Late to the latest episode discussion here, but I finally watched the episode over the weekend. Since the Imperial March has been brought up, it was also used in all its bombastic glory at the end of Episode II: Attack of the Clones with the scene of all the clone troopers boarding the big destroyers, before the Empire or Vader actually existed, and then segued into Across the Stars for the lakeside wedding. I would like to hear at least a few notes of the Imperial March in a low-key manner at some point in this series. But I guess it's no big loss if it isn't used at all.
I find it curious that Ben doesn't have much of a connection with "The Force" these days but he still keeps trying to commune with Qui-Gon. I wonder if he ever did receive any of that training that Yoda talked about at the end of ROTS earlier on in his exile on Tatooine, but with time kind of let everything fall by the wayside up until now, or if this is the first time he's ever gotten around to trying to reach Qui-Gon. Maybe Ben hopes that reaching Qui-Gon will help him build up his Force senses and abilities to where they were before. But in any case, Qui-Gon probably sees that Ben needs to become more centered and more connected with "The Force" again on his own, before he can really gain anything from Qui-Gon's further tutelage. Part of me really hopes we get to hear Qui-Gon's voice before this series is over, I mean besides flashbacks to TPM dialog.
I find Ben's veiled reminiscences about Padme quite touching. I would even go so far as to say he had his own sort of love for her. I'd like to see them tackle Leia's vague recollection of her real mother that she described in ROTJ.
There have been some hints over the years in both 'cannnnon' and EU stuff that Obi-Wan recognized to some degree or other that Anakin was becoming closer to Padme than a Jedi was supposed to be even after Anakin was knighted, but Obi-Wan hesitated or refrained from pushing the issue too much, possibly because he could tell it made Anakin happy and filled a void in his life, and/or to to let Anakin have something more than what he himself was ever able to have with Satine. The closest Obi-Wan gets to saying something about it all is in Clone Wars Season 6 episode 6 "The Rise of Clovis," where he says he understands Anakin's feelings for Padme, and makes a comparison to himself and Satine, but reminds Anakin that he and Padme should remain just friends. Anyway, I always thought it was significant in ROTS that when Obi-Wan confronts Anakin/Vader on Mustafar, he says absolutely nothing about Anakin having this strong forbidden attachment that he shouldn't have had in the first place, instead telling Anakin that Anakin himself had pushed Padme away and 'turned her against him' through his anger and his lust for power. I've always wondered if maybe Obi-wan's hope all along was that once the Clone Wars were over and Anakin had fulfilled his role as the Chosen One in "bringing balance to 'The Force,'" then maybe Anakin could retire from the Jedi and go be with Padme 'for real.' Now I'm not sure exactly where I was going with all this; I guess I'm kind of rambling now. Getting back to episode 3 of "Obi-Wan Kenobi," Obi-Wan must have had some deep regrets about all this, weighing heavily on him for the last ten years.
And we have Vader and Ben's confrontation. I wonder if part of the reason Vader just let Obi-Wan go was a kind of disappointment or disgust that Obi-Wan wasn't a real challenge anymore; like Vader could see there wouldn't be much satisfaction in avenging himself on someone who was obviously already broken and weakened. Of course I want to see a bigger fight between Ben and Vader after Ben re-builds his connection to "The Force," showing his mastery and putting the beat-down on Vader. But in that case I think that would make Vader even more relentless in hunting down Obi-Wan between now and ANH both for personal vengeance and to stop the threat to the Empire, instead of just waiting around to see if he might "come back" someday.
Kor
