Obi-Wan Kenobi: In Conclusion…

• Based on ‘Star Wars’ created by George Lucas
• Directed by Deborah Chow
• Disney+

Cast

• Obi-Wan Kenobi-Ewan McGregor
• Anakin Skywalker / Darth Vader-Hayden Christensen
• Grand Inquisitor-Rupert Friend
• Fifth Brother-Sung Kang
• Reva Sevander / Third Sister-Moses Ingram
• Fourth Sister-Rya Kihlstedt
• Nari-Benny Safdie
• Owen Lars-Joel Edgerton
• Beru Whitesun Lars-Bonnie Piesse
• Young Luke Skywalker-Grant Feely
• Bail Organa-Jimmy Smits
• Queen of Alderaan Breha Organa-Simone Kessell
• Princess Leia Organa-Vivien Lyra Blair
• Vect Nokru-Flea
• Haja Estree-Kumail Nanjiani
• Nyche Horn-Marisé Álvarez
• Imperial Officer Tala-Indira Varma
• Jedi Master Minas Velti-Ming Qiu
• C-3PO-Anthony Daniels
• Homeless Veteran Clone Trooper-Temuera Morrison
• Tetha Grig-Esther-Rose McGregor
• Freck-Zach Braff
• Kawlan Roken-O’Shea Jackson Jr.
• Sully-Maya Erskine
• Emperor Palpatine-Ian McDiarmid
• Qui-Gon Jinn-Liam Neeson

After years in hiding on Tatooine watching over a young Luke Skywalker, Obi-Wan finds himself on a mission to save Leia and protect Luke from a crazed Inquisitor who plots against Vader.

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Part V

• Written by Joby Harold and Andrew Stanton
• June 15, 2022

Kenobi reflects on the past as Vader lays siege and Reva’s hatred of Kenobi as well as her plans are revealed.

Part V is a rather fantastic episode. While not perfect, they got so much right here that any issues are easily ignored. This is by far the best episode of the series so far.

Importantly they finally explain Reva (Moses Ingram). Improving the character did not take a whole episode as I assumed but rather a few lines and a few flashback scenes. We finally understand her motivation and why she hates Obi-Wan (Ewan McGregor). This should have occurred a few episodes ago to give them something to build on. What we got was the basis for a genuinely interesting character. In the end I am more pleased than displeased. 

The theory that Reva was a Youngling in the Jedi Temple is proven accurate. It was a bit obvious and I was beginning to think the would not pull a Kurtzman and do the obvious. They did though and still managed to get it to work.

Reva’s revenge is not only focused on Obi-Wan (Ewan McGregor), but she has been crafting a plan to kill Darth Vader the whole time. It also simply and neatly explains how she knows Darth Vader is actually Anakin Skywalker. It also kind of makes it stupid unfortunately. She clearly has a bit of information few if any others in the galaxy have and she’s shouting it at the top of her lungs from episode one until now every time she comes across Obi-Wan. Not smart. 

And Darth Vader was just absolutely amazing here. This is what we expect of a Dark Lord of the Sith. He was one step ahead the whole time. He knew what Reva was up to. And he had a plan ready. She was just a tool for him to use. A fantastic plot development!

There’s a flashback scene featuring Obi-Wan and Anakin. Hayden Christensen finally gets more to do than just appear in a distance shot. Obi-Wan and Leia are attempting to get back to Alderaan and are traveling through a secret base on a planet. Vader tracks them there and has contained all the refugees on the planet. This is juxtaposed with a flashback scene of a training fight between Obi-Wan and Anakin that not only informs on how Vader intends to handle the situation but how Obi-Wan intends to resolve it. We see the parallels to both events. 

It’s a great description of how Anakin while he may be a Dark Lord of the Sith is still very much that angry and impulsive individual intent on proving his worth through victory and powering through. While Obi-Wan was weaker as a Jedi, he could beat Anakin because he has patience and used strategy.

