Part III
**The following contains spoilers through Part III of Obi-Wan Kenobi**
In the famous Fire Drill episode of The Office, when evidence of a fire started by Dwight becomes apparent in the office, Michael Scott emerges from his office exclaiming “Oh my God, okay it’s happening. Everybody stay calm, stay calm!” This pretty much describes my feelings as I sat and watched the third act of the third episode of the Obi-Wan Kenobi series.
It happened earlier than I expected, and quite possibly earlier than I hoped, but we got it, folks. We got Vader vs. Obi-Wan part 2A (I’m choosing to call it 2A because I feel like they will have another confrontation in this series; part 3 is obviously on the Death Star in A New Hope).
And it. Was. Glorious.
After being mesmerized by what I had just watched unfold on screen, I spent a few minutes wondering how I couldn’t help but wonder if this happened too early in the series. I mean, now what will the series be building toward? Well, as stated above I think there will be another in the series. Perhaps one with a less unhinged Obi-Wan who can more hold up his reputation as a great swordsman. The more I thought about the showdown, the more I realized how much sense it makes for Obi-Wan to have to face Vader at this point in the show.
Consider the information revealed to Obi-Wan at the end of Part II that his old apprentice, left for dead with no limbs and charred to a crisp beside an extremely active volcano river, is actually alive. Obi-Wan basically spends this entire episode trying to come to terms with this information, and when all looks processed and normal-ish again…he shows up.
The moment in which Obi-Wan feels the presence of Vader is remarkably punctuated. Whether it was director Deborah Chow’s plan all along, or the work of editor Nicolas de Toth, but dropping all of the music and sound suddenly, minus the breathing of Obi-Wan, and then Vader, was a masterful stroke of genius. I also appreciated the lack of real dialogue between the two combatants – it really emphasized just how much shock Obi-Wan must have been in, and how Vader was just absolutely milking the moment, forcing it to all sink in silently as he revealed his new form and presence to Obi-Wan, and actually making it so much worse for him.
Watching Vader stride down the street of the village, having his Force fun with the villagers, is reminiscent of the Vader in the hallway from Rogue One just on a much smaller, less brutal scale. Obi-Wan can do nothing but look on, basically frozen in fear as he proceeds to essentially completely unravel. It’s not enough that he hasn’t so much as ignited his lightsaber in ten years, but now he has to, in a life or death situation, against a machine-powered Sith powerhouse of an old familiar friend and foe.
Once hailed as one of the greatest swordsmen in the Jedi Order, Obi-Wan is barely hanging on by a thread against Vader, who is only fighting with one hand as he has done in previous movies, which I thought was a nice nod. It also shows just how arrogant and dominant he is – just as he showed at times pre-machine in the duel on Mustafar. With the clearly horrified and shocked Obi-Wan holding his lightsaber for the first time in years, this duel is a rout in favour of our favourite Sith Lord.
The conclusion of the duel left me breathless and horrified for Obi-Wan as Vader Force-pulls him through the fire he ignites on the ground. This eye for an eye revenge seems like it’s Vader at his most angry, and is par for the course when we think about Anakin’s revenge against Count Dooku in Revenge of the Sith (“He cut off your arm and you wanted revenge.” – Palpatine). It is somewhat refreshing that Vader obviously has no aversion to fire, as the Hound did in Game of Thrones, but rather seems to celebrate it and use it as he does in the duel here.
The confrontation leaves Obi-Wan badly burned and I can imagine incredibly shaken, and in the hands of a new ally in Tala, played by Indira Varma. The misdirect around her character was kind of brilliant – all we knew about her amidst the shroud of Disney secrecy was that she was playing an Imperial Officer, and the shot of her in the trailers in full uniform confirmed that, but having her be someone who is actually helping Jedi and other good guys escaping from the Empire is a fun twist. I’ll admit, though, her back story is a little underwhelming. “I joined the Empire but then realized my bosses are the embodiments of evil and now I want to help the other side” is a story that is tired and not new, but I can’t help but wonder if Tala is unknowingly helping set the table for the Rebellion. I feel as though her story is far from over in this series.
