Spoilers 'Obi-Wan Kenobi' series [Spoiler Discussion]

[The Nth Doctor]

"Teeka, if you're gonna steal my parts and then sell them back to me, cold you at least clean them first, as a courtesy."

"Cleaning costs extra."

Phenomenal start (and not just because of the Jawas!). It's so damn good to see Ewan as Obi-Wan again and with so much better material to work with. Coming into this, I wasn't keen on the idea of Obi-Wan leaving Tatoonie but it makes sense that the one reason he would do it is for Leia...and even then, he still had to be arm twisted, in person, by Bail to do it. That feels right. His broken heart, his reluctance ran so deep that he initially didn't even acknowledge one of his fellow Jedi and refused to help him, even though he knew deep down that Jedi would be hunted down by the Inquisitors.

I suspect the Leia thread will be tied off in the next episode and the rest of the series will be about dealing with the repercussions of being drawn out into the open. He can't go back to Tatoonie as long as the Third Sister is on his scent...and he has to face the truth of Anakin's survival. I can't wait to see how that plays out in the next four episodes.

I absolutely adored Vivien Lyra Blair who played young Leia. She wonderfully captured Leia's stubbornness, her resilience, and best of all, her snark. While I want the show to stay focused on Obi-Wan, I won't be mad if we get more of her.

I loved the Temura Morrison tease and I can only hope he shows up as a former Clone that we know and love. But I burst out into tears when Obi-Wan reflected upon Satine. A flashback feels possible now!

Lastly, I didn't expect the Third Sister's undying thirst for vengeance to turn against the Grand Inquisitor, especially since he's played by Rupert Friend. But his untimely death does resolve people's preshow complaints about him not looking like the Grand Inquisitor in Rebels.

 

[Xerxes82]

The second is the idea that Reva knows that Anakin is Vader. Maybe this is just my own understanding of the events, but if she would know, would others? And therefore the only people who don’t know are Luke and Leia? That seems… strange. Might open a big can of worms. We’ll see how it plays out.

Vader trained all the Inquisitors personally. Most, if not all, of them used to be Jedi. There's no real reason to hide his former identity as Anakin Skywalker from any of them.

Particularly since it's heavily implied that the intention was to murder off the entire lot of them when their job was done.

That doesn't mean it's common knowledge. It makes sense that those at the very top of the Imperial hierarchy would know. It makes sense that the Inquisitors would know. It makes sense that Thrawn worked it out on his own, because that's his entire thing. But beyond that? I'm guessing it's pretty much Obi-wan and Yoda, and then eventually Luke and that's pretty much it.

Edit: Also, why are you all thinking the GI died? We KNOW he lives. And a stab wound from a lightsaber that doesn't hit anything inherently vital should be eminently survivable. The wound is cauterized as it's caused, so he's not going to bleed. Painful as all heck, but survivable. He got stabbed through the stomach. In a human, which he obviously isn't but whatever, that wouldn't be a kill shot if he gets medical attention.

 

[Romulan_spy]

I do find it surprising that he didn't know about Darth Vader though.. Or is it that he just didn't know Vader was Anakin?

I think he just did not know Vader was Anakin. That is why he has that look of shock on his face when Reva says Anakin is alive. From his point of view, he assumed Anakin died since he was a burned corpse when he last saw him. And then later, he sees this Vader guy in a black suit and mask. He would probably assume Vader is someone new.

 

[Romulan_spy]

I've seen comments online that young Leia being kidnapped at such a young age, might explain her blase attitude when she is kidnapped in the original trilogy. She was used to being kidnapped by the Empire.

 

[Xerxes82]

I think he just did not know Vader was Anakin. That is why he has that look of shock on his face when Reva says Anakin is alive. From his point of view, he assumed Anakin died since he was a burned corpse when he last saw him. And then later, he sees this Vader guy in a black suit and mask. He would probably assume Vader is someone new.

He knows Anakin is called Vader. He sees the security footage where Palpatine calls Anakin "Lord Vader" during ROTS (which I just watched yesterday before this, so it was fresh in my mind).

He thought Anakin was dead. He left him on Mustafar in the process of being immolated. He couldn't deliver the killing blow himself, so he let the environment do it for him, brutally, painfully and slowly. But he didn't stick around to make sure, because it hurt too damn much to watch.

