Hello There! Obi-Wan Kenobi has finally dropped on Disney+! Seventeen years since Ewan McGregor’s last appearance in Revenge of the Sith as the famed Jedi Knight, almost nothing has changed, at least when it comes to the actor’s performance. It’s been one wild ride for fans, but it was worth the wait. Over the weekend, for Star Wars Celebration, the first two episodes, Part I and Part II dropped earlier than initially scheduled.
Initially, we would do two reviews but felt it would be better to cover the episodes as a two-hour premiere. We also found many Easter eggs, so we thought we’d cover some. Please go to New Rockstars’ video for Part I if you want a more in-depth look at the Easter eggs. Here’s the link for the Part II Easter eggs from New Rockstars.
Before we begin, the review will be set out differently than any review we’ve written before. As mentioned, Easter eggs and references will be included for additional context when necessary.
Without further delay, let’s get into it. First, just a side note, some of the events are messy, as our notes are all over the place.
Part I – The Ashes Fall
The story begins with a cleverly curated recap of the Star Wars prequel trilogy, highlighting the highs and lows of Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker’s lives. A few notable mentions include:
- Obi-Wan’s time as the Padawan of Qui-Gon Jinn.
- The meeting between Obi-Wan and Anakin.
- Anakin and Padmé Amidala’s wedding on Naboo.
- Padmé’s death.
- Anakin is sealed inside the black suit of armour.
This prologue catches the audience up if they haven’t seen the films in a while. Or for new viewers to be caught up on the story so far in the timeline.
The recap pulls us to 19BBY, where Jedi Master Minas Velti teaches her class of students in the Jedi Temple on Coruscant. The door opens, and clone troopers from the 501st Battalion start firing. Velti jumps into action, doing what she can to protect her students.
One of the first things we notice when this scene starts is the first child we see is a dark-skinned little girl. It has been speculated that this child might be young Reva, who will become the Inquisitor known as the Third Sister.
Master Velti manages to get the Younglings out into a corridor leading towards the exit of the building before she is killed. The students keep running while the Jedi below them fight the 501st.
10 Years Later – Obi-Wan’s Crap Life On Tatooine
We catch up with Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor) in a very dark period of his life. The last ten years have been torture for him. He now works cutting meat to get by while living in a cave close to the Lars Homestead. While he doesn’t enjoy his job, he also can’t help people. So when one of his coworkers is bullied by their boss, he has to stand by and do nothing. Ewan’s performance in this scene is so believable that his expression makes us sad.
He is no longer the man he once was, and he has sunken so deep into himself that his former persona is no longer recognisable. However, his big heart and fondness for Anakin (Hayden Christensen) still live on as he watches over his former friend’s son, Luke (Grant Feely). The latter has inherited his father’s love of flying, much to the worry of his Uncle Owen (Joel Edgerton), Skywalker’s stepbrother.
Elsewhere, The Grand Inquisitor (Rupert Friend) and his disciples, the Fifth Brother (Sung Kang) and Reva the Third Sister (Moses Ingram), arrive on Tatooine looking for a rogue Jedi. After the Jedi named Nari (Benny Safdie) escapes, the head of the Inquisitorius lectures Reva about her recklessness and tells her that they need to focus on “the smaller fish.”
According to the Grand Inquisitor, Obi-Wan has done so much of a good job that they’ve spent a decade looking for him and, so far, have come up blank. This sentiment is bought up later by the Fifth Brother too. Reva hates being told what she can and cannot do.
Leia Escapes The Palace
Part I of Obi-Wan Kenobi gives us massive misdirect. While it was assumed Obi-Wan would leave Tatooine to throw the Inquisitorius off the trail of discovering Luke’s parentage, the show confirms that Leia (Vivien Lyra Blair), Luke’s twin sister is a lead character rather than her brother.
We’ve seen Obi-Wan and Luke’s relationship already, and at this point in the timeline, it’s non-existent for obvious reasons. Also, we’ve never seen Obi-Wan’s relationship with Leia, nor could we work out why she would name her son after a man she didn’t know outside of what Luke told her.