Leia (Vivien Lyra Blair) is much more in the background here than in previous episodes. She’s still important but not as significant. The focus is on what is occurring between Anakin/Darth Vader and Obi-Wan and how despite the march of time things still have not changed.

Part V is an absolutely great script with great direction and a definite high point of the series. I am glad they finally worked to make Reva a more interesting villain though I am disappointed that it came so late in the series. Still I have high hopes for the next and final episode.

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Part VI

• Story by Stuart Beattie, Joby Harold, and Andrew Stanton
• Teleplay by Joby Harold, Andrew Stanton, and Hossein Amini
• June 22, 2022

Reva travels to Tatooine to kill young Luke and Obi-Wan confronts Vader.

As finales go, Part VI of Obi-Wan Kenobi isn’t bad. For the character of Obi-Wan (Ewan McGregor) it was a very satisfying finale. The character ended much more hopeful, and you could see him fitting in with Obi-Wan as portrayed in the films. He was not broken and despaired and going through the motions of his life but rather looking to the future and being prepared. 

Obi-Wan’s fight with Vader was absolutely epic. It is everything you wanted in that battle. Plenty of sword and sorcery-or Jedi powers depending on how you look at it. Vader was much angrier and filled with a controlled rage. You could take it as Obi-Wan brought out something in him others could not.

They also did a nice little explanation on how Obi-Wan came to say Darth Vader killed Anakin Skywalker. When I saw Jedi I kind of took it as Obi-Wan (Sir Alec Guinness) said what he said to protect Luke from the knowledge that his dad was one of the most evil people in the entire galaxy. He told him the truth but with a little bit of spin and not simply for philosophical purposes. In reality he was just repeating what Anakin said and thus in a strange way honoring his friend.

The ending for Reva (Moses Ingram) was okay. It could have been better, but they failed to do too much with her from the start and only got around to developing her the previous episode. She was supposed to be the big bad in the series but as a whole I think she got overshadowed by Darth Vader.

This episode finds her on Tatooine hunting down Luke. She plans on killing him but fails to see the irony until she has him in her sights and realizes she is no better than Anakin was in the Jedi temple if she does that. It’s an okay moment but it occurring without Obi-Wan just failed to make it special. Since this was his show he should’ve been somehow involved in her epiphany. It also feels like it is something that should have been mentioned in A New Hope.

I think the show could’ve done with one more episode and padded out the Reva realization. This is mostly because she didn’t show any traits that would say she would realize her mistake in the previous five episodes. Somebody felt she needed a redemptive moment I guess to parallel Vader, but she was not on the same level as that character.

We got some enjoyable cameos in this episode. Liam Neeson makes a brief appearance as a Force ghost of Qui-Gon Jinn and Ian McDormand shows up as a hologram of Palpatine. How could you not cheer for that? Neeson’s appearance serves as narrative shorthand that Obi-Wan has come to the point emotionally where he is supposed to be and sets up his own Force ghost in the original trilogy.

Perhaps the best moment though was in the very end during the wrap up when Obi-Wan goes to Alderaan and sees Leia (Vivien Lyra Blair) and greets her with “Hello there!” It is a silly bit of fan service but sometimes those things are the best.

I have a little trouble with Owen (Joel Edgerton) and Beru (Bonnie Piesse) being able to fend off Reva as well as they did. She may not have full on Sith powers, but she still has powers which those two lack. Even injured she should have been more than a match for them. It was a good sequence but it’s not as if Owen and Beru were fighting really hard. They most scurried around.

That being said this was a fantastic episode and a great way to cap off the series. There was action and drama and it was a great story in the best of the Star Wars tradition.

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Obi-Wan is a very good Star Wars series. Its major flaw is the individual that was supposed to be the chief villain. Reva needed just a little more work. Still though the series as a whole is fantastic and rather enjoyable. If you haven’t checked it out yet you must!

May the Force be with you!