Welcome Back, Old Friend (Obi-Wan Kenobi Review, updated weekly)

The long-awaited Obi-Wan Kenobi spinoff has just dropped on May 27th and it opens with one of the biggest events in Star Wars lore; order 66, the beginning of Obi-Wan’s long stint of hiding. We watch the clones ravage the Jedi within the temple as younglings are forced to flee for their lives. It also gives us live action inquisitors, and a third sister. When the inquisitors hit the screen, I admittedly squealed like the fanboy I am. I instantly fell in love with Reva, and her take no shit waste no time attitude. This a prediction but I believe that she is one of the younglings shown in the beginning of the episode. Seeing as a lot of younglings that were not killed were most likely kidnapped, and it only makes sense that she would become an inquisitor for Darth Vader 10 years from the events of order 66. I’m really hoping they give her a redemption arc and that we get to see her fight alongside Obi-Wan. Seeing how evil she is currently though, that might be a stretch, but a nerd can dream can’t he?

Obi-wan is in hiding on Tatooine while simultaneously watching after baby Luke like some weird stalker but he hasn’t done any Jedi activities for 10 years. This makes me question his ability to protect the boy in the case that something happens, but this is beyond the point. Obi is so traumatized by the events of order 66 he even hides from his true self, often avoiding earlier conflicts in the episode. He crosses paths with a Jedi in the desert and instead of helping this guy Obi-Wan doubles down and tells him, “The time of the Jedi is over”. This hurts my soul to see one of my favorite Jedi so broken, refusing to fight even when rallied by another Jedi in need. After a stern talk with Owen Lars, a brutal display of Revas fury and Obi-Wan hiding while it was going down, I was very disappointed. Later its revealed that His refusal to help results in the death of the Jedi he encounters in the desert, and I believe this is one of the evens that helps to get Obi-Wan back to Jedi form but at what cost?

We get awesome visions of Alderaan before…you know...and a baby Leia that is perfectly casted. Her little attitude and stubbornness are well played and makes for a good segue to her being kidnapped. She wanders off during a boring senate meeting after being told she must apologize to her cousin whom she burned worse than Anakin in Revenge of the Sith and is taken by Reva’s hired goons. Upon realizing she is gone Bail convinces Obi-Wan to take up the Jedi mantle again. He reads him to filth telling him that, “you’ve made mistakes, we all did. it’s the past move on, be done with it. You can’t save Anakin, but you can save her!” These lines made me tear up as I watched Obi-Wan’s face stagnant in fear. With those words from Bail he reluctantly agrees, and we finally get to see small glimpses of the Obi-Wan we know and love as he digs up the box containing his and Anakin’s old lightsaber. Another sad moment that Obi-Wan is forced to revisit in the moment, the pain in his eyes is evident, 10 years later and he still isn’t over the death of his padawan and brother.

Obi-Wan travels to Daiyo, to rescue baby Leia, it’s awesome to watch Obi alone off planet and he even runs into a retired clone that, for some reason, doesn’t notice that he is Obi-Wan. Who is this Clone? Obi-Wan shows some badassery when fighting the kidnappers and it feels like watching an old friend start to grow into himself again. We quickly find out that this is all a clever trap devised by Reva because she knows the relationship Obi-wan holds with Bail, mentioning that they fought together in the Clone Wars. She puts a bounty on Obi-Wan’s head in an effort to get to him before the Grand Inquisitor, and during the sequence of Obi-Wan running from the bounty hunters he saves Leia from what would be a deadly fall by finally getting back in touch with the force. Huge fanboy moment here because this is what we have all been waiting for, right? Now if only he would activate his damn lightsaber. Her obsession with bringing Obi-Wan to Darth Vader is seemingly so that she can get the recognition that she deserves but is there something deeper? Reva reveals to Obi-Wan that Darth Vader is looking for him, and at that point Obi realizes that his padawan, brother and friend is not only alive but he's at the forefront of all the bad that is happening in the galaxy. Reva then kills the Grand Inquisitor for trying to take credit for capturing Obi-Wan, a very bad ass moment considering they had been talking down to her the entire episode. I think this kind of justifies this early murder of who I thought to be a huge character.

As Obi-Wan sits in this ship departing from Daiyo, shocked and traumatized by the information that he has just received, Leia calls to him, and he can’t even hear her through his haze. How will Obi-Wan handle this? Knowing his padawan is alive and kicking the galaxies butt. Anakin was his responsibility, and now he realizes that all the things that are going on in the universe are because he didn’t finish the job. The blood is on his hands, and he must make it right. How are you going to move Obi-Wan?

