The best part about the Obi-Wan Kenobi show as opposed to certain other Star Wars shows is that it actively and continuously recognizes the truth that the Original Trilogy set up from day one and that is that Obi-Wan Kenobi is just better than Anakin Skywalker in every way.

Episode 6: Of Course I Know Him, He's Me

I promise, the shorter length doesn't mean we have any less passion for this topic than the others, we're just getting better at this time management thing.

This month, we discuss the one and only Obi-Wan Kenobi, the impact he has had on the Star Wars franchise, and the impact the franchise has had on him through his various relationships and adventures. There’s so much more to him than just “infinite sadness”!

Side note: The fandom we're discussing at the end is Percy Jackson and the Olympians, for anyone who isn't familiar with it.

One of the most impressive things about Reva as a character, to me, is how she manages to parallel BOTH Anakin and Obi-Wan in the same story while emphasizing that Anakin is evil and Obi-Wan is not, while also allowing Reva to be her own character with her own motivations and choices individual from both of them.

The amount of nuance that has to go into Reva to allow her to do and be all of these things is almost insane when you really think about it.

Because she has to be consumed by anger and vengeance, like Anakin, letting it lead her to do some objectively evil things (like kidnapping Leia or hurting innocent bystanders), in order to showcase how Anakin is choosing to be evil even as he convinces himself he's not.

And then she also has to be mourning her entire culture, mourning an entire family murdered in front of her eyes, mourning a home desecrated around her, like Obi-Wan, showing how she is losing her identity and connection to that culture in the wake of that trauma.

But Reva is also hunting down Anakin as she does his dirty work for him, she is fighting back against the darkness even as she lets it consume her, she is reasonable when faced with an opportunity to save innocent families from going through what she did. She tries to connect to the child she kidnaps because she genuinely doesn't want to hurt her if she doesn't have to.

Reva is so unique, still so much her own individual character and yet perfectly encapsulates the greatest vices of two of the most well-known and beloved characters of the entire franchise. She stands out even as she mirrors other characters back at themselves. Reva could've been so cookie-cutter, she could've so easily been a knock-off of a better character, and instead she SHINES.

Obi-Wan watching Luke act like Anakin and Leia act like Padme was just...

Thank you, Wikipedia. bringing us the most important facts about our man Obi-Wan

Obi-Wan Kenobi headers

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Kenobi...

Transparent Obi-wan Kenobi

Real talk -- is anyone else dying over Obi-Wan Kenobi? Because I am. I'm dying over Obi-Wan Kenobi.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=krop4mLyO7w

Hello there! The Star Wars: Obi-Wan Kenobi series was a mixed bag of great acting, poor visuals, and a sometimes sloppy story. Here is how the series should have ended, and how it should have started -- enjoy! Like, comment, and subscribe :)

The obi wan Kenobi show doesn’t work because it contradicts episode 4, which specifically states that the last time obi wan and vader met was in episode 3, having them duel again is just pointless and it contradicts an entire film, also why doesn’t Palpatine and the Empire arrest Bail Organa if they have suspicions he’s working with a Jedi? Bail Organa is smart and hes a good guy against the fascist empire and evil sith but in this show it makes him look not very smart.

I'm not sure why you're sending this message to ME, someone who's made it fairly clear that I LIKE the Kenobi show (and if I haven't, this is my definitive statement that I LOVE the Kenobi show and find it one of the best shows that D+ has released thus far), unless you're intentionally trying to start a debate/discussion about this.

I'm not going to change my mind about the Kenobi show and suddenly decide it's a bad show, so if you're trying to change my mind about it for some reason, it won't work. Much like the Prequel Trilogy, I'm perfectly willing to acknowledge the Kenobi show has flaws and isn't a perfectly written show, but it has a VISION and a PLAN, something that is all too rare within Star Wars these days.

It's also one of the VERY vanishingly few genuinely pro-Jedi and sort-of Jedi-centric stories out there. I'm unlikely to get very many of those, so Kenobi is a diamond in a rough for me. So I don't CARE what accusations people level at this show. Most of them are inaccurate or entirely based on personal taste alone. If the Kenobi show isn't for you, it isn't for you; there's PLENTY of Star Wars things that have come out that aren't for me but seem to have something in them that appeals to other people. Nothing anyone critiques about it is going to change the fact that there's a LOT I love about this show and the fact that it feels like it was made with fans like me in mind.

So if what you want is to just vent about a show that didn't work for you, maybe go to someone else to do it because you won't get it from me. (If you want to vent about, say, TBB or the Ahsoka show on the other hand, I'm exactly who you should talk to. Come vent at me about those shows any time.)

All that being said, this is my response to your specific accusations.

