Viewer Log: Obi-Wan Kenobi ep 1

 Obi-Wan is going through a rough patch.

Let’s talk about Obi-Wan Kenobi. I’ll get back to the Mandalorian and other Star Wars shows eventually, but Obi-Wan is the big thing these last few weeks, I love Ewen McGregor, and I love this show, so we’re doing it. This is my sliver of the internet, I’ll do what I want. Let’s get to it, shall we?

 

Episode 1: Part 1

 

It's been a rough couple years.

We open on a brief history of the raise and fall of Anakin Skywalker. We’re shown them finding Anakin, Qui-Gon Jinn belief he’s the one to bring balance to the force, his death and making Obi-Wan swear to train him, the trials and tribulations of Anakin’s apprenticeship and later friendship with his master, and ultimately Anakin’s fall and dismemberment by Obi-Wan. And his transformation into Darth Vader.

 

We open on Coruscant, with a group of Younglings (pre-Apprenticeship Jedi) going through exercises with their master. The doors suddenly open and several Stormtroopers rush in, guns blazing. Yep, we’re on the night of Order 66. The Master figths the firsts two troopers off but this is aa umbers game. The leads the Younglings through the corridors, blocking blaster fire as they go. They’re eventually cornered, and the Master is killed. One of the Younglings tells the others they need to run, and as they do, we hear Emperor Palpatine’s voice repeating “Execute Order 66,” repeatedly.  

 

So. Much. Death.

We jump then to ten years after Obi-Wan saw Luke being taken in by his Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru. On Tatooine, life is going about as normal until a big black ship lands. The doors open and a trio of people in black come down. These are the Inquisitors, a group of ex-Jedi and other Force Sensitives that had been corrupted or recruited by Palpatine. They’re used as Jedi hunters, scouring the galaxy for the last of the Order. In case you haven’t been keeping up with Star Wars Lore. The three we see here are the Grand Inquisitor, the Fifth Brother, and Third Sister. They’re supposed to give up their names when they join. The Inquisitors march out and enter a cantina. The Grand Inquisitor speaks with the owner. He makes it clear he’s looking for Jedi, explaining that patience is the key to hunting Jedi, as their “compassion” lead a trail. They tracked a rumor to this saloon. The Inquisitor postulates that the Jedi came to the bar, helped the owner, and went against his own self interest to protect the owner. Third Sister grabs and throws a knife at the owner, which the Jedi, a man hiding in the corner, stops. He tries to run, but they corner him. Third Sister tries to slice him in half, but the Grand Inquisitor stops her. The Jedi runs off, Fifth Brother in pursuit. The Grand Inquisitor chastises her for being rash, but Third Sister insists they’re going after scraps when the big fish is still out there. The Grand Inquisitor tells her to drop it, to let go of her fixation with Kenobi or she’ll be relieved of duty. She says she’ll drop, she clearly won’t, and they walk off.

 

We jump to Obi-Wan Kenobi, now going by Ben, working in a meat processing plant in the desert. He’s kept his head down, it seems. Work ends for the day, Obi-Wan takes a bit of meat for himself before getting paid. When one of his coworkers points out he’s only been paid half of what he’s owned, Obi-Wan looks like he’ll step in for a sec but backs down and goes to the transport. Everyone looks tired and beaten down on the ride back into town. He finds his alien camel, feeds it, and prepares to head out again.

 

Desert life is hard, but I guess he moisturizes.

Obi-Wan crosses the desert towards his home, a cave out in the middle of nowhere. He checks his security unit then goes inside. He heats up a meal and just sits in the sun for a bit. A Jawa comes in. The Jawa has a model that Obi-Wan has been looking to get. They haggle for a bit, Obi-Wan getting a processing board for his vaporator that the Jawa stole from him in the first place, before the Jawa offers him a belt from a Jedi ship his tribe found and stripped. Obi-Wan pays for the toy and ushers the Jawa out. That night, he dreams of his duel with Anakin and all the pain and misery of his life. He wakes up and sits up. He calls out to Master Qui-Gon, but Qui-Gon doesn’t answer him. We get the sense this isn’t the first time he’s called out and not gotten an answer.

 

The next morning he rides out to a cliff overlooking a certain moisture farm. Obi-Wan watches as Owen, Beru and Luke go about their day. Luke runs off when their backs are turned and Obi-Wan sees him pretending to drive a speeder. They find him and have a good laugh, Obi-Wan watching wistfully. How sad. That evening, he enters the farm and leaves the model out for Luke. He rides off. Part way away, he runs into the Jedi from earlier. The Jedi, Nari, tries to talk to Master Obi-Wan, but he insists he’s Ben. Obi-Wan does get off his space camel long enough to tell Nari to bury his lightsaber and try to stay hidden. Obi-wan tells him the fight is over, they lost. He rides off, telling Nari that the time of the Jedi is over.

 

She was always Royalty.