Part 3

This one is all about Vader, Obi Wan finds out his brother his alive and smacking the universe around and he doesn’t know how to handle it. He’s plagued with visions of his old padawan and his memories are so traumatizing he can’t even get in touch with the force anymore. Asking Qui-Gon for assistance fails miserably simply because Obi-Wan is now living in fear. A deep-seated fear that has plagued him since the events of Order 66.

Obi-Wan seems to get a strip of hope whilst escaping Maputo, because he gets help from an undercover rebel within the order. In this scene we see that Leia is the bravest of the two, whether it be due to naivety or boldness it emphasizes how much he has been moving in fear. The old Obi-Wan was calm, this Obi-Wan couldn’t stand in the meeting spot on Maputo long enough to allow their help to arrive. The scribbles etched on the wall inside the tunnel that they used to escape seemed to give Obi-Wan a reminder of who he once was, but that trip down memory lane was soon dashed against the rocks as the overbearing feeling of Darth Vader’s midi-chlorians found him. Obi-Wan is stopped in his tracks as Anakin hit the scene and man does he hit the scene hard. Upon realizing that Obi-Wan was near, Darth Vader starts the most brutal display of force use I have ever seen in an effort to get Obi-Wan to come out. He chokes a father, snaps the father’s neck, and drags a woman on the ground with the force. Obi-Wan is convinced he must stall Vader in his brutality and what follows is the most frightening Star Wars based scene I have ever seen. Obi-Wan is no match for Darth after 10 years of hiding, he is engulfed in complete fear. It reminded me of Luke vs Vader part 1, but worse. We watch Obi-Wan get absolutely manhandled, while he’s fleeing and halfway fighting. He looks like a youngling holding a lightsaber as Darth clearly overpowers him. To add insult to injury, Darth drags Obi-Wan through fire as revenge for leaving him in lava on Mustafar. Dare I say that Disney has done more for Darth Vader’s villain image than Lucas films has done in the OT because this scene is terrifying.

This episode showed the true depth of Obi-Wan’s trauma, and how these 10 years in hiding has really affected him. There are no glimpses of our old friend here, there is only a scared man. A regular dude fighting the most powerful force wielder in the galaxy, a monster who he just watched murder people in the middle of a town just to make a point. It also shows that even a Jedi full of potential can forget where he came from if fear takes over. The fight scene between Obi-Wan and Vader was like watching two people on completely different sides of the spectrum of fear. Vader plunged into the dark side for fear of losing his loved ones, and Obi-Wan plunged into nothingness due to fear of losing himself. I think this fight is the moment Obi-Wan realizes that his fear has come true, he is obviously no longer the man he was. He barely escapes with his life, and he truly must get his skills together before Vader finds him again…how will Obi-Wan get back to his former glory?

Part 4

We open with Obi-Wan healing and reeling from his loss against Darth Vader. Obi-Wan's old padawan's voice echoing through his head "you should have killed me when you had a chance!". A stark fact that he has to live with now that he has realized that Anakin is still alive. He awakens to realize that Leia is gone, and seemingly he's the only one who cared enough to start a plan to save her. I find it quite odd that everyone Jabiim was totally fine with leaving a 10 year old to the Inquisitors until Obi-Wan was done healing. Once Obi-Wan is suited in his semi Jedi garb he gets right to convincing a few of the good folks on Jabiim to assist him in infiltrating "Fortress Inquisitorious" as Wade called it and after very little resistance, they agree to make a plan.

Meanwhile Leia is being a 10 year badass in the face of a full fledged Third Sister. Reva wants to know where The Path is but Leia is not budging, and i mean she is completely fearless. Even when Reva starts to use the force to try to extract info from Leia, it seems as if its futile as Leia asks, "Is this a staring contest?". Surly a bit of smart ass banter from the 10 year old but I was highly confused as to why Reva was not able to get the info she wanted from Leia in that moment but i soon realized it was all just a game Reva was playing to get the a bigger fish. Obi-Wan emerges from the water door of the Inquisitor base completely dry, i don't recall the force having quick dry properties, but whatever we're here now. He finds out this fortress also stands as a tomb as he walks passes what seems to be Jedi incased in amber. He makes it to Leia and an amazing Star Wars - esque escape takes place, blaster shots and lightsabers clash in a space hallway far far away. This is awesome because we finally get to see Obi-Wan use his lightsaber, and he looks like he's getting used to it again, and he'd better get used to it quick because the shit is hitting the fan very quickly. They escape on Sully's ship, losing Wade on the way but escaping with Leia kind of scott free. Wade has only been around for like 5 minutes at this point so we aren't really attached to him and it doesn't hurt that much to lose him. We should all be used to at least one rescue ship being lost at this point, its just a part of the process ya know?