So, I see two possibilities. 1) He knows there is a Sith guy in a black suit, but doesn't have a name to attach to him. Thus, he can't connect Vader to Anakin. 2) He doesn't even know about the guy in the suit. Vader may not be the kind of thing that gets a lot of press. Not necessarily a secret, but staying out of the limelight. It would be easy to confuse him with a generic Inquisitor if you didn't have specific context for him.

 

[fireproof78]

I loved it. Some of first episode was a bit off, pace-wise, but overall, this is a great start.

I do find it surprising that he didn't know about Darth Vader though.. Or is it that he just didn't know Vader was Anakin?

Why would he know the connection?

 

[Samurai8472]

Another issue online is the Order 66 opening. How it shows kids running for their lives in a massacre as their teacher is gunned down saving them. You know days after a real life school shooting.

 

[Booji]

But I burst out into tears when Obi-Wan reflected upon Satine. A flashback feels possible now!

Are you talking about when Obi-Wan tells Leia she reminds him of someone? If so, I think he was talking about her mother, Padme. Satine makes sense too though.

 

[fireproof78]

Another issue online is the Order 66 opening. How it shows kids running for their lives in a massacre as their teacher is gunned down saving them. You know days after a real life school shooting.

How the hell were they supposed to know that? Edit it last minute?

Reminds of the cries for the Lord of the Rings film "The Two Towers" to be renamed because it was right after September 11.

 

[Xerxes82]

Are you talking about when Obi-Wan tells Leia she reminds him of someone? If so, I think he was talking about her mother, Padme. Satine makes sense too though.

I agree that it was Padme. He was seeing mother in daughter. Which conveniently gets him thinking about both her parents and how he lost them. Just in time for Reva to drop the Anakin bomb on him.

 

[David cgc]

Edit: Also, why are you all thinking the GI died? We KNOW he lives. And a stab wound from a lightsaber that doesn't hit anything inherently vital should be eminently survivable. The wound is cauterized as it's caused, so he's not going to bleed. Painful as all heck, but survivable. He got stabbed through the stomach. In a human, which he obviously isn't but whatever, that wouldn't be a kill shot if he gets medical attention.

Cinematic language is that someone who gets a potentially fatal wound lying perfectly still with their eyes open is dead. Eyes closed, maybe, eyes open, he's an ex-quisitor. That doesn't mean he can't be resuscitated, but it does account for his very round head compared to not just the animated Grand Inquisitor, but the other Pau'an we saw in RotS. It's a bit of a stretch that there were actually two (at least) Grand Inquisitors of the same species, but there have been other continuity patches that seemed just as odd before we got used to them.

Which reminds me, I noticed they deftly explained why Leia wasn't confused by Luke calling him "Ben" Kenobi, and seem also to be setting up how she'd have memories of her biological mother after RotS altered the backstory so Padme died in childbirth, both with Leia becoming more curious about her adoption, and with her Force-powered people-reading skills.

Was no one else as shocked as I was to see Flea suddenly turn up in Star Wars? I suppose he's always a surprise in a way, say, Kumail Nanjiani isn't.

 

[Reverend]

I was confused about two points: the first being the Inquisitor’s death, of course him being a recurring villain in Rebels.

I just assumed he's wounded. Nothing a dip in a bacta tank can't fix.

(And no, I won’t forget about Rebels. That show is awesome.) I’m wondering if his line from his final appearance in that series about there being some fates worse than death. I’m wondering if he keeps being brought back to life.

You might actually have something there, especially given how he showed up in the comics post tESB still very much dead and still very much in Vader's thrall.

The second is the idea that Reva knows that Anakin is Vader. Maybe this is just my own understanding of the events, but if she would know, would others? And therefore the only people who don’t know are Luke and Leia? That seems… strange. Might open a big can of worms. We’ll see how it plays out.

Kenobi, Yoda, Palpatine and Bail know for a fact. Thrawn eventually knew it through pure deduction. Everyone else who may or may not "know" in Palpatine's inner circle (Sly Moore, Mass Ameda, etc.), or within the Inquisitorious itself probably only suspect, and most of those know to keep their damn mouths shut about it.

