Obi-Wan Kenobi Image: Lucasfilm
There is a moment in the beginning of the first episode of the two-part premiere of Obi-Wan Kenobi, which, although a keen observation of how the Jedi work as heroes, seems explicitly intended to explain why everything happens the way it does: Reva, the Sith inquisitor known as the Third Sister (Moses Ingram), noted that “the Jedi code is like itching.” The Jedi can’t resist helping someone in need, so if you want to chase away a hiding Jedi, just start hurting people and you’ll end up with a blue or green lightsaber in your face.
Reva’s trick works very well on Nari, a horrible Jedi who somehow survives a decade of persecution by the Empire, although his version of “hiding” is more like “just being a Jedi and hoping no one notices.” “. See, Obi-Wan Kenobi – if Disney +’s summary of the prehistory and its prologue scene, which we’ll get to later, doesn’t warn you – takes place in the increasingly crowded window between Episode III: Revenge of the Sith and the original Star Wars, by order of the Emperor 66, turning the Jedi into criminals, and his Sith inquisitors (introduced in Star Wars: Rebels), persecuting the few who remained.
Obi-Wan himself doesn’t appear in the first episode for a while, and when he does, he seems to serve as a counterpoint to Reva’s argument about the Jedi. He spends his days working with a team of Tatooine, who collects a large dead monster, cuts its pieces into meat, and then receives his daily wage from a robot. When one of Obi-Wan’s colleagues complains that he doesn’t get as much as he deserves, another person yells at him. Obi-Wan watches this happen instead of confronting a (admittedly small) tyranny.
During the night, he returns to his cave and occasionally sneaks into the desert to spy on little Luke Skywalker (sent to live with his aunt and uncle on their moisture farm at the end of Episode III), and that’s it. for Obi-Wan … until Nari shows up and asks for it, brandishing his lightsaber to prove he’s a Jedi and ignoring Obi-Wan’s pleas to shut up and accept that the Empire has won. “The time of the Jedi is over,” he says. “But, as Reva said, he will eventually have to scratch that itch.
G / O Media may receive a commission
Top rated
Regenacalm Serum S1 Pro
Protects the water balance of the skin and maintains its moisture level. Contains the company’s blend of active plant ingredients Regenacalm to accelerate the renewal of skin cells.
Which brings us to the surprising main plot of these first two episodes: Young Leah Organa, played by Vivienne Lyra Blair, gets involved in the nonsense of her adoptive planet Alderaan. She runs away from a luxury party hosted by her parents (including a welcome return from Jimmy Smiths as Bale Organa) and is caught by a criminal scammer named Vect, distractingly played by Flea. Bale Organa turns to Obi-Wan for help because he is the only one who knows that Leia has more than just being the adopted daughter of a famous politician. At first, Obi-Wan refuses, but after seeing Nari dead and stretched out in the center of the city, he surrenders and agrees to break his oath to keep an eye on Luke so he can go and save Leah.
This is where the show faces a bunch of problems with the Star Wars canon, which it simply creates for itself by wanting to give Obi-Wan something to do beyond sitting in the desert to the events of the original film. Leah’s message “Help Me Obi-Wan Kenobi”, which she gives to R2-D2 in the film, seems to suggest that she and Obi-Wan do not know each other, but in the end she meets Obi-Wan in the second part of the premiere and she hears him called Obi-Wan – despite his insistence that they call him “Ben”.
It’s too early to say if this is a problem, because it’s just a premiere and there are many more episodes ahead, but as a Star Wars maniac who questions the need for some of these big and important spin-off stories, I can’t help it. but notice it.
The good news is that the second episode is much more interesting and exciting than the first, with Obi-Wan using Game Boy Advance, which he hid in his secret Jedi box to follow Leah to Los Angeles from Blade Runner, or at least His version of Star Wars. Dressed as a Jedi and carrying his lightsaber on his thigh, Obi-Wan adopted Nari’s extremely unsuccessful version of “hiding” and a child quickly invited him to meet a suspiciously helpful Jedi named Haja Estri (Kumail Nanjiani, apparently hot-tempered). ).
Hajja helps power-sensitive children get out of the city, and although he lies that he is a Jedi, his heart is still quite clear in the right place. He directs Obi-Wan to the Flea’s lair, and after sabotaging a drug lab, Obi-Wan gets into a fight with some scammers, who skillfully make it clear that he can no longer behave effortlessly in battle – he was in a cave for a decade, after all, planting some continuity to the fact that he would become Alec Guinness in a few years.
Speaking about Obi-Wan’s age, little Leia repeatedly refers to him as being ancient, which is definitely not the case, but it feels like a slight wink from the audience to remove the inconsistency of Ewan McGregor’s appearance against Guinness. Also: Little Leah is a lot of fun. Extremely early and sweet, like the Star Wars version of Anya from Spy X Family, and I like that her premature maturity actually becomes a problem for Obi-Wan when she immediately realizes that he is a Jedi and that the bad guys come after her to get to him.
With this in mind, I will also note that the complexity of this evil conspiracy with Reva kidnaps Bale Organa’s daughter simply because she knows that Obi-Wan met Bale during the Clone Wars and she wants to banish Obi -Oh, it’s absurd. She has no way of knowing that Bale will not send his army, as Leah suggests she will. It’s just very convenient for Reva that Bale has to keep the kidnapping quiet and therefore can’t ask anyone but Obi-Wan for help, although she would have no reason to suggest that he would like to remain silent … regardless who is Leah’s father, she is the adopted daughter of a famous senator! It could be a big deal if she is kidnapped and no one thinks, “wait, why does this man care so much that his daughter was kidnapped?”
Eventually, Obi-Wan gains Leia’s trust by using his strength to save her from falling, and with some help from Hajja (he is a good man!), They find a way to escape. But before that, Obi-Wan tells Leia that she reminds him of someone he knew, a “fearless and stubborn” woman, which is probably the first time Star Wars has acknowledged the existence of Padme Amidala since her death. It’s good to see that not every member of the Skywalker family has to self-identify through their relationship (or lack thereof) with Darth Vader.
And hey, the episode ends with Obi-Wan learning from Reva that Vader is indeed still alive, and we get a hard cut from a wrinkled and baked Anakin floating in a bath with a breathing mask. Of course … it would really break the canon if Obi-Wan and Vader met at any time before New Hope, but we’ll see how Obi-Wan Kenobi handles it.
Prodigal observations
- Reva is obviously one of those falling from the beginning, right? Why show it otherwise? And if it’s so obvious, why not just do it explicitly?
- On the subject of “why show this”, uh, it probably wouldn’t hurt Disney to release a disclaimer or something before this episode, just so everyone knows that going into it, the first thing you’ll see is what it really is. is a cop shooting at children. It’s certainly not Disney’s fault, but it’s still strong after this week.
- The pointless sci-fi chatter in every scene of Alderaan seemed very different from Star Wars. Yes, there are things about “rat blasting” and “banthaa poodoo” in the movies, but every line in those scenes was “it’s like picking up a glorious ag” or “you’re going to get cakes.” What’s wrong with Han Solo saying “I’ll see you in hell” and all that?
- It is worth noting that the main plot here – a Jedi hiding after Order 66 working undeclared, forced to be threatened by the imperial inquisitors – is very similar to the Jedi: The Fallen Order. This game also spent time humanizing (so to speak) a Sith inquisitor, especially the second sister, with Reva being the third sister here.
- Hello! I will not be your regular Obi-Wan Kenobi recap. I’m just coming for this week. If you want to know my trust in Star Wars to determine if my opinions are valid or not, my rankings are: 1. The Last Jedi, 2. Everyone else, including other shows, 3. The rise of Skywalker. Oh, look at the time! I have to go!
Add Comment