Reva gets forced throttled by Darth Vader until she reveals that she's put a tracker on them, he is pleased with this info. Now our escape just feels like a waiting game, because we know once they land the Empire will be ready to descend upon them like a plague of locusts and they have no clue. We spend a happy second with Obi-Wan and Leia holding hands just for the camera to pan to Lola, Leia's cute ladybug droid, to reveal that she is in fact the tracking device (holy shit). It sucks but i feel like the next episode is going to be a huge massacre, who will survive this Sith onslaught? I guess we'll find out next week...I'm not freaking out, you are!!!

Part 5 (now with blacked out spoilers!)

The opening scene is a tear jerker, as we see a flashback of Obi-Wan and Anakin dueling as master and padawan. This scene serves as both a reminder of how close these men were as a padawan and master duo and a hint for things to come. We quick jump back to where we left off; the celebration of the return of Leia, and the descent of the Sith upon the planet of Jabiim. Once the sith make it there, which is like immediately, Obi-Wan recalls his old training sessions within his mind and realizes how important victory has always been to Anakin. Obi-Wan realizes this can be used as a tool to trick Vader in this moment.

Reva hits the scene is Grand Inquisitor fashion because she has pleased Vader enough to get a shiny new pin on her leather sith chest guard. Obi-Wan decides to try to reason with the newly appointed Grand Inquisitor, Reva and in all his cleverness he realizes she was a youngling when Order 66 happened. Subsequently she reveals that she hid under the bodies of other younglings to survive Anakin's massacre. She then asks Obi-Wan, "Why didn't you stop him?, why didn't you save us?" another reminder of the damage done by not finishing off his old padawan. Reva also reveals that those Jedi and padawan that were killed were her only family and she has only become Grand Inquisitor for revenge! The grand plan is finally revealed! I knew she had something up her sleeve. Redemption arc coming? I really hope so, honestly. After Tala takes a blaster bolt to the gut she sacrifices herself, blowing up the the room containing a vast amount of stormtroopers who had breached. the gate. Obi-Wan then decides his best bet to get everyone out is to get fake captured, you know the whole get captured so i can get free later thing that happens a few times throughout the Star Wars saga. This pleases Reva cause all she wants to do is give Vader that hot slice of saber. When Vader gets there he makes it just in time to stop the ship the folks in Jabiim are trying to escape in, he does so in powerful fashion stopping it in mid air via the force, very sexy but very tiring. He smashes the ship to the ground and just as the flames settle, the real ship takes off (surprise fake explosion).

Reva then tries her hand at a sneak attack on Lord Vader failing horribly, i mean, at this point we realize that Vader is a brat that likes to play with his food, and he does so here. Reva doesn't stand a chance at all and is overwhelmed by his force use, then his saber skills. It's a brutal display, but she puts up a creative fight only to be impaled by Vader, triggering a flashback to her being stabbed in similar fashion when she was a youngling. Vader reveals that he knew her plan all along, and the original Grand Inquisitor walks from the shadows and spews .a short monologue before saying, "your rage was useful, now it is tiresome" which kinda pissed me off because it reminded me of how the Imperial swine of America love black folk for profit until they deem us tiresome, but i digress. Reva lies there until she notices the holo chip from Bail that Obi-Wan dropped revealing that they are heading to Tatooine. There is a disturbance in the force that Obi-Wan doesn't reveal but a slow zoom on a young Luke Skywalker implies that its Reva's next stop...but why? Is she going to try to kill Luke as revenge since she couldn't kill Vader? Find out next time on Obi-Wan Kenobi!!!

Part 6 (finale)

We’ve made it to the finale, our guy Obi-Wan has faced his fears and struggled to become the Jedi he once was. Revas true intentions were revealed last episode, and now she’s injured but still hungry for sweet, sweet revenge. Vader knows exactly where Obi-Wan is and is ready to cut his old master down to size. The conflict is-a bubbling and the climax is rolling towards us like a stampede of Eopie. The moment we have all been waiting for is here, and it doesn’t disappoint.