First, I'll address the Bail Organa thing because that just seems simpler. The ONLY person who has any suspicions that Bail is working with a Jedi during the Kenobi show is Reva, who leaves the whole Inquisitorius and the Empire by the end of the show. While there's perhaps some evidence of Obi-Wan wandering around with Leia, he's demonstrably not the person who TOOK Leia nor is he the person who RETURNED Leia, so there's zero evidence of Obi-Wan and Bail actually interacting beyond the message Bail sent to Obi-Wan that nobody saw except Reva and Obi-Wan, and that Reva took with her off of Jabiim, so it's never going to end up as evidence of anything.

The other reason Palpatine is not going after Bail Organa despite what are likely STRONG suspicions that Bail isn't loyal and is helping the Rebellion, is the same reason that the Senate doesn't get eliminated until ANH. Palpatine is still putting up a semblance of "democracy" to string people along with the idea that the Empire is a benevolent force working on behalf of the greater good. Bail is a well-known and well-liked and influential Senator on his own, AND he's the husband of the reigning monarch of Alderaan. Killing him without pretty serious evidence of wrong-doing could be a majorly bad political move for Palpatine. He also likely believes that, even if Bail IS working with the Rebellion, he's not that big of a threat. Why expend effort on killing someone who's not that big of a threat and when it might cause more people to turn against you for killing a well-liked dude without evidence of wrong-doing? What does Palpatine truly GAIN from this? He ONLY turns on Alderaan after two things happen: first, the Death Star is completed and he has a weapon that he can use to eliminate large swathes of enemies VERY quickly; second, Leia is caught working with the Rebels which implicates the entire royal family. So now not only does Palpatine have evidence of wrong-doing, he also has the means to stop CARING about what people think anyway because the Death Star means he can completely dismantle the ENTIRE SENATE and do whatever he wants to whoever he wants.

Now let's look at the accusation that the Kenobi show contradicts what's stated in ANH. Personally, I don't think it does. I'll grant that it contradicts what's IMPLIED by both ANH and ROTS and what most fans largely had assumed had happened. I'll even grant that the extra meeting during this time period is a little awkward narratively given that Obi-Wan had to win in order to survive at all but he also couldn't kill Anakin and people already had issues with this in ROTS where it's more easily explained away, so it's even harder to buy that Obi-Wan doesn't finish the job in THIS story.

But none of that means that it directly contradicts anything said in ANH. When Anakin first senses Obi-Wan's presence, all he says is he's feeling a presence he hasn't felt since... and then he fades off and never finishes that sentence. What he says during their actual fight is "I've been waiting for you, Obi-Wan. We meet again, at last. The circle is now complete... When I left you, I was but the learner; now I am the master." There's NOTHING specific in this dialogue. The bit about having been a learner when Anakin left is already contradicted by the Prequels anyway since Anakin was technically already Knighted by the time he betrays everyone and joins the Sith and the bit about having "left" Obi-Wan is again contradicted by the Prequels first since their final confrontation has Obi-Wan leave Anakin, not the other way around (unless we count the initial betrayal and joining the Sith as Anakin "leaving" but they see each other after that, so). So anything you could claim the Kenobi show "contradicted" from ANH is something the Prequels already contradicted. Anakin also makes the claim here that he's a "Master" when Anakin is actually a Sith APPRENTICE and he wasn't ever a Jedi Master, either. Anakin is someone who exaggerates and manipulates the truth of things as he wants, so everything he says has to be taken with a grain of salt anyway. He's an unreliable narrator in the extreme.

Which makes it pretty easy to just say, "Well Anakin's lying about shit because this is what he wants to believe even if it isn't true." Sure, it doesn't match with the Kenobi show, but it doesn't match the Prequels either, so unless you're about to tell me that we have to toss out the entire Prequel Trilogy (something we're ALSO not going to agree on), then I think the Kenobi show should be given a pass for this.

Finally, like I said, I DO recognize there's some awkwardness introduced to the narrative in this show. There's weird timing for things, it does go against popular assumptions, etc. But just like a lot of people have done for shows THEY wanted to enjoy, I'm willing to come up with my own headcanons to make the Kenobi show work. I tend to view the Kenobi show as more of a character exploration via metaphor than a straightforward narrative. This show and the story it's telling are SO laser-focused on Obi-Wan's journey towards reclaiming his Jedi identity that it occasionally has to do some odd things to make the narrative fall into place to allow that journey to happen in exactly the way they want it. The plot came second to the character in this case (the opposite of the Ahsoka show where the plot is very basic and straightforward but the characters were completely left by the wayside which leaves the narrative an incomprehensible mess anyway; give me more shows with flaws like the Kenobi show over shows like the Ahsoka show ANY DAY). Whenever I recommend this show to people I tell them to focus on the character journey Obi-Wan goes on and to view the show more metaphorically than literally. It works for some people, it doesn't for others.

