This is a series with no real stakes to speak of, full of characters that you know factor heavily into future Star Wars lore. All you can ask for in a finale is some quality lightsaber-filled entertainment and a satisfactory conclusion to the story it chose to tell. In the most straightforward entry of the series, we witness what should be the final showdown between the iconic characters of Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor) and Darth Vader (Hayden Christensen) before their fateful meeting aboard the Death Star and the internal struggle of Reva (Moses Ingram) as she travels to Tatooine in search of Luke Skywalker (Grant Feely).
The episode has two storylines running parallel with each other, as Obi-Wan makes the decision to jettison from the ship carrying Leia (Vivien Lyra Blair), knowing that Vader will follow to face him, while, at the same time, Reva has arrived at Tatooine seeking Owen Lars (Joel Edgerton), who she knows to be harboring a child of great importance. It’s unclear exactly how much she understands about Luke’s connection to Vader from the jumbled hologram message, but she certainly knows him to be important to Kenobi as well, and that’s enough. The whole, “revenge does wonders for the will to live” explanation must be legitimate, because while severely wounded she was able to drag herself to a ship, fly to inquire about Owen, walk to his farm, and fight off the defenses of him and Beru (Bonnie Piesse) before chasing Luke through the desert.
While it was fun to see Owen and Beru fighting to protect Luke, especially the way Beru was so adamantly up to the challenge, you know nothing bad will happen to any of them. The only question is if Reva will be killed, or if she’ll complete her telegraphed, and highly questionable, redemption arc. The severely flawed motivations of her character take away from the performance of Ingram, who otherwise served as an intriguing antagonist. This portion of the episode is also weakened because it’s intercut with the fight between Obi-Wan and Darth Vader happening a very quick jump to lightspeed away. In all honesty, when you have those two going at it, anything that interrupts it is a frustrating distraction.
Once again battling under the cover of night, with only a beautifully cinematic moon and the glow of their lightsabers to brighten the screen, we see the confrontation that was only teased in Part III. When Kenobi was still regaining his strength in using the force, Vader seemed to just be toying with him. This time, his strength has returned, and he’s far more aggressive, even using the force to attempt to bring a rock formation down on Vader after briefly gaining the upper hand. It’s an effort that’s easily thwarted, and it seems to give Vader the motivation needed to stop holding back, as he counters with a sort of hulk smash that ultimately buries Kenobi beneath the rubble.
Vader clearly can’t hear well over his own breathing because Obi-Wan thinks of his time with Leia and is empowered to free himself, sending a loud explosion of rocks hurdling. Somehow, he’s able to sneak up behind Darth and their fight continues. With some inspired efforts from Kenobi, including more rock-throwing and some well-placed blows, he achieves victory, leaving Vader’s breathing labored, as we heard it at the end of Return of the Jedi, and his helmet damaged, revealing a portion of his face to Obi-Wan. Enough for him to see his friend Anakin Skywalker looking back at him.
The cinematography of their fight was an interesting blend of various angles and distances, including some overhead shots that showed the confines of the terrain. Clearly it was well-choreographed, but there are a lot of quick cuts when it would have been more satisfying to see longer continuous shots. It all still works and looks great, but you lose some fluidity, especially when they jump back to Reva and the farm.
While the duel itself is fun to watch, the most important element here is the dialogue, because we know this won’t be the end for either character. Before the fight begins, Vader simply asks, “have you come to destroy me Obi-Wan?” While the answer is clearly yes – as Kenobi has accepted it as necessary – there seemed to be a missed opportunity there for some more rewarding discourse. It would have been interesting to see him speak of Padme, and the deception of the Emperor, rather than just leaning into the, “I’ll do what I must” line again.
A conversation is had at the end of their fight, however, which provides a satisfactory conclusion to their relationship, and allows Kenobi to effectively say goodbye to Anakin forever. McGregor is excellent here, delivering his lines with raw emotion and tears in his eyes. It genuinely felt like a tragic ending to the friendship they built together. Specifically, the line “then my friend is truly dead” is the same as Luke’s “then my father is truly dead” from Return of the Jedi just before Darth Vader takes him before the Emperor.
Director Deborah Chow and Christensen deserve tremendous credit for this sequence, as the voice of Christensen and James Earl Jones are interwoven as Anakin speaks from his damaged helmet. The glowing hue of the lightsabers highlights his face, as he tells his old friend that he isn’t his failure and that he killed Anakin himself. The colors shift from blue to red as his eyes transform as well, and his benevolent words of compassion shift to a renewed vow to destroy him.
After Kenobi leaves a defeated Vader alive, he races to Tatooine in time to see Reva deliver Luke unharmed, back to the Lars’. Most of what follows is a combination of greatly appreciated fan service, and groundwork for future storylines of Star Wars, some that already exist and others that are likely still to come from Disney. Throughout the Obi-Wan Kenobi series, it’s largely been the immense talent of the performances given and previously earned nostalgia that have elevated the material. Moments like the exchange between Anakin and Obi-Wan in the finale were well-handled, but it will be important that future narratives are able to stand on their own.