Meanwhile, Leia is left in the hands of Reva, which can’t be a recipe for anything good. Thankfully, as we know, nobody knows the true identity of our mini Princess yet, but I have to wonder if Vader felt anything as he walked through the village next to where Leia was escaping. I also wonder if we’ll have some kind of introduction between Leia and Vader; the sense I still get upon rewatching A New Hope is that Leia and Vader have interacted before their encounter in the hallways of the Tantive IV at the beginning of the movie.
Unlike the other Star Wars shows we’ve had so far, Obi-Wan Kenobi has an interesting dilemma of the audience already knowing the fates of all of the major players in the show. We know Obi-Wan will end up back on Tatooine, we know Leia will end up safely back in the hands of her family on Alderaan, and we know Vader will continue to be terrifying and overpowering and becoming the dominant enforcer in the Empire.
What this show will have to get creative with in the final three episodes is keeping us in suspense while having the outcomes clearly established. I think it will do so by treating us to some cameos, expected or unexpected, and by throwing us some more twists and turns – I’ll be the first to admit I was a bit shocked and thrown off by Obi-Wan getting dragged through the fire like that, but again it was a great piece of action that makes sense to the characters and the story.
Speaking of great pieces of action, I raved about Deborah Chow’s action direction last episode, but feel the need to do it again. Giving us our first real lightsaber duel since 2019’s The Rise of Skywalker, Chow made it feel and look unlike any of the other duels we’ve seen through the last 45 years of Star Wars. The silence punctuated by Vader’s breathing and the hum of lightsabers in the darkness only lit by the blades made this quite a beautiful and fresh battle, as did the demeanour of the characters, which I outlined above.
Chow is really doing some special things in this series, with the harsh desert scenes contrasted brilliantly by the menacing darkness, and as I said in the last review, her ability to capture the essential feel of Star Wars action while keeping it fresh, unpredictable and visually beautiful might be one of the best things Star Wars has going for it right now.
There are a few other things that at least deserve a mention from this episode, such as our getting to see Vader being assembled really for the first time; yes I know we saw the full construction in Revenge of the Sith but that was the initial build – after ten years this seems to be a fairly smooth operation. I love that they are re-using the castle on Mustafar, but still think that’s a really weird choice of location for Vader to have his home base (but I guess there’s no sand?).
The moment outside of Obi-Wan’s horror and the Vader showdown that hit me the hardest was when Obi-Wan and Leia were doing the father-daughter routine in front of the stormtroopers. Obi-Wan mistakenly calling her Leia after telling the stormtroopers a different name and his quick explanation of “She reminds me so much of her mother” hit me RIGHT in the heartstrings. We know he is being 100% sincere in this moment, a moment which doesn’t go over the head of the pint-sized heroine next to him.
The other moment is the mention of Quinlan Vos, a rogueish Jedi of only a couple of Clone Wars episodes who has had a long life in the world of comics. This continues the blending of “non-canon” comics and novels, as well as the animated series, into the live-action world. Whether or not we’ll see Vos in this series remains to be seen, but it seems like too large of an Easter egg to not include him.
Ditto for the appearance of Qui-Gon Jinn – either in ghost form or voiceover, I have to think he shows up at some point – maybe toward the end of the show to save Obi-Wan’s life in some way. I also think Commander Rex or Ahsoka’s cameos are plausible, and perhaps have already been teased in the show, but those are fairly unlikely compared to other characters who may pop in, as is also the case for Palpatine or Tarkin.
Halfway through the series, it’s fairly obvious that Ewan McGregor is running circles around everyone from an acting perspective, but the character development, storytelling and action in the show has been top-notch throughout. Now we wait and see how Obi-Wan will free Leia and return her to Alderaan, and how much Vader will we see moving forward? I’m willing to bet a bit, as well as some more pre-suit Anakin visions, especially with Obi-Wan potentially in a wounded state of delirium after his fight with Vader.
I’m really excited about this show in terms of story, action, and especially visuals, and really isn’t that all you want in a Star Wars production? I can’t wait to see how Chow and team have the final three episodes unfold – as I mentioned, we know the outcome but I’m interested to see the twists they’ll throw us in order to get there.
Part IV of Obi-Wan Kenobi streams exclusively on Disney+ on Wednesday, June 8.
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