We open on Reva, searching for Owen. She is hell bent of killing baby Luke since she lost in her battle to Darth Vader, but Owen is ready and gets strapped to prepare for Reva’s arrival. Meanwhile Obi-Wan is determined to create a diversion for the good folks of Jabiim to escape. Leia gets mad that he’s leaving but she’s a child so Obi-Wan lets her sulk while he goes to handle some grown man business: Fighting his padawan. The moment we’ve all been waiting for honestly.

As soon as Vader lands Obi-Wan is waiting for him, his demeanor completely different than the first fight with Vader. This time Obi-wan is ready. He gets in his signature Jedi pose and faces Vader with all the confidence of a true Jedi and as Obi-Wan goes to squish Vader with a huge rock pillar using the force Vader stops him and says, “Your strength returns but the weakness remains”. He can sense that Obi-Wan is not fighting to kill him and he takes advantage of this softness. Vader counters, pelting Obi-Wan with rocks, burying him, and seemingly winning. Obi-Wan sits there buried for a moment, then he starts to envision all the people that he started this journey for. As Darth walks away talking shit, he senses that the battle isn’t over. Obi-Wan stands behind him ready to complete the rock fight that he started. He bombards the youngling killer with a slew of boulders, Vader whelps in James Earl Jones fashion as the rocks smack against his armor. Obi-Wan rushes in with a to continue the saber fight, and he is finally back in full form. Watching him back in his fighting spirit and using a few different stances to keep Vader on his toes is great goosebump fuel. Obi-Wan does a force jump and lops half of Vader’s mask off. He sees Anakin’s face through the mask, and he apologizes for everything and in that moment, Vader says, “I am not your failure, I killed Anakin”. These words are what Obi-Wan needs to release himself from the trauma he’s been beating himself up about this whole time. He replies, “then my friend is truly dead” and walks away from the defeated Darth Vader.

While this is all happening, an injured Reva has made it to Tatooine and is fighting with Owen and Beru. The non-jedi do very well in defending themselves and protecting Luke, they save him enough time to escape through an opening in the top of their underground shelter where he runs for dear life, but Reva is hot on his tail. She force pushes him causing him to roll down what seems like an endless hill, smacking his head and passing out. In this moment Obi-Wan can sense that Luke is in danger and boosts to lightspeed to make it to the untrained youngling. Reva stands over Luke, poised to strike like Anakin did to her friends and family. This triggers her, causing her to live through the trauma that she went through again. Obi-Wan makes it to Tatooine just in time to watch Reva carry Luke to the Lars Family in one piece. Reva sits on the ground before Obi-Wan, weeping, and she asks, “Have I become him?” Obi-Wan reassures her that she has not and tells her that she has given her friends and family peace. “…you have honored them” a tear inducing line as Reva chooses to let her revenge go, dropping her Sith lightsaber.

The adventure has clearly matured Leia, as she puts up no fight in getting ready to meet visitors. Obi-Wan comes to drops off Lola, tells Leia about her parents and packs up his hole in the wall hideout right before going to check on Owen one last time. Upon meeting Owen, Obi-Wan tells him that he was right about Luke, “he just needs to be a boy. The future will take care of itself” and in that moment Owen allows Obi-Wan to meet baby Luke and Obi-Wan agrees greeting him with a “Hello there” which gives me goosebumps as I type it now. Obi-Wan leaves and while he rides through the desert, he encounters none other than his mentor and master, Qui-Gon. I weep like a child as he shows up in force blue fashion. Obi-Wan asks where he’s been, and Qui-Gon replies, “I was always here, Obi-Wan. You just were not ready to see.” Obi-Wan gives a smile, and Qui-Gon tells him they have a long journey ahead of them. They travel off into the desert as the music starts and the credits roll, and I’m left wanting more.

The breakdown of Obi-Wans individual adventure emotionally and physically was probably one of the greatest stories told about a dude I thought I knew so much about already. This mini-series fleshed out so much in terms of Obi-Wans trauma, and Anakin’s struggles. I hope to see more series like this, maybe one dedicated to Ahsoka Tano or even Anakin himself. There are so many moments in our favorite characters lives that have been buried in the deep lore of Star Wars, it’s amazing to see these tales brought to the forefront of the cannon and to feel closer to our favorite characters.