My personal favorite headcanon for the Kenobi show is that it's a representation of Obi-Wan's personal Force Ghost test, not unlike the one we know Yoda had in TCW season 6. In that, he's sent to several different places, some real and some not, in order to face different things he has to overcome before the Force decides he's ready to learn this skill. Sometimes he's led by a specific person through the test, sometimes he's not. This isn't ENTIRELY dissimilar to what happens to Obi-Wan in the Kenobi show where he keeps bouncing to different places and being guided by different characters towards the one major thing he has to face and overcome. And while Anakin's dialogue after the mask is sliced off doesn't make a TON of sense to me as something Anakin would actually say, it works for me as something that Obi-Wan has thought about HIMSELF. Anakin isn't really Anakin here, he's a manifestation of all of Obi-Wan's pain and fears and doubts. Anakin saying that he's not Obi-Wan's failure is something the real Anakin would NEVER say (except as a way to keep separating himself from the atrocities he's done), but it IS something Obi-Wan would need to come to accept. And who better for that lesson to come from than the face of the person who betrayed him, the person who destroyed his universe.

Much like Yoda's journey took him to both real places and some that seem somewhat less real, Obi-Wan's journey could be a mixture of both real events AND some things that are a little more metaphysical. The final confrontation on that moon could perhaps be one of those metaphysical things. He's drawn to that moon and it does work to draw the Empire away from the refugees, but it's not really Anakin he sees down there or something. Does anything in the show support this? No, of course not. But nothing really makes it impossible for it to be true, either. It makes things work better for me, something I'm willing to do because there's a LOT about this show that really really fucking works for me already, so I'm willing to put in a little extra effort to smooth over the things that don't work as well into something else. If you don't like the show enough to do that work, that's fine. But then I'm not the person to come venting to about it.

Spoiler for both Star Wars Rebels and Kenobi:

…So, unless something changes in the next episode, Vader knew Obi-Wan was alive when he found out about Ahsoka. And he never told Palpatine. How do I know this? Obi-Wan Kenobi takes place ten years after ROTS. Rebels takes place 15 years after it. Vader had known Obi-Wan was alive for five years and never told his Sith master. Me thinks either Anakin is suppressing the knowledge or he’s subconsciously fighting back.

I've been thinking about the immense difference on Obi-Wan's face when he reacts to the revelation that Anakin survived versus how he reacted to just seeing Quinlan's name on a wall and getting confirmation from Tala that he was alive. Neither reaction is hugely effusive, but the difference is so stark.

With Anakin, it's all negative. There is literally nothing positive about the idea of Anakin being alive, Anakin's continued presence in his life is a net negative, his survival is a curse. His face goes through shock, grief, and horror fairly quickly.

With Quinlan, all it took was a name on a wall, and Obi-Wan nearly lit up. Everything about it is positive, it's a blessing, and even if he never gets to see Quinlan again in their lifetimes, just knowing Quinlan survived and is out there somewhere brings a quick smile to Obi-Wan's face, starts to fill him with real hope for the first time since Order 66. His entire being seems to soften, just for a few moments as he registers this unexpected news.

Reva asks if Obi-Wan truly wants Anakin dead and when he can't answer her, she takes that as a sign that he doesn't. And I'm sure the part of him that does still love who Anakin used to be probably DOESN'T want him dead, but more accurately I think he just doesn't want to have to be the one who kills him. His life would've been so much simpler if Anakin had died ten years ago on Mustafar and just never come back, the galaxy might be a better safer place without him in it, and Obi-Wan cannot muster even a single ounce of relief upon hearing that Anakin was alive.

And maybe that's why he so quickly accepts Anakin's declaration that he killed "Anakin Skywalker" and "Darth Vader" is all that remains. Some part of him does want that to be true. Some part of him wishes Anakin hadn't survived. He can't be the one to kill him, and he lets go of Anakin more easily if he tells himself that the boy he raised is dead anyway. He can move on from Anakin if he's dead, remember the good parts that used to exist so he can tell them to Luke in nine years.

Great, now the people behind the Lego specials are going to have to do it again with four Obi-Wans.

I’m hearing more and more rumors that the Inquisitors are the main characters of the Obi-Wan show and I swear if that’s the case, I’ll be so pissed. This is the Obi-Wan show. I think the Inquisitors should play a large role - it makes sense because of course they’re obviously trying to hunt him down - but if he’s seriously downgraded? That would be ridiculous.  The producer of the more recent Star Wars projects  Kathleen Kennedy does have a history of making bullshit decisions so I’m really nervous. I don’t even have a list of things I think HAVE to be there. Any Obi-Wan story with appearances by Luke which we know about and  Darth Vader - which is  is great to me is awesome. The only big bonuses is if Padme and /or Anakin are involved in a flashback or something. Other than that, I’m not picky. Just don’t reduce Obi-Wan to a side character.

Also while on the way to see Halloween Ends this week we found this! she was just sitting on a shelf in the figure isle no other new ones just her by herself 😄 so I of course grabbed her 😁