We cut over to Alderaan, where young Princess Leia Organa is dressed up for some big party. Her mom comes to gather a hooded Leia, only to discover it’s one of Leia’s attendants in disguise. She says Leia said Breha would find the prank amusing. She has them search for Leia, saying she’d be in the kitchen, cellar, or, sighing, woods. Leia is in the woods, playing with her flying droid Lola. She climbs a tree and watches ships take off. Breha finds her and orders her down. She says Lola is to be shut down for the rest of the day and takes her to the party. Leia apologizes and goes in for a hug, with Breha good naturedly saying she feels Leia going to steal Lola back. They walk off with a sinister looking person watching.

 

Owen is WAY braver than the first movie had me
believe.

Obi-Wan works his shift and heads back to Anchorhead. Owen finds him, returns the ship and tells him to stay away from Luke. Obi-Wan wants to know if there’s anything wrong with Luke but Owen accuses him of just wanting to know if Luke is showing signs of Force Sensitivity. Obi-Wan insists that when the time comes he needs to train Luke, but Owen rather heartlessly asks “Like you trained his father?” Owen doesn’t want to risk Luke and asks That Owen leave him on the farm with his family, where he belongs. A commotion happens, drawing both men’s attention. Fifth Brother and Third Sister arrive and tell the people to either give them information about the Jedi they’re hunting or they’ll start cutting off hands. One lady protests and gets a hand cut off. As Third Sister, revealed to be named Reva, pontificates she either senses or sees Owen react to her words and starts interrogating him about his family. Owen says he hates Jedi and that seems to put Reva off for a second, but then she shouts for them to tell her where the Jedi is or Owen and his family die. She turns on her lightsaber and puts it to his neck, Fifth brother stops her, putting Nari’s headshot up and tells everyone to tell them about the Jedi and be rewarded. They walk off.

 

In an alley, Fifth Brother tells her she’s too impulsive. He accuses her of still looking for Kenobi and that that is a fool’s mission. He accuses her of going too far, and she counters by saying maybe he doesn’t go far enough. Obi-Wan thanks Owen, Owen says he didn’t do it for Obi-Wan and walks off.

 

Back on Alderaan, Leia and Breha join Bail and head in to greet Breha’s family before heading to the party. The Organa’s rub elbows, with a cameo of C-3PO, where Leia and her cousin get into a fight. He pulls the “you’re not a real” member of the family. Leia accuses him of just being like his dad and how he thinks that’ll make people respect him. She tells him that’s a dumb way to be. Leia is pulled aside by her parents, her mom telling her she needs to apologize before leaving. Bail gives Leia some encouragement, telling her she’ll probably be one of the best Senators because she doesn’t want to be one. Bail tells her to never say she’s not a real Organa, because she is one, and that she should focus on the look on her cousin’s face when she can boss him around. He tells her to apologize. Once alone, she runs off into the woods again, and Bail sends people after her.

 

Leia is almost instantly cornered by a group of mercenaries, who say they’ve been waiting for her. Leia runs off, dodging around them, almost makes it to one of her dad’s men, but the soldier is killed and she’s grabbed. Uh-oh.

 

On Tatooine, an old communicator of Obi-Wan’s goes off. He turns it on, the Organa’s telling him about the kidnapping. They can’t trust the real information about Leia, so they can only turn to Obi-Wan. Obi-Wan claims that he isn’t who he used to be, and that they should find someone else.

Best Star Wars Parents.

 

Leia is taken by the mercs off planet and held in a cell.

 

Obi-Wan tries to work as normal, but after his shift, he finds Nari dead and strung up for display. He returns to his camp, his sensor warning him someone is inside. Inside he finds Bail. Senator Organa tells him that she’s on her way to Daiyu. He begs Obi-Wan to help, one last fight. Obi-Wan resists but gives him a look.

 

On the ship, Leia gets Lola out and has her droid untie her, just before the Mercs come in to see her. He smashes Lola and tells Leia that no one is coming for her.

 

Back on Tatooine, Obi-Wan rides out into the desert, pulls out his shovel and starts digging. I see no distinguishing marks, so I assume this is a Force Sensitive “find my stuff” ability. He digs up a box with hiss lightsaber inside. The Mercs are revealed to be working for Reva, who is planning on using Obi-Wan’s old connection to Bail to draw him out. Obi-Wan boards a ship to head after her as the credit’s roll.

 

When it was first announced that Obi-Wan Kenobi was being made, I was skeptical. I mean, the dude spent twenty years hiding out on a rock to look over Luke, it didn’t seem like there was much story potential. But, with the kidnapping of Leia, combined with Obi-Wan’s obvious post war Trauma were excellent ways to go about it. Ewen McGregor is great as this emotionally damaged version of the Kenobi we last saw in Revenge of the Sith. I didn’t even consider that he might be dealing with some stuff after the destruction of everything he’s ever known, and having had to personally put down his rabid former student. To think he would be the same person or be able to be the Alec Guinness version of the character would be kind of insane. Vivien Lyra Blair is great as a young Leia Organa. You can see the future leader of the Rebellion and Resistance in this little girl. Moses Ingram is great as Reva “The Third Sister.” She’s got an intensity to her that is scary, quite frankly, and her desire to find Kenobi is palpable. The rest of the cast is great too. This is the start to an interesting Journey for Obi-Wan Kenobi, and I can’t talk more about it. Have a good night. 

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/posts/68217034

Twitter: @BasicsSuperhero