So, I see two possibilities. 1) He knows there is a Sith guy in a black suit, but doesn't have a name to attach to him. Thus, he can't connect Vader to Anakin. 2) He doesn't even know about the guy in the suit. Vader may not be the kind of thing that gets a lot of press. Not necessarily a secret, but staying out of the limelight. It would be easy to confuse him with a generic Inquisitor if you didn't have specific context for him.

I'm generally in favour of the Emperor not publicly advertising that he has a Sith running around as his right hand. At least not at this point since the Empire is still going with the official line that it's acting only for the safety and security of the galaxy. Later, once the rebellion is declared and open civil war spreads after Yavin, the mask may have come off (so to speak) and the propaganda campaign turned up to 11 with Vader very much in the public awareness.

I don't think Vader's existence was ever really a secret, but it wasn't widely advertised either. A free press is non-existent in an Empire like this, and most everyone that encountered him outside of the military probably didn't survive the experience to tell about it. What was probably a more secret was his activities, purely because they were missions for the Emperor. The kind that by definition take place in the shadows.

Indeed now that I think about it, the best evidence at how under the radar Vader was between RotS & ANH is Hera's & Ahsoka's reaction when he showed up on Lothal. You'd think if there was even a hint of Vader on the holonet, Fulcrum would know about it. Indeed, Hera and Kanan were visibly surprised to learn there was more than just the one Inquisitor!

Another issue online is the Order 66 opening. How it shows kids running for their lives in a massacre as their teacher is gunned down saving them. You know days after a real life school shooting.

If they held off showing this kind of thing every time the yanks have a school shooting, it'd never get aired. Less a condemnation of the show's insensitivity and more so the feckless, blasé attitude of politicians refusing to do literally anything to stop it happening at all, much less so damned frequently.
One may as well complain that Star Wars is being insensitive by showing what it looks like when a democracy rots from the inside with greed and falls to fascist authoritarianism, because that's happening too in case anyone missed it.

 

[TREK_GOD_1]

And a stab wound from a lightsaber that doesn't hit anything inherently vital should be eminently survivable. The wound is cauterized as it's caused, so he's not going to bleed.

Tell that to Jinn. Moreover, a burning blade tearing through your abdomen is extremely serious, for all of the vital organs in that area. That, and G.I. was just laying on the ground with no medical attention while Reva was going through her theatrics on the landing pad as the ship took off.

 

[Tuskin38]

The woman who tries to sell Obi-Wan spice was played by Ewan's daughter, Esther-Rose McGregor.

Her character is given a name in the end credits 'Tetha Grig'.

 

[Xerxes82]

Tell that to Jinn. Moreover, a burning blade tearing through your abdomen is extremely serious, for all of the vital organs in that area. That, and G.I. was just laying on the ground with no medical attention while Reva was going through her theatrics on the landing pad as the ship took off.

Qui-gon was stabbed more or less through the heart. Different area, much more significant damage.

Also, lest we forget, Anakin was mutilated and literally burned alive. And lived long enough for Palpatine to reach him, on Mustafar, from Coruscant. The Force can be a powerful ally.

 

[fireproof78]

Qui-gon was stabbed more or less through the heart. Different area, much more significant damage.

In his heart?

 

[Xerxes82]

In his heart?

Yep. Inches above his belt. Check it yourself. I'm not as tall as Liam Neeson, but on me that blow would either go directly through my heart or come in just below it. Heart, lungs, kidneys all in there. The Grand Inquisitor got stabbed through the midsection. Stomach and bowels are important, but it's still possible to be a non-lethal wound.

 

[fireproof78]

Yep. Inches above his belt. Check it yourself. I'm not as tall as Liam Neeson, but on me that blow would either go directly through my heart or come in just below it. Heart, lungs, kidneys all in there. The Grand Inquisitor got stabbed through the midsection. Stomach and bowels are important, but it's still possible to be a non-lethal wound.

Looks more the midsection to me, kidneys or stomach.

 

[Tuskin38]

Someone pointed this out on another site, could this be Mark Hamill making a sneaky cameo?

 

[CorporalClegg]

So I guess we now have an answer to why Leia named her kid Ben.