Now, we get the explanation of them having met before, which is implied in A New Hope. However, this jumps off when she sends a message to him, mentioning Bail’s (Jimmy Smits) friendship with him.
Leia has her handmaidens trick her adoptive mother, Queen Breha (Simone Kessell), while she adventures with her little droid, Lola. Breha is unamused by her daughter’s disappearance and knows exactly where she’s gone. Now, a little note here. While Leia is up the tree, she names several ships, a skill her brother has, as does Anakin, who was a keen pilot. Just this scene shows how similar she is to her biological father.
Obi-Wan’s Nightmares Of The Past
In a previous post, we spoke about Obi-Wan confronting his past. Well, this does happen and not in the way we expected. Obi-Wan suffers from PTSD, and his nightmares of the past only push him deeper into his depression and self-pity.
When Bail arrives on Tatooine after failing to recruit Obi-Wan the first time after Leia is kidnapped, he refers to how he couldn’t save Anakin. But, perhaps, he can save his former friend’s daughter. It also takes Nari’s death for Obi-Wan to get himself together and take Senator Organa up on his offer to rescue Leia. Also, the secret rebel leader indirectly refers to Padmé when he says, “Do it for her.”
Padmé has not been referenced by name in the series unless you count the audio description. However, she could get a direct reference later due to Vader’s upcoming appearances.
It’s been hinted that Obi-Wan still has a Force connection with Anakin, even after all these years. Some of the snapshots in his nightmares aren’t his memories. One example is young Anakin blowing up the droid command ship when he was about Luke and Leia’s age. Kenobi wasn’t present for that event as he was helping Qui-Gon fight, Darth Maul.
Breha’s Imperial Loving Family And Leia Puts Her Cousin In His Place
The series focuses on building up the character of Queen Breha, as there’s not much information in canon about her. We know a fair amount about Bail, given his live-action and animated appearances. However, we learn a lot more about the Organas in Part I.
Breha’s sister, who is named Duchess Celly Organa in the credits. Celly is a name taken from Legends, where she was one of Bail’s sisters. However, it is also apparent that the surname ‘Organa’ is Breha’s last name, not her husband’s. This implies that he took her last name when they married. A side note is that Breha in Legends was born into the Antilles family.
Also, Celly, her husband Kayo and their son Niano were Imperial sympathisers, much to the annoyance of Breha and Bail. As a result, all the trio carried about was money they believed the Empire provided them.
Leia and her cousin, Niano, do not get along. The Princess’s belief via observation is that he’s afraid of his father and mimics what Kayo says while not understanding what his comments mean. It is also apparent that Kayo disapproves of Leia’s adoption and doesn’t consider her a “real” Organa.
The Princess’s acid tongue keeps Niano in his place, leaving her in trouble with her parents. What stands out in this moment is that it shows Breha and Bail as parents, not leaders. They both love their adopted daughter unconditionally. Breha is shown to be the stern parent, while Bail wants Leia to explore. This is likely what types of parents Anakin and Padmé would’ve been. Padmé would’ve been the one to enforce the rules, while Anakin would allow the twins to be independent.
Leia Knows Of Her Adoption And Her Relationship With Droids
Leia appears to know she is adopted, as she doesn’t question it when Niano mocks her. The princess’ Wookieepedia page says that Leia saw her adoption as an honour. So it can be assumed she always knew about it as she doesn’t say anything about it outside of what she tells Bail regarding Niano’s comment.
Leia is also polite towards the droids in her family’s service. This contrasts with Niano, who doesn’t respect anyone who is not living and breathing. Her conduct towards Y-O seems close as the droid is polite. This is a nod to Anakin and Padmé always valuing R2-D2 and C-3PO, who the Organas now own. C-3PO had his memory erased so he couldn’t accidentally reveal Anakin was Vader.
Bail And Breha Have To Beg Obi-Wan
Bail and Obi-Wan have known each other for a long time. They were allies and friends, and they were mutual friends with Padmé. However, the Organas become desperate to find Leia, and the only one they can turn to is Obi-Wan, as they cannot allow their daughter’s true parentage to become open knowledge.
