suit, and it is HEART-WRENCHINGLY TERRIBLE to hear an amalgamation of Hayden's voice as well as that of James Earl Jones, telling Obi-Wan that he isn't his failure, and that it wasn't Obi-Wan who killed Anakin.
It's also the moment when Obi-Wan realizes his friend is gone - because Anakin, the real Anakin, would never want to actually kill him, so in a power move of all power moves, he turns his back on Vader, calling him Darth for the first time (significant, because up until this point, he always referred to him as Anakin), and walks away while Vader screams behind him.
It's heartbreaking. It's terrible. It's the end of an era and a bond that we were all rooting for, and if you aren't crying then you're made of stone. STONE.
So while Vader's back on Mustafar reporting to none other than Darth Sidious (and getting the third degree because the Emperor is having none of his weird obsession with Kenobi, so Vader lets it go), Kenobi hightails it to Tatooine where things have been ... shaking.
Reva made it, you see. And Owen was warned she was coming, so he tells his wife Beru, who flat-out says without saying that he shouldn't have driven "Ben" away, but then helps him prepare so they can attempt to fight her off. It almost works, too, because she's injured, and you see the couple's love for the boy they adopted as their own, which makes it even sadder as they send him into the desert to run for his life.
That's where Obi-Wan finds them, calling him in the middle of nowhere, while Reva fights her own demons in the canyon that'll one day become Kenobi's home.
Eventually, she carries the boy back to his family (he falls and hits his head so he's out like a light), and cries over failing the other Younglings who died under Vader's lightsaber. Obi-Wan - supporting his reputation as Space Jesus - offers her what comfort he can, and tells her that she can now choose who she wants to be. Her past is over.
And like everyone else before her, Reva dumps her red lightsaber in the sand, indicating she's going to do some soul-searching (and as there're rumours of a spin-off series, I say YES PLEASE!).
Kenobi does the good thing and visits Alderaan to say goodbye to Leia properly. Our Princess is now more willing to embrace her duties, with the caveat she wants some things to change, also putting on the holster of her friend who died saving her on the Path, and learning - from Obi-Wan - that she carries the best of her parents within her.
As for Obi-Wan himself, he learns his lesson and admits to Owen that Luke is much better off not training and simply being a child, which is when Owen softens and unbends enough to allow the old Jedi to meet the kid (FINALLY!) which is where the showrunners and McGregor pay homage to Star Wars in general, because our hero walks up and says no less than "Hello there."
With that - and looking more like a Jedi he used to be rather than a desert hobo - he rides off towards the canyon, which is where he gets the final surprise of his little adventure.
See, all this time, he's been trying to finish the last lesson Yoda imparted before they went separate ways, which was to be able to reach Qui-Gon Jinn through the Force, as his old Master had become one with it and learned to communicate. But while Obi-Wan was sending messages into the ether, Qui-Gon's voicemail was always full, until we see LIAM FREAKING NEESON turn around and tell our boy it took him long enough.
Together, they take off into the sunset, and everyone who's ever loved anything Star Wars cries happy tears.
THE END and oh my gosh.
I LOVED THIS SO MUCH.
Listen, sure, was it all smooth and perfect? No. Were there occasional hitches in writing? Yeah.
Do I care? NOPE.
Because in essence, this show delivered what we all wanted, or what you would THINK Star Wars fans should all want: a reunion of a lot of Prequels big-wigs, most notably Christensen and McGregor, a missing chapter as to just what happens to Obi-Wan before he goes all white and wise (note: I don't think he goes back to cutting up that desert whale), and so many callbacks it felt like callback city pretty much all episode, every episode.
AND I AM HERE FOR IT.
Disney's doing a fantastic job with these shows, in my personal opinion, and Obi-Wan Kenobi was a gold mine of moments, especially as it was written to resemble the Prequel and Original trilogies, each movie represented in some way in every episode the show has to offer.
There were memories, there were new moments, there was humour (because, Obi-Wan learns that handling a super-talented kid from two super-talented people is no joke), and then there was heartbreak.
Obi-Wan Kenobi gave us all that and so much more, and I feel like everyone really brought their A-game, particularly Ewan McGregor, who ensures that we see Obi-Wan's journey from broken to decided, and who continues to confirm everyone's belief in him as probably the most beloved Jedi of all time simply by saying two words, altogether.
If you've yet to watch this, I highly, HIGHLY recommend you do, because you truly won't regret it, not if you've ever enjoyed these stories.
And until next time, friends, may the Force be with you.
xx
*images and video not mine
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