Obi-Wan Kenobi: Part VI is an epic finale that delivers all the goods that any Star Wars fan could have wanted this season.
To say that the finale was anything but epic would certainly be an understatement. This episode had everything that I was wanting. Well, it took almost all of the runtime but I am not complaining over here. I heard complaints about the third episode as if nobody thought they were waiting for the finale. Hello there?!? Do you think that Star Wars would not deliver? If this is the case, I find your lack of faith disturbing.
The series had to do a lot of things in its final 51 minutes when it comes to wrapping storylines. We’re also sitting in a fine place if we do not end up with a second season. But after watching this season, I really want to see Obi-Wan going on further adventures. There’s still a lot of gaps in the time between now and his death on the Death Star. Anything can happen but it is up to Lucasfilm to determine the show’s fate. Read below the logo for my thoughts on where a second season could go.
SPOILER ALERT: Please do not read below unless you’ve already watched the episode.
Between saying “I will do what I must” and “Hello there,” this was the General Kenobi of old. The old Jedi just needed to find his way back again, even if it meant having to witness Tala (Indira Varma) and Roken (O’Shea Jackson) taking the fight to the Empire before this could happen. He’s no longer in the same place where he was in the first episode. With the way things end here, you could probably step right into A New Hope and wouldn’t miss a beat.
With the way the episode started, I was having flashbacks to the original trilogy with Darth Vader’s Star Destroyer chasing after The Path. It was like looking at Vader chasing the Tantive IV all over again! From where I was sitting, it was like being a kid in 1997 once more. If there’s one thing that this series has been delivering, it’s all of the nostalgic-driven moments and believe me, I might have teared up a bit but I definitely smiled. Kenobi also knew that Vader wanted him and so he did the only thing he could. He had to leave and divert Vader in order for them to live.
Much like on the Death Star, Vader must face him alone. This was the epic lightsaber fight that we wanted with Obi-Wan telling his former padawan that he will do what he must. Oh, to be back in 2005 again! The fight in episode 3 was only a tease of what was to come by the end of the season. This was epic especially seeing Kenobi fighting like he did in Revenge of the Sith. Kenobi destroys Vader’s helmet, likely giving him another scar that we see in Return of the Jedi. This way, we get to hear Hayden Christensen in character as Vader, much like Matt Lanter in Star Wars Rebels. Will this be the last of their fights until the Death Star? Time will certainly tell. In any event, the fight helps explain why Kenobi tells Luke Skywalker that Vader killed his father.
After saving Leia (Vivian Lyra Blair) and facing Vader again, Kenobi must go back to Tatooine because Luke Skywalker (Grant Feely) is in danger. We all know Luke’s life is not in danger because of the original trilogy. However, it doesn’t change the fact that at this moment, Reva (Moses Ingram) is after him. In one of those moments that determines her own future, she has flashbacks to being a youngling and couldn’t go through with it. She returns Luke to Owen (Joel Edgerton) and Beru Lars (Bonnie Piesse). By this point, Obi-Wan is back and he mentors her in the way that only a Jedi Master could. Will she stay on Tatooine or will she help other Force-sensitive children? This is one of those areas that could be further explored in a spinoff series, books, or comics.
Where are things with Leia? It took the kidnapping and an adventure with the Jedi to understand her own path. Kenobi also opened up about his own past with her parents. Obi-Wan Kenobi told her which of her traits were passed down to her by Padme Amidala and Anakin Skywalker. Of course, he does this without telling her the names. But in knowing that he knew her is something that bonds the two together for life. In Legends, Luke names his child after Ben but in canon, it’s Leia and Han that name their son after Ben. This doesn’t happen without the impression that he makes on her in this series. He also brings her a gift: Tala’s blaster holster.
It took the adventure with Leia for Obi-Wan to realize that Luke just needs to be a boy. He shouldn’t get rushed into training in the ways of the Force. Not yet, anyway. Kenobi realizes, much to Owen’s dismay, that the time will come but it’ll be at some point in the future. How about some nine years down the road? Before they part ways, Owen asks Ben if he would like to meet Luke and this is when Ben says the thing: “Hello there.” It’s become one of his trademark phrases dating back to A New Hope.
One, we get our first appearance of Emperor Palpatine (Ian McDiarmid) this season. The big surprise came just before the credits rolled with the appearance of Qui-Gon Jinn’s (Liam Neeson) Force ghost. It turns out that Kenobi had been unable to communicate with him during the past decade. Qui-Gon had been there all along but Obi-Wan just wasn’t ready to see him yet. This makes sense in a way because he put his Jedi life behind him after going into exile. It wasn’t until this adventure that saw him get his strength back. If you’re wondering what direction a second season could go, this cameo opens the way. We could see Qui-Gon teaching Obi-Wan how to become “more powerful than you can possibly imagine.”
Musically speaking, Natalie Holt does a fine job with the score. The new Obi-Wan Kenobi theme recurs as a leitmotif throughout the episode, of course. In scoring the show, Holt finds just the right moments to incorporate both the Force theme and the Imperial March.
Part VI concludes a satisfying Obi-Wan Kenobi storyline that took us on quite the adventure and sets up A New Hope in the process. I don’t know if we’re getting a second season but I’m always going to be down for watching Ewan McGregor suit up as Obi-Wan Kenobi. May the Force be with us.
SHOWRUNNER/DIRECTOR: Deborah Chow
SCREENWRITERS: Joby Harold & Andrew Stanton and Hossein Amini
EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: Kathleen Kennedy, Michelle Rejwan, Deborah Chow, Ewan McGregor, Joby Harold
CAST: Ewan McGregor, Moses Ingram, Vivien Lyra Blair, Kumail Nanjiani, Marisé Álvarez, O’Shea Jackson Jr., Maya Erskine, Joel Edgerton, Bonnie Piesse, Rupert Friend, Simone Kessell, Ian McDiarmid, James Earl Jones, with Jimmy Smits and Hayden Christensen
All six episodes of Obi-Wan Kenobi are now streaming on Disney+. Grade: 5/5
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