When Obi-Wan refuses to help and inquires about having bounty hunters or the royal guard look for the Princess, Bail and Breha say he is the only one they trust. While they have a fair point, the other individual they would also trust is Yoda, though this is not mentioned.
Bail mentions that Kenobi has a duty to Luke and his sister, knowing this is what Padmé would’ve wanted.
The Organas’ message is similar to Leia’s one about a decade later when recruiting Obi-Wan to help her father.
Part II – Obi-Wan Meets Leia
Obi-Wan searches Daiyu for Leia and finds his people and combat skills are rusty. He comes across a girl with pink hair selling spice. This girl is one of Ewan McGregor’s daughters, Esther-Rose. He asks for information, pretending that the Princess is his daughter. The female tells him that no one ever leaves the planet.
Eventually, Obi-Wan finds himself grappling with bounty hunters. First, he falls into a trap but uses spice to distract Leia’s kidnappers. This ultimately annoys Reva when she sees the thugs high on the drug.
Obi-Wan searches for Leia and finds her, but she attacks him. He quickly explains that her father sent him to find her. She then questions where the army is.
It amazes Obi-Wan just how similar the little Princess is to her biological mother, Padmé, a sentiment he mentions later. After some back and forth with Leia, he tells her that his ‘friend’ is stubborn and fearless like she is. Leia argues she’s not persistent, only to be told she is.
Dressing Like Her Mother And The Stubbornness Gene
There’s a moment in the episode where Leia is dressed liked Padmé. This occurs when Obi-Wan smuggles her out of the Spice Lab, and she’s wearing an orange poncho with a hood. This is a nod to when Padmé went undercover as a handmaiden when she was Queen of Naboo in the Phantom Menace.
When Leia becomes bossy and tells Obi-Wan they need to move to evade capture, he marvels at her. When she questions what’s wrong, he tells her that she reminds him of a late friend. While he doesn’t tell her who he is referring to, he tells her that the person he is thinking about is fearless and stubborn like she is. She argues with him, but he wins the argument. He’s referring to Padmé, but some fans are convinced he was referring to Satine, his lost love Maul killed. We also saw a comment that he could be talking about Ahsoka too. However, Satine and Ahsoka don’t fit the narrative.
Satine had no ties to Leia outside of being acquainted with Padmé. As for Ahsoka, she wasn’t entirely fearless, and her stubbornness was quickly extinguished due to Anakin’s teachings. However, Ahsoka was a close contact with Bail, Leia’s adoptive father, during the early days of the rebellion.
Breha hints at Leia being more like Padmé in Part I during a conversation she has with Bail.
Reva “Kills” The Grand Inquisitor
This was a twist we did not see coming. Before Reva reveals the truth to Obi-Wan about Anakin’s survival, she stabs the Grand Inquisitor to ensure he cannot get in her way of getting Kenobi. This has raised a lot of speculation between people on social media since the episodes dropped.
Many fans fear that Star Wars Rebels is no longer canon due to the Grand Inquisitor’s “death.” For casual fans reading this, the Grand Inquisitor dies in the Season One finale after losing a fight with Kanan Jarrus. We want to say that we do NOT believe he is dead. The Pau’an species (the Grand Inquisitor’s species) page on Wookieepedia says the species has two stomachs. Also, director Deborah Chow is a Star Wars vet, having worked on The Mandalorian alongside Dave Filoni and Jon Favreau.
She knows the timeline backward and forward. There is no way she would make the mistake of allowing such a vital character in Rebels to be killed off prematurely. We believe that Reva stabbed him through one of his stomachs. Also, there has been a theory floating around that there might be clones of the Grand Inquisitor. However, if we’re honest here, we don’t think Palpatine would care for any Jedi Hunters. The last thing he would need is competition. Also, Palpatine struggled to make Force-sensitive clones of himself at this time. Therefore, we doubt he would’ve been able to get clones of the Grand Inquisitor.
We rate Obi-Wan Kenobi Part